Finding Out

After becoming Olo'eyktan, Jake moved the Omatikaya clan's new village settlement into the woods on the outskirts of Hell's Gate. With the majority of humans now gone (especially the destructive military and corporate overseers), it allowed for convenient traverse for the remaining loyal humans (most of the SciOps division and some pilots), avatars, and members of the clan to interact. Aside from Grace and Jake (both now full-time Na'vi and living with the clan as one of the People), the remaining avatars (including Norm) continued to reside at the Avatar Compound; sleeping in the longhouse as usual.

Due to the proximity, Grace was able to easily split her time between teaching her students at the village and continuing her botany research, using the avatar-sized scaled labspace at the compound to conduct her work. Having to focus on taking care of only one body now after so many years of splitting her attention freed up an immense amount of Grace's schedule, as she didn't have to spend time doing basic necessary bodily functions twice anymore - such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and expelling waste. Much of this new free time she had, she used to simply relax, spend weaving articles of clothing or making herself a pouch, and embracing the clan lifestyle. She was grateful for the considered downtime, as she never enjoyed the workaholic lifestyle she had to adapt to and put up with, especially after becoming head of the Avatar program. Tens of people everyday had each clamored for a bit of her attention, whether in person or via email, on top of having to pay attention to her own two bodies. Now that she didn't have a human body anymore and was legally dead, Grace didn't see much sense in remaining head of the program anymore considering that she was no longer an avatar herself, and so she retired. Though she'd still be around to answer any questions related to her area of expertise, she no longer governed daily operations.

As a result of Grace stepping away, the avatar drivers convened to cast a vote to elect the new head of their program; selecting Norm to take over. Though initially unsure, he decidedly rose to the challenge to be the program's new leadership ambassador.

Over the course of the following three and a half months since the Battle of Ayram Alusìng, life at the new Omatikaya village and Hell's Gate settled into their new co-existing routines. Though not without some growing pains in response to adapting to these massive changes that occurred, a new normal had emerged.

One day at the end of a school lesson, three of Grace's young students (two boys, one around age 8, the other around age 10, and the eldest of the children a girl around age 11) surprised Grace by presenting her with a small gift they had made; a very pretty woven bracelet. Without any hesitation, she accepted the gift and thanked them, giving each child a hug and slipped the bracelet over her right wrist. She then asked if there was a special meaning behind it.

"To celebrate your baby!" spoke the youngest.

Grace was confused. "My baby? I don't have a baby."

"Not yet, but you will!" spoke the boy again. He reached forward and pressed his small hand to her flat torso, looking up at her.

"We're so happy for you!" said the girl brightly.

Grace knew they were mistaken, however she didn't want to crush their spirits. As she kneeled, she took the little boy's hand in her own.

The boy let out a giggle. His enthusiasm was infectious, causing Grace to smile at him.

Her curiosity was piqued at how they came to this conclusion. "How do you know?" she asked the group of kids.

"It's your scent," the girl replied quickly. "It has changed. You smell like how my mother did when she had my younger siblings."

The older boy finally spoke, "It gets stronger everyday."

"You're certain?" asked Grace.

"Very much," answered the older boy. The three kids nodded their agreement.

On the outside, Grace played it cool, thanking them for telling her and again for the sweet gift, before she gently excused herself a few moments later by encouraging the kids to go off and play. Inside, Grace was pensive. Suddenly being told she's pregnant out-of-the-blue scared her. She wasn't scared to undergo pregnancy and become a mother, in fact she was somewhat quite welcoming of it as she had foregone that lifepath as a human and it was in a way a second chance before time ran out again. To be clear, she didn't regret not having kids as a human. She was comfortable with her work and more than content and fulfilled being a teacher and sa'nok to her students. No, what scared her if this was in fact true, was the unknown of 'how' as she had very obviously done absolutely nothing to create this supposed offspring.

Grace made a beeline towards Hell's Gate.

As she walked across the compound, Norm who was in his avatar had witnessed her quickly pass by with determination and squeeze into a nearby airlock. Her entering the human-sized building wasn't completely unusual, as she had done it before a lot right after the transfer, however lately it was far less frequent as most of everything she needed was now outside and an aid runner would go back-and-forth for her. Whatever it was this time, it was obviously important for her to do herself. Considering the known added difficulty of her size in that environment, Norm wanted to help her if possible and laid his avatar down on his cot at the longhouse, disengaging from his link.

After passing through the airlock, Grace started to carefully duck and weave through hallways and corridors on her way to the med bay. As she saw Max, she called him over, asking him to follow her. After they entered the room, she asked Max to find an ultrasound machine and wheel it over as she moved three of the human sized cots together.

