Eric Kirby

Eric Kirby was a character originating in the JP/// universe.

## Biography

### Early Life

Eric Kirby was born to Paul and Amanda Kirby in early July of 1988 in Enid, Oklahoma. He was an only child. One of his favorite films growing up was the 1986 film *Top Gun*, which was part of the reason he dreamed of being an Air Force pilot when he grew up. He would often visit the Vance Air Force Base to see the Wings of Blue parachute team.

On May 25th, 1997, the San Diego incident occurred, in which an adult male *Tyrannosaurus rex* became loose in San Diego, California. Eric watched the footage of the incident countless times; though his friends thought of him as a jock, he secretly loved dinosaurs and dreamed of seeing them someday. He became dissatisfied with life in Enid, believing the people there to have small dreams.

Eric attended Waller Junior High, and played for their football and hockey teams the Eagles. Their rivals were the Temple Hills Lions. He enjoyed fishing with his family and going on trips with them.

Due to his interest in Jurassic Park, Eric read both of Alan Grant's books. He enjoyed the original, *Dinosaur Detectives*, more than the book Alan wrote after his Isla Nublar experience. He also read Ian Malcolm's book *God Creates Dinosaurs*, but found it too preachy for his tastes.

Eric's parents fought frequently later in their marriage, causing Eric to seek acceptance and stability elsewhere. He had an older friend, Eddie Campbell, who taught him how to hotwire cars and encouraged him to spy on the townsfolk. In reality, this wasn't just a game, as Eddie sold Eric's reports on the townsfolk's daily routines to local thieves for money. Eventually, Eddie was arrested after trashing the police car of Deputy Thompkins of the Enid Police Department along with Eric. Eric came up with a convincing enough alibi to avoid justice.

### Broken Family

In 2000, after around a decade of troubled marriage, the Kirbys divorced. Amanda got primary custody of Eric.

Less than a year after the divorce, Amanda began dating a man named Ben Hildebrand, a wealthy entrepreneur and founder of Dot.Com Engineering. She and Eric moved in with him in San Diego. Eric liked Ben's adventurous lifestyle.

### Survivor

In May of 2001, Ben brought Eric and Amanda on a vacation to three different countries, the final one being Costa Rica where they stayed in his vacation home. Ben was planning on heading with them to Puerto Viejo to surf Salsa Brava, a famous huge wave. Amanda told Ben about how much Eric loved dinosaurs, and so Ben got in contact with Enrique Cardoso to get them a Dino-Soar tour near Isla Sorna. He announced this plan to Eric that night on his private yacht.

On May 23rd, they set off for Isla Sorna. When sailing near the island, the boat went through a fog bank where it was attacked by interdimensional Troödons, killing Enrique and his co-captain. The boat was speeding unattended toward a rocky outcrop, so Ben detached them from the boat and they glided toward the island. They had a rough landing, and Ben's injuries were severe. Eric survived relatively uninjured, but Ben died of his injuries shortly after. Eric fled the area, menaced by predatory creatures as he tried to get to the ocean. He followed some two-toed sloths into an abandoned banana plantation, where he stayed for the night.

The following morning he was dislodged from his tree by a group of feeding *Diplodocus*, and had a run-in with an *Ankylosaurus* family. His shoulder was injured by flying debris when he spooked the ankylosaurs, though he was trying to save one of their young from a large snake. He made a fire to stay warm through the night, but was nearly eaten by compies and so climbed into another tree.

Several days later, after sleeping in trees night after night, Eric found the Embryonics Administration and Laboratories Complex. Unfortunately, the phones are dead and the radios are not powered up. After several days here, he was nearly found out by a *Velociraptor*, and was accidentally saved by a young male *Iguanodon* that he named Iggy. He barricaded himself into the building, but raptors broke in during the night anyway and he had to flee. Hiding in a supply bunker, he was inspired not to give up after reading a copy of Alan Grant's *Dinosaur Detectives*, particularly a passage about dinosaurs evolving into birds. He read more books left behind by the former InGen staff, learning that there were plans to install safe houses across the island in case a dinosaur escaped during transport. Only one was ever installed, but it should have a power source he could use. After two failed attempts to make for the safe house, he became trapped outside his bunker when a *Triceratops* went to sleep there, so he set off.

On the way, he was menaced by a pack of *Velociraptors* led by a powerful alpha male Eric names Red Rings for the pattern on his neck. The next day, he reached the valley where the safe house was located, finding large herds of herbivorous dinosaurs including Iggy's herd. They were located in a treeless bowl-shaped valley and looked like they were low on food, but they were not leaving the valley. He realized that Red Rings and his pack were trapping herbivores in the valley for food. Eric cannot safely get through the valley because of the raptors, but tries to devise a plan to distract them. That night he creates a makeshift lightning rod using a crowbar he salvaged and causes lightning to strike a tree and set it ablaze, sending Eric and some raptors into the valley. He escapes into the caves.

