For the most part, the day was uneventful for Kris. She had just arrived on Pandora, and even though she was a Marine, she was there to help with all the 'science stuff', as she called it. As she was heading to the Avatar room, she saw none other than her father, who stopped her to talk to her.
"Kristyn," he said when he saw her. He was the only person she knew that still called her Kristyn. "You better not screw up while you're here. I hope you'll be able to replace your brother. He died for a good cause, and if you aren't as dedicated as him, you'll either die, or get sent back home." he finally finished. Kris didn't respond and passed him, rolling her eyes.
"If only he had the slightest bit of hope for me. But of course, he never will." she said to herself under her breath as she entered the Avatar room.
When she walked in, Dr. Grace Augustine looked up at her from her work and smiled. "Kris, right?" Grace said, walking over to the girl, shaking her hand. Kris just nodded in response, also smiling. "And Nathan was your brother?" Grace asked as the two walked towards the back of the room.
"Yeah," Kris replied as they approached three guys.
"Guys, we have our last person for the avatars." Grace said to them. All three guys turned to face the two women at the sound of Grace's voice. "This is Kris Warlick. She's Nathan's twin sister." Grace introduced her to the three.
"I see the resemblance." one of the three guys said. Kris concluded that by the way he looked, he was a super-nerd and knew everything about probably everything. She also noticed that one of the guys was in a wheelchair and must've been in the Marines, also. She also had the shirt he was wearing.
"So, Kris, if you'll follow me, I'll show you your avatar and tell you everything you need to know about the operation here." Grace then said, starting to walk away, Kris following. For a while, they were walking around the room trying to find the avatar that would've been her brothers, but now had been changed to a girl so it wouldn't be a waste of time. It wasn't all that hard for Grace to find it. Most of what she said also went right over Kris' head. She hardly understood any of it. Too 'sciencey' for her. "Did you get all that?" Grace then asked her to make sure.
"I think my head's gonna explode." Kris said as a reply. Grace chuckled ever so slightly. "That's what I thought." she said back. "Maybe Norm can it explain it better - in mostly plain English." Then Grace went to go find whoever Norm was. When she got back, they guy that had pointed out Kris' & Nathan's resemblance was behind her. "This is Norm, and he is, I guess you could say my 'assistant' in some ways." Grace introduced him. Then she went to go do something that was important with whatever they all were working on while on Pandora.
"So, I get to try to explain the whole Avatar program and what we do here?" Norm said as he sat beside Kris.
"Yep," she replied, already sounding bored. 'Damn my short attention span.' she thought to herself as Norm started explaining everything again, but in a way that she understood better. "First you should know that people like Grace and I aren't here because of the Unobtanium that's apparently somewhere around here. We're here to study the people and wildlife - both plant and animal - here on Pandora. We have these Avatars so we can get around better outside the base perimeter and so we don't scare the natives here, the Na'vi. Each avatar is for a specific person, sharing their DNA, but in the form of a Na'vi-human hybrid. Your avatar, of course, would've been your brothers, so you probably know what alterations had to be made to fit your specific DNA." Norm said in one long speech. Kris nodded.
"Yeah," she said, looking at her avatar self. "Had to give it a sex change. And I'm the only one here that has the guts to say something like that out loud." she concluded. Norm chuckled.
"Yeah, actually, you are."
"So, is that it? Is that really all I need to know? 'Cuz it took Grace a lot longer to try to explain everything to me." Kris then asked, looking over at Norm.
"Well, she probably also told you about how we interact with the natives here and even taught them English and stuff like that." Norm replied, standing up. Then Kris stood up, too, and noticed that she was almost as tall as he was. She could tell it intimidated him a little bit. That made her laugh a little on the inside. Then, Grace came in from the other side of the room, and Kris was glad, because the atmosphere in the room was borderline awkward.
"So, Kris, do you understand everything better?" Grace asked, a smile still on her face. Kris noticed how comfortable Grace seemed. It made her a little more comfortable, too.
"Yes I do." Kris replied, smiling a little.
"Good," Grace said back as she started doing something on the clipboard-like thing in her hand. "You will give your avatar a test run first thing in the morning. Myself and Norm will be somewhere in our avatar forms ourselves. We'll be able to help you while you get used to being ten feet tall." At Grace's last statement, Kris cocked an eyebrow.
"Ten feet tall? Holy shit." she said, forgetting to watch her language, something she had told herself to do before she even got to Pandora. Both Grace and Norm scoffed ever so slightly, both amused at what Kris said. "Sorry about that. I should probably watch my language." Kris said shyly.
"It's fine. I'm used it." Grace said, still somewhat amused.
"I'm gonna have to guess that's one of the few things that makes you and your father similar?" Norm then said, coming up beside Kris.
"More like the only thing that makes us even remotely similar. You should've heard the arguments we had when I was a teenager." Kris said smugly, arms crossed. This made Grace chuckle again, and Norm scoffed.
"You should probably meet everyone else working with us." Grace then said. Kris was glad that Grace could make an uncomfortable situation go back to normal.
"Okay," Kris replied, following Grace, Norm following Kris.
"Norm, do you know where Jake went?" Grace asked as the three of them walked.
"No," Norm said as he and Kris caught up to Grace. "He might be doing a video log. Which would be surprising."
"Do I even have to ask about that?" Kris said as the three of them turned down a hallway. "Everyone here does a video log about their experience. Most of the Marines here think it's stupid." Grace explained quickly.
"And I'd have to agree with them mostly. And not because I'm some Jarhead. Because I have shitty social and communication skills." Kris said bluntly. Then they entered a dimly lit room, and Jake was on the other side at the camera used for the video logs.
"Jake, I'm glad you're done with that." Grace said as a man in a wheelchair turned away from the camera used for the logs. "You should meet the newest team member. She's taking Nathan's spot."
