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Alarms buzz from the monitors, echoing one another. Stirring in the racks began as Mark and Jacen registered their calls. Fighting the urge to ignore the alerts, Mark was the first to silence his monitor and swing out of the top rack. Jacen hearing the dull thud as Mark hit the deck and moved to the bathroom in a sleepish state.
Through the slits of his eyes, Jacen saw Mark staggering into the bathroom in a trance to start his morning routine, reluctantly reaching out from under the covers exposing himself to the cold air. Successfully silencing the alarm on the first pass, making no attempt to remove his body from the bed, instead opting to there and collect himself. Hearing a dull click, the lights in the room flashed to life, penetrating through Jacen's sleepy state.
Gronning, he swung his legs out from the covers and lifted himself out of his rack. Making his way over to the locker Jacen to retrieve his clothes and started his morning routine. Taking longer than they both expected, they both fumbled around in the tight space attempting to complete the morning tasks before they left their room.
Eventually, after much annoyance and moaning, they finished getting ready and made their way to the mess hall. Without a word shared between them, Jacen followed Mark through the corridors to mess hall, relieved that he did not have to navigate by himself again. Following Mark like a baby duckling, they received their morning meals and made their way over to an empty table and plopped down.
Cara, entering the mess hall, saw Jacen off in a corner and made her way over to him. Sliding into the seat next to him half expecting to catch Jacen by surprise was confused about how he just droned on eating his meal, never taking his eyes off of his meal. Nudging him in the side with her elbow, she felt Jacen's muscle tighten in a reflexive shock of being touched.
"Huh," Jacen jumping at the touch, whipped his head around to spot the assailant.
"Good morning," Cara sat there, smiling childishly, making light of the situation.
Jacen was elated with joy at seeing his friend this morning that his body took control and reached out to hug her. Wrapping his arms around her like a schoolchild caught all three of them by surprise. Mark drawing his attention away from his food, witnessed Jacen's face growing flusher as he released the girl that sat next to him.
"I'm happy to see you too," still registering the hug that Jacen had them in.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," Jacen replied in a small voice releasing Cara.
"No, you're fine; it just caught me off guard," waving Jacen off, trying to play down the embrace.
"So, who's your friend over there?" Cara tossed her thumb to the guy on the opposite side of the table.
"Oh, that's Mark, he is in the avatar program like me," answering happily that the attention was no longer on him.
"Yeah, I'm Mark, and you are?" Wiping his hand off on his pants before extending it towards her.
"My name is Cara," taking Mark's extended hand and shaking hit.
"So, what's your business here on Pandora?" Questioning her as he attempted to figure out how those two met.
"I'm here to protect equipment and personnel when they go beyond the compound," answering as she motioned to her clothes.
"Ah," registering the clothes that she was wearing only further confusing Mark on how these two met.
The group collectively returned to eating their meals as they shared their experiences so far on Pandora. Mark taking the brunt of the conversation, held the attention of the other two as he told them all the experiences that he had been through thus far. Mark was feeling a surge of pride as he told his tales, almost forgetting what it was like to share his experiences with people that were a couple of days old.
"Wow, I never thought you science guys would see any action like that," Cara exclaimed out, still trying to wrap her head around the stories that she was hearing.
"Well, I better get moving before they have my ass," clapping her hands above her tray.
Standing up and grabbing her tray, she left the table as the guys waved and said their goodbye's. Silence fell over the table again as they finished their breakfast and put their trays away. Mark looking down at his watch, satisfied that they were still on time escorted Jacen back to the research wing of the compound.
As the pair entered the wing, they were met with a flurry of activity as carts rolled in front of them, carrying a massive backpack that could easily fit a full-grown adult, if he folded himself. Teams of researchers lifted equipment and placed them into these backpacks, Dr. Augustine stood amongst the torrent of activity issuing orders. Wondering what was going on, Jacen turned to see Mark with a smile etched across his lips.
'What's going on?" Jacen asked, intrigued by the activities going around them.
"Looks like we are heading off the compound to do something," Mark replied.
"What does that mean for me?" Wondering what was going to happen with him since Mark and Dr. Augustine were leaving.
"Beats me, that is purely up to Dr. Augustine," looking over to Jacen, seeing the disappointment beginning to form on his face.
