Make yourself at home
When you are in cryo, six years pass in an eyeblink. When Opal opened her eyes with a gasp, her head thumping as if she had had too much to drink, she did not realise just yet six years has passed.
The chamber she had been sleeping in opened up, her eyes slowly adjusting to the change in light and scenery. She heard someone ask if they arrived and when one of the scientists answered affirmatively, her heart started hammering in excitement.
Soon she would set eyes on Pandora.
Opal groaned as she floated to her locker, opening it and trying to ignore her dishelved look. She turned to her right and saw a man looking at her, a soft smile appearing at her appearance. She shrugged and threw him a grin back, turning back to the task at hand.
By the time they were flying to Pandora, Opal's appearance had bettered. She at least looked like a normal person now. She had put her hair into a long braid, her hair shining healthily. It had also grown much, so she hoped she'd be able to cut it when they arrived on the station.
Upon closer inspection, she remarked she was the only civilian here. All the rest of her co-travellers were clearly military, and Opal tried not to feel too out of place.
As everyone put their masks on and stood in line, the man gestured for her to wait. 'You and him can go afterwards, civilian.' Opal nodded, not trying to roll her eyes at the blatant disrespect in the man's voice.
So civilians were not worth much here, huh?
'You look better. More human.' A voice said next to her, as Opal turned and looked at the man who had smiled at her when she had gone to get things from her locker. 'Well, yeah, the 'I have just slept six years look' is not really my thing.' Opal offered silently as a grin appeared on the man's face.
'Jake Sully.' he said, as Opal shook his hand. 'Opal Bryers. Or the civilian.' She said, making airquotes. Jake chuckled as he looked ahead. 'Make sure he doesn't see it.' Opal looked at the man who motioned for them to follow.
Jake was the first one to go, Opal sticking close to the ex-marine. 'This is...' Opal's voice gave away her wonder while she turned around, looking at the beauty of the sky. 'Nice.' Jake concluded, as he advanced, Opal running after him. For a man in a wheelchair, he was fast.
'Look out, Hot Rod!' Someone shouted out of a giant robot like thing, both Opal and Jake too stunned to react. 'Amazing. Simply amazing.'
'As head of security, it is my job to protect you. I will not succeed.' Opal tried not to feel like an insect to be dissected as the head of security's gaze fell on her, as if he knew she was one of the people the least likely to make it out alive.
She sat on one of the benches, Jake stopping next to her. While the head of security droned off rules, Opal did listen. She felt a bit better, vowing to stick to the rules and hopefully not end up dead before her term was up.
Opal and Jake decided to stick together, since both would be part of the science department. Opal was looking at the directions they had given her, Jake's curious gaze falling on their surroundings.
'Jake!' Opal stopped in her tracks, head turning as she tried to pinpoint who had called Jake's name. A man came running over stopping next to her. 'You are Jake right? Tom's brother.' Jake's face seemed to shut down, but he nodded all the same.
It was something that was clearly a painful topic, and Opal stored that information in her head to never bring up Jake's brother unless he himself mentioned him. The lighthaired girl came back to present time, just as the man introduced himself as Norm Spellmann.
'This is Opal.' Jake motioned, Opal's smile becoming tight when he realized who she potentially was. But it was clear he was not completely sure. 'Opal Bryers?' Opal shrugged but held out her hand all the same, Norm flying into a new explanation.
'Why did he react like that?' Opal bit her lip, sighing. 'I am Grace Augustine's niece.' 'Doctor Augustine's niece?' Jake asked, raised eyebrow trying to hide his curiosity. The girl next to him wringed her hands together, a faraway look clear in her eyes. 'She was my mother's best friend. She was the only family my mom had, so I called her aunt Grace. But I haven't seen her in years. Not since...'
'She came to Pandora?' The ex-marine next to her inquired, a silent nod his only answer.
'The bio-lab. We're going to spend a lot of time in here.' Opal hummed, silent as she allowed herself to take it all in. So this would be her primary home for the next few years.
