"My name is Vera'let" I spoke crossing my legs in the steel chair. It was cold but that probably was just the air conditioning that was blasted so low I was sure it was to hide the fact that his very heart resembles ice.
"Good" Quaritch nods crossing his thick arms in front of me. He leaned on the metal table and look down at me with golden eyes.
"I am 20 and I come from Omatikaya"
"Uh-huh" he mumbled flipping the pieces of papers that laid on the table with his tail.
"You seem to be adjusted to your new form" I stated and he looks back over at me. Eyes furrowed before me and then he just grins.
"I know that you had more time in this blue suit but remember who's still older than you." He says and I roll my eyes which only irritates him more. "Least I remind you that I am still your commander."
"Yes sir" I reply sitting straight in my chair while he crossed his long legs. He wore a green shirt that exposed his arms with matching army pants. Odd that they weren't blue due to the very planet is covered in navy plants.
"Sarcasm, cute." He mutters dryly "seems your personality is intact"
"Is that a compliment? Sir?"
He doesn't speak for a moment, clearly he was in a bad mood but I wouldn't doubt it.
"Continue." Quaritch orders
"I'm from Omatikaya and was wrongly held captive by the humans"
"Not humans, Blue people say sky people" he corrects tilting his head forward to me.
"I know, but I was just explaining it to..."
"No excuses Seven" he shoots back annoyed "When will you take this shit seriously..."
"I am" I interject "I always am"
My voice was a it louder but I knew better than to raise my voice to him. I was his subordinate first before a friend.
"Act like it then" he shoots back harsher
"Miles," I pause as he look forward at me "Sir" I corrected not wanting to get in trouble.
He signals his eyes over to the camera and I let out a sigh knowing we were being watched.
"My name is Vera'let. I go by Vera. I am 20. I am from Omatikaya. During the war I was held captive by the sky people for a year. I escaped and I seek hawnu." I reply quickly turning my head to focus on the edge of a wall.
(Hawnu meaning: protection/shelter)
"Good. And what is your job?"
"My duty is to find Jake Sully"
"Then?"
"Bring him back alive" I answer and he leans over to put his finger underneath my chin, pressing it up to look at him,
"Good girl" he says and my eyes connect with his for a brief moment. I become lost in them, feeling like I didn't want to go through this. I wanted to just stay here, with him. "That soldier will pay for the crimes he did to earth. He betrayed our people, don't forget that."
"I won't" I answered
"The man was trained by me. So he's cunning and manipulative." Quaritch explains pulling his fingers back to show me recent photos of Jake. "He was the best of the best."
I looked at images after images of Jake fighting, covered in blood and standing looking up at the cameras that took these still shots.
"This one, is very good at trickery" he says tapping his fingers to his other wrist. "Sully tricked me, he tricked even that little girlfriend of his and having her entire family for slaughtered for it. Cold and calculated."
I saw the images of when Hometree was burned down, the amount of people distraught from our end. How Jake murdered so many innocent lives.
"Tread carefully with this one. He doesn't play nice." Quaritch tells me just as the doors to our interview room slides open.
"Well isn't that why she's injected with love serum" Lyle Wainfleet chuckles walking over and throwing me a bottle of water but Quaritch just catches it before I can. "Weak reflex Sev"
Seven is the number that corresponds to me as an experiment out of seven trials I was the only one that survived. The only one who didn't need to be neurologically linked to an avatar, I was...my own.
Because of me, Lyle was born then after Miles.
When Jake Sully worked for the RDA, he was given a harmless task to collect DNA Samples from everything, plants, animals and one of them being his significant other, Neytiri.
I derived from her DNA, tweaked a bit to be...his perfect and ideal mate. My only reason for being alive was because the human colony needed a way to lure Jake Sully back to them.
They claimed it was to have him prosecuted but I really think it's so that they could kill him, themselves or more because...Miles was hellbent on getting even with him now.
Grace Augustine, rest her soul, was studying a new type of genetic material. She was looking into how Na'vi biochemistry created permanent mates. Her video logs would aid the RDA in creating me.
So I was born, to be everything he desired physically and biologically. The RDA had mixed my own genes with a chemical closely related to our own version of dopamines, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonins. In Na'vi DNA it is what...attracted them to a mate, therefore even if he did mentally resist his very own biology would seek me.
Each mate chemical was its own unique makeup so they would tweak it and tweak it until it was perfect.
I was a shiny dangling bait that would be thrown into the depth of the ocean, decorated and scented to attract him to me...for him to impulsively trust me.
My entire life was curated for Jake, from my finger tips to my level of creativity and imagination. I liked the same foods he did. I liked the same books, actually no I think that was from me. I don't recall his video logs ever having books.
"Stop" Quaritch tells Wainfleet who sighs and slumps down in the chair behind Quaritch.
Miles was made from his own DNA but his genetic makeup derived from Jake Sully's. So...the only caveat to this little experiment is that it also effect...him.
"Always wanting to be a hero to a distressed damsel I see" Wainfleet teases as he drinks his water.
Quaritch doesn't reply because he didn't want to give into Wainfleet's comments.