Though there were way more advanced digital scanners available, they were all specifically designed and calibrated for the brain, not to survey the rest of the body. Medically there was still a need to have a simple lowtech ultrasound to help make diagnoses, even if just for the sake of analog redundancy. One of last patients known having been in need of such device was Paz Socorro less than half a year ago.

Norm walked in mere seconds later, witnessing the scene as Grace situated herself on the triple-wide bed as Max stood next to her with an ultrasound machine, turning it on. "What's going on? Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I just need to quickly confirm something," replied Grace.

"Such as...?" wondered Norm.

At both Max and Norm's questioning looks, Grace took a breath and explained. "Some of my students are convinced that I'm pregnant. Ultrasound is the fastest way to check."

Both men's jaws dropped, their surprised reactions were telling as they quickly looked back and forth between each other and Grace. Meanwhile, Grace ignored the flabbergasted looks and laid back, reaching one of her long arms over to the cart, grabbing a tube of gel.

As she uncapped the tube and applied the gel, Max was the first to recover and speak. "Uh,... I'm not trying to pry, but I wasn't aware you were seeing someone for that to happen."

"That's because I'm not," replied Grace. She recapped and returned the gel tube to the cart then took the transducer and placed it on her lower abdomen to search for an answer. Within ten seconds she had it.

"Then how'd...," Norm started to say, but quickly stopped. The room went silent when the three adults witnessed a small fetus appear on the monitor screen.

Carefully, Max offered her a "Congratulations".

Grace's eyes were pinned to the image, barely flickering towards Max then back again as she distractedly said "Thanks''. She was mesmerized by the sight for about a minute or so, and from the outset of what she could tell of the fetus's anatomy, it resembled that of healthy avatars as they grew in a lab. Satisfied, she hit a button to print a few sonogram photos before ending the scan and another button to send a copy of the digital recording to her personal files. She then handed the transducer off to Max for him to clean and put away.

As she sat up, she accepted a few paper towels from Norm to wipe herself off as Max began to try to recap what happened. "So it was your students who told you? You didn't know yourself?"

"That's right," confirmed Grace.

"How could they tell? Visually, you still look the same. Have you been acting different, such as touching your stomach lately?" questioned Max.

Grace shook her head. "They said they could smell it. That my scent had changed."

Norm perked up. "So that's what that is?!"

Both Grace and Max looked at him with awaiting looks.

"Wait, you can smell it too?" cautiously asked Grace.

Norm made a huff as if it were obvious. "Well, yeah, and so can all of the other avatar drivers. We didn't know what to make of it. It's why I asked you about a month ago if you were feeling okay. You said you felt fine, so we decided to let it go."

At the time Norm asked about her wellbeing, Grace didn't find it out-of-the-ordinary as ever since her consciousness transfer, she's been asked that question a lot by many people to check on both her mental and physical health. As a result, she thought he was simply checking in on her in that regard, not because she smelled different.

"How long ago did you first notice it?" asked Grace. She was trying to piece together a timeline.

Norm wasn't completely sure. "Um, at least two and a half to three months ago, I think. It was really faint then, compared to now where it's like a light perfume."

Grace rolled her eyes. "It took you over a month or two to ask about it?! You know several diseases, including organ failure and cancers, can be detected through smell, right?" she snapped at him. Grace was irritated at the thought that had she been sick, that potentially critical moments of early diagnosis and treatment had been delayed because no one felt comfortable enough to directly ask her about it.

"I waited because you don't smell sick!" rebutted Norm. "You smell healthy. Really healthy. The closest term I can describe it would be equivalent in a sense to 'vitality'."

Grace had visibly calmed at hearing these words.

Norm sighed then continued to explain, his voice having normalized with a hint of being apologetic. "I figured that it was a sign that you had processed through your grief combined with your change in lifestyle having a more enjoyable and less demanding workload."

"I can see that," agreed Max. "You have been a lot happier and a lot less stressed these past few months, which is definitely something that would be reflected in one's pheromones," he said towards Grace.

Grace gave an accepting look to both Max and Norm, nodding. "You both have a good point." She then sat forward and put her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. A few seconds of silence passed before she then sat up straight, moving her hands to her knees. "I don't want this news getting out just yet," she said.

"But the avatar drivers already know," spoke Norm.

"They know that I smell different. They don't know that I'm pregnant," defined Grace. "I want to try to figure this out before I make any sort of announcement." She then looked specifically at Norm. "You can tell Trudy, but that's it. And she has to not say anything," Grace stipulated, holding up a warning finger at him.

"You got it," agreed Norm.

She then looked to Max. "I also want to be the person to tell Jake," she requested.

"My lips are sealed," complied Max, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

After a couple seconds, Grace then got up from the beds she was sitting on to stand the best she could and began to walk away towards the room's exit.

"Where are you going?" asked Max.

"To hopefully get some answers," Grace called out over her shoulder as she ducked through the doorway.