Chapter Text
Cold.
Cold. Dark.
Cold. Dark. Lonely.
Her eyes watered as she blinked them open. It’s hard to focus your vision when there’s nothing to focus on. The darkness seemed to stretch on forever, yet stop right in front of her. Feeling both claustrophobic and exposed, she lifted her head to get some orientation in the blackness.
She flexed her arms, trying to regain some feeling in the stiff limbs. The muscles creaked as they pulled against tendons with skin moving like hard leather across the surface. She repeated the same with her legs. Her wrists cracked as she placed them behind her and pushed her body upright.
The motion must’ve activated the light. A single bulb illuminated the room she was in; white and bare, she was alone. A thin metal plank lay raised in the middle of the room. A small sink with a mirror and toilet sat in one corner, a single blanket in another. The girl looked further across the room. It was small and square, only enough for her to lay down two times over.
She placed her feet on the ground and waited as the blood rushed back to her head, causing her vision to go blurry briefly. She pushed off the plank and moved to the blanket, picking it up and draping it over her shoulders. The material shielded her from the heat-sapping metal of the plank she got up from. She walked to the mirror placed on the wall.
A young girl stared back at her, about fifteen or sixteen, with curly blonde hair reaching just below her shoulders. Light freckles dotted her cheekbones and around the sides of her hazel eyes. She reached a hand up to her mouth and felt along her jaw. Smooth skin brushed under the pads of her fingers.
She didn’t recognise this face.
Looking down at her arms and legs, she moved them slowly, as if not remembering what they were. One arm moved up, followed by the other, then her legs. Her fingers moved uncoordinatedly when she tried to touch them to her thumb. She was short she guessed, her neck only just appearing above the bottom of the mirror.
Moving back to the raised plank, the girl sat down and looked at the opposite wall. The chill of the metal shot up her spine, so she readjusted to sit on the blanket. The walls were a dull silver, made up of vertical metal slats. She followed them around the edge of the room, where they formed the outline of a recessed door; she guessed that’s how she got in there.
She pressed her hand against the joins in the plates. The edge stretched up out of her reach to the top of the supposed door, being wide enough for a larger person to walk through. Tapping it, she observed the hollow sound it made.
No obvious lock was visible from inside the room, but the door hissed and moved towards her, slowly sliding to the side. The blanket fell off her shoulders as she moved back from the blinding light that entered.
A large blue figure stood on the other side, moving through the door and closing it behind them. They wore light green trousers and large black boots, a darker singlet clinging to their torso. Deep blue stripes adorned their arms and face, with cat-like ears and yellow eyes pointing towards her. Their head held close-cropped black hair, with a long ponytail hanging down their back. They must’ve been three metres tall.
The girl felt her heart quicken and adrenaline begin to flow, readying her to run. She unsteadily moved backwards, away from the thing.
“Miss Lonnie, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” The corner of the being’s mouth curled up as they spoke. Its voice was kind and sweet, but she could hear an almost metallic note below the surface.
Lonnie pressed her back against the metal plank. She tried to control her voice, “Who’re you?”
The man seemed amused, sharp canines poking at his bottom lip, “Colonel Miles Quaritch. I hope you found your accommodation comfortable?” He knelt to her height.
She gripped the plank harder to cease the trembling of her body. It wasn’t effective. “Where am I? Why’re you here?”
She hoped he didn’t notice her stammer.
The predatory grin never left his face. “I’ve come to prep you for transfer. Walk with me.”
The blue man opened the door again and gestured for her to exit. Everything in her body told her that leaving that room was a bad idea. With his size, she didn’t think she had much of a choice. She eyed him as she moved through the door into the hallway beyond.
Looking up through the window covering the top half of the passage, she saw pure, pitch blackness. Someone had taken the emptiness of her mind and projected it right above her head, stretching on to infinity. Right in the middle of her view sat something that made her gasp. A deep blue sphere perched itself in the middle of the nothingness, swirling fluffs of white lay above its surface, obscuring the deep greens and browns of land. Her feet brought her closer to the glass.
“Welcome to Space Miss Lonnie.”
She jumped and spun around to the blue man, who exited the room into the hallway. The wall of the hall stopped her moving further away. Either end of the passage was blocked with another small door, and she had no idea what would lay behind them.
The man looked up out the window, “Beautiful, isn’t it? Earth, the only home in the known universe. Well, until recently.” He chuckled quietly; an inside joke.
Quaritch started to move down the passageway, stopping to grasp Lonnie on the shoulder and bring her with him. His long strides overtook the rapid movement of her own feet, scrambling to keep herself from falling over.
She tightened her shoulder muscles, pulling her back and chin up and hoping to control the shaking. “Where am I?”
“This is the ISV Venture Star, preparing for its journey to Pandora. And you, Miss Lonnie, have a very important purpose.” The blue thing kept his head up and forwards. Lonnie wanted nothing more than for him to not see how scared she was.
“I don’t remember anything.” Someone had pulled the black expanse beyond and stuffed it back into her mind, emptiness and everything.