The next day he evades some raptors and leaves the caves, slipping into Iggy's herd to avoid the raptors. He manages to get into the safe house after a few failed attempts to get the door open, and after a moment the power kicks in. There is lots of equipment, but unfortunately no communication, as the safe house had not been complete when the island was abandoned. He decides to use the stun gun chargers to charge the radios, having Iggy carry the small but heavy charger. Armed to the teeth, he goes against Red Rings and his pack. The herd flees while the raptors fight Eric, but they soon have to try and get their herd back. A battle between *Iguanodons* and *Velociraptors* occurs. In the fight, Eric blows off Red Rings's toe claw with a stun gun, and the raptors lose morale; however, the charger is hopelessly damaged. Eric still manages to save Iggy, but then has to flee.

On his way back to the labs, Eric decided to stay in the wreck of a tanker truck sunken into the mud that he had found before.

Some time later, he obtained *Tyrannosaurus* urine to frighten away small carnivores. Eventually it attracted the attention of a *Spinosaurus*, however.

Eric had already lost track of the date, so he did not even notice when he turned thirteen.

### Rescue

Weeks passed, and Eric was hardened by his survival experience. He gave up hope of rescue. However, on July 18th as he was making a supply run, he heard human voices. Upon investigation, he found a man being cornered by raptors, and used the last of his gas grenades to save the man. He brought him back to the tanker truck, discovering that it was Alan Grant himself. Alan explained that Eric's parents had brought him to the island to save Eric. They stayed the night in the truck.

The following day, Eric and Alan headed toward the central waterway to recover a boat. They heard the sound of Paul's satellite phone ringing, not knowing that the phone had been on M.B. Nash the mercenary when he was eaten by Henry Wu in *Spinosaurus* form. Their shouts led Paul, Amanda, and Alan's assistant Billy Brennan to Eric and Alan, but also to Wu, who chased them into the Aviary. There they were attacked by four *Pteranodons*, which tried to feed Eric to their offspring. Billy sacrificed himself to save Eric, being washed upriver by the incoming tide after being attacked by pterosaurs. The others escaped out the Aviary after one of the adult pterosaurs was killed by a falling catwalk. They failed to lock the door behind them.

While spending the day heading downriver on a dinosaur transport barge, Eric managed to convince Alan that while the dinosaurs were genetically engineered anomalies, it was still worth it to see them alive.

That night Eric noticed some frightened bonito fish in the river. Earlier they had found a pile of spinosaur dung with the satellite phone and Nash's remains in it, so they knew their enemy was nearby. Sure enough, Wu attacked the boat, and Alan was barely able to contact Ellie Degler to let her know the danger they were in. While Paul Kirby distracted Wu from atop a construction crane, Alan lit spilled gasoline from the boat on fire, frightening away Wu. Paul was almost killed, but managed to swim to shore.

The following morning, the group was confronted by raptors from which Billy had stolen eggs. Amanda handed the eggs back, and Alan confused the raptors by imitating their cry for help using a replica resonating chamber. Helicopters sent by Ellie's husband arrived coincidentally at the same time, making the raptors assume the humans had summoned them. The raptors took their eggs and fled, and Eric and the others were rescued by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Billy had been rescued prior to this.

While they were removed from Isla Sorna, they witnessed the three surviving *Pteranodons* leave Isla Sorna airspace.

### Return to Normal Life

While Eric returned to Enid upon his return, and his parents remarried, he still had difficulty readjusting to life in the civilized world. In early August, Alan contacted him for help convincing the United Nations to create a new organization, the Bureau of Ancient Animal Affairs, to study and manage Isla Sorna and to ensure that ancient animals did not escape. Eric agreed to help. On September 1st, a UN General Assembly was held to determine the fate of Isla Sorna. Eric and Alan's testimonies convinced the UN to create the Bureau proposed by Alan. Eric had a hidden agenda, though; he craved a return to Isla Sorna, and in exchange for helping Alan with his proposal, he wanted the opportunity to go back. Alan reluctantly agreed. Eric also used parts of his speech about how he survived to create an outline for a book called *Survivor* about his experience.

Eric returned to Waller Junior High after the General Assembly, but did not fit in anymore like he used to. His parents and friends noticed that he had changed. Paul was against letting him go back to Isla Sorna, but Amanda was cautiously supportive, as Alan would be supervising him this time and he would be in the Ranger Station where dinosaurs could not reach him. Eric signed a contract to go on tour to promote *Survivor*, appearing with celebrities and on television shows. The media attention he got over the course of the month gained him even more fame and even fans.

