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.

The final chapter…

Chapter 31: The departure

At MT-NET's hidden underground base, eight metal monsters had just arrived. Mark Dodgson, together with ten Type 200s and seven Type 400s had been stationed here all this time. They were now all that was left of MT-NET's army. MT-NET's successor used one of its Type 500 bodies to communicate with Mark. Its deep and raspy voice informed Mark that MT-NET was terminated and that the linked minds of these eight bodies formed its successor. Mark immediately kneeled before his new master and its eight bodies. He was then told that he should refer to his master as S-NET. When the bodies had all walked past him, he got up again and obediently informed S-NET of a discovery he had made a few days ago.

During a routine test of the magnetic reactor, something unexplained had gone wrong, which had resulted in a much stronger than usual geological magnetic field. The gauss readings had been temporarily off the scale, and the reactor had emitted a much louder than usual humming sound. It seemed as if the planet itself had responded to something. The machine units had all managed not to be pulled in, but several metal tools had not been so lucky. However, these tools had not been pulled to the reactor itself, as would be expected. They had been pulled into the wide and deep hole the reactor had been built over. When Mark had been lowered by the machines into the hole, he had begun searching the various cavities near the bottom. But no matter where he looked, he was not able to find the tools. It was as if they had gone up in thin air. Then, he had found something else entirely. One of the cavities led to what appeared to be another chamber. There were traces of an ancient culture or civilization in this chamber. Mark believed it would be best if S-NET would check it out for itself.

A while later, both Mark and one of the Type 500 bodies had been lowered into the hole. Using a pair of shoulder lamps, Mark now showed his master what he had found. The chamber looked like it had not been formed by natural processes. Although its walls, floor and ceiling mostly consisted of rock formations, the chamber itself had a distinctly circular shape. In the middle of the floor, there was a raised stone platform. Near the back wall, there was some kind of stone mechanism with a wheel that looked like it could be turned by several individuals. The question was what would happen if they activated the mechanism? Mark had no idea what this chamber could be for. In any case, the missing tools weren't here either. While they had been exploring the chamber, S-NET had been receiving some data from an unknown source, which could not be contacted or located. This was much like how MT-NET had once received data from the mysterious entity near the stone wall on Shadow. S-NET now commanded Mark to head back up to the base and make preparations. They would be departing soon…

The day after the victory celebration, John, in his human form, was making a final stroll through the interior of his outpost. He remembered the time he had spent here while the RDA was still on Pandora, but only vaguely. What he remembered best were his early encounters with Ney'ite, when his Avatar body had not yet been finished. The first time he had linked up with his Avatar was, of course, also a strong memory. Much had happened in such a short time; much had changed. The dark stain that had been MT-NET was no more, and the light had finally returned to Pandora. Though there were still some questions in his mind about what exactly had happened with the grey cloud entity, he didn't really have a burning desire to go looking for answers just yet. He had a feeling that they would be given sooner or later.

After having completed the stroll, he looked over his shoulder one last time, before stepping into the airlock. His Avatar body was already being moved to the Tree of Souls. The Omaticaya clan had agreed to do the ritual together with the Uvora clan, since they had so few members left. When John stepped outside, he met up with Ney'ite and Joseph. The rest of the liberated machines were also there. It appeared that most of them didn't know what to do with themselves. Benjamin was sitting on a nearby rock while carving some kind of small statue out of a piece of wood. Joseph explained that the machines, aside from Benjamin and himself, had never had a chance to develop their own 'personalities', while under the influence of MT-NET. Now that it was gone, they had to find out who they really were. Most of the machines were Type 600s and 700s, which had a level of intelligence comparable to that of humans. The only other machines that were part of the group were three Type 300s, which were about as intelligent as dogs. These three had already started behaving like a pack, complete with an alpha machine. All of the machines were now free to form whatever personalities best suited their programming. None of them were inherently killers, though Joseph believed that it would be vital for their group to adopt a moral code in dealing with each other and the flora and fauna of Pandora.

John nodded and smiled as Joseph explained this final thing to him. Joseph had always cared greatly about revealing to John what he was thinking. This would be the last conversation they would be having for a long time, perhaps forever, for Joseph had decided to take his group to the far north, away from all Na'vi contact. The last thing he wanted to do was intrude in their homelands. Not everyone agreed that this would be the case if they would stay, but Joseph did not intend to change his decision. It was now time for the final goodbyes. John and Joseph shook hands, just like they had done when they had first formed an alliance. They were briefly interrupted by Benjamin, who gave John the small statue he had carved himself. He did not say anything, but he didn't have to. It was clear to John that he meant well, despite his curious behavior sometimes. When Benjamin had gone back to the group, John thanked Joseph for all his help and support. If he hadn't been here, this could have ended very badly. Joseph in turn insisted that everyone had had an equal part in the events that had taken place. They had defeated MT-NET together, and this was all that mattered.

