Body and Soul pt. 2
Waking up was no easy task, you had barely gotten any sleep the night before, how could you when you were so excited for what lies ahead? You had almost slept in before realizing that today was the day you could link with your avatar, you had waiting years for this. Quickly, you changed out of your pajamas and threw on some decent clothes, determined that nothing was going to get in your way today. It had been too long of a wait for you to finally get what you trained for, what felt like half your life's work was finally becoming real, obtainable, within a few hours reach. As soon as you were completely freshened up, you were out the door, not totally paying attention as Norm and appeared what seemed instantaneously beside you.
“Oh shit, hey guys.” A smile present on your face as the three of you moved down the halls. Norm looked just as refreshed and awake as you while Jake seemed disinterested in everything, though you couldn’t really read past this stoic, poker face. Then again maybe he just wasn’t a morning person.
“Morning Y/N!” Norm piped up. “I could barely sleep last night, today’s the day.” He shared your excitement, it was nice to feel like you were the only one in your group that had such pleasant feelings. You notice Jake began to open his mouth on the stop when you were greeted by Grace and Max, with a hint of a smile Grace greeted you.
“Good morning you three, the avatars are decanted and almost done being prepped for the initial link.” Max had stated, guiding the group through the link room.
“So Y/N, how much link time have you logged?” Grace asked, leading you to the pod’s.
“Around 600 hours.” You answered, “I’ve been really eager for this.” You told her truthfully with an airy chuckle as she mimicked you with a soft smirk.
“About 520 hours.” She nodded in approval, approaching the pods. You could almost die in this moment, you thought, finally all those years and it was literally 3 feet away from you.
“Norm, you’re in this one, Y/N, you’re in here, and uh, Jake, you in here.” She guided Jake over, you hearing her ask about his link training before your attention was grabbed away by a resident, pressing buttons on the control panel, ready to set you up for your link. You happily sat down in the open pod, swiveling your body to lay in the molded form with your arms by your side.
“Don’t be nervous, I remember I was for my first time.” The resident offered a sweet smile as she finished with the controls, her hands going to your body to adjust you quickly, making sure nothing was in the way as she closed the metal cage. “Alright, so just fully relax and let your mind go blank, think of it as just trying to take a nap.” She nodded one last time before fully closing the pod. Taking one last deep breath in, you closed your eyes, feeling what could only be described as a call to sleep.
Bright lights and echoing were the first things you noticed when you woke up.
“She’s in.” A nurse quickly snapped next to your ears, causing you to stir awake even more. You were then met with a flashlight shining into your eyes. “Can you hear me Y/N?”
“Oh my god.” You finally spoke, you smiled the biggest smile you could as you looked at the two doctors in front of you. They had both offered you a laugh as the greeted you to your new body.
“Alright, we’re going to take this nice and slow while you get used to your body, so if you could start by wiggling your toes that’d be great” The next few minutes went by in a flash, you had excelled in their test, allowing you to sit up while they continued with the basics. You heard Norm in the bed next to you running through the same tests, your concentration broken by Jake, he had finally linked and was already starting trouble. He was fully standing and knocking things over with his tail, obviously not used to his avatar.
“Come on man, they’re gonna put you out.” Norm warned, looking quickly over at you for a response as you shrugged.
“This is great.” Jake laughed and with that he was out of the room, stumbling over his legs as he quickly walked down the halls.
This dumbass, You thought with a sigh before standing up and taking your leads off. “It’s fine, I’ll get him.” Much to the protest of the doctors and Norm, you did your best to sprint after him, Norm not far behind, warning the two of you that you weren’t supposed to be running. Why you chased after him, you will never know.
“Jake, c’mon man, we aren’t ready for this yet!” You called after him, damn was he hard to keep up with. You could only watch as he almost ran into like three people, you nearly doing the same. You were grateful for a break, noticing he had stopped, his toes digging in the dirt. It hit you, he was walking, running, running, you hadn’t spoken much to Jake yet but you understood a little bit now. How he must feel to finally be able to walk again, how great it must feel to run. Slowing down, you approached him. “Damn, you’re going to give me a heart attack.” You joked, a soft chuckle coming from him as well.
“Hey marine!” A voice called over to him, making your eyes snap up to the blue figure approaching the two of you. It took a second before the both realized.
“Grace?” Jake questioned with a laugh. Damn, she’s hot, Your eyes widened at her with a disbelieving grin.
“Well, who’d you expect numbnuts?” She seemed happier in this state, you thought as you watched her grab a native fruit tossing it to him. “Think fast.” You watched as he bit into the fruit, causing him to let out a groan of approval, turning to offer you a bite. You eagerly took it from him, sinking your teeth into the juice exploding into your mouth.
“Goddamn that’s good,” Your eyes widened, handing the bitten fruit back to him as you turned to look at Grace again, grinning almost obnoxiously at the pair as Norm had skidded up to the three of you.
