Nadja defies the norm for humans, but not by choice. Experimented on as a child she is now hunted by the people that changed her, but with signs of government betrayal all around her she can't evade them forever. Will she find escape and friends on Pandora or will she face her fate alone?
I come out of cryo feeling a bit groggy and stretch as best I can while I wait for my bunk to slide out. There are no dreams in cryo, apparently this is because when you're in cryo you aren't actually sleeping. It's essentially freezing your body in time, until the cryo chamber is shut off and you 'wake up'. Or something. That's what I got from the technical mumbojumbo the person strapping me in spewed when I questioned him. A person is put into cryo when they're shipped out so that they don't age on the five year journey from Earth to Pandora, and so that they arrive in the same condition that they were shipped out in, maybe so that soldiers don't fall from their peak condition, I don't really know.
My bunk slides out and I'm unharnessed by some random techie, she questions me on my general health and how I'm feeling, then points me in the direction of a small locker with my surname on it, and says that it holds a ration pack for me. I'm also told that there will be another locker on the way out that hold the duffle I had brought on and that my barracks will have the standard set of care products and a couple of extra sets of clothing for me.
I float over, gather and consume the ration pack, then make my way to the exit that I had been directed to by a voice over the PA system and sure enough there was another locker emblazoned with my last name "Bähr". I smile weakly at the reminder of Mama then gather my duffle and give it a quick search to make sure nothing was taken or added in. Satisfied, I make my way off the ship and onto the plane that's going basecamp.
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On the plane I glance around at the other recruits, then turn to the man beside me and introduce myself with a smile "Nadja Bähr" I tell him extending a hand, my accent still just as strong from regular use of my favoured German tongue "Guard, Affatar Program. " "Jake Sully" he replies shaking my hand "Marine, Avatar Program" I smile, letting go of his hand. There is a pause before he speaks up again "Nadia?" he sheepishly questions the pronunciation of my name "Nein" I am quick to correct him "Nadja", he stares for another moment then repeats "Nadia?" sounding more sure of himself, even while still incorrect "Nein!" I protest the abuse of my name "Nadja, it means hope in Deutsche" he nods absentmindedly, processing what I said before shrugging, seemingly in defeat.
Jake rests his head back, gazing at the ceiling "So, who or what are you here to 'guard'?" he seems a bit disbelieving of my title, making a small air quotes motions with his fingers around the word 'guard' "Apparently, I'm here to make zure nothing eats zee ridiculously expenziffe Affadars vile zee techies explore. More specifically, to make zure nothing eats…" I pause and dig through my pockets to find the paper that outlines my mission and has the name of my charge on it along with a headshot "Grace Augustine? I do not know vhy." I finish with a 'what are you gonna do' shrug. Jake shakes his head chuckling at me "sounds fun." "Och!," I nudge his shoulder with mine "zat means zat I haffe to make zure nothing habens to your ungradeful arsch too!" He laughs more freely at that.
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Our conversation is brought to an end by the plane landing. I put on my exopack as directed before I unbuckle myself and stand to stretch out my muscles with a satisfied groan. I grab my duffle out from under my seat then turn to wait for Jake, only to find him seated in a wheelchair, his own duffle on his back, waiting for me. I raise a questioning eyebrow at the wheelchair, but when he raises a challenging eyebrow in return I only shrug and let it go.
Jake and I exit the plane and make our way across the tarmac towards the main building, but we have to dodge out of the way of a guy in an AMP suit, then wait for a Hell Truck (that had been thoroughly pin-cushioned by some giant arrows) to trundle past, before we're able make our way inside and from there into the mess hall. We are some of the last in so we stick to the back of the group and I seat myself on a bench next to where Jake parks his chair. We sit through the Colonel's safety brief, wherein he essentially tells everyone not to be stupid, wander out of the compound and/or get killed in any way, because he is in charge of keeping all of us alive.
