This story is written for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Keep in mind that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have corrected every mistake yet. As the story keeps getting bigger, it is possible that inconsistencies may appear. If they do, let me know and I will correct them.
Chapter 10: A new beginning
It had been several days since John and Ney'ite had returned from the monitoring facility. Ney'ite had escorted John all the way back and left to rejoin her clan shortly thereafter. Now, John was alone once again. But today was not an ordinary day. He hadn't started off his day by driving towards the worksite this time. In fact, he didn't plan on ever doing it again, because today would be the day on which he could connect to his fully grown Avatar for the first time.
He had first moved the maturation tank to a large storage room, in which he could let in the Pandoran atmosphere. This was an important aspect that Gerald had told him about, as Avatars, just like the Na'vi, were unable to survive in Earth atmosphere. After having put on a breathing mask and initiating the air exchange, he opened up the tank and drained all the amnio fluid. Once that had been finished, he carefully dragged the body out of the tank and onto an improvised stretcher. But this was easier said than done. It took him about half an hour to do it, as this whole routine was simply never meant to be performed by just one person. He now checked to see if the Avatar was still alright. It appeared to have a pulse and also appeared to be breathing. John let out a sigh of relief. No words could describe just how glad he was.
After having removed the artificial placenta and umbilical, he attached several medical instruments to the body, just as Gerald had described. Once he had double checked everything, he concluded that the Avatar was ready to be linked to. Before heading to his link chamber, John set up a portable terminal, which he could use to fine tune the active link. As there was nobody else around to assist him, he had no other choice. John had always disliked relying on technology designed by someone other than himself, but that wasn't on his mind right now. He knew that without taking risks, there could be no progress. Quitting was not an option to him, as he had waited so very long for this moment.
A short while later, he had finished loading the initial settings of the link unit. It was now ready for use. Without hesitation, John opened the lid of the unit and climbed in. He waited a few seconds, wished himself good luck and closed the lid. All he needed to do now was let his mind go blank, and then the link would initiate. He tried to do so, and closed his eyes. For a moment, he could see a brightly colored tunnel of some sort. Then, his sight changed to a blur, which slowly changed into a familiar looking ceiling. He smiled as he realized he was now seeing through the eyes of the Avatar. As he tried to sit upright in this new body, he began to feel a bit dizzy. Also, he felt the stinging of the wound where the umbilical had been. He reached out for the terminal he had set up earlier and while doing so, he looked at his blue hands. It was still a little hard for him to believe that this was actually real.
After the adjustments had been made, he felt a lot better. The dizziness was gone and he had the feeling every one of his senses had been sharpened. He could feel the cold floor as he placed his feet on the ground, while he attempted to stand up. Though he had difficulty retaining balance the first few tries, he succeeded in standing upright unaided after only a few minutes. Then, he removed the medical instruments, as he prepared to walk across the room and back. The room seemed a lot smaller now, from his perspective. After having taken a few small steps, he tried several bigger ones, and with success. He deemed himself ready to go outside to practice his skills some more in a less cramped space. But first, he needed to put some clothes on. John walked across the room towards a large crate that Gerald had brought along with him during his escape from Hell's Gate. As he rummaged through the stuff inside it, he found several suitable items, including trousers, a pair of shoes and a shirt, which were all meant to be worn by Avatars.
John didn't bother to look for a gun, as he disliked the use of them. He did however pack a knife, just in case. Once he had dressed himself, he unlocked and swung open one of the emergency exit doors. For the first time in ten years, he could go outside without having to use an airlock or a breathing mask. He stepped out of the building and took a deep breath. The air smelled refreshing. John now looked up at the sky. Alpha Centauri A, otherwise known as the sun of Pandora, was shining brightly, while the gas-giant Polyphemus was also visible. Never had he admired his surroundings as much as he did now. John now realized that he had been stuck in the same artificial environment and routine for so long, that he had forgotten about the beauty of the world outside. After having stared at the sky for a few minutes, he decided to get a better view of the quarry and the jungle, by climbing atop the structure of the outpost.
