"And they're running out of space in Dino City?" Mrs. Luwrie asked to Sophie and Roland at the dining table at the Luwrie home, and one that had been extended out so that the rest of the Albers family, including JC and Pauline, could come along.
"Wouldn't that hurt you two moving there after college?" Mr. Luwrie then asked, "or something else?"
Sophie carefully swallowed the grilled fish that Mr. Luwrie had grilled as part of this big family dinner and then looked over to Roland. The two of them had generally planned on moving to Dino City when they were able to. It wasn't that they disliked Lyre/Animalia or didn't feel there were opportunities for them there, but Sophie had been majoring in history and philosophy and was actually eying law school, which she figured she could then provide help and services for Horizon in Texas regarding their work to protect Dino City and their projects there, as well as provide some consultation for Jeremy and Heather as well. This related more to some of the moral debates that could be needed, given where some of the arguments that some at times made regarding all things done regarding Animalia and the fact that both had made mistakes in the past. Both Jeremy and Heather had seemed to make up for their past errors, but Sophie figured it wouldn't hurt to have a familiar and friendly face for them to be able to talk to. Roland had been looking more at education, figuring that by the time they finished college, Dino City's school would be starting as the first generations of hatchlings were ready for at least pre-school, and if not that, then to a least be available for any new Dinotopians that became Pterosaurs like them and save some of the added travel for flight training.
"It's not so much a shortage as it is issues with how the state of Texas has governed things at present combined with some of the increased tourist attention to Dino City itself," Sophie answered after a moment, "there might be some cases where people in Glen Rose have wanted to convert but don't want to move from Glen Rose to Dino City and things like that... but a true shortage isn't there. As things like the Skybax was set up down there to be a mixed hotel and apartment building, and from everything I've heard... they're doing alright."
"Some of that is because the owner has saved you and Roland an apartment there," JC pointed out.
"Some of the talk on "shortages" might be more with those who wanted to buy a house in Dino City rather than an apartment," Roland commented, "but to a degree, the homes down there were going to be "limited" to begin with, and that was then made more difficult when some of those super wealthy people wanted to convert but didn't want to accept living in more middle-class dwellings."
"Well, an apartment wouldn't be too bad," Mr. Albers commented with a glance to Roland's father and then looking back to his daughter, "but... can they keep things cool down there? I mean... it's been hot HERE and we're a lot further north than Texas."
Sophie had to agree with the last point. It HAD been hot, even in Lyre and Animalia through July. To a degree, Sophie had been used to this, as while they were in northern Nevada, that didn't mean the summer weather wasn't warm. But this year, it had seemed warmer than expected, and she'd also noted effects that were likely to hurt the Brown Farm and was hurting farms in California regarding water use and that presented all sorts of potential problems for staying cool. She and Roland had had tried some ideas for a "cool breeze" that related to flying up as high as they could go and then diving down, letting their momentum build up a breeze that could help cool them down. But they found that while in the dive they were cooled a bit, once leveling out and needing to climb again, that simply burned more energy and left them feeling hot again.
"Yeah... it's been hot, I can't argue with that," Sophie admitted, "but right now, a lot of it is facing consequences from how fast things are changing and the fact that what we have to cool down was never built to handle what we're facing now. That will all take time to build up and figure out."
"Well... hopefully it's all figured out before you two move down there," Mrs. Luwrie commented.
"That's at least two years away, mom," Roland shook his beak.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Ice Haus had long been set to help many of the Animalians that had come from the Lyre Zoo that had been part of their exhibits for polar region animals, many of which were Arctic region animals. This often had to do with the fact that Arctic and Antarctic animals had evolved to deal with much colder temperatures than were present in Nevada, and it had even been built up in the old zoo. Largely as with all the animals in it being uplifted, the Lyre Zoo didn't have the money to restock unuplifted animals and at the same time the uplifted Animalians were often happy to participate in conversations that matched what was once done in the zoo and now didn't require as much space. That provided the space for the Ice Haus in Lyre and was attractive for the Animalians based on animals from the Artic and Antarctic regions.
And of late, this made things ever more attractive as the summer was seeing not just record levels of heat but longer periods of heat. This included those that had been part of Animalia from the beginning and those that were more recent, such as Louise and the Ribbon family. By now, Frederico had graduated from WSA, and Louise had gotten the permission to marry him from Frederico's parents, Carlos and Freia. It made for an interesting idea that the uplifted Ribbon Seal Animalians had chosen the surname "Ribbon," but Louise didn't mind. She was happy to have had the time to get to known Frederico and watch as he grew up. True, he had college classes now and that had them apart for a time, it also amazed her at how quickly that Frederico caught on to things and allowed Louise to work with Carlos and Freia, which also included looking after Frederico's younger brother, who was still coated in the fluffy white fur of a juvenile Ribbon Seal.
"I think this heat will never end," Louise said softly after they finished paying for the entry into the Ice Haus and made their way in. The cool to cold ventilation felt good as she walked with Frederico on her arm and with Carolos and Freia walking beside her. Frederico's younger brother toddled between both pairs with Freia holding his hand.