“Check it out!” He stroke a pose, “I am a living god.” The three of you let out a laugh together before Grace fully walked up to you.
“Alright kiddies, let’s get you into some real clothes and go over some rules.” She was already acting like a mother, but one you were happy to be under the guidance of.
After you three were given proper clothes and a stern talking to, you were left to your own devices until nightfall. You had already been laying in your cot as Grace did her final check through, noticing Jake playing with his queue, she made a comment before locking up. You did your best to fall asleep, though it was hard with all the excitement you experienced. With one last sigh, you closed your eyes only to open them and see the inside of the pod. You quickly got out, taking a minute before fully standing up, noticing that Jake and Norm were already out as well.
“You wanna catch some dinner together?” You asked as you walked up to them, hands twiddling together behind your back.
“Yeah, I’ll come with you.” Jake had accepted your offer, wheeling himself closer to you as Norm decided that he wanted to look around at the things the lab had to offer. You and Jake had walked side by side to the cafeteria, making small talk as you had gotten in the line.
“Oh here, I can hold your tray for you if it’ll be easier.” You had given him a kind smile while he just kind of brushed you off.
“Nah, I got this. Thanks though.” The tension felt so awkward, you honestly didn’t really know what to say, though you had always felt like that. You were very introverted, never really having friends or going out a lot. One of the reasons you had looked up to Grace is because you could really see yourself in her. Like her, you preferred plants to people, you would much rather be in your room studying or listening to music than being surrounded by crowds of people, judging you for even the smallest mishap. Thankfully though, Jake had made an attempt of an ice breaker. “So, why Pandora? What made you wanna come all the way out here?” He had seemed genuinely curious, which you guessed was nice since most guys with his vibe didn’t seem the type to be even mildly interested.
“Oh well you know, fresh start, new world. Figured I couldn’t really mess anything up back home if I was all the way out here. Plus seeing actual plants is nice.” You fumbled over your words, not really sure what to say as you had taken your seat at one of the less crowded tables. He hummed in response, already picking through the rice with his fork. “You? Why would you want to come all the way out here? You don’t seem interested in anything the science program has to offer.” It was your turn to question him and his intentions.
“Ah, I could use the money, especially in this economy. And it beats bar diving and sitting at home all day.” You let a small laugh out, obviously a marine is gonna be a marine.
“I guess that’s true.” The two of you finished your meals with little conversation, both not truly knowing what to say to one another. Pushing yourself away from the table, you stood up with your plate. “It was nice having someone to eat with, see you tomorrow?” You gave him one last look before you made your way to leave, seeing him nod his head.
Today was your first real day out with your avatar, you were going out on a field trip with Grace and Norm, Jake was coming along too but not as a scientist but more so for protection. You had already linked and were ready to go as you approached Grace and Norm early that morning, getting some extra gear that you might need as well as some more food into your avatar’s bodies. The flight out was thrilling as you hadn’t seen all the flora and fauna that Pandora had to offer as well as seeing just some of its wildlife. You had been next to the door, strapped in at the waist, Norm stuck in the middle of you and Grace as you peered behind Jake’s figure, taking all of it in as Jake let out a few whoops next to you.
“It’s so beautiful out there, oh my god.” You were almost in disbelief that this was your life for the next 6 years, you get to see this almost everyday. Trudy had began landing the Scorpion, allowing the three of you in the middle to unstrap yourselves and start collecting your things. Jake had jumped out of the ship, pointing his gun towards the sky as he scanned the area. God as much as you respected him, his gun maneuvering did scare you. Grace had Wainfleet stay with the ship as the group of your avatars started off on your adventure. Walking through the forest of Pandora really had lit up your entire morning, you were so lost in taking it all in. The only thing snapping you out of it was Grace’s voice saying that you had gotten to your destination. Kneeling down to the root, you had taken out the supplies that were required. After Grace had gotten the needle ready, she made sure both you and Norm were looking at the screen, reading to take the scans.
“And here I go.” She stated as she put the needle in the root to which Norm confirmed that it was scanning.
“Woah! It’s that fast?” Both you and Norm were obviously impressed with the speed of the scan, Grace laughing at your faces.
“Amazing, isn’t it? So, that is signal transduction from this root to the root of the tree next to it. So, we should take a sample.” You had already been digging in your pack, looking for the sample plate, not noticing Jake had begun to wonder off.
“You know, it’s probably electrical based on the speed of the reaction.” Norm’s mouth had the sample in it, causing yet another laugh to come from you as Grace began to chastise him for contaminating the sample with his salvia.
“Here, have mine.” You handed your sample plate over to him, looking up to see blue and khaki slowly walk away from the group. “Do you mind if I take a minute? It won’t be long.” You had asked Grace, almost pleading as you stood up. She nodded as she paid close attention to Norm, making sure he didn’t screw this sample up.