### December on Isla Sorna

On Christmas, Paul and Amanda heard from Alan that the Ranger Station was nearly complete and that it would be safe for Eric to visit. They agreed to let him go.

Upon arrival to the Ranger Station, Eric discovered that only the heads of staff and the cook were present, along with two security personnel. All the other staff were home for Christmas break. Eric was upset with Alan upon learning this, as he had wanted to do field research.

After three uneventful days, an airplane flew over Isla Sorna and failed to respond to attempts to contact it. Radar indicated that parachutists dropped from the plane, possibly in danger. They lacked the manpower to rescue them properly, as most of the security staff were on the mainland. While the Rangers debated what to do, Eric slipped out to try and rescue the parachutists.

Eric scaled Mount Hood to get a better vantage point. He was disturbed by a quetzal bird, and then accidentally awoke a *Pteranodon*, which caused him to slip down the mountainside. He was mildly injured but carried on. When he finally found the parachutists, they were dangerously near a *Triceratops* family, and Eric imitated a raptor call to draw the herbivores' attention away from the parachutists. He discovered that they were actually a group of youths led by a teenager named Simon Tunney, who believed that there was a conspiracy on Isla Sorna led by Alan and wanted to get rich selling footage that exposed it, as well as making an amateur documentary. He and his comrades refused to return to the Ranger Station. When they climbed Mount Hood, juvenile raptors attacked them, and they set off fireworks to fight back. This alerted Alan and the Rangers to their location, and they promptly arrived. Simon and his group stole one of the Humvees to escape, and Eric went with Alan and the others to get them back. A *Carnotaurus* named Big Red, who had a grudge against Alan after Alan humiliated him, and his two subordinates also gave chase. One of their security personnel sacrificed himself to save Alan and the others during the attack, after they found that the stolen Humvee had been flipped.

Eric led Simon's group into a rock wall where a cavern filled with obelisks gave them a place to hide. The carnotaurs broke through the wall to follow them, but were stopped by the timely arrival of Ranger helicopters from the mainland. The rest of the group was saved, including Alan, who had been chased into the jungle. Simon had tried to save the film footage he took even though his brother was in mortal danger, and so his former friends turned against him. He was promptly arrested. Alan reprimanded Eric for going off on his own, but also was proud of his bravery and perseverance. Eric was permitted to return again to the base when it is fully operational in six months. He returns home, having gotten the closure he needed.

### Survivor Week

Eric had his book *Survivor* published, and went on tour doing book signings over the summer. He was slated to make an appearance at Survivor Week, held at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, in mid-July.

He and his mother flew from Enid to attend Survivor Week. On the second flight, Eric met a boy named Josh who was a fan of Eric's. Once they arrived at Universal, Eric met with Alan backstage; Alan was supposed to make a publicity appearance to gain more support for the Jurassic Park Rangers. During a question-and-answer session after they talked about their survival experiences, Josh asked Eric if Isla Sorna would ever be safe for visitors. Eric said yes, but Alan interrupted and said no. Eric tried to imply that some dinosaurs were safe, but Alan disagreed and left.

That night, a flock of escaped *Pteranodons* flew over Universal Studios in search of water, attracted to the pools in the park. The youngest of their flock was injured by a firework, causing the pterosaurs to stall over the park and stay there to defend their youngest offspring.

Eric and Amanda tried to enjoy themselves the following day in spite of Eric's fight with Alan, which he was still upset about. They were on the *Jaws* ride when a *Pteranodon* attacked. They managed to fight it off and escape, but the rest of the flock began corralling people into the central pool to eat later. Eric and Amanda found Alan and alerted him to the danger. They all hid in a theater along with Josh and a tabloid reporter named Manly Wilks who was harassing Alan with conspiracy theories. They fled through buildings of the park until Eric led them into a restaurant to hide. Josh was angry that they weren't rescuing his dad, who was out in the central pool with the other tourists. They traveled through a tram tunnel in search of the PA, trapping a pterosaur in the tram. They recorded its angry screeching to play over the PA to confuse the other pterosaurs so that the tourists have a chance to escape.

That night, the captured pterosaur escaped, and they began their feast of the corralled tourists. When Josh saw his dad in danger, he played the screeching recording even though Alan hadn't given the signal to do so yet. The pterosaurs were confused and the tourists used the distraction to stampede out of the water. Josh's dad was safe. Eric and the others entered the park. Manly left the group to capture a pterosaur as well as find the injured young, but was knocked out by Amanda. Armed forces arrived to kill the pterosaurs, but Alan convinced them not to; Eric and his mother treated the injured young pterosaur, while keeping the older ones calm and at bay.

As the pterosaurs were led by plane to Isla Sorna's aviary, where the Jurassic Park Rangers would keep an eye on them, Eric watched footage of the operation. He flew back home, making up with Josh. Once more, Eric returned to Enid.