Bad Times on the Dinosaur Farm

Rose Fisher shielded her eyes as she looked out the prehistoric beasts roaming the Outback Bio-Ranch. Giant solar panels lined the thousands of acres of land devoted for this project. Automated drones zipped by overhead, silently monitoring food levels and the general health of the ancient creatures.

Inside one small stable, Rose moved with practiced ease through a herd of juvenile Parasaurolophus. Their distinctive cranial shapes were still developing. One of them tilted its head and let out a soft, mournful cry.

These were creatures pulled out of time. The fact that they were alive today was a triumph of science. Here they were. Breathing. Moving. Living. Yet their fate was like the millions before them: their hides would be removed and delivered to the luxury boutiques of Dallas.

She ran a hand over the rough scales of a curious baby.

"Almost ready for harvest, little one," she murmured with a bittersweet ache in her chest.

They were real individuals with unique behaviors and personalities. She didn’t view them as mere commodities.

Her daily routine was interrupted by a solar shuttle arriving. It either didn't have sonic dampeners or were intentionally replaced to make the driver's presence clear.

It was Erik Blackwood, head manager of the ranch. Although in practice he rarely visited, sending emails and delegating to Rose and the others. He wore a crisp, clean suit that didn’t fit in here. Beside him was Dr. Poole, whose coiffed hair made him look more out of place. Poole was the technical lead whose pioneering research in de-extinction created this billion-dollar industry.

"One more quarter and another billion in the bank," Erik boomed, clapping Lawrence on the back and stepping forward to greet Rose.

"The demand for 'dino-leather' is incredible, Lawrence! Your prehistoric wonders have made us kings!"

Erik pointed at a holding pen nearby where a dozen adolescent Tyrannosaurus rexes gnawed on old bones. One of them let out a low growl which sent a shiver down Rose’s spine.

"These are apex predators. To stand before a creature thought lost to time... to witness its life... it's a privilege."

"They used to be apex predators," Erik chuckled. He pulled out a slim tablet which displayed a graph.

"Look at this dip in projected sales," he explained. "The 'wow' factor is starting to plateau. We can't keep doing the same thing forever when fashion always moves forward. Innovation is constant. So let's find some available space here for our next project."

In the ranch's central office, Isaac frowned at his own tablet. He had joined Primeval Purses as a junior logistics coordinator with the naïve hope of creating a new generation of sustainable fashion. He'd felt a deep unease about the fad of using dinosaur leather, but thought it was a temporary step towards something better. Yet over time he started to understand this was just the same old game.

He overhead Erik walking in with a nervous Lawrence behind him.

"The future is going to be our 'ShimmerWeave' line. And we won't have to worry about pesky biology now. It'll be infinitely scalable and maximally profitable," the executive boasted.

Isaac tried not to pay attention, but he grew worried. What did 'infinitely scalable' mean for the current livestock? The dinosaurs, now the epitome of commercial innovation, were about to become a liability.

As Erik had predicted, the shimmering allure of the ShimmerWeave purses, shirts, shoes, and every other article of clothing had taken the world by storm. The fashion district, once proudly displaying dino-leather, had just as suddenly replaced their displays with the ever-changing hues of this new synthetic.

Dinosaur products were suddenly passé. Even a little uncouth.

Rose could sense things were changing each morning during her daily work routines. She walked the perimeter of the vast sauropod pens. They had been examples of human ingenuity, but now were a burden.

Corporate directives led to increasingly grim conditions at the ranch. Rose was alarmed by buzzwords like “resource optimization”. They were paired with specific edicts: reduce food rations by fifteen percent.

"I can't believe them," she fumed to Isaac over coffee. "They're growing animals! This isn't like some sort of garden. If they don't get enough food, it'll impact their health. Heck, it'll impact the quality of their skin. Doesn't that still matter?"

"Not anymore," Isaac shrugged cynically. "The market has spoken. They don't want dinosaurs anymore. Now this ranch has become a cost."

A few days later, Dr. Poole arrived again. This time, he came by himself. He looked disheveled, as if he had been sleeping in his tailored suit. His job was no longer to innovate or to marvel at scientific accomplishment. Now, his role was to put an end to what he had created.

"We can't do this," Rose complained to him, approaching him as soon as he stepped into the lobby.

"It's too late. It's already been ordered."

"These aren't lab specimens. They are living beings. I watched them hatch. I know their individual personalities."

"I can do it humanely. A sedative that will put them to sleep. No harm."

"Is this what your research was for? The goal of de-extinction so long as they are profitable?"