'Are those...?' She heard Jake ask, turning to the sound of his voice. A gasp left her as she saw what was in the tanks. 'Unbelieveable.' Opal shook her head, her mouth wide open as she gaped at the Avatars before her.
'They have grown big!' Jake said, the disbelief in his voice clear. Opal zoned out as Norm and one of the scientists, Max Patel he was called she would later learn, went into a conversation about the growing rate of those remotely controlled bodies.
She wandered over to one of the tanks, her eyes focusing on the body inside it. It looked...familiar.
'That is yours.' Max pointed out, as Opal looked up in disbelief. Than her jumbled thoughts finally connected. 'She is mine?' Jake shrugged, Norm also joining them. 'Well, she does look like you.'
Opal let out a laugh, holding her hand against her forehead, shocked and humoured about her own stupidity. 'I thought she looked familiar.' She grinned in good humour, the three men who had been looking at her in confusion now also bursting out laughing.
'Are you ready to meet Grace?' Max asked, Opal letting out a breath and trying to ignore the churning in her stomach. 'Yes. I am.' The nerves kept on mounting as she followed Max, Jake and Norm towards the link room.
The moment of truth was finally here.
She was going to meet the woman she called her aunt since she was little but hadn't seen in years.
'Grace Augustine is a legend.' Norm informed Jake and Opal, as they followed Max towards the link room. 'She is head of the Avatar team. She literally wrote the book on Pandora.' Norm gushed as Opal gave him a nervous smile, wringing her sweaty hands together.
'There she is, Cinderella back from the ball. Grace, I would like you to meet Norm Spellmann, Jake Sully and...' Before Max could introduce Opal, Grace's gaze fell on Norm as she spoke to him in Na'Vi.
The words Opal did not understand, but there was a certain beauty about the Na'Vi language. 'What the hell are they saying?' Opal asked Jake, who raised an eyebrow but shook his head.
'I have no idea.' Opal gave him a small smile, the ex-marine motioning for her to take deep breaths. 'I am trying.' She whispered, the butterflies in her stomach reaching a crescendo. 'Lord knows I am.'
'Grace, this is Jake Sully.' 'Ma'am.' Jake holding out his hand got Opal's attention who waited with baited breath to see what was going to happen.
'Yeah, yeah, I know who you are. I don't need you, I need your brother.' Opal could see Jake's face closing off, and she knew it was a very touchy subject. She felt some sympathy for the ex-soldier, remembering how ruthless Grace could be with people she did not know.
'He's dead.' Jake deadpanned, Opal shaking her head and squeezing his shoulder in sympathy. 'Now that's a big inconvenience for everyone involved. But it is the way it is.'
Grace seemed to bristle, her gaze zeroing in on the ex-marine. 'How much labtraining did you get?'
'I dissected a frog once.' Jake admitted, Opal closing her eyes, since she just knew Grace would not like that answer. 'Are you kidding me? You see?! This is what I mean.' Grace angrily said, the young woman deciding it was time to intervene.
'I do not have any labtraining either. Still you requested I come.' Opal piped up, the group falling silent as everyone's gaze fell on the girl at the back. Grace's emotions changed, going from angry to confusion in seconds.
'Are you...?'
Max cleared his throat. 'Grace, this is Opal Bryers, the girl you requested come to Pandora.' An awkward silence fell over the group, Grace and Opal both sizing each other up.
'You have grown big, Opal. Your mother would be very proud of you.' Grace admitted, a bright smile appearing on Opal's lips. They were still a bit like strangers to each other, but she hoped with time they could go back to the easy relationship they had had when she was little.
She hoped she'll be able to call Grace her aunt again, but for real this time.
Grace cleared her throat, attention back to the task at hand. 'Anyway, I need to go and talk to Selfridge. I suppose you can get settled yourself?' Opal nodded, giving her aunt another warm smile.