Over a time span of a six month I was slowly injected with what Lyle refers to as love serum and to test if it actually worked, the RDA needed a Jake simulator so Miles was created however he was already in the process of being born but they needed him out earlier.
Which is probably why he was so young now, even his voice seemed to be aged back. Being derived from Jake's Na'vi, the labs used Miles a lot as a test dummy for me. He has maybe 15% of Jake's DNA but it was obvious that primal nature had taken effect.
He became very...caring. Yet he does, resist it 95% of the time. Wainfleet came from Norm Spellman's so to him, I don't smell any different I don't look any different I just looked like me...annoying.
"Watch yourself private" Quaritch shoots back at Lyle while he opens the bottle and hands it to me. Things like this remind me that 5% of the time, he lets his mate biology win.
"Thank you" I responds and his ears begin to go in every other direction.
"The sexual tension is so palpable" Lyle chuckles kicking his feet up but Miles just rolls his eyes and walks away from me.
"We're done today." He replies passing by Lyle and kicking his feet off. "No feet on the table I just cleaned it"
"Right?! Ok? But your ass could be on it" Wainfleet retorts still laughing. "Not much sense does it commander?"
He pauses thinking maybe he should say something but rather he wanted to be alone with Lyle.
"Seven go clear your bunker, tomorrow morning you'll be on the first flight out" Miles tells me
"Of course" I say bowing before trying to slide past the two. Miles reaches out for my arm and hands me the folder. "Study it."
"I don't need..." I started
"I said. Study. It." He says more sternly as I just nod all while Lyle just whistles pretending not to be listening. "Go."
And I obey rushing out.
"Seven. Morning my dear" Frances Ardmore greets in her massive robotic body suit. "How's sergeant treating you?"
"Horrible as always" I reply sarcastically and she chuckles putting a metal hand on my head.
"Just because he looks like a baby doesn't mean he acts like one" she says sipping her cup.
"I wouldn't know," I started looking up at her "I've only known Miles like this."
Being genetically bred, I never knew any of them. I didn't have memories implanted like Lyle and him. Mine were just from when I woke up. I was told they modeled me after one of Jake's human lovers but other than that nothing else.
"Well, he wasn't always a ray on sunshine" she replies sarcastically knowing that now he was actually bitter. I was told he hated being in a Na'Vi body. The very people he sought to kill and now he was one of them. "But I personally didn't work with him. He was already stationed here while I was on earth."
"I see." I mumbled playing with my fingers
"Nervous?"
"About the mission? No. Of course not." I say shaking my head.
"Not that"
And there is silence between us for a moment only to hear Parker Selfridge shouting and running over.
"Hey! Hey! Hands off!" He shouts jumping up to try to swat Frances's hand away. He grabs a metal pipes and prods her hand of my head. "Are you insane?! This is a 20 billion dollar product in front of you! I don't have any extra cash to make another one!"
"I'm not that fragile" I reminded Parker who just scoffs and puts his hands on his hips.
"Seven, look. We are this close to operation kill Jake Sully and I don't need to have Robot Woman fuck it up! Do you know how many experiments I had to pay for?!" He scolds
"Yes..." I groaned as he wags his fingers up at me.
"6! Each 20 billion!" He trails off "120 billion of American tax dollars to get you!"
God he was always like this.
"You know America didn't pay for this operation" Frances chuckles
"OKAY MADAM POLITICALLY CORRECT." Parker says turning to shout at Frances "Earth. But I'm white so when it comes to my wallet it's dollars. Not dongs, not bahts, euros, or pesos or whatever"
"You shouldn't have gotten him started" I say to Frances who rolls her eyes and walks off
"Where are you going?! I own this company! You can't walk away from me!" He say following her before turning back to me. "I don't want to see anything happening to you from this moment to the next chopper your ass is on! Don't fuck this up for Earth!"
"God he's annoying" Zdinarsk voices from behind me. I turn to look at my roommate as she throws and arm over my shoulder.
"He is...I'm so excited to not have to hear his voice" I said
"You're lucky. Most of us don't get that" Zdinark replies and I feel a tone of actual truth come from her. Like she was actually calling me that.
"I rather stay here" I admitted "and be with you guys."
She glanced over at me and feels maybe she shouldn't have said that and pulls her arm back as we walk down the hallways to the barracks.
"We're only given life for a job. That's it." She responds darkly "We die for a cause and we live for a cause."
"Is that what you think?" I ask curiously "that we can't be more than just this?"
For everyone else, they lived a life. They got to experience things prior to being a Na'Vi. While I didn't. I was embedded to be this and I didn't know anything else. Only what I read through books and history but we can't just...be this.
"Miles is spoiling you too much" she sighs "gives you stupid books and movies to watch."
She was joking in her weird cold tone but she was joking I knew that by now. But perhaps she was right, perhaps Miles having a soft spot for me did indulge me too much into fantasy.
"He'll be thrilled when I'm gone trust me" I say as we reach out room. Zdinark immediately runs in and plops herself on my bed.
