Chapter One

AVATAR

The first thing that spun to her mind, like the webs over her stiff joints, was the same thing that she had seen in front of her eyes before she slipped into her Cryo. There was a second tremor beneath her capsule, forcing her to blink in shock. Her heart quickening. Slowly as her heart increased in shock, the capsule she lays in moves beneath her. The warm air that circulated her in the pocket escaped into what she assumed was the hull.

A bright light blinded her grey eyes, she pulls dilating at the extreme exposure to light. Looking to her left and right she observed others capsules opening like morgue drawers. Everyone's eyes adjusting to the bright light. It had felt timeless. A blink into tomorrow. Her eyes adjust to the lights and she observes as techs dressed in medical scrubs float weightlessly towards opening capsules. She is surprised when a med-tech comes out of nowhere.

At first, the med-tech checks her dilated eyes, flashing her a reassuring smile. They reach down and check her pulse at her wrist. This confuses her but she doesn't say anything as they undo the velcro that held her down. Instantly her body lifts from the capsule and she has to grab onto the sides the best she can, not float away.

No words were exchanged between them as they gently helped her out before gliding over to the next person to help them out. Maeve holds tightly onto the capsule trying to gain some knowledge of how to move in zero gravity. She can't help the moment of awe as her grey eyes observe the multi-tiered cryo vault and the other capsules that open like morgue drawers. Maeve watches as those who were awake like her float towards lockers that stood across from her.

Her body feels lanky and out of her control as she floats towards the lockers. Nothing to Anker herself as she nearly misses the lockers. Cursing under her breath her back hits someone full force, their arm only just grabbing reaching a locker to hold themselves. Their heads collide and everyone's eyes turn to them as they cry out in pain. Maeve grabs the back of her head in pain, the person's arm wrapping around her waist to push her back in the direction of the lockers.

"Sorry," Maeve hisses, rubbing the bruise on the back of her head. He equally was rubbing the red spot on his forehead as he pulls himself towards the lockers. He shakes his head with a frown, disappearing behind the lockers leaving her to find her locker. Maeve curses under her breath as she finds her name displayed on the front of her locker, a med tech's voice echoes over the waking patients; "People! You have been in Cryo for five years, nine months and twenty-two days. You will be hungry. You will be weak. If you feel nauseous, please use the sacks provided for your convenience. The staff thanks you in advance."

More and more people crowded the lockers. Maeve grabs her backpack filled with essentials, a separate bag hides behind the backpack and she feels curiosity pulse through her veins as she grabs it only to be pushed out of the way. With a grunt, Maeve floats towards the changing rooms which were increasingly hard as she didn't know how to stop without crashing into the walls. A few sniggers following her as she cusses them out under her breath.

The pull was instant like a literal world was placed on her tiny body. She glanced around noticing the faces others made as they too felt the pull of Pandora's atmosphere. Even the shuttle shook at the sudden pull of gravity. There were no windows in the cargo of the shuttle, the world outside lost to them as they sit in militarian lines against the walls. The only source of light above them was flickering. The shuttle makes a noticeable descent now and Maeve thinks that they have finally made it to Hell's Gate; the human colony.

The relaxing, even anxious atmosphere, turns rigid as the crew chief finally stands and behind stomping his way up and down the scientists and military people. Easily distinguished by their uniforms. The man across from her kept glancing at her in interest as she stands out with her uniform. The crew chief looks down the line and yells, "Exo Packs on!"

An instant shuffle as everyone follows suit, donning their exopack breathing gear with practised moves. Maeve instantly placing hers on with expertise, quickly glancing around at her comrades.

"Remember people, if you lose your mask, you're unconscious in 20 seconds. Dead in 4 minutes. Let nobody be dead today, it looks bad on my report." The chief commanded along the line, stopping once to checking that all of them had some form of exopack on correctly, anxious faces watching him, "Let's go!"

Instantly everyone queues up in the aisles, duffle bags ready. Maeve looks around at those surrounding her, tense and expectant faces in breathing masks before a hydraulic whine catches her attention. Light flooding the dim cargo bay. Before they could even take in their surroundings the chief starts belting out commands: "Go directly to the base! Do not stop! Go straight inside!"

The queue immediately started moving, slowly at first until they reached the mouth of the shuttle. Before she can jog down across the exposed apron, the chief tugs her out of line to stand beside him. The queue breaks for a moment at the interruption but when the chief yells at them they form back into line and catch up. The chief checks for any strays only to spot a man in a wheelchair, barking at him to hurry up. Once he left the shuttle the chief turned to her, holding out a book.

"Colonel Quaritch asked me to hand you this when you arrive."

"How could you tell it was me?" She asked with a frown, taking the book delicately from his hand. He cocks an eyebrow and gestures to her uniform which makes her frown deepen.