"It's a consequence," the doctor scratched his chin. "Our enthusiasm was too high. The board won't tolerate a large cost center. It's one thing for a little R&D, but spending millions every day to maintain creatures that are no longer wanted?"

"Just give me a little more time," Rose tried stalling. "To let me say good-bye. After all, I've been taking care of them for their entire lives."

"Yes, that might be appropriate. Look, I don't enjoy doing this."

"But you seem ready to surrender."

"I have my job. You have yours. These aren't our decisions to make."

Or were they?

With Dr. Poole out of the way, at least temporarily, Rose ran into the break room.

"Isaac, we need to do something," she whispered urgently.

"Like what?"

"The dinosaurs are going to be put down."

"Seriously? After all the work we put into raising them?"

"I got Dr. Poole to give us some time, but we need to come up with a plan."

"Let me reach out to the city's activists groups. Maybe we can organize something. A protest."

"Can you trust them?"

"There's an urban mesh network. Communications can be broadcast anonymously. Since it never touches the public net, we circumvent corporate security protocols. I can share sales figures and internal documents without being caught."

"It still sounds risky."

"It is. But I'm willing to take this risk. It's about more than just animal welfare. What are the ethical limits to human creation?"

Isaac shared internal secrets across the activist mesh network, making sure to encrypt the data using the private keys he had obtained earlier from his involvement in the groups. The groups went to work, raising awareness of the consequences of this fast fashion: graffiti on storefront windows, petitions, and even a small vigil outside one of the downtown boutiques.

These efforts didn't seem to go anywhere, as the executive board still pushed for a wide-scale culling of these creatures. Isaac and Rose decided to make their activism more apparent.

"The numbers are unambiguous," noted Erik in the middle of the boardroom. "The ShimmerWeave line is now performing even beyond our generous expectations. It's clear we need to double-down, pivot all our capital into that endeavor while the demand is still hot. The dino division is getting too costly, and it must be dissolved."

Isaac pushed the door open, with Rose close behind.

"Excuse me?" Isaac said confidently, even as Rose could tell his hands were trembling. "Have you cared about the ethics of what you're doing? Do you care about the public outcry?"

"Isaac, is it?" Erik pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is a board meeting. You can go back with your protest friends downstairs. We understand you have strong feelings, but feelings don't pay bills. Honestly, you might be the only ones left who care. The rest of the public has moved on."

"They will care once they learn you'll kill them all!" Rose exclaimed, stepping closer to the boardroom's large table. "This isn't just a business decision you can make willy-nilly. We have a responsibility to the lives that you created."

"It is very much a business decision."

"There can be other solutions! Sanctuaries maybe..."

"That’s all fantasy. Look, I asked the fine Doctor Poole to run the models, to come up with alternatives. The ecological impact would be devastating no matter where else they went. And without a revenue stream, the financial upkeep is just too high. This is a tragedy, I'll give you that, but there are no alternatives."

Rose felt her heart ache and a tear form in her eye. Could this really be it?

"They're still magnificent. Even now. We can’t let them go extinct. Again."

The board voted unanimously. The public was distracted by the ShimmerWeave and other fleeting trends, so news of the dinosaurs was barely noted.

Feeling defeated and out of options, they returned to the ranch. The vast biomes, once full of activity, were now chillingly silent. Dr. Poole coldly administered the euthanasia to each creature with a professional detachment. Rose was sobbing the entire time. Her cries drew the attention of the creatures, who seemed completely ignorant to what was happening. They trusted her, and she led them to a second extinction.

She knelt beside a young Ankylosaurus. She had seen it running around in the mud just a few weeks before. Its eyelids fluttered. It breathed steadily, but each breath became more shallow. Then its breathing stopped. It didn't seem to feel any pain, but Rose did. There seemed to be no end to the life being extinguished.

Isaac joined the small group of protestors currently picketing the gates of the ranch. He had been let go along with everyone else employed by the ranch. They held protest signs and vigil candles. Nobody shouted or even raised their voice. There was just a shared feeling of melancholy and sense of failure. The concept of individual life didn't go as far as a checkbook.

For the CEO, Erik, his ShimmerWeave made him billions. His conscience seemed unburdened. The ranch was sold off at auction to a mix of investors, who slowly dismantled it and repurposed the land for their own purposes.

For Doctor Poole, he took his wealth and retired to a small dwelling far away from any city. He pored back on old data and reconsidered the ethics of what he had done. He couldn't enjoy his time due to a lingering regret. He knew that no matter how much money he possessed, it would never make up for what he'd done.