"I can't wait until I get to shove these two mattresses together and finally have some piece and quiet" she chuckles "God no more of that girly shit you do"
"How am I..." I mumbled "because I prefer to sleep with a blanket and a pillow while you like to sleep on nothing?"
"In the field all we have is nothing. You'll need to get used to it instead of this princess crap" she reminds me
"I know that" I say in annoyance as I throw the folder on our little work desk. I threw myself on Zdinark's bed which was hard as a rock and rolled to the side.
There is silence for a moment before I hear her rustle and turn to face me.
"Be careful out there" she said more in a concern tone. "You are like my little kid sister."
"I'm older than you..."
"You were just genetically popped out first. But age wise I'm still the head bitch" she corrects herself as she sits up. "I don't need to be attending a second funeral or whatever the fuck you are"
"Did you attend Miles?" And she pauses for a moment
"When he first died?"
"No. Because we never were able to retrieve his body." She tells me "He died slow and alone, fighting to protect us. Our country."
And I look up at the ceiling for a moment.
"That's why he's concerned leaving you alone out there." She says "because those memories are embedded in him"
"I thought he didn't know how he died?"
"We have the footage all the way up until he was shot with an arrow. But he laid there. Just looking up at the sky."
The next morning Miles was up already dressed and reloading an assault rifle.
"Morning" he greets walking over to me. "Ready?"
And I nodded as we're flown out into Pandora. We're dropped on the outskirts as to not signal any unwanted traffic. It was just Miles and I getting off.
"How will you know he will come find me?" I ask following Miles.
"I know he will." He says "Let's see those gymnastics training. Up." He directed pointing to a tree. He drops both his hands in front to give leverage.
But I just hop onto his shoulder and upwards into the tree.
"Ok, new trick." Miles chuckles "what do you see?"
"I don't know? What am I looking for?" I asks as my ear begin to twitch around. "A woman's voice, singing?"
"Exactly how far?"
"Maybe 78 meter northeast." I respond pointing forward.
"Ok, sensory seems to be working, agility is good, how's that language?" He asks as I jump down and Miles immediately holds his arms out to me.
Moments like these are what makes me not want to go at all. My arms coiled around his neck as my legs dangled off and over his forearms.
"nga yawne lu oer" I say and he flashes me lopsided sided grin.
"I have no idea what you said" he replies "but I'm assuming it was good."
"It means you are beloved to me" I whisper as my fingers touch his jawline. His golden eyes look into mine and I feel our bodies wanting to move closer. I tilted my head toward Miles just as he speaks.
"That mate serum clearly is working" he responds flatly dropping me to the ground. He was using that 95% of control again.
Sometimes I wonder if I pushed too much between us.
"Seven." He calls and I look up at him. "Come,"
I hated when he used that voice but I follow. There is a bit of silence as I look around at Pandora. He turns his head slightly.
"You're annoyed at me" he starts
"Strange choice of words." I mumbled under my breath quietly "since you're one annoyed at me."
I crossed my arms whispering "I'm not some dog"
"I heard that..."
And I just bit the inside of my lip keeping my eyes diverted from him. Arguing with Miles wasn't something I wanted to deal right now. He was in commander mode, and I was just his subordinate.
"I am not...happy doing this" Quaritch says stopping but not turning his body. He looks up at the morning sky for a moment. "I don't mean to come off as cold."
I look up at his broad shoulders.
"I...am not allowed to feel anything for you" he admits "You are not meant for..."
And he stops speaking trying to form the correct words.
"My job is my job. Your job is yours." Miles says and I begin to walk over to, and face him. I was playing with my fingers.
He touches my face for a moment and I freeze.
"I don't know if it's that Sully gene speaking but I am worried, for you." He speaks so slowly and calmly "I spent a very long time just sitting there staring at you so forgive me when I have to finally release you and I'm not ok with it."
"Miles.." I uttered out. He never speaks like this. He never even acknowledges my presence other than small lab times but those times were always monitored. We were never alone together, not like this.
He touches his throat mic and turns it off for a moment.
"At the end of every week, every Saturday I will be located at the hallelujah campsite." He tells me running a thumb over my face. "Promise me, you'll be there"
And I don't even know how to act right now, because he's was so gentle that for a moment I forget we were still at war.
"Ok" I spit not knowing anything else and he kisses me. My heart begins to flutter as I push my lips back onto his.
"Please be careful" he whispers slowly pulling away and I nod. "Good luck."
And with that, He pulls out his sniper and doesn't even need to look as he shoots the woman that I had identified.
"Miles!" I protested
"It's a flesh wound," he shrugs packing everything. "You have maybe a 5 minutes to run there"
"You are insane!" I shouted "this isn't what we talked about!?"
"Sully is not stupid. He will not stop and listen to some sob story. It's the only way he will take you back to Omatikaya." He says "Save her and he will be indebted to you."
And I stood there and stared at him.
"Go" he says golden eyes sad but before I could react Miles grabs me and holds a knife to my neck right as Jake shoots out of the trees.
His golden eyes connect with mine and immediately bites Miles his wrist and he growls releasing his hold on me.
And so my mission started as I ran toward the woman he shot, and the woman he hit was...Neytiri.