"Hurry up then, don't be late for the briefing." He orders turning his back on her.

Maeve rolls her eyes and starts her way down the ramp and towards the walkway covered in chain-link which leads to the complex. She finds herself standing beside the man in a wheelchair as a huge tractor, taller than a house, roars past on muddy wheels. He is looking at the neolithic arrows sticking into the tires. Maeve walks ahead of him as the tractor leaves followed by two Mitsubishi MK 6 Ampsuits walk by. They are meters tall human-operated walking machines that patrol the perimeter. Heavily armoured and armed with a huge rotary cannon called a GAU 90.

She strolls past the two sec-op troopers as they zone in on the man behind her until a large aerial predator attacks the chainlink of the covered walkway. It is vicious as it stabs at them through the chainlink with a glistening needle-point stinger. From her books, it tells her its a stingbat. One of the sec-ops casually shoots it with his pistol, the stingbat falling off the fence with its tail still slashing. Maeve can't stop watching as it struggles

"Seen lotta guys leave this place in a wheelchair. Never seen anybody show up in one." The sec-op throws at the man in the wheelchair but he was too busy staring at the gnashing fangs of the dying creature. The man glances at them, noticing Maeve watching the creature with a hurt expression as it slowly stopped moving. He doesn't acknowledge the sec-ops as they laugh and joist one another. He slowly rolls up to Maeve taking her attention to him as he asks if she's ok. His words breaking her out of her trance.

Maeve only nods curtly before turning around leaving him behind as he follows behind her. They make their way towards the Ops Centre that held all the recruits. Maeve slows at the doorway, observing the crowds seated in the room. The head of security, Colonel Quaritch paces like a panther at the head of the large cafeteria. He stops with his stance wide. His steel-grey eyes watched over the recruits before falling onto the man in the centre of the door frame, "You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact every second of every day."

The man in the wheelchair turns to Maeve as she hides just outside the door, raising a hand towards her, "I'm Jake. Jake Sully." He smiles but it doesn't meet his eyes. She notices this before taking his larger hand in her smaller one, shaking it sternly before answering, "Maeve."

Jake nodded in acknowledgment, noticing how she didn't relieve her last name. He glances back at her before rolling into the room watching Quaritch from the back. Maeve watches the Colonel and decides not to enter the room. His steel-grey eyes meet hers with fierce interest before he raises a hand and points out the window, towards the dark treeline.

"Out beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes." He threatens while turning back to the silent recruits, instantly his eyes falling on the empty doorway. Maeve walks through the absent corridors in search of her quarters before its filled with people.

Her footsteps echoed throughout the corridor watching for signs and turning different ways. Eventually, she comes across a corridor that holds doors with names to the left of each door. She counted and counted until finally, she enters the room that holds her name with a roommate. She ignored the second name entering to a giant window that looks out into the treeline of pandora. Shadowy figures soaring in the distance. Maeve throws her bag down onto the bed to the right, the cot crying out as the duffle bags weight causes it to creak. A book falls to the ground and Maeve finally acknowledges the book from Quaritch. Her fingers trace the Moleskine leather, soft under her fingertips. Quietly she glares at it before throwing it into the duffle bag. A sigh leaving her lips as she looks out at the forest.

"Maeve." She heard a voice call, Maeve turned to see Jake stopping in front of the door frame. The memory of the thrashing Stingbat enters into her mind at Jake's appearance, before the outlined figure of someone he was talking to drew her back. The shoving of people eventually pushes Jake and his associate into her room in an attempt to leave the squishy corridor. Jake quickly noticed the reserved glance Maeve passed towards his acquaintance and gestures between them.

"Er...Maeve, meet Norm Spellman." Jake introduced, both of them reaching forward to clasp reserved handshakes, "Norm this is...Maeve."

Norm seemed to take note of the absence of her last name but didn't push on as he glanced tentatively out into the flooded corridor. Slowly silenced crept around them except for the loud mumblings from outside the door. Norm looked around nervously as he sends curious glances towards her every second or so before clearing his throat, "What job are you here for? I'm a Xenoanthropologist but I'm here to finally put my Avatar training to use."

Maeve watched him for a moment before glancing at Jake, the eager interest in both their eyes made her feel slightly uncomfortable but she could only shrug it off. "I'm here for whatever they need me to be, whether that's a soldier, a Scientist or even an Avatar."

"So you have an avatar then?" Norm asked with intrigue almost like butter dripping down his chin. Maeve only responded with a shrug and affirmative nod. This seemed to increase Jake's interest in her. Observing her demure behaviour with his intrigue.