"Yes, it is vexing," Freia agreed, "particularly when it seems like it's been warmer than in previous summers and these super high temperatures are lasting longer than previous summers."
"Thank goodness for the Ice Haus," Carlos commented as he rubbed Freia's back and they made their way in and finding that the main area had far more Animalians there than normally expected.
Some were even those that they didn't often see at the Ice Haus. But the Ribbon family seemed to guess that a lot of that was a result of all the hot weather that had been going on through the July weather. It meant that some of the couches that were there for Animalians to sit on were occupied and it was that that worried Freia a little bit. Her youngest, Luiz, was reasonably strong for his age and made good time around the apartment she and Carlos had, and he got along well enough with Frederico and Louise that it made for easier babysitting days during the summer. However, because he was only around two years old, standing still wouldn't be great, particularly when it would mean going back out into the high heat. Thus, they began looking for a place where they could at least set Luiz down. Eventually they did find an open spot, though one that was near a group of Polar Bear Animalians. It was a bit of a surprise, but given how packed things seemed, Freia urged Luiz forward.
"Excuse me," Freia spoke to the Polar Bear Animalian that was seated on the couch, she was female and had a rather impressive height but didn't have the secondary sexual characteristics that the other Polar Bear Animalians with the group had, "is anyone seated there."
"No," the Polar Bear Animalian answered and turned to see Luiz, "oh, and aren't you cute! Like a picture book and all covered in fuzz! It looks a bit like my fuzz. I'm Polly."
"I'm Freia, this little one is my youngest son, Luiz," Freia introduced herself, and then gestured to Carlos and Frederico, "these are my mate... husband... Carlos and my older son, Frederico."
Frederico then introduced Louise, "this is my mate, Louise."
"I remember you from WSA," spoke another of the Polar Bear Animalians, making Frederico look up to see Marcy and Chilly leaning against the wall and with her parents standing nearby, "you were all rescued from the drug lord in Mexico, right?"
"Or some other Latin American country," Frederico nodded as he looked to Marcy, "none of us really kept that close of track of where we were before our uplifting."
"And we don't want to go back," Carlos added as Freia helped Luiz onto the couch beside Polly, who offered a finger for Luiz to play with.
"I could imagine that," Mr. White commented, "given how hot it's been. I get off work and it's sweltering."
"It could make for the want for establishing a colony in a place a bit color than Nevada is," Louise commented, "It might not mean avoiding warm weather completely... but at least not one hundred plus degree heat for day after day."
That soon drew another voice and making them turn to seeing Manfred Tuscan managing to squeeze through the crowd. The Wooly Mammoth Animalian waved his ears forward and back for a moment to draw attention to them.
"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear," Manfred spoke politely, "but Horizon has been working at a colony further north. I believe it's to be somewhere in Canada... a spot that that's relatively open to set up a colony and provide a means to be ready for some other projects... Largely related to the idea of bringing back the actual mammoths."
"I think I've seen some of the stories on that," Marcy commented, "but, they haven't gotten too far on it."
Manfred nodded, "Yes. Some of it relates to more Human squabbles in recent years that's interrupted a lot of the construction and other projects. The other part relates to some of the scientific questions on what theory of cloning a Wooly Mammoth would best work and moral questions on whether or not they should try to clone Wooly Mammoths or make an approximation of one with Indian Elephants. The latter one is the bigger cause of the delay."
"And they'll call it Cenozoic Park, no doubt," Carlos quipped, "you said this was to be in Canada?"
"Yes," Manfred nodded, "Somewhere in either British Columbia or Alberta, I believe. And it would be north of where we are and would have cooler temperatures on average."
"Would that be near the ocean?" Freia wondered.
"No, it'd be inland," Manfred admitted, "but cooler. And they could probably make a pool for swimming, and so on. They do a lot of those sorts of things. The old whale and dolphin pools from the aquarium here are often used for swimming."
"Which is fun!" Polly declared.
"Swim?" Luiz asked.
"I'd think if we were to set up a new colony," Freia commented, "at least for us... it would be preferrable to be closer to the sea. Maybe do something that would conserve mundane Ringed Seals, and perhaps mundane Polar Bears as well."
"That may end up require working with Alaska's state government and see if anyone might be willing to sell land to build a colony," Mrs. White commented, "and while it probably would be nice to do something for the mundane seals and Polar Bears of the region... our family's lived here in Lyre for years. Even before Marcy converted and fell in love with Chilly."
"That's understandable," said Frederico, "and while I graduated from WSA, the work that is wanted for working to study and protect these animals in the wild is requiring a lot of extra schooling... College work, and the like. So, it's not like we can suddenly move right now, either."
"I'm looking at the same thing with regard to NASA and stuff like that," Marcy commented, "A lot of the piloting work ends up going to Air Force guys, but the science crews want people who know all sorts of things. Biology and geology are needed for looking at... or speculating on other worlds. Physics and astronomy for navigation and the stars and so on. It's fun though."
"That's good to hear," Frederico smiled, "and with your grades, I'm sure that you'd have plenty of time to relax for the summer."
"Only here in the Ice Haus," Marcy laughed.
"Ice House!" Luiz cheered with Polly picking up on the cheer as well.