World, Shut Your Mouth Part One: The More Things Change

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## Plot

Six months after the conclusion of Phase Five, some incredible changes have come upon Novum and Prehistoric Park. Yolanda gets off her shift at the vet offices and resumes a conversation with Jack, regarding some "incidents" that everyone is searching for an explanation for and the plausibility (or lack thereof) of some of the theories for it. Jack and Yolanda take a walk, discussing their "new partners", the rumours surrounding them and whether or not they trust them. Their new partners... BioGen!

*A week and a half ago, the Prehistoric Park crew (Drew, the deputy keepers and the heads of staff are called by Theodore to discuss their new 'partners' and whether or not they are to be trusted. As Theodore points out, Rick was perfectly willing to co-operate with them during the IBP fiasco and seems genuinely interested in co-operation. They further discuss BioGen's Prohistoric Park project (something similar to Prehistoric Park, but with the purpose of rescuing and displaying animals from the FUTURE); some are intrigued, whilst others are rather more pensive as to the ethics of it all. The meeting adjourns, with everyone reluctantly giving BioGen a chance.*

Back in the present, Jack and Yolanda continue their discussion as the trustworthiness of BioGen; from their discusson, it's clear they don't fully trust BioGen, and are wary of their new partners. As Jack points out, the circumstances behind how BioGen managed to strike their partnership with Novum are still rather suspicious and there are already some conspiracy theories as to what could be going on involving the merger, particularly what BioGen might be planning. Disturbed by the implications, Jack and Yolanda turn the subject to the "little incidents" that seem to be bedevilling Prehistoric Park in recent weeks and whether BioGen could be responsible for them; but, as Yolanda comments, everyone has their own personal theory and not all of them are plausible. Suddenly, Leon bursts in with big news; apparently, Rick has dropped by for a visit! He's called everyone for a meeting.

*A week and a half ago, Jack and Dominic Pierce are at the Quetzalcoatlus aviary in the Hell Creek section for a very pressing reason; Zephyr, one of the male Quetzocoatlus has seemingly vanished without a trace. This is not an isolated incident; in the past weeks, various animals amongst Prehistoric Park's repertoire have disappeared in the night, seemingly without a trace. This fact is proving to be a worrisome subject for the people at the park. Later, the Deputy Keepers are in a meeting with Nikolai about the disappearances; Nikolai comments that there are many theories as to why the animals are beginning to disappear, all of them unsettling. And, with no concrete leads so far, they're going to have to wait until any come up. Everyone leaves, disturbed at what could be going on beneath their noses...*

In the meeting room, Rick addresses both sets of heads of staff, delivering a speech that, since his company and Novum are now working together, any negativity that befalls either of their two companies will also affect the other, and with all the bad publicity that BioGen has already incurred, co-operation is in everyone's best interests. And so, the heads of staff, plus Theodore, allow Rick to stay at the park for a while. Everyone departs, heading back to their own duties.

## Notes

### Continuity notes

* BioGen and Prehistoric Park have had quite a frosty relationship; their attempted sabotage occurred in the finale of Phase Three and they (under John Watson's command) were the main villains of Phase Four. Their partnership with Novum clearly happened some point after the opening of Prohistoric Park; in the finale of that story's Phase Four, Rick commented enigmatically that "a new approach was in order"... This is evidently that new approach.

### Real-world references

* The title of this two-parter is derived from the Julian Cope song of the same name. Its subtitle (and that of its successor) is taken from the expression "The more things change, the more they stay the same".
* The issue opens with the dialogue "aaaaand... we're back!", which is, of course, a meta-reference to this issue's position as the first Prehistoric Park story after a brief delay.