You had moved past the duo, quickly walking to where you had last seen Jake, watching him as he came across a small heliocoradian field. Seeing him, press his thumb to one and watching it shrink down, you let out a chuckle.
“I believe that’s a defense mechanism.” Jake had spun on his feet, surprised to see you as you walked up to the plant, touching your own hand to it as it shrunk down, another laugh coming out between the two of you. He reached out touching another one, though this one caused a chain reaction as the rest of the plant also came down, revealing a large animal that had let out a trumpeting sound. You felt your ears move down in fear, tail swinging anxiously at the unwanted surprise. Jake immediately cocking his gun and aiming it at the beast, though this had no impact as it started to stomp its feet, gearing up to charge while it let out around sound.
Grace and Norm quickly appeared, though they both hid behind the treeline, carefully observing.
“Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot, you’ll piss him off.” She warned, very sternly through the coms. You felt frozen, like you couldn’t move. This damn fight or flight response you had was very useless when it really came down to it. The almost elephant-like creature began to smash its hammerhead in between two trees as Jake had tried to signal for you to move behind him, though you still felt frozen, legs shaking in paralyzing fear.
“It’s already pissed off.” Jake had been careful not to take his eyes off of it for more than a second as he kept a careful hand on his gun.
“Jake, that armor is too thick. Trust me.” Grace felt so close yet so far away from you. Why did I have to follow him? You thought, trying to will yourself to follow Grace’s instructions as you so desperately wanted to gain control over your feet. Jake had pulled his gun back, signaling to Grace that he understood not to shoot, though it still didn’t appease the giant as it slammed against more trees. “It’s a territorial threat display. Do not run or he’ll charge.” She explained. So much for getting the feelings back in your shaky legs.
“What do you want me to do then? Dance with it?” Jake questioned, his eyes quickly scanning over to Grace and then you. God, you were so scared. This was not how you wanted to die.
“Just hold your ground.” Grace replied calmly, you didn’t see how she could remain so calm at a time like this. You felt yourself able to look into her and Norm’s direction very quickly, a silent plea for whatever help they could give you. The bull began to charge, immediately making your head snap to it as Jake ran towards it screaming right back. He laughed nervously, unsure of what to do as it stopped, flaring its feathers.
“Yeah, cmon! What you got? Oh, yeah. Who’s nad? That’s right.” Jake had raised his voice, defending his ‘territory’, you too were in disbelief that it had worked, finally finding strength in your legs to move further away from the animal and behind Jake, after all he did have a gun. “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, bitch.” He stated confidently, his hand grabbing out for yours as he escorted you fully behind him, an act you were almost, almost grateful for until you noticed it. Another wave of fear and panic washed over you, your hand grabbing the back of Jake’s shirt, though he had yet noticed it. “Get your punk ass back to mommy.”
“Jake.” You tried to get his attention but it didn’t matter anyway, a thanator quickly taking the bulls place with a jump and a roar. His gun immediately went back in place, aiming at another giant creature for the second time within mere minutes.
“So what about this one? Run? Don’t run? What?” His voice was not nearly as confident as before as Grace yelled for the two of you to run. With that said, you were glad your feet got into gear as Jake pulled you forward, pushing you to run ahead of him, though it didn’t matter as he was faster than you anyway. You weren’t trained for this kind of terrain so you were very grateful that he had done his best to keep you in front of him as the two of you ran through the foliage. The thanator kept trying to sneak bites at you, miraculously you were just out of reach each time. Your lungs felt like they were on fire as you ran, sliding under the roots of a tree as the thanator snapped at you, Jake’s gun shooting at it through the openings while it screeched. You tried to catch your breath while you could but you knew you were going to have to move soon since it kept breaking the roots and actually had discarded Jake’s gun. Feeling him push your upper legs, you quickly dug out of the roots, trying your best to sprint and jump over the terrain. You only looked back once, noticing Jake wasn’t behind you but in the air as the alien slung him around by his pack.
“Jake!” You screamed, watching as he was able to slide it off though it caught his hand flinging him further from you. He made use of the time to run towards you as it was distracted by chewing up the contents in his backpack, only to hiss when it realized it hadn’t caught you. He had caught up to you, continuing the dash forward, the thanator hot on your trail. You had run up to the waterfall, realizing your only chance of surviving was the jump, you said a small prayer in your mind as you and Jake had made the jump, you doing your best to hold your breath and you fell. You did your best to brace for impact, eyes shut tightly as you felt the water rush up to your ears and cover your face. Quickly swimming to the top of the fast river, you bobbed your head looking for Jake as he called out for you, holding onto a tree branch.
“You alright?” He was out of breath, pulling you towards him and up to the solid ground. His grip keeping you from falling back into the water.
“Yeah, I-I think I’m good.” You replied shakily, hands on your knees once you were stable. Hunched over, trying to catch your breath. “I think you’re bleeding though.”
This was not how you wanted to die.