"Er-well we were just about to check out our Avatars...do you want to join us?" Jake proposed glancing between Norm and Maeve. She considers staying behind and letting them go ahead as the thought of seeing her avatar brought painful anxieties int her chest. Before she can deny them, a girl walks in hesitantly glancing between the room number and the people inside her room. Immediately Jake and Norm transfer to her side of the room to allow permittance for Maeve's supposed roommate. To avoid confrontation with her roommate, Maeve gestures to the door and follows the nervous scientist who followed after Jake. Slowly they migrate into the crowds and follow the flow up the corridor while following the signs.

The room isn't empty but it wasn't at full capacity, though it is a large lab complex filled with many adjoining rooms. Scientists chatter together in traditional white coats while transferring between rooms with bright screens and complex images. Though the main interaction between scientists was glancing at the uncrating of two shipping containers. The closest has its sides already removed, revealing the obnoxious ceiling-high acrylic tank.

Maeve feels a shudder crawl up her spine, reverberating throughout her pain receptors causing goosebumps to pop up over her skin. Jake rolls past them and towards the Amino Tank that is responsible for controlling the growth of the avatars, as though it had initially been developed to replace the functions of a mammalian womb. A knot coils in Maeve's stomach as she observes the very large cyan coloured Na'vi floating weightlessly in their wombs.

The scientist who was supervising the uncrating of their avatars notices their presence at Jake's observations of how big they had grown on the flight to Pandora. The two scientists, army woman and marine crowd around Jake's Avatar. They observe the avatars cyan-blue skin, illuminated in the amniotic fluid. Blood circulating through a synthetic umbilical in the abdomen, his avatar twitching and turns in the fluid to show the lemur-like tail protruding from the base of his spine.

"Yeah, they mature on the trip out," Norm informed the ignorant Jake, he turns towards the scientist to talk some scientific language Maeve tried not to understand.

"Yeah, they've got great muscle tone." The scientist told them, Maeve glances at his name tag - Dr Max Cullimore - "Give us a few hours, you guys can take them for a spin."

The idea that Maeve might have to link up made the coils in her stomach tighten, an almost sick feeling crawling throughout her body. She couldn't help the nervous jitters throughout her body. Her fingertips shakily grabbing the edges of her long-sleeved shirt, her forest-green eyes observing Jake's avatar as its sleeping face turned towards them. The features explicitly looked like Jakes except for the feline ears and a feral snout; "It looks like him."

"No, it looks like you. This is your avatar now, Jake." Norm reassures him. This exchange unnerves Maeve with a deep sense of curiosity. She decided not to ask anything about their exchange and leaves Jake to stare at his - or someone else's - avatar. Only her arm was grabbed before she could leave the room. She looks from the hand on her arm to their face, distinguishing that it was Dr Cullimore's hand. He cast a glance between her face and his hand before dropping any touch between them as he got her attention.

"Is your name Maeve?" He asked, glancing down at the board in his hand. She nods hesitantly watching his with wary curiosity. With sudden enthusiasm he stares at her without even blink and starts speaking; "Your avatar is one of the most interesting cases I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Your genetic makeup is exceptional, it changed things biotic features in your avatar that could only dream about having the power - even authority, to change or improve - please, come this way."

Slowly Maeve follows his footsteps as he almost runs his way through the lab, allowing her to keep up at her slow pace. All while he was working on his electronic board in his hands. Lights flashing past his face and holographic pictures showing up all over the screen. Maeve couldn't help the glance back at Norm and Jake who was still talking about his avatar, not noticing she was now being led through the many areas of the bio-lab complex. She lost track of directions, remaining close to Dr Cullimore before appearing into a spacious room with large screens.

"Here, see-" He began, swiping up whatever was on his board to the giant screens, "Your avatar displayed some incredible characteristics such she is far stronger than a normal female na'vi, her body temperatures can run far higher or even lower than a regular na'vi meaning she can adjust herself to surviving in some climates better than others we know of."

"So, she's a freak of nature?" Maeve asked him watching as the anatomy for her avatar was brought up onto the large screen in a starfish position. Her vitals - that Maeve couldn't understand - littered around her avatar in neat graphs.

"Er..to put it crassly - well yes." He said nervously but he hadn't finished; "She has increased lung capacity, her bioluminescence is highly expressive and even though she displays these she shows a great deal more to na'vi resemblance than most avatars. So much so that I'm surprised she doesn't have four fingers."

Dr Cullimore laughed like it was a joke but Maeve was so engrossed in all the mumbo-jumbo about her avatar, she didn't laugh. Slightly embarrassed Max pushed on; "Though she is quite small compared to others, even our avatars. A female na'vi would be about 9 feet tall where yours barely reaches 9 - more like 8 and a half feet tall, maybe even 7. Very small. Your canines are pronounced like a na'vi unlike our avatars and her skin colour is slightly more opaque. This will distinguishably very much from other na'vi or even avatars. This is an image of your avatars brain -"

He brought up a moving image of a sectional image of her avatars brain, many lights flickered throughout it and it looked like a beautiful painting. Then four more brains pulled up around hers, "Your brain shows so much more activity. More neuron connections. Shifting patterns. She's thinking and learning all the time. It is the most advanced brain we have studied. So much so we can't predict what will happen when you link up. We hoped-"

Dr Cullimore began to speak before cutting himself off and all the lights, coloured and scientific language all flickered off the screens. Leaving both of them in silence and an empty room. His nervous eyes met her nervous eyes. She left out a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding. Her heartbeat was so strong and quick. She felt she might have a heart attack.