Joseph then turned around and walked back to the group. When he walked past the other machines, they each stood up. Benjamin was the first one to start following Joseph, and the rest soon did the same. John, who remembered very clearly all they had done together, couldn't help but get a little emotional as they began to disappear into the jungle. When John and Joseph had first met, both of them had been alone. Now, they each belonged to a larger group. The alliance was no longer needed. Joseph's group and the Uvora clan would each go their separate ways…

Later that day, John and Ney'ite arrived at the sacred site of the Tree of Souls. The rest of the Uvora clan was already there, as was the Omaticaya clan. Among the Na'vi, John looked like a short, skinny and hairy alien creature. His small height compared to the Na'vi made him feel like he was a child. He no longer felt at home in this body. It was an obsolete body of a long forgotten species and society. It wouldn't ever be needed again. John and Ney'ite, who were holding hands, now walked towards the tree. Many Na'vi had gathered around it. They were sitting on the ground, with their queues connected to the roots of the tree. The tree itself was glowing brightly violet, while the roots were glowing in a shade of cyan. Tsahìk Elynin and the Tsahìk of the Omaticaya clan were waiting for him near the base of the tree. Once there, John saw his Avatar body lying on the ground. Elynin told him to lie down opposite it, with their heads near each other. John did not question her. When he lied down, all he had to do was relax. John supposed the experience would be similar to linking up to his Avatar. However, this time it would be for the rest of his life.

As John closed his eyes, he could hear the Na'vi beginning to chant. He could feel many small roots coming in contact with his body. Soon, he felt like he had left his old body behind. For a moment, he could see some kind of brightly colored tunnel. After this, he had the familiar feeling again. He opened his eyes and saw Ney'ite looking at him. Her look of concern disappeared immediately when John opened his eyes. After John sat up, he spontaneously embraced Ney'ite and kissed her.

The next day, the Uvora clan began the journey towards a new home. They left the area of the Tree of Souls and followed a trail which Elynin had had a dream about. She believed Eywa wanted to guide her to a new location where they could rebuild their clan. Elynin was looking for certain signs, such as woodsprites resting on leaves that pointed into a certain direction. She went up ahead, while the rest of the clan followed her.

After several weeks of traveling by Pa'li, they arrived in an area where none of them had ever been before. They were still in a forested area, but the vegetation was a lot less dense than what they were used to. They had not come across any other Na'vi clans or villages on the way. Elynin was hoping to find some kind of special sign that would indicate that they had arrived at their destination. The last regular sign of woodsprites on leaves had led them to a steep hill in the middle of the forest. John was the first to climb it with his Pa'li, and he soon realized that this was more than an ordinary hill. Near the top, he could see that this hill reached for quite a distance in two directions. It was as if he was now on top of an overgrown wall of some kind. He directed his Pa'li towards the left and followed the hill, hoping it would lead him to the place they had been searching for.

Not long after, he could see the others again. Apparently, the hill formed a circle. This could not be a coincidence. The question was what it encircled. John and Ney'ite now began exploring the encircled area. It did not look any different from the rest of the forest. However, after a more thorough search, they found several peaked hills. One of the hills even had what appeared to be an entrance to a cave. After dismounting their Pa'li, the two of them ventured inside. The further they traveled into the cave, the less organic it became. John quickly realized that the he walls, floor and ceiling were becoming relatively flat, almost like it was an artificially created structure.

They stopped when the corridor led into a chamber of some kind. There was daylight shining through several slits in the ceiling. It seemed that it had been constructed in such a way that most of the light fell upon one section of the wall. This wall was completely overgrown with roots. John had a feeling he might know what was behind them. The other members of the Uvora clan had now also gathered in the chamber. When John attempted to move the roots, Elynin reacted with anger. She believed that he was disrupting Eywa's creations. John, who had a burning desire to find out what was behind the roots, pointed out that it didn't look like Eywa had created this place, and yet she had led them here. Whatever it was that they were supposed to find here, he doubted it concerned the roots that had grown over the wall simply because this place was no longer maintained by anyone. He looked at Wukan, who promptly gave a nod, indicating his approval. John then began pulling away the roots, until the wall behind them was completely visible. All of them were awed by it. It was a stone wall with carvings in the same style as the one of the photo; the one that had been found on Shadow. The mysterious cloud entity seemed to be depicted on it, as well as several humanoid figures with spears and bows. Perhaps the most important detail was the barrier that encircled the humanoid figures and which seemed to function to keep the entity out. It was suddenly clear to John what their destiny was going to be.

The End

For now, at least…

After nearly three years, this story has finally come to an end. This is the first of my stories, both published and unpublished, that I actually managed to finish.

Over three years ago, I first saw the movie Avatar in the cinema (on December 24th 2009 in IMAX 3D) Afterwards, I was in such a dazed state that I threw away the 3D glasses in the trashcan, thinking it was where they were supposed to be deposited for reuse.

At that time, I had wanted to write some kind of Terminator inspired story involving artificially intelligent machines. However, before I had seen Avatar, I couldn't figure out how to make it interesting. After having seen the movie, I realized that I wanted to combine the Avatar universe with the elements I wanted to write about. The reason for this was primarily that all human technology in Avatar did not seem to be automated at all, as if something had happened in the past that had caused advanced A.I.'s to be outlawed (that was my interpretation at the time)

At first, the general outline of the story I had in mind was simply: "artificially intelligent machines land on Pandora". Soon, I wanted to add a human character. Then, I began expanding on Na'vi characters as well. The story has become a lot bigger than I had originally intended.

During the last three years, I did not always have the time to write, nor was I always in the right mood to write. However, I want to thank every one of you for the time you have invested into this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Also, I hope you will be back for the sequel to "The Invasion", which will be named "The Tempest".

Sincerely,

Blazil