"She?" Jake said as he wheeled up to Grace, Norm, & Kris.
"Yeah, she. Is that a problem?" Kris said. This made Jake look up at her.
"I didn't know Nathan's twin was a girl." he said to no one in particular. Then Grace rolled her eyes, sensing the obvious tension already forming between the two.
"Okay, past that, I'll just introduce you already. Jake, this is Kris. Kris this is Jake." Grace said, her annoyance obvious in her voice. No one said anything. Grace rolled her eyes again. "Okay, we have a lot of things to get done today, let's go." she said, making Kris and Norm exit the room first.
"Who else do I have to meet? I think I've had my fair share of introductions today." Kris said, obviously annoyed at Jake's rudeness.
"You'll find out when you meet her." Grace said, passing Kris and Norm.
"Oh, well at least it's not another Jarhead guy." Kris said, not quite as annoyed anymore. "You know I heard that." Jake said from behind her.
"I don't care." she said bluntly, her annoyance coming back.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Jake then asked her, rolling up beside her, taking up the whole hallway.
"Do you have a problem with me? 'Cuz if not, then back the fuck off." Kris said, now getting flat out pissed off. This confused Jake, but he didn't say another word.
"You know Kris, you're probably gonna like Trudy. You're a lot like her." Norm said, looking back at Kris as they were all going down the hallway.
"Cool," Kris said, no longer annoyed or pissed off, which confused Jake the most out of everyone there.
Grace, Norm, Jake, and Kris were soon in what looked a little bit like a gym. There weren't very many people in the room, so it was easy for Grace to find Trudy. She was over at one of the several punching bags in the room.
"Trudy, I want you to meet the person taking Nathan's place." Grace said once they had approached the woman. She stopped what she was doing to look over at the small group. "Who?" she asked, panting slightly from the workout.
"This is Nathan's twin sister, Kris." Grace introduced the two women.
"Hi," Trudy said, holding out her hand for Kris to shake.
Kris took it, and said, "Hi," back. Then Trudy went back to the punching bag, and Grace turned to face Kris.
"Well, that's it for me. Unless you want to know more about what you're going to be helping us with." Grace said, starting back towards the exit of the rather large room. "I think I'll just stick to building up suspense and finding out about everything as it comes." Kris said. As the four got closer to the exit, none other than Kris' father came through the door.
"God almighty, I hope he's not looking for me." Kris said, hiding behind Norm as the four approached the Colonel. He saw Kris anyways. "There you are." he said. "Shit," Kris whispered, coming from behind Norm. "What?" she asked, obviously annoyed. "You shouldn't be around them. You're a Marine. Marine's here don't get into all this damn science stuff." he said to her flat out. This slightly offended Grace and Norm, and Kris could tell, which really pissed her off. It took her a little while to say something back to him. "Too fucking bad. I like being around them." she retorted. "You should be training for something else. Not some stupid science shit." he said, looking Kris straight in the face. "God dammit dad, that's why I'm fucking here! To help them with this fucking 'science shit' as you call it! Damn." she practically exploded in his face. This sudden outburst surprised even Quaritch. But he recovered quickly. "Kristyn Rosalie Warlick-Quaritch! What the HELL gives you the grounds to talk to me like that?" he practically yelled, now in her face and all father/marine-mode on her. She didn't back down for a second. "The fact that I'm not fucking 16 anymore and can say what I very damn well please." she replied viciously. Then, as a gut reaction and as a colonel in the Marines, he raised his hand to hit her, which surprised Grace, Norm and Jake. When he swung, what seemed like the impossible happened. Kris grabbed his wrist mid-swing, now just inches from his face. Fury was radiating off both of them like heat off a car on a hot day. "Mind check. I'm your fucking daughter. Last time I remembered, you're not allowed to hit me. I don't give a damn if I'm in the Marine Corps; that still gives you no goddamn grounds for it. So get the hell out of my face and let me go do what the fuck I want." Kris said, malice laced into her voice.
Now even Trudy was over near the group, a little freaked out by what was happening. Kris finally let go of her father's arm, glaring at him. She then pushed him out of the way - which no one thought was even possible for someone her size - and quickly exited the room, flipping off her father as she left. No one tried to say anything to the outraged colonel, and Trudy decided to leave with Grace, Norm, and Jake. All four of them were at a loss for words as they started down a hallway. Finally, Grace broke the silence. "Someone should go find Kris, make sure she's okay. The way her father treated her was beyond unacceptable, even if she was treating him the same way." she said, the worry obvious in her voice. "I'll go find her." Trudy spoke up. "I doubt any more male company would do her any good." she continued as she branched off down a different hallway from the others.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Trudy that long to find Kris. She was sitting in a hallway, her back against the wall, staring into space. Trudy decided to go sit beside her. "Hi," she said, looking over at Kris. "Hi," Kris said back, very little feeling in her voice. 'Damn, her father messed her up good.' Trudy thought. "You know, no offense or anything, but you look like a lost puppy that's been kicked too many times." Trudy said, hoping that wouldn't get Kris more pissed off than she already was. "You got that from The Outsiders." Kris said, looking over at Trudy. "Yeah," Trudy said back, staring into space, too. "It was my favorite book when I was a teenager." "Me, too," Kris said back, smiling a little. "So, I'm gonna guess you probably have some extra steam to let out from the earlier thing with your dad?" Trudy then said. "Yeah, more like a lot." Kris said, sounding irritated. "Well then come on, I don't think anyone stuck around in the supposed 'gym' some science geek put up via orders from your father, so why don't we both go? I've always got extra steam to let out." Trudy said, standing up. She then helped Kris up, and the two went to the 'gym'. On the way, Kris was in much higher spirits than she had previously.