Jason reviewed the list again.

  Jason pressed on Indian Peafowl. A hologram of a peacock was projected into the air in front of his eyes. The colorful bird was spun around. A book button appeared by it and he opened it up to read the Zoopedia entry.

  He noted it before looking at the Meerkat.

  He closed the Habitat Animals menu and opened the Construction menu again. He chose the hedge tool and drew an enclosure by the entrance. He pressed the terrain tool and made a small pond along with some trees and foliage from India. He went back to the construction menu and plopped down some hidden heaters in the enclosure. He finally ended by placing a feeding platform and some enrichment such as a forage box with hidden food and scent marker. Once he was done, he placed down one peacock and then two peahens in the habitat.

  The peacock turned towards the hens and immediately displayed his colorful tail. One of the peahens stepped forwards and visibly nodded, which Jason swore peafowls didn't do.

  Indian Peafowl 2, which seemed to be the auto-generated name, trilled before picking up leaves and branches to build a nest. As the peafowl were doing that, Jason looked to one of the areas he outlined with paths earlier and started placing down some rocks from Southern Africa. While the chain link fence would've sufficed, he thought it'd be better to try to make it look natural. Glass walls were placed between rock segments to give guests a decent view inside the habitat. Once it was properly enclosed with a backstage area and a keeper gate, he got to work with the terrain. He placed down heaters through the habitat and changed the ground for sand and rock. Some more desert rocks were placed down around the habitat and some dry grass was added.

  Once that was done, he placed down a fake termite mound for termites to be placed in and he added a sprinkler just because. He then opened up the habitat animal menu and bought two males and two females. They appeared in crates that opened up to reveal them. The meerkats were kind of cute, he had to admit.

  That brought a smile to Jason's face as they then started burrowing underground.

  With two habitats done, Jason opened the staff menu and hired a zookeeper, a vet, a vendor, a janitor, and a mechanic. When he put the tablet down, five cars drove into the parking lot. Five staff members then walked in. He was then flooded with messages.

  Jason looked at the staff members and realized they weren't technically part of the system. In fact, as far as he could tell, they were actual people and not just conjurations. To test the theory, he walked up to the zookeeper and asked, "What's your level?"

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  The zookeeper turned to face Jason and looked puzzled. He shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." The zookeeper then extended his hand. "The name is Daniel Morales. Just graduated recently with a degree in zoology and I'm looking forwards to handling the animals here. I have had previous experience by volunteering at the Ridgewood Animal Shelter." Jason shook his hand as a notification flashed on the tablet.

  The veterinarian walked up to Jason and extended her hand. "Jessica Li. I used to work at a vet clinic in a rural California town, but decided to transfer here as soon as I saw the opening." Jason shook her hand. She looked past him and saw the meerkats staring at her. She gushed. "They're adorable! I definitely made the right choice!" She then crouched down and motioned for them to come towards her, which wasn't working but it was to be assumed.

  Jason rolled his eyes. Of course she's an ungulate specialist when we don't have any yet.

  The vendor stepped forwards next. She looked to be around sixteen with blonde hair and wore a visor. She was staring at her phone. "Name's Melanie Carter. I figured this is a good place to work for the summer." She looked up and saw Devon walking by with a cart full of Beast energy drinks. Devon winked at her. She gagged. "Ugh, why is that idiot working here? I share Algebra class with him and he makes me feel like a genius in that stupid subject."

  Next up was the janitor. He tipped his hat and said, "Pablo Garcia. I worked at the museum before I quit. Too many hours for too little pay."

  The mechanic was last. He slapped Jason on the back hard, knocking the air out of him. "I'm Brad Carpenter. Used to work on construction sites, but I saw that you had a competitive wage, so I switched over."

  Jason opened and built the required staff facilities by the admin offices. He then connected it to the main path with staff paths. He then looked at the balance.

  Jason scratched his beard on his chin. I should leave some money for later, but perhaps I can make some exhibits for smaller animals. He opened up the Exhibit Animals menu.

  He clicked on the Reptiles/Amphibians tab.

  Jason constructed a small reptile house and filled the few exhibits. He placed down a western diamondback rattlesnake, an eastern copperhead, and an American bullfrog. Nothing exotic, but still educational.

  Seeing the low remaining balance, Jason placed down a few donation bins and information boards with the habitats and exhibits before opening up the main menu again.

  He clicked on the Finances tab and saw the new menu.

  He clicked on Zoo Management and set the zoo settings.

  He opened the zoo and then paid for a $1000 marketing campaign in the newspaper. His tablet pinged.