Frozen
Harry had been correct in assuming that he would spend the duration of the expedition in a more meditative, rather than cryo, state. He listened carefully to his own heartbeat, a sound that he had grown accustomed to after so long. If he concentrated hard enough though, he could hear the steady beats of the scientific hearts around him.
He wasn't sure if he was actually supposed to be able to do that, but after year number three, he stopped questioning it and just went with it.
For the almost six-year period, Harry spent the majority of it just making sure his magic wouldn't tamper with the ship's instruments. He didn't want to endanger and or possibly kill the hundreds of people traveling with him.
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Harry could feel when the ship neared the gravity that Jupiter, and therefore Pandora, exerted.
He really didn't know how to describe it other than a presence. It was familiar though, familiar enough that Harry had to take a breath to concentrate on the walls holding his magic at bay. The presence was obviously older than himself, but it felt so much younger than the presence of his home.
He could feel the probe of a mind that wasn't his, of a consciousness that vastly outweighed his own. He would be lying if he said that it didn't intimidate him to some degree. He opened his eyes with slight surprise. Gaea had never actually reached out to him, even in the end.
"What are you doing here?" It wasn't a voice. The communication point from the soul of the planet was more of an emotion, a feeling.
"Eywa?" Harry asked, his eyes wide but his body paralyzed.
"Yes child, that is my name. Now, why are you here?" She inquired, feeling confused.
"I seek asylum from you and your creatures." Harry felt it instantly when she started searching through his memories, and he winced. His experiences with mind and memory readings were not the best.
Mind Rape was the worst, and he would only wish it on his worst enemies.
"You have been through much, child. I will allow you to stay." And with that, she was gone.
Harry had never had a conversation with his own mother, biological or astronomical.
It was a surreal experience.
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Jake woke up disoriented. Looking around, he noticed that he was in some sort of chamber, lit up with blue lights. For a minute, he had no clue who he was or what was happening.
A noise interrupts his thoughts, and a bright light wrecks havoc on his retinas while he attempted to regain his bearings. He jumped slightly when he feels the coffin-like structure start to move.
"Are we there yet?" He asked the doctor that was unstrapping him and checking his vitals.
After taking a moment to concentrate on the monitor attached to his cryo tank, the scientist turns back to Jake. "Yeah, we're there sunshine."
The scientist took his leave after completely unwrapping a nauseous Jake. Jake worked his way out of his bed, the weightless feel of zero gravity throwing off his dexterity. It did, however, make it easier to move around with his useless legs.
He had eventually floated his way up to his locker, which he had noticed was right next to a locker marked H. Sully, which made him wonder. How was Harry's trip? Was he even awake yet?
"Someone's up and about." The familiar voice made Jake look down. Harry was smiling up at Jake, his hands grasping the edges of the lockers as he slowly but surely made his way up to Jake.
"Yeah, just woke up. How was your sleep?" Harry blanked for a minute, face going pale. Jake was about to ask him what happened when Harry's face lit back up again.
"Can you believe we are finally here?" Jake filed away Harry's avoidance of his question.
"I know, it's kind of surreal." Harry laughed opening his locker.
"I just hope that they have food here," Harry said, sifting through clothing and toiletries. Harry squealed, grabbing the packet of dried jerky from the bottom of the space. Jake stared at Harry for a moment before finding his own jerky.
His questions could wait.
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"You're not in Kansas anymore." The Colonel walked down the aisle to the front of the room. "You're on Pandora. Respect that fact, every second of every day." The heavy sound of the colonel's boots made Harry want to cover his ears. The man's voice was too loud, his footfalls were too heavy, and his superior attitude was metaphorically suffocating the immortal.
"If there is a Hell," which Harry could confirm that there was. "You might want to go there for some R&R after a tour on Pandora." Harry decided that he hated Quartich. His voice grated on Harry's nerves, and it took all of Harry's patience to keep himself from sending Quartich to Hell himself. The superior presence that the colonel exerted over everyone reminded him of Tom Riddle.
"As Colonel, it is my job to keep you alive." The Colonel continued, and Harry knew then that this was the kind of man that just loved to hear himself talk. "I will not succeed." His voice took on a somber edge that seemed to fool everyone in the room. Well, everyone except Harry and Jake. "Not with all of you."
"This guy is a pompous ass," Jake whispered, making sure that his voice didn't carry throughout the space and let someone open fire on them for disrespect. Harry nodded.
"Now I understand why Grace was so excited to have me on board. You don't answer to him, Jake. You answer to me." Jake nodded back, glad that his captain and friend was here. He would not answer to Quartich. Harry, in his head, outranked that pompous ass of a soldier.
"If you wish to survive, you have to obey the rules. Pandora rules." It was about this time when Harry and Jake stopped listening.
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"We have incoming," Harry said to Jake. He could sense the fast-approaching aura. It was oddly familiar. A flash of red hair and blue eyes took over his consciousness but Harry managed to swat the memory away like a fly before he and Jake turned around.
"Jake!" The voice was unfamiliar to Jake, but to Harry, the voice was very familiar. Harry tried his hardest not to facepalm. "You're Jake, right?" Jake nodded, taking into account his friend's reaction to the excited male next to him. He also noted the fact that the guy didn't even acknowledge Harry, even though it seemed like Harry knew him.
