ISV Venture Star

As Severus opened his eyes, darkness greeted him, tinted with a faint blue hue.

He glanced around, a sense of disorientation washing over him. In cryosleep, you don't dream at all. It doesn't feel like six years, More like a fifth of fire whiskey and an ass-kicking.

Abruptly, the cryo bed ejected him, prompting a nurse to glide over, inspecting the pods around him. "Are we there yet?" Severus asked the nurse, who paused to check his pulse.

"Yeah, we've arrived, Sunshine," he replied with a hint of amusement before he pushed off the next pod. Severus unbuckled himself and let himself float for a bit, zero gravity was something he wasn't used to, before floating over to the locker named 'T. Sully' as one of the nurses called out to everyone.

"You've been in cryo for five years, nine months, and 22 days." it sure as hell didn't feel like it. "You will be hungry. You will be weak. if you feel nausea, please..." Severus drowned out the rest of what the guy said, following the others instead as they made their way over to the changing station.

Trying to put on clothes without gravity was one hell of a thing, but he managed it.

Following some random guy who seemed to know where he was going, Severus eventually found himself on a jet descending towards Pandora. As they descended, he couldn't help but notice the curious glances from the other people on the jet. Well, who wouldn't stare if a guy who usually rolled around in a wheelchair was now sitting alongside them?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a man walking down the aisle, shouting, "Exo-packs on! Let's go!" Quickly, Severus grabbed the mask from his lap, watching the others to figure out how to put it on.

The jet touched down and the other passengers unstrapped and stood to line up for departure. Severus had to wait for them to leave so he'd have space to unfold his wheelchair and get into it.

Once the ramp door was lowered and all the other passengers had jogged out, Severus reached for his chair wand with practiced movements, he opened it and lifted his body onto it. Slinging his duffel bag over his shoulders, he started to wheel out.

"Let's go, Special case! Don't make me wait for you!" the man from before shouted from behind him.

Severus rolled down the ramp as he got his first look at Pandora. It reminded him of those marine bases he saw on the telly as a boy, minus the masks.

Severus looked up just in time to see a guy driving what he learned was an AMP suit and swerved just in time to avoid being trampled.

"Look out, hot rod!" the driver called out to him before going back to wherever he was going. He finally reached the airlock door and rolled inside. Taking off his mask, he rolled around confused for a good 10 minutes before a random lady pointed him in the right direction.

As Severus rolled into the room, a man with a thick Southern accent spoke up. "You're not in Kansas anymore, You're on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen." Severus watched as the man walked down the aisle, making eye contact with each person. "If there is a hell, you might want to go there for some R&R after a tour on Pandora."

The man pointed to the window. "Out there, beyond that fence, everything that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes." Just from looking at the man Severus wounded two things: one, where did he get the scar on his head, and two, what the hell was a jujube?

"We have an Indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi," By the way he was walking up and down the aisle, Severus could tell the man was trying to be intimidating. "They're fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that can stop your heart in one minute. And they have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber."

As Severus rolled closer, he watched the way the man looked him up and down, his eyes hard. "They are very hard to kill. As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed. Not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need to cultivate a strong mental attitude. You've got to obey the rules: Pandora rules."

Severus drowned out the rest of the man's words, his mind drifting back to his life on Earth. He remembered the crowded streets, the noisy Yule parties, and the big, cluttered kids room he spent most of his time in with Draco. The smell of rain on pavement, the taste of cheap takeaway, and the sound of late-night jazz drifting from a nearby club.

Draco's laughter echoed in his mind, mingling with the hum of the room and the distant murmur of people in the hallway. Draco had dreamed of an adventure, and fantasized about exploring new worlds and making a difference. But now, the harsh reality of Pandora was setting in, and the weight of his decision pressed down on him.

Severus snapped back to the present as the man concluded his speech. The group began to disperse, heading towards assigned places. He wheeled himself forward, determined to find his space and get settled in. The corridors buzzed with activity, people unpacking and chatting, trying to make sense of their new environment.

As he wheeled himself around, he heard someone call out his name. "Severus!" He looked up to see a guy with sandy brown hair and green eyes. "You're Severus, right? Tom's brother. Wow, you look just like him."

Severus stared at the random guy with a blank expression. "Sorry, I'm Norm Spellman." He reached out and shook Severus's hand. "I went through avatar training with your brother." Severus nodded, his eyes scanning the room for where he needed to go as Norm continued.

"I can show you around?" Norm offered. Severus gave him another blank look before nodding, deciding it was best to get the lay of the land. He followed Norm as he pointed out different places, mentally noting each one so he wouldn't get lost later.

"This is the bio-lab," Norm said, gesturing to a room filled with people moving around with machines and other equipment Severus couldn't name. He watched as Norm introduced himself to different people before pointing to another room.

"Uh, here's the link room right here. This is where we connect to the avatars..." Severus's eyes were drawn to something else, ignoring whatever Norm was saying, as he started wheeling himself closer.

He stared at the big blue bodies in the tanks. From what he remembered, he and Norm were there to drive these remotely controlled bodies called avatars, grown from human DNA mixed with the DNA of the natives.

"Hey, welcome." Severus looked up to see a man in a lab coat holding out his hand to greet him. "Welcome to Pandora, happy to have you."

Staring at the avatar, Severus couldn't help but be shocked. "Damn, they got big." Norm came closer and leaned on the tank, looking at the body inside. "Yeah, they fully matured on the flight out."

The man in the lab coat came up and looked at the tank. "It'll take us a few hours to get them decanted, but you guys can take them out tomorrow." Severus and Norm shared a look before the lab coat guy pointed to the other tank.

"There's yours." Severus turned and looked at the tank in question before wheeling over to get a closer look.

The blue-skinned figure floated serenely in the viscous fluid, its features a blend of human and Na'vi traits. It was an eerie yet fascinating sight. Severus placed a hand on the glass, feeling a strange connection to this alien body that was somehow part of him.

"Looks like him," Severus murmured, more to himself than anyone else. The prospect of piloting the avatar was both thrilling and daunting. This was his brother's dream, so he should be living it. Norm walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like you. This is your avatar now, Severus."

Severus nodded, a mixture of emotions swirling within him. With one last look at the avatar, Severus turned his chair and rolled towards the exit, ready to embrace whatever else awaited him in this strange new world.