"Ah, don't worry, she hasn't said no to you," soothing Jacen before clapping him on the shoulder.
"When she tells you no…" breaking off as he looked up to see Dr. Augustine glimpsing at them.
Grace handing the data pad with the checklist of supplies over to Max, who never trailed too far from her, took off towards Mark and Jacen. Jacen could feel his heart sink as Dr. Augustine approached the pair. Her stoic face failed to provide Jacen with any comfort as she stopped a couple of feet from the pair.
"Good morning, Grace," Mark warmly greeted her.
"You too," was the only response that she gave them as she eyed Jacen.
"Alright, get ready for a little field trip, so grab your little butt buddy here and get your stuff and head down to the link chambers," catching Jacen and Mark off guard.
With that, Dr. Augustine spun on her heel and left them in stunned silence. With his mouth hanging open, Jacen turned to gauge what Mark thought of the new information. Seeing Mark in the same state left Jacen feeling a little bit better about himself.
"You're one lucky son-of-a-bitch," Mark commented, walking towards one of the backpacks.
"What do you mean?" Following Mark on his heels.
"Grace doesn't take new people outside the compound in their avatars. They see it as more of a liability to the group since they have to cater to the new person." Pointing out rather dryly to Jacen.
Mark grabbed one of the carts holding the oversized backpack and started going through its contents. Pulling out each piece, he turned them over in his hands, inspecting them before repacking it to his liking. The other people eventually catching on, began handing the equipment directly to him so he could pack it himself.
"Well, what should I do then?" Jacen hesitantly questioned.
"Stick with me and try not to piss off Dr. Augustine," turning back and winking at Jacen.
Taking the hint, he stood there quietly, fumbling with his hands watching the others pack the equipment. Feeling more useless than usual, he did his best to avoid people as they moved around him as they placed gear on the cart for Mark to pack.
"Hey, numb nuts! Why don't you make yourself useful and get in the link chamber," Dr. Augustine shouted, spotting Jacen standing there with his lost expression in the middle of the room.
Jacen snapping too, made his way through the room to where the link chambers were. Finding one of the attendants, Jacen tapped her on the shoulder and relayed the message from Dr. Augustine. Following the instructions with an eye rolled, she prepped the link on the monitor near her as Jacen went and laid down in the bed, prepping his mind for the uncomfortable sensation.
The attendant came over and went through the prechecks with Jacen before closing the lid sealing him in. Clearing his mind, the rush of this body flying came a lot quicker than his anticipated as he attempted to brace himself, knowing that it mattered little. Moments later, he came too in his avatar body, fighting off the tingling sensation that swept over him.
Rising from his bed, he found last night; he made his way over to the exit passing other avatars still sleeping in their beds. Stepping outside, observing the early dawn sun peeking over the horizon, painting the sky in a deep golden hue. Filling his lungs with the brisk morning air gave his body the much-needed stimulation that was unfounded anywhere on Earth.
Off in the distance, Jacen stopped someone in military fatigues, waving him down. Assuming that he was calling for him, he made his way over to the individual, to his relief, the man asked if he was Jacen nodding in confirmation. The man tapping on his data pad turn and escorted him to the flight deck.
Passing through the chain-linked fences that guarded the entrance Jacen was meet with a strong gust of wind that staggered him. Catching himself, he leaned into the wind as one of the helicopters took flight as it made its ascent the dominating wind turned to a light breeze before the aircraft was no longer in sight. Looking around for where he needed to be, Jacen spotted carts that held the backpacks that they were packing circling one of the helicopters off in the distance.
Figuring that this is where he was supposed to go, he passed through the airfield over to the helicopter. On his approach, two figures emerged from the side farthest to him; one of them wore a gray flight suit and the other in full military gear carrying an oversized rifle each donning oxygen masks. Neither of them noticing Jacen's presence hoisted the oversized gun fixing it to a free-floating mount on the side of the helicopter.
"Hey, you must be Jacen," noticing the approaching avatar.
"Yeah, that's me," smiling as he looked down at the pair.
"The name is Trudy, and I'm the one that flies you science guys around out here," giving him a half-hearted salute.
"Nice to meet you," extending his hand just before realizing what he was doing.
"Yeah, you're twice the size of me, but a nice gesture," reacting to the oversized hand, extended her direction.