Doing so, proved to be no problem at all for this new and strong body. As he sat down on the edge of the roof, his eyes fell upon the grave of Gerald. Without this man, none of this could have ever happened. John decided to go and thank him for this. Having climbed back down again, he made his way to the grave. Once there, he kneeled down and explained to Gerald how grateful he was for all the help he had given him. Then, he began telling him about the plan he had for the future. First, he would explore the surroundings of the quarry some more. Then, he would head deeper into the jungle, to refine his skills. With the knowledge obtained from the few encyclopedias he had read, he would hopefully be able to avoid any danger. Next, he could focus himself on taming a Direhorse, so that he could widen his range even more. And once he was able to ride it, he could attempt to locate and join the Na'vi clan that Ney'ite belonged to. The question was, however, if they would be willing to accept him. But that didn't matter that much right now. There were enough things that needed to be done, before that time would come.
About an hour later, while still exploring the nearby jungle, he began he feel tired and hungry. That was why he had decided to return to the outpost to grab something to eat and rest for a little while. After having eaten some of the foodstuffs that were stored in the room, he lied down on the improvised stretcher and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Suddenly, he was awake again, this time not in his Avatar, but in his regular body. He pushed open the lid of the link chamber and got out. It was strange and yet familiar to be back again. He saved the settings of the link chamber and headed back to the storage room to tidy it up, so that he could fill in some spare time, while the Avatar was resting. Luckily, he still remembered to put on a gasmask before entering the room.
During the following days, John managed to stay connected to his Avatar longer every time. Though he was initially a bit clumsy while exploring the jungle, he learned fairly quickly of the things he should avoid. One time, he had encountered a Viperwolf, which had managed to bite him in the arm before he could hurt it with his knife and drive it away. His wound, though painful, was nothing serious. With his Avatar body, he kind of felt invincible and was willing to take greater risks than he ever would have taken in his human body.
Yesterday, he had stumbled upon a lone Direhorse in the jungle. He had studied it closely, and came to the conclusion that the animal wasn't easily startled, which was a good thing. Today, he had found the same horse again, which was feeding on the sap of some kind of flower. This time, he deemed himself ready to attempt to ride it. Slowly, he approached the Direhorse from the front, so that it would most likely spot him in time. When it did, John stopped for a few seconds to see how it would react to him. It seemed not to be bothered by his presence, so he carefully continued moving towards it.
Once he was within one meter of the creature, he gently touched its neck. Even though it didn't move, John noticed that it started to get somewhat nervous. But John didn't stop now. He attempted to mount the horse, but had a little trouble climbing its tall back. Still, it didn't move more than a few inches. It was as if the horse was already tame. It seemed likely to John that this Direhorse had either escaped or had been set loose by the Na'vi. Whatever the case was, it worked to his advantage. Eventually, John managed to properly mount it. All that remained now was making the neural connection, or so he had read. He reached for his queue and held the end of it close to one of the queues of the Direhorse. The connecting of the neural fibers appeared to be completely automatic. Once connected, the horse responded by attempting to throw him off. It was unsuccessful however, as John managed to hold on. As it calmed down, John began to think about how to get it to move, since he couldn't remember that part of the encyclopedia very well. The instant he thought about it, the horse leapt forward as if it could hear him thinking. The suddenness of this made John lose his balance and fall off the side. While getting back up, he realized he had found the answer to that question. All he needed to do now, was try again.
At the end of the day, he was able to get it to slowly walk any direction he wanted. With his newfound skills, he directed the Direhorse to move back to the outpost, so that he could keep it there. When he reached his destination, it was already dusk. After having tied his horse to a nearby tree, he walked back to the storage entrance of the building. While doing so, he looked back in the direction of the Direhorse, thinking about at what he had achieved today. But he couldn't believe what he was seeing now. There was someone standing near the edge of the jungle. It was a man with white hair, who was wearing a suit and tie. John closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again to see if it was just a hallucination. To his horror, it wasn't…