Once the Colonel's inspiring speech ends, I rise and make my way out of the mess hall, following after Jake while rooting through my many pockets once more. "Zo I zink now ve're zubozed to report to our um… schtazion?" I call forward, asking him more than telling him "and where is our 'schtazion'?" Jake swiftly questions in return, mocking my accent while spinning his chair around to stare back at me in the middle of a junction of hallways. I finally pull out the map of the building that had been in with my ration pack and come to a stop in front of Jake "zo ve are affatar driffers und zee… Bio-lab is connected to zee… link room, zo... rechts to our schtazion!" I point a finger down the right hallway and Jake sets off in that direction with me following along after as we set off in search of the Bio-lab.
As we make our way to where I think the Bio-lab is, a guy that I don't know runs up to us, calling Jake's name "Hey, you're Jake right? Tom's brother? You look just like him." Jake gives the man a weird look, apparently not knowing him anymore than I do. The man reaches out a hand, adjusting one of the bags he's carrying with the other, introducing himself and apologizing while shaking Jake's hand "Sorry, I'm Norm, Norm Spellman, I went through avatar training with him." "Nice to me you, this is Nadia." Jake nods his head in my direction, continuing to mispronounce my name "Oh hi!" Norm cries and quickly reaches a hand out to shake mine, but accidentally knocking the bag he had adjusted off of his shoulder and into the crook of his elbow, jerking down the hand his was offering and causing him to nearly smack Jake. I laugh and give a small wave to the now blushing man "Nice to meet you Norm, I am Nadja." I correct Jake's pronunciation of my name and smile kindly at the man, getting an awkward grin in return as he returns his bag to its rightful place.
Norm walks past us with a quick "The lab is this way" I grin triumphantly at Jake at the confirmation that I had indeed been leading us the right way, but Jake only rolls his eyes with an amused smile at my slightly childish actions. We walk into the Bio-lab at long last and Norm introduces himself to the first person he sees, getting a short "Hi" in response, before he points out the link room, but Jake spots the avatars being unpacked from the trip in a different section of the lab and makes his way over to them. A techie sees us walking over and says a quick hello and welcomes us to Pandora, "Damn, they got big." Jake remarks breathlessly and I can't help but silently agree as I make my way over to my own avatar.
It's face reflects mine as perfectly as a Na'vi possibly could with a small nose, a bottom lip that I have always thought looks over full, sharp cheek bones and (my favourite aspect of my face) long full eyelashes. I can immediately tell that I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb though, for floating around it's head is a cloud of hair that flawlessly matches my snow white locks, in distinct contrast to the Na'vi's usual black colouration and every so often the hair shifts enough that I can see hints of an ear that's too sharply pointed to be considered normal, with my luck it has probably gotten my weird way-too-light-of-a-shade-of-blue-to-be-natural eyes too, but at least I get to keep a set of fangs. I sigh in anticipation of the questions I am going to get, but wipe the bone weary expression off my face as I hear Jake making his way over.
"Wow, and here I thought the hair was just dyed." Jake laughs a bit, eyes darting between my avatar and me "Your hair's really white?" I nod slightly in reply, crossing my arms and bringing a finger up to my mouth to nibble at the skin surrounding my nail. A habit that I formed as a replacement for biting my lip, as biting my lip is a nearly impossible thing to do when in possession of fangs without getting a bloody lip and, in general, freaking out everyone else. "Ja." I try to force a laugh, but grimace when it comes out awkward and I cringe while Jake looks at me again, he looks… concerned? "Mein biological mom kot mezed up by zee bad air back on earth ven sche vas pregnant vith me und zee meticines zee docdors gaffe her affecded mein DNA, zo ven I vas born I vound up looking like zee long lost daughter of Thranduil" Jake nods along until I mention the odd name "Thranduil? That's that poncy king elf dude from that really old book… The Bobbat or whatever, right?" I laugh slightly at his butchering of my favourite book's name "The Hobbit, Ja." He pauses then eyes me intently "does that mean you have-" he mimes at having pointed ears making me giggle. I grin and brush my hair out of the way of my ears, hair that I left conveniently just long enough to do so, and let him oogle at the pointed tops.