"You're right," retracting his hand, wiping the sweat off his palms from embarrassment.
Cara hoisting up the heavy gun and dropped it into the mount. Hearing the satisfying click, tugged on the weapon, double-check the lock the mount had. The last thing she needed was for the gun to fly off in mid-flight. Satisfied with her work, she turned to tell Trudy that it was finished and noticed an oversized blue person with its hand extended towards Trudy rather awkwardly.
'Man, this must be a new guy,' she thought to herself.
Then something caught her attention as she did a pass over its face. That avatar had a striking resemblance to Jacen, but there was no way the RDA would send a fresh recruit out into the bush. Studying the face and its mannerisms, it became more and more apparent that it was Jacen!
"What the hell," Cara exclaimed, breaking the awkward tension.
Jacen spinning his head around to the muffled sound of Cara's voice sent a joyous shock through him. 'There was no way that they would put us together on this flight,' he thought, but as he looked at the glass mask, he saw her bright smile and knew without a doubt that it was her. Jacen rushed over with childish joy, physically sweeping her off her feet as a child were lifting a doll up.
"Alright, chill Jacen," Cara ordered him as she was lifted off her feet and flayed about in his arms helplessly.
Jacen realized what he had done as he looked at the toddler-sized human in his hands. She was giving him a disapproving look as she hung their limp in his hands. Gentling placing her on her feet, taking a step back and apologized profusely.
Cara feeling her feet securely on the ground, adjusted her armor to a more comfortable position. Hearing Jacen's fervent apologies, she tried to calm him down. Making the situation worse, Mark and Dr. Augustine appeared from behind them in their avatar bodies sporting smug expressions.
"Picking on the smaller guy, I see," Dr. Augustine clicked her tongue in a disapproving manner.
"No, I swear I didn't mean too!" Attempting to defend himself.
"God, it's way too easy to pick on you," Dr. Augustine sarcastically stated as she slapped him upside his head.
Mark passed between the two, reached down to retrieve his bag off the cart chuckling at Jacen's embarrassing situation. Climbing aboard, he secured his sack to the bulkhead before buckled himself into the seat, Dr. Augustine followed in suit strapping herself next to him. Looking into the cabin, Jacen noticed that they took both of the seats and started wondering where he was going to sit.
"Hey, Jacen, you're going to need this," elbowing Jacen to get his attention.
Drawing his attention downward, Jacen noticed what Trudy was holding the handles of a cart. Mounted to the cart in front of them was a heavy machine gun, releasing the locking mechanisms and grabbed the cold metal rifle. Examining the weapon, he took into account the oversized proportion denoting the user being an avatar.
"I also need you on a door gun if you can handle that?" Questioning him with her hands crossing her chest.
"Yes, I can," Jacen answered, trying to display some competence to the group.
Making his way over to the mount, Jacen fumbled as he tried to secure the rifle to the free-floating mount. Laughing at his attempt, Trudy jumped in and held the mount still so he could click it into place. Hearing the click, Trudy checked the hold before reaching up to obtain a safety line and unbuckle one end of it. Instructing Jacen to jump up and turn around so that she could clip him in.
Standing there with a single line that would secure him to the aircraft, Jacen understood where he would be during this flight. Forcing down the thoughts of falling to his death, he forced his body to jump up into the helicopter and get clipped in. As Trudy opened the single door to the cockpit, the surge of flight or fight reflexes kicked in as his mind began to panic as the helicopter roared to life.
'You need to do this,' psyching himself up as the deafening noise of the propellers grew.
As the helicopter lurched up, Jacen leaned onto the gun for support to only feel it giving away. His stomach lurched as his body swung forward as the mount gave in to the pressure he was putting on it. To his relief, he felt the safety line snap-tight as he flung back into the cabin.
Dr. Augustine and Mark witnessing the events erupted into a roar of laughter at Jacen's expense, causing Cara to turn around to see what was going on. Cara saw Jacen flailing about trying to grab the bar above him. Tossing her head back, she joined the others in their laughter as Jacen's panic sounds passed through the comms.
"Pull yourself together back there," Trudy ordered, trying not to laugh at the flailing avatar.
"You're going to scratch the paint," hearing a thud of the rifle connecting with the side of the helicopter.