He smiled again, now looking down at the girl he pulled along, “That helps ease the transfer, Miss Lonnie. But this is what you agreed to.” His grip loosened on her shoulder. He reached down into a pocket of his trousers and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. Unravelling it revealed a form. Quaritch pointed to the bottom where a signature was inked in a handwriting she didn’t recognise.
The paper was quickly put away, and they continued forward. The door Lonnie saw before drew closer. On feeling her slow down, the man pushed her shoulder harder.
A small white card pressed against a glowing panel. She heard a beep and the door swung open. Another passage revealed itself behind. She was pushed through first so the man could duck and follow. After taking several turns, they reached another obstruction and stood as it hissed open and slid away. Walking through, Lonnie watched as numerous people dressed in white coats, jeans and boots bustled about the room. It looked like an ant nest; a hive of activity, each entity having a purpose.
A group of people hunched over a desk where a pale blue light shone upon their faces. Others carried tall pots with plants growing from them, some had clipboards and little handheld devices.
The blue man moved his grip to Lonnie’s upper arm and brought her forward. The hand was calloused and strong, and it almost ripped her skin like sandpaper. They passed a window to another room and stopped before it. Quaritch pushed her harshly to the glass and stood behind her. Lonnie could see the reflection of his crossed arms and annoyed grimace. She reluctantly placed her hands against the glass and stared.
Through the barrier sat a large cylindrical tank filled with a light blue liquid and small bubbles. That’s not what got her attention though; what was inside the tank was the subject of her stares.
A tiny blue creature floated within, an umbilical cord-like tube connecting it to the tank. Its eyes were closed and mouth ajar while its tiny chest rose and fell. A small dusting of black hair covered the creature’s head. The same ponytail-appendage hung from the back of its head, although this one wasn’t braided; a thin blue tube. It had a tail, long and slender with a small black tuft on the end.
It looked almost human.
“What is that?” Lonnie took a step back from the glass and bumped into the blue man’s leg.
He chuckled, the metallic sound returning. He was amused. “That, Miss Lonnie, is your new body. In a couple years it’ll be bigger, stronger, faster and well, bluer.”
Her heart pounded, blood pulsing through her fingertips and feeling like it would burst from her nails. “No, no no no no. What the hell is happening?!”
“Nothing that you didn’t sign up for.” The grimace turned to malignant annoyance. Quaritch grabbed her struggling elbow and pulled the girl to an alcove along the middle of the longest wall. Positioned within was a reclined chair with arm and leg straps. In front of the headrest was a face restraint, with a large spinning mechanism above it. A sickly green light emanated from the control box next to it.
She tried to swing her fist at him, briefly connecting with his stomach.
Quaritch grinned, “Now there’s no need for that.”
She was panicking, bare feet scraping along the ground, hands grabbing at anything within reach. She grasped a wheeled trolley, pulling the contents onto the ground. Sample vials, paper and all manner of equipment scattered. Several personnel looked at her, annoyed, before going back to their work. He pulled the girl’s arms to her sides and lifted her into the air.
Tears streaked down her face as she struggled against the man more than twice her size, swinging and cursing with every bit of strength she had. He held on like a vice.
They reached the chair and she was pushed into it. He placed a hand on her shoulder and thigh and held her down as two personnel strapped her limbs into the machine. She screamed again as the biting metal restraints stole her freedom. Quaritch moved a hand to her forehead and pushed it against the headrest. One of the other people lowered the face restraint and clipped it into place.
Quaritch leant over her sweaty face and trembling limbs, her eyes wide and panicked and breath coming in short gasps, “Welcome to Project Phoenix, Miss Sully.” He walked out of the alcove and disappeared from view.
“Commence transfer!” One of the personnel called, waving their hand above their head. Several others standing at the raised control desk in the room’s centre began to move between consoles, pushing buttons and reading displays.
The machine whirred to life, a high-pitched whine that vibrated her teeth. The top piece began to spin slowly, shining its own green light on the girl. It sped up, the motion making her eyes twitch violently.
One spin, follow. Another spin, follow.
“Please stop! What did I do?! Help me! Please!” Lonnie pulled against the restraints, but the metal stayed true.
“Try to stay relaxed ma’am, it makes it easier for all of us. The more you struggle the worse it gets,” One of the personnel spoke from the machine’s control panel.
“No, get me out of this thing!” Blood rose in her throat, mixing with the bile from her stomach.
“Commencing transfer.”
“I don’t want this! Please, I don’t want…” Her head fell slack against the rest.
A disconcerting calm set over her, like swimming in water where you can’t see the bottom. She tried moving her limbs, but everything had gone numb and limp. A tingling started at the nape of her neck. It moved down her spine slowly. All at once, it shot through her limbs, jolting her body in the chair.
The noise of the spinning machine and talking of the others disappeared, replaced by a faint whispering. She couldn’t immediately make it out, it was like someone was sticking cotton wool into her head and ears. Her whole body trembled and shook; numbness creeping into every vessel and organ, but her mind felt none of it.
The voice moved closer.
Jake
Sully
The more she focussed, the more the voice split. It was like different people were saying the same thing simultaneously.
Jake
Sully
Jake
Sully
It was getting louder and closer, the distorted voices becoming clearer. They were merging into one.
Jake Sully
Jake Sully
They chanted together.
KILL JAKE SULLY