'Be here tomorrow morning at eight sharp.' Max huffed as he went after his boss, Jake and Opal sharing a smirk. 'So that is your aunt?' Jake whistled as Norm stumbled, stopping in his tracks.
'Grace Augustine is your aunt?!' Opal sighed but nodded, deciding it was better to tell the truth. 'My mother was Ophelia Bryers.' Norm's mouth formed a perfect O, connecting the dots. 'She was Grace's best friend.'
Opal nodded, stopping at her room. 'Grace is the only family I have left. Though I call her aunt, we have not seen each other in years. Just like you two, I am starting with a clean slate. I will see you two tomorrow, right?' Both men nodded as Opal bid them goodnight, going into her room and installing herself.
Though she had hoped the meeting with her aunt would go better, it was not horrible either. The only way going now was up.
'You look like shit.' Jake grinned that morning at breakfast. Norm let out a chuckle, a barely awake Opal throwing her food at him. 'You do know how to sweettalk the ladies.'
As they approached the linkroom, Opal was positively thrumming with energy. 'Excited?' Norm asked, as Opal nodded. 'Very.'
They fell silent as Grace approached, the woman giving her a small smile. A very big reaction, Max would later say. Grace never smiled at anyone.
'This is your link.' Opal bit her lip as Max explained how it worked, his guess that she had never done this before the right one. 'So just, lie down and relax.' Opal took a deep breath, Norm giving her a thumbs up for courage, the girl ignoring her excitement and laying down in the linkbed.
'This feels weird. Nice but weird.' Max laughed at that, giving her some final instructions. 'Allow your head to empty itself. Before you know it, you'll be in your avatar. Have fun!' Opal grinned, her nails digging into the palms of her hands as she closed her eyes.
There was nothing but weird sounds around her, as if a machine was gearing up, and than it seemed like she saw some sort of tunnel.
And than...light.
'She's in. Opal, can you hear me? Opal?' The fairhaired woman groaned as she tried to focus her sight, the scientists finally becoming clear.
'Yes, I can.' Her voice was scratchy, but she figured it was normal, since this body had never spoken before.
'How do you feel?' Opal's attention was diverted as she raised her hand and looked at her very blue skin. 'Fine. Weird but fine. And excited.' Opal gushed, the woman next to her giving her a warm smile.
'You want to sit up.' Opal nodded, slowly sitting up and taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be in a hospital room of sorts. 'We need to go through some tests. And if you feel up for it afterwards, you can go outside.'
Opal felt happiness coursing through her veins, her goofy nod almost giving her whiplash. 'Slowly.' The woman chuckled.
She spend some time going through all sorts of exercises, to see if she correctly connected, when a disturbance at the back of the room made her look behind her.
'Jake?' she whispered, as the avatar she supposed was Jake ran outside. 'Jake! Come back!' Norm called out, getting up. 'It's fine. I feel fine. I'll go outside a bit and go and get him, yes?' Opal asked, the woman before her chuckling but nodding.
'Go ahead.'
Lord, she was tall. That was the first thing that came to mind as Opal walked outside, trying not to stumble over her own feet.
So far so good.
She decided she could go and get Jake in a few minutes, her gaze taking in her surroundings. She tried to ignore her tail, which felt weird. And the long braid that seemed to swing back and forth between her long black hair. No idea what that was for.
The air, it was so...fresh here.
'Jake!' Opal called out, the ex-marine turning as Opal joined him and another woman. 'How do you feel?' Opal took a step back, surprise evident on her face. 'Grace?'
The woman grinned, nodding at the same time. 'I...The air is so fresh here.' Opal gushed, looking at the sky. Grace chuckled quietly. 'Well, if you are impressed by this, wait until later this week.'
Jake and Opal both looked at each other and than at the scientist before them, raising their eyebrows in tandem.
'Later this week?' Grace smirked, motioning for them to follow. 'Yes, we are going on a excursion later this week. And you two will come with me.'
Jake and Opal shared a look, both not knowing what to say.
Oh boy, was she in for an adventure.