Jacen's desperate hand found the rail above him and grabbed it for dear life. As the violent motion of his body subsided, he lowered himself down and squared his feet underneath him on the platform as the aircraft rose into the air. Securing his balance, he tried to still his racing heart as the ascent dissipated, giving away to forward motion.
Feeling the nose dipping, Jacen leaned back as the helicopter cut through the air. The rush of wind across his body did not settle his nerves as they ate up kilometers making their way to the site. Looking down at the rushing trees that blurred together to form a raging river of deep green, his mind began to wander to thoughts of what would happen if he fell.
'Come on, you're fine,' forcing the thoughts back.
Looking forward down the side of the aircraft, he spotted flying creatures up ahead in a formation. As they moved into the middle of the group, Jacen saw the bright colors on the beast's skin. Getting close to a couple of animals, they hissed at them through sharp dagger-like teeth, informing them that they did not appreciate their presence.
Pressing through the formation, the rushing sea of trees below them gave away to a steep drop off. Jacen felt his stomach lurch up as they dropped from their flight path and hugged the side of the rock face as they made their descent. Jacen cried out, releasing the tension building in his body; his cries echoed with laughter from the others.
Leveling out, Jacen could hear the dull roar of rushing water over the noise of the propellers, opening his eyes to see the rush of mist coming at him as they passed next to a waterfall. The brisk freshwater pelted his skin as they moved close to the water before breaking away. His nerves began to settle, feeling the water the pooled on his cheeks run across it. Departing the waterfall revealed a massive deep blue lake beneath them.
Taking in the picturesque scenery, Jacen forgot for that moment that he was fly as he absorbed all of Pandora's beauty. The harmony of the lush green trees that coated the edge of the deep blue lake left him feeling in awe. Unbeknownst to him, he lifted himself from his perch and extended out like his body calling out to be out in the forest. Realizing what he was doing, he retracted back into the safety of the cabin and holding firm the railing and weapon before the craft banked left with the course leveling out his nerves settled as they continued on their flight path.
Before long, they came to a clearing in the forest that was large enough for them to land without hitting anything or damaging the propellers. Staring down at the ground as came towards them, Jacen wished that his stomach would give up and settle as it tried to jump out of his mouth with every correction that Trudy did. When they were feet above the ground, he gave up and prepared to jump out of the helicopter, desperately wanting to be on solid ground again.
Unclipping his buckle behind him and unsecured the rifle, he jumped out and hit the ground with a thud, drawing his gun to his shoulder he swept the area in front of him as he saw in military movies that he watched back home. Not fully understanding what he was looking for the advanced forward as the helicopter settled to the ground behind him. Jacen heard distorted voices followed by the winding down of the propellers as Trudy settled them on the ground.
Dr. Augustine and Mark unbuckled in unison as they grabbed the three packs secured to the bulkhead. Putting on the bags as they exited the craft bearing in mind the still active propellers, and moved swiftly away from the aircraft. Once they cleared the area, Grace returned her full height just before Mark went back to grab the pack for Jacen.
Grabbing Jacen's pack, he turned to see Jacen fully engaged in his role sweeping the treeline with his weapon. Chuckling softly to himself at how serious he was taking the task; he went over and slapped his backside with the pack. Making Jacen jump at the impact, he brought his weapon to bear only to be met by a heavy hand grabbing the barrel.
"Chill out; you're making us nervous," Mark laughed at the shocked expression on Jacen's face.
Nodding in acknowledgment, Jacen lowered his weapon and put on the pack that Mark was holding. Taking the strap fixed to the firearm, he slung it off of his shoulder before falling in behind Mark as they met up with Dr. Augustine.
"Trudy, we will be here for a while, so don't get bored," Dr. Augustine spoke as she held the collar that was around her throat.
"Grace, we are ready to go when you are," Mark cut in, trying to gain Dr. Augustine's attention.
"Well, how was the flight?" Dr. Augustine questioned even though she knew he would fake a response.
"It was good, Dr…"
"Its Grace out here, so stop with formalities," cutting him off.
"Okay, Grace," Trying it out in a small voice.
"Alright, since we have that established, let's move out," Ordering the pair before making her way to the forest edge.