"We hoped that you would agree to do some tests for us, so we can gauge your true abilities. Like how far your avatar can run and how fast then compare them to the na'vi. Maybe even do tests against some of our other avatars -"

"-like a guinea pig?" Maeve interrupts him and his face grows even more nervous, hugging his electronic board to his chest.

"Look Maeve, I know it probably sounds bad but by studying your avatar we can understand why this happened to your avatar - understand if we can control it. Then if we can control it see if it can help others. So yes, essentially it's like a guinea pig but there isn't anyone else. I understand why you're hesitant Maeve. Your avatar is Grace's favourite, it defies scientific reason - she wants to do tests as well."

"Grace?" Maeve asks through her eyelashes, Dr Cullimore sighs placing his electronic board down. He quickly pulls up a picture of a stern-looking woman in her 50s, she has brown eyes and jaw length red hair. She is a Xenobiolgist.

"Grace Augustine. She's in charge of the Avatar Program but she is an established scientist. Maeve this is an opportunity that we will never have again." Dr Cullimore tries to reason with her, though she feels a foreboding in her stomach. The goosebumps ceased to remove themselves. She couldn't say anything, she felt like it wasn't a good idea. Though she understood why they were so interested in her avatar except for the thought of doing tests brought anxiety to her chest that made her want to curl up into a ball.

"Maeve," Dr Cullimore called gaining back her attention, "Just think about it - before you guys go on your first mission. Ok? This is important Maeve. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't."

"Hey, Maeve?" A voice called, Jake and Norm stood curiously at the door, "What's going on?"

"Just having a chat," Dr Cullimoe introduced for them instead of Maeve who smiled in agreement. The two looked nervous between the scientist and their new avatar friend, "Hey guys you want to check out the equipment?"

"Ah-yeah. Sure!" Norm said suddenly growing excited. Max casts a glance to Maeve before guiding the boys up the corridor. Jake lingers watching Maeve who stares at the blank screens silently.

"Hey, you ok?" He asks rolling into the room but Maeve stops him before he gets too close, "Yeah, just thinking is all. Ah - let's go. Before we lose them."

Another word isn't spoken as Maeve walks past Jake, leaving him behind. The lab is still full of people and Maeve realised that even though she slowed her mind to seconds the world still moved on in minutes. Jake quickly catches up to her and before they walk any further, Jake grabs her arm pulling her in a direction opposite to the one Dr Cullimore and Norm just disappeared.

"What-"

"Look," Jake directed her to look into a room, there wasn't a door that they had access too but clearly through the large window was enough for them to stop, "Is that your avatar?"

Inside was filled with green plants, vines grew up and over the walls. The bioluminescence pulsated throughout the room. In the centre of the room was her avatar's Amino Tank glowing like an orb in the centre of the room. Flowers bloomed from the vines around the tank. Inside was her avatar. Her avatar was very petite, obviously very much tinier than the boys' avatars. She held all the feline features of the na'vi besides ten fingers and toes. Her pitch-black hair was long and floated like seaweed. Her neural braid wraps around the waist. Her skin was smooth and a definite lighter shade than Jake's, her bioluminescence pulsated with the vines that grew. The room wasn't airlocked. She was extremely feminine, but she looked strong. Not any bit of weak how she believed she would look. She wasn't any sort of weak. None of her hair was braided yet and floated carelessly throughout the tank, resting onto her cheek and covering her eyes. Maeve couldn't see the close-ups of her face but she knew it looked like her.

"Hey-uh-we should go find Norm and Dr Cullimore," Maeve spoke, finally breaking their silence. Jake looked up at her as if she just pulled him from a deep sleep. He finally registered where he was before clearing his throat with a nod. With one last glance, they moved away from the window and into the direction of the scientists and Norm.

Author's Note

A huge thank you to everyone who has stuck by this story! This is insane. I never even thought so many people would be supporting this story. A lot has happened since the beginning of this original story, I have changed so much and so has my writing. I read all the criticism of my story and in turn, created an even bigger story. So much for all the favourites, follows, comments and love! I couldn't appreciate it more. It just makes me want to keep writing. I hope I can satisfy you guys with this re-written story. I owe it up to you guys. I can't thank you enough. I was going to post one extra big chapter but It would have been probably too long. I hope to get some more chapters up to keep you guys on and loving it.

Thank you so much and please Enjoy!