Many of Horizon's scientists had long seen that Animalia had seen some potential struggles for regard to Animalians maintaining some semblance of an economy that would integrate well with humanity. This ultimately had little to do with the government, but simply in the way humanity functioned. And they knew that Animalia would never prosper so long as the sole element of their economy was either subsistence farming or based on tourism. The fact that human job markets focused a lot on the flow of money made both potentially difficult to keep. The former was powerless before weather patterns in one way or another and the other was powerless before the whims of people.
And Horizon's leadership had long tried to take full responsibility for the accident that had resulted in Animalia. It may have been an accident, but it also made such a massive discovery that it had been something that had never been seen before. It was on par with the accidental discovery of penicillin as far as Horizon was concerned. They couldn't let Animalia become dependent on simple things, it was why they had invested so much in educating the Animalians in Lyre and at Mieni, why they were willing to pay for the upgrading of the old hotel in the Amazon. It was why they looked toward establishing research centers with the Animalian colonies, both in the hope of increasing their own scientific research and offering Animalia a chance to be part of it. It would lead to future developments that would help the world and hopefully support everyone.
In this, there was both fear and even pride at the new museum opening on Mieni. Fear because it was still a tourist attraction that would be dependent on summer tourists coming to Mieni to spend their money there. One bad tourist season, or a collapse in the economies of the countries that are most frequently taking the cruises routed through Mieni, and the atoll's economy would be in a world of hurt. However, at the same time, it did offer certain educational ideas that would help any new Animalians, particularly those that were uplifted animals learn many of the skills they would need. The museum on WW2 in the Pacific helped with history and the new nautical museum would help with science. And it left a few Horizon scientists nervously standing by as the new museum opened. Even Harold was there, his tail coiled under him and his fingers crossed.
"Almost as exciting as the genetic research we've done," one man whispered to Harold.
"More nerve wracking though," Harold answered, "At leassssst there, I know enough to predict what would happen."
They stood by and watched as security staff unlocked the doors and the first tourists were allowed entry into the museum. There were a few curious Animalians, as well as the Animalia Ambassadoria crew, though they seemed to be short one, as far as Harold could see, but the thing that proved the most pleasing was that there were a large number of humans with them. And at the same time, they weren't familiar, in that Harold didn't think they were students from Lyre High. This meant that a good many of these visitors were NEW visitors to Mieni.
"Well... it would appear our announcements DID attract a lot of people," one of the scientists said with a small smile. "Might make more people interested in science."
"Hopefully a ssstudy of nature and ecology," Harold spoke, his forked tongue still carrying a slight lisp and hissing tone, though with practice, it HAD been getting better. "Asssss that is where all the great sssurprisses are."
The other scientists nodded and simply watched as the people came in. Many pointed at the giant squid that had been killed by Ran, Gaz, Rapier, and Gladys and there was a lot of awe that they could overhear as they looked at it. Harold, also couldn't help but smile as many also soon made their way about the museum and looking the other exhibits that were there. The attention served to give some indication of interest in what they wished the museum would present. That would be the big thing, in Harold's mind. Have the museum present something educational, that way when his and Kirana's eggs hatched, when Gaz gave birth to her children (as Great Whites DO give birth to live young) would have a way of learning about both the past and the world around them. That would surely lead to things coming back as they through knowledge and science helped work to make the world a better place.
The scientists managed to stay out of the way as Animalia Ambassadoria filmed their bit to introduce the museum, but they also did overhear some of the conversations, including that of uplifting Sperm Whale. That only raised some further ponderings between them and soon sparked a similar discussion of their own.
"Could an animal be too large to uplift?" the first in the group wondered, "that an animal's size would resist the virus? Like how invertebrates don't appear to be affected?"
"No, it'd work," the second commented, "Sperm Whales are related to Dolphins and Orca, which have been uplifted successfully. There isn't anything genetically in them that would mean they can't be uplifted."
"Their sizzze could sssstill be a problem though," Harold commented, "assss while large animalsss do get smaller... uplifted elephantssss are sstill larger than any other land Animalian. The uplifted Orcassss in Lyre are the ssssame..."
"So... uplifting a Sperm Whale might be possible, but the resulting Animalian would still be quite large," the second scientist said slowly.
"And would thusss be too big for the buildingssss we have... and might ssstill be too big that it can't out of water," Harold nodded slowly.
That raised a series of knowing nods from the other two scientists with Harold. Whales were impressive creatures, particularly for many of the large species. Whales like the Blue Whale made the African Elephant look small, and while Ran, Gaz, Rapier, and Gladys had managed to kill the giant squid that had attacked them, a lone Sperm Whale at full size would be large enough to kill Giant Squid on their own. Given the size of the Giant Squid that they had preserved from the battle, that would mean an impressive size in its own right. However, such size also came with a price that related to its size. Whales and particularly large whales that had found themselves beached for whatever reason were in major trouble. Their bodies were designed to be supported by water. On land, that weight crushed their own organs. Gaining legs and being slightly smaller as Animalians might help, but none of the three could be sure. In that, they agreed those mysteries of the deep were best investigated with technology.