Mark fell in behind Grace, and Jacen followed in suit. Just before the party made any distance, Jacen felt a tug on his hand and looked down to see Cara holding it with both of her hands. Feeling how delicately she held his hand, he wondered what was going through her mind.
"Be careful out there," she spoke softly.
"I will be," reassuring her.
They exchanged smiles just before Jacen broke away from her and jogged to catch up with the other two who didn't notice Jacen's falling behind. Cara stood there looking at Jacen's avatar as they entered the tree line and disappeared wishing she could go with them to protect Jacen. Silencing the thought, she went back to help with the post-flight checks with Trudy.
As the party went deeper into the forest, the sounds of the forest grew in turn. Jacen taking up the rear of the group, took in the sights and sounds of Pandora from its floor. The idea of this much natural life was a foreign concept to him, especially compared to Earth. There was nothing green there but only in recreated areas and movies of times long ago.
Creatures swung from trees high above them, gathering food from the branches while watching the group walking along the floor. Jacen felt like they were toying with his nerves as at random, they would stop what they were doing to stare at him. Gripping his weapon tighter, he looked ahead to see how Grace and Mark were reacting. To his surprise, they paid the creatures above them no mind as they continued to path find through the forest floor.
Jacen prayed hard to quiet the thoughts of how anything on Pandora could kill him, causing him to lose where he was and run into the back of Mark. The unanticipated impact sent Mark staggering forward, nearly avoiding running into Grace. Spinning around to let Jacen have it revealed him with surprised shock on his face as he clutched his weapon.
"Walking with your eyes closed is a terrible idea," Mark spat out, cutting off Jacen before he could apologize.
"We are here, grab the probes from the pack," Grace directed, paying no mind to whatever was going on with them.
Shifting his attention from Jacen, Mark swung the pack around to his front and retrieved the items. Meeting Grace at the area, they began to remove the soil delicately, not disturbing the root system that laid beneath. Intrigued by this, Jacen watched as they methodically removed the dirt with the utmost care.
Grace, satisfied with what she found, told Mark to grab the device with the probe and handed it to her. Taking the two leads, she gave him in his hands; he slowly inserted them into the exposed root. Grace played with sensitivity on the device until she got the clear picture that she wanted.
"Jacen, come look at this," waving at him to come over.
Following her instructions, he came beside her and squatted down to her level. Look at the pulsing lights on the screen, not knowing what he was supposed to see. He turned his head from the device to look up to Grace to see her beaming.
"You see the dark structures there; those are the roots," Grace running her finger along with the screen, outlining the root structure.
"Now, do you see the pulsing light?" Looking up to see Jacen nodding.
"Those are electrical pulses. What is special about these pulses they are very similar to the ones that we find in our brain. The implication of this is that forest is some sort of neural network!" Grace boasted, tapping on the glass of the device.
"So, what does that mean?" Jacen questioned, feeling the enthusiasm radiating off of Grace.
"I'm dying to find out. All of this is just a theory at the moment based on data we have collected and observation made in the field. I know it sounds crazy, but this is something that we need to understand and protect." Hearing the enthusiasm fading from her voice.
"I understand," Jacen replied, trying to restore her optimism.
"Anyways, Mark, grab the marked vials that we brought and begin collecting samples," Grace snapping back to the task at hand.
Reaching into his pack, Mark retrieved the marked vials and distributed them evenly amongst the three. Jacen picking up the bottles studied them and noticed that some of them held clear liquid, and others held nothing in them. Grace seeing Jacen studying the vials, made her feel hopeful for him. Grace tapping him on the shoulder informed him of the purpose of the vials, and what contents went into them. Following her instructions, Jacen filled the bottles as they moved from area to area, collecting samples.
As dusk began to settle on the forest, the three emerged from the forest and returned to the helicopter. Cara was pacing around the perimeter for the aircraft waiting for the arrival of Jacen and the others. Spotting Jacen off in the distance made her heart soar as she waved at him enthusiastically happy to see that nothing had happened to him. Jacen noticing Cara waving at him made Jacen's heart swell as he waved back at her glad to see that nothing had happened to her.
"Glad to see you didn't get yourself killed," Cara joked as the group fell within earshot.
"Me too, but it wasn't as bad at there as everyone is making it out to be," Jacen pointed out, reflecting on the day's events.
