chapter one
Chapter One
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You read somewhere that the average person can only tread water for two to three hours before drowning. Drowning wasn’t much of a concern on Earth, the oceans were too polluted to swim in without risking illness, and almost nobody could afford a swimming pool. But as part of the RDA’s mandatory training course for all staff—Avatar drivers included—you had to take a swimming class.
You could swim. You were average at it, and you lacked the skill of the people who’s been able to swim their whole lives—but you could swim.
It had been impressed upon you, should you fall into the water without a life vest, it was impartial that you get to land as soon as possible. It was irrelevant if it was your human body or avatar body. Both could and would eventually tire out, and if you were in the water too long, you would drown.
The boat was long gone.
You weren’t sure how long you’d been here, struggling to keep your head above water. Your shoes were long gone, and eclipse was nearing.
When you’d fallen over, it had been fast. One moment, you were squatting on the edge of the boat, fingers ghosting over the clear water. The next, you were completely submerged, clawing your way to the surface as the boat shot forward.
You had thought, perhaps naïvely, that your absence would be quickly noted and they would turn around for you.
When nobody came—noticed, it quickly became apparent that your wallflower nature had once more betrayed you.
Your head dipped below the water, and when you managed to force your face above the water, your eyes stung as you nearly cried in frustration. It had been a week. No, not even that. Three days at Hell’s Gate familiarizing yourself with your avatar and going over policies. Two days travel, and today, on the sixth day, they’d told you all to link up and get on the boat. Just a quick tour. A run down of the base and surrounding area.
Everything you’d worked for, your degree in marine biology, the link hours, the time you’d spent pouring over the Na’vi language in preparation would all die with this body.
To top it all off, less then a week in and you were already about to lose the RDA an asset worth over 5 billion dollars—all because nobody could be bothered to notice you were missing.
You slipped below the water again, limbs heavy and breathing ragged. Bubbles slipped from your lips, and for a moment, you gave up. It was just a second, if that. For one second, you floated in the water and stared out into the open ocean.
For an insane second, you thought you had unlinked. You turned over, coughing. Water poured from your lungs, and you leaned back, gasping for breath as you watched the eclipse begin and day on Pandora end.
You leaned back, staring at the darkening sky. Your fingers ran over the object you were on. It was smooth, but tough—like a piece of leather stretched over a rock.
It took a moment for you to put the pieces together, even as the creature that saved you hummed.
As part of the introduction to the RDA’s water base—affectionately called the Rig, they’d gone over all the native species. You were obviously familiar with them, having studied most of them from afar. You were, after all, a marine biologist.
There had been documentation of tulkun saving Na’vi and humans alike—the former drastically more so. But they had saved them. Beyond knowing they were gentle giants, probably similar to intelligence as a dolphin or elephant.
“Thank you,” you gasped, hands rubbing along the smooth skin. Tears welled in your eyes, and you sat back on your heels in relief. Your shirt clung to your skin, the cool air making you shiver.
The tulkun hummed, rhythmic and clear. You blinked, exhaling shakily as your mouth fell open. Your voice barely above a whisper, you spoke, but in Na’vi this time, “Thank you for saving my life.”
The response came quicker this time, and you were sure now.
Your eyes widened, your breath quickened. The tulkun had just spoken.
Incredulous, you said, “My name is Hana—what is your name?”
The tulkun vocalized again, your ears flicking as the sounds reach you. “Ame,” you repeat. “It is so very, very nice to meet you, Ame.”
You rested your hand on her head, gently patting her.
Ame thought it was nice to meet you too.
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You are not sure how long you were there, in the water with Ame. Conversation was slow, stilted as you both muddled through a second language to communicate. Your understanding of Na’vi was lackluster at best, but Ame intoned slowly, vocalizing her words carefully so you could understand.
You did most of the talking, telling her that you’d never learned how to swim before coming here—that you’d always loved animals, and the ocean had always drawn you in. The oceans on Earth were dead, but the opposite was true on Pandora. You told her about your plan to study the animals here, that if she let you, you’d like to study her too. You wanted to know everything. Ame was quiet, occasionally chiming in with a clarifying question or short answer.
Eventually, it became clear nobody was coming for you—as if it hadn’t been already. It was unlikely they would unlink you, the side effects of it breaking could be dangerous as was only reserved for desperate situations. They wouldn’t risk unlinking you and unintentionally drowning your avatar.
Ame swam for a while, drawing you further from the Rig despite your protesting. She drifted through the water carefully, never fully submerging and allowing you to rest on her back.
As an island came into vision, it became clear she was taking you to land. You grinned, petting her back.
Carefully, you stepped onto the rock. Ame sunk down a little, and you squatted to be more eye level with her. “Will I see you again?”
You still weren’t sure how much she was understanding, if she was understanding or even responding completely—but a large part of you was screaming that this was not Earth, this was Pandora. And this world had not been explored yet, and Ame had a name. One she could tell you.
Ame hummed her affirmative, and you grinned at her, shouting your goodbye as she disappeared back into the ocean and gave you a little stalag as farewell.
You grinned, heart pounding as you began to fully process what just happened.
Nobody back at the Rig was going to believe this.
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