"You're Tom's brother." Jake and Harry managed not to flinch at the mention of their blood brother. "Wow, you look just like him." The guy stood in awe, still not acknowledging Harry in the slightest. "Oh, I'm Norm. Norm Spellman." Norm held out his hand to Jake, who took the greeting. Not even three seconds into the handshake, Jake let go, shrinking back in on his friend.
He could already tell that this was going to be a bumpy ride.
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Norm ended up following Harry and Jake to the lab, going on and on about the science and the training and the blah, blah, blah. Jake couldn't be bothered to listen to the excited puppy that took the form of the man as he continued to pat his shoulders for no goddamn reason.
"Well Jake, this is Max," Norm said, waving at a short scientist in front of a monitor. Harry smiled at his friend. Max, hearing his name, turned around to address whoever said his name.
"Harry!" He said, walking forward to embrace his friend. Harry laughed, clapping Max on the back.
"It's good to see you, Max. How have you been?" It had been eight years since Harry had seen Max, as he had departed for Pandora two years before Harry and Jake did.
"Oh, it's been good. Lots of science-y shit, but what do you expect?" Max let Harry go, giving him a smile. "So, would you like to see your bodies?" Max said, looking at the group of drivers.
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Harry stared at his new body. It had finished growing while they were in deep space, and Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The alien face was cat-like, matching the Na'vi people almost perfectly. For some reason, the closed eyes seemed bigger than the average driver. They were literally almost identical to the Omaticaya people.
The body was relatively small for a Na'vi, reminiscent of his own short stature. A hundred years ago, this would have bothered him. However, he had gotten a hundred years to get used to it.
The hands were probably the most baffling part of his body. Normal AVATARs had five fingers on each hand, making them even more identifiable to the Omaticaya. However, his AVATAR had another feature that was different.
His hands had four fingers.
Max had told him that this had happened about a year ago. His eyes had enlarged, making them bigger and more cat-like. His hand's hand changed. The pinky finger had somehow shrunk back into the hand, and the skin that was left rearranged the hands again, making it look natural.
Apparently, the height, however, was not a recent change. The height of the AVATAR is where it stopped just over a year and a half ago.
Harry did not mention his talk with Ewya. He did not mention that she had probably changed his body to fit in more.
That was too far a reach for everyone that had never seen what he had seen.
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"There she is, Cinderella back from the ball, Grace! I'd like you to meet Norm Spellman, Jake Sully, and Harry Sully." The red-haired woman regarded them all. Her eyes passed over Jake and Harry and went straight to Norm.
"Norm, I've heard good things about you. How's your Na'vi?" She said, staring directly at the nervous scientist.
They exchanged a private conversation in Na'vi, but Harry knew exactly what they were talking about. After Grace shoved in a quip about Jake, Harry's passive face scrunched up in a near snarl. Jake put his hand on Harry's arm, not understanding exactly what had set his friend off, but trying to pacify his General anyway.
"Doctor, if you would stop antagonizing my friend." Harry tried to get the conversation, and his face, back on track. Grace switched her critical gaze from a nervous Norm to a calm Harry.
"Harry, when I heard about you coming, I was hesitant. An ex-marine General, as well as a renowned scientist." Harry tried not to feel threatened by her blatant dislike for him. He couldn't tell if it was because he was Jake's brother, or if she just did not want a marine in the field.
"But I'm glad you are here. Talking to Quartich and Parker all the time about what we find out there, and at the same time not telling them much is a bitch of a chore." She took another drag from her cigarette.
"Grace," Max said timidly. "This is Jake Sully." He said, pointing to Jake in his chair. Jake held out his hand, trying to act civilly to this woman who he could only assume had just insulted him, his brother, and his twin all in one rant.
"Yeah, I know who you are and I don't need you. I need your brother." This time, Jake couldn't hide the wince, but Grace didn't even acknowledge it. "You know, the Ph.D. who trained for three years for this mission?"
"He's dead." Jake snapped out. "I know, it's a big inconvenience for everyone." She seemed to take on a thinking pose.
"How much lab training have you had?" She asked him, completely oblivious to Harry's ire towards her.
"Zip, but I dissected a frog once."
"You see," she said, clearly pissed off as she gestured a hand at Jake. "You see. They are just pissing on us without having the courtesy of calling it rain. I'm going to Parker." She stormed off, Max yelling at her the whole time.
"Grace, Wait!"
"No, this is such bullshit. I'm going to go kick his corporate butt. He has no business sticking his nose in my department." And with that, the scientist was gone.
Harry watched Max sigh before turning back to him and Jake. "See you tomorrow, 0800." Max rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Try and use big words." And with that, Max disappeared as well.
"Well, that went well," Harry said, laughing when Jake punched him in the ribcage.
"You're an ass." He said.
"How am I an ass?"
"You're the one who sent her on me. I could have just been a bystander." He replied, wheeling his way through the scientists and the equipment.
"Moron," Harry replied in Na'vi.
Jake, even without knowledge of the Na'vi language, had heard that term enough to know that it wasn't a compliment. He scoffed and started to wheel himself through the lab, a laughing Harry trailing behind him the entire time.