"Yeah, but don't let that consume you because the minute you become complacent, Pandora will end you," Mark warned Jacen.
"Alright, Trudy, let us get out of here!" Grace suggested pressing her fingers to her collar.
Trudy agreeing started going through the pre-flight checks and fired up the engines as she flipped switches on the panel above. Just as they sprang to life, one of the propellers suddenly stopped grinding to a halt. Trudy slammed the dashboard with her fist in an attempt to correct it but to no avail. Turning off the engines, she unharnessed and grabbed her mask before exiting the cockpit and climbing on top of the aircraft.
"Damn, I'm going to need a minute to troubleshoot this," hearing the slight panic in her voice through the mask.
"Grab the sonic repulsers from the cabin and set up a perimeter, so those damn viper wolves don't get us!" Trudy ordered as she flipped open a panel adjacent to the propeller's housing.
The group following the orders collected the small gray sticks that we fastened to the outside of the craft and placed them in a circle ten meters apart from each other. Since they were not as powerful as the ones the compounds used, they had to be closer to the craft so they could provide better protection, and no gaps would form in the perimeter. As they flipped them on, an annoying buzzing sound began to emanate from the repulsers that the avatars didn't like.
Seeing that they didn't have a choice, they endured the sound providing as much support as they could to help Trudy troubleshoot. As dusk gave way to the darkness of the night, the floodlights of the aircraft kicked on. The group understanding that the distress beacon they turned on has gone unheard.
"Alright, Mark, we are going to need you to head back to base to tell them we are in some trouble," Grace looked down at the pair hanging around outside the craft.
Nodding in acknowledgment, Mark climbed into the helicopter and secured his body to the seat. Jacen watched in confusion as to what Mark was doing. After securing himself, Mark closed his eyes, and a couple of minutes later, his body went limp.
Clicking in Jacen's mind what Mark did, he spotted Grace peering down with an approving look at Mark's limp body. Looking up, she made eye contact with Jacen and told him to maintain a vigilant watch as anything out here can kill them before rolling back onto the top of the helicopter.
Grace and Trudy continued working on the aircraft as Jacen patrolled the perimeter they had established. He laughed at the bickering those two were doing on top of the craft. Then something caught his eye off in the tree line bring his rifle to bear, shining the light on the target only to reveal partially illuminated trees. The feeling of someone watching began to creep into his mind as he started noticing more movements in the tree line.
The paranoia of someone watching him began to give away as a small voice in the recesses of his mind began to call to him. The feminine voice was soothingly calling him out into the forest, and the more Jacen listened to it, he noticed the feeling of being watched was going away. Looking back at the others in the group to see if they were hearing or reacting to the voice left him disappointed.
Returning his watch to the forest, he could see a slim figure peeking around the cover of a tree calling him to come over. Immediately looking in another direction, he intended to ignore it, but he felt drawn back to see if they were still there. To his surprise, they were still there waving for him to come. The more he studied the being; he began to see the silhouette take on a distinct female shape. The figure captivated him to the point that when he was looking at the person, he felt safe and happy. Looking back to see if anyone was watching him, Jacen quietly snuck off to follow the figure.
Quietly entering the underbrush, he picked his way through the roots and plants that covered the nighttime floor. Following the person who was always just out of reach to not be able to make out what she was, he pressed on fully intending to find out. In his error, he failed to notice that he was not alone as something was hunting him.
Jacen went from a slow walk to a jog to a full blow sprint as he pursued her through the forest. Trying his best to clear fallen trees and roots that projected above the ground, he felt her slowly slipping away into the trees. Out of breath, he stood in the dark forest alone, his light providing his only haven. Taking in his predicament, he realized how bad it was and tried to think of a way out of here.
Just as Jacen turned to head back the way he came; he heard the crackling of wood giving out to some unknown force. Spinning around to the direction of the noise, he came face to face with the black silhouette of a massive beast leaping at him. In a fruitless attempt to bring his weapon to bear, the beast pinned his arms to him and slammed him into the ground. At the moment of impact, Jacen lost consciousness as he laid on the forest floor engulfed in whatever just attacked him.
Thank you for reading my story and I would love to hear for you! Hopefully I can continue with this pace of one chapter every two weeks to provide some consistency for my readers. Si arayo!