I walk over to a desk with Jake following along after me asking "Hey the poncy king, Bran-whatever, he had a son didn't he?" I hum in agreement as I sit down on top of the desk, criss-cross-applesauce style "Ja, Legolas Greenleaf" Jake nods absently staring at me contemplatively "well then Legolas, got any other surprises?" "Och" I force a blush onto my cheeks "zo ven I zigned up for zee var I vanded to look more tough, zo people vould not immediately dismiss me for being ein voman" Jake leans forward in anticipation, bracing his elbows on his knees "I took inspirazion from scary stories, zings like verevolffes und vambires und zings like zat, you get it" Jakes gives an impatient confirming noise, gesturing for me to go on "vell I saved up for ein long time und ven I had enough I vent to ein cosmetic dendist und had zem change mein canine teeth into fangs." Jake laughs incredulously "No way, seriously?" "Ja" I reply nodding seriously and open my mouth to show off the elongated teeth. "How do you eat or talk or even close your mouth?!" I laugh at his curiosity "Zey zit farther forvard zan zee rest of mein teeth, zo zey are ovar top of mein bodom teeth ven I cloze mein mouth, I eat normally und I had ein really bad lisp ven I first kot zem done," I reply with a vicious grin and Jake laughs in awed disbelief of my decision, though the story was true that I had purposely gotten my teeth replaced by fangs, I actually did it in spite of the government trying to make me their perfect Übermensch rather than to look tough.
Norm appears next to us again, oblivious to all that just occurred and leads us off, saying that Jake has to make a video log on what he had experienced so far on Pandora, and when Jake questions why he has to do it Norm replies that he needs to get into the habit of documenting everything, that it is all part of good science and that it will also help to keep him sane for the next six years that we are expected to be here. "So why doesn't Legolas here have to do it then." He jerks his head towards me, Norm pauses humming in thought "You know... I actually don't know." I grin and answer for Norm "I zink it vas zomething along zee lines of zem 'not neeting zee zoughts of another knife vaffing grunt contaminating zeir rezearch, let alone one zat cannot effen speak proper Englisch'. it vas zaid in more vords, but I'm pretty zure zat vas zee gist of zee explanazion I receiffed." I get grins in return and a bitter muttered "lucky bastard" from Jake, who then turns back to the camera with a small "whatever" beginning again with a laughing and slightly mocking "well here I am, doing science."
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The techie, who at some point got around to introducing himself as Max, tells Jake to log off and shut it down, because it's about time we meet the boss. This tidbit of information makes Norm get very excited, very quickly and he rushes off through the short corridor that leads to the link room, where he was originally leading us when we first came into the lab. I take a wild guess from the name and ask a lingering Max if this is in fact where an avatar driver links to their body and he confirms my thoughts with a small smile. Max strikes me as a fidgety kind of person, not nervous persay, simply twitchy, but he seems nice enough so I have nothing to say against the man.
Norm fast walks through the corridor and into the room with Jake and I trailing behind, and Max floating along somewhere between the excited man and us. The room is round, there is a sunken pit in the middle that is surrounded by metal railings and filled with high tech dodads that I could probably break by breathing on. The raised outer platform has a number of what I suppose are the actual links, but look like high tech coffins inside of MRI scanners, built into the walls. I have a feeling that if I were to say my thoughts on the links aloud Norm would start hyperventilating, in awe of my all-encompassing ignorance when it comes to tech. So it is better perhaps, to keep my thoughts to myself, but the mental image of a stunned Norm having a fit over it makes me chuckle. Jake shoots me a questioning look and I gesture around the room then shoot my hand over my head to signal that all this tech is beyond me and Jake huffs a small laugh, nodding in agreement.
Norm is rattling off praises about 'the boss' and it all starts to get tuned out, classified as background noise, until he mentions my charge's name "-a legend. She's the head of the Avatar Program, and she wrote the book, I mean literally wrote the book, on Pandoran botany." This bit of information makes Max scoff muttering a quick "That's because she likes plants better than people" in retort. Max's comment makes me groan, realizing that protecting my charge will probably not be all that fun or easy for me. One of the running links turns off then opens and out of it emerges a woman with orange-red hair, a squarish jaw, and a willowy figure, she is shouting for a cigarette and a random techie comes up and hands her one, along with a white lab coat. Upon closer inspection when she's nearer to us, I notice that she has brown eyes, nicely arched eyebrows, a smattering of freckles across her face and that she is most definitely my charge.
