MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

╰⦇ O N E

     Pandora was supposedly the most hostile environment known to mankind. With trees bigger than the ships orbiting the planet and indigenous feline-esc people called the Na'vi standing nearly four or five feet taller than the average human being, the planet loomed over Iris like a foreboding threat - even if she couldn't see it quite yet. The fear of the unknown hooked Iris by the heart. Her once-perfect vision had always squashed this fear. Now, she was quite literally walking blindly into her fears.

     Iris grabbed Jake's hand and after a moment Jake shifted forward. A man far away down what sounded like a big echo-y hallway called out, "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."

     Iris chuckled at his last bit and Jake did too.

     The low gravity hurt Iris's stomach. It felt as if her stomach was doing flips at some moments. Jake does his best to haul her behind him carefully. There is the shuffling of clothes through the air all around them. Iris closes her eyes and slowly clouds begin to form in a sort of "vision." Iris, wiser for her years, knows how to try and use echolocation to see in a way where things are around her. Although rough and messy she was proud of the visions she could still create in her mind.

     Jake opens his locker and then Iris's next to it. He hands her an exo-mask from the locker and she diligently straps it onto her waist. She recognized immediately what the box-shaped item was and when she clasped the mask limp around her neck she felt anxiety and excitement rise in her chest. She, unlike Jake, had been trained for this job prior to Tommy's death. She had become well-acquainted with Max Patel and Grace Augustine over video chats and phone calls. Even when she no longer had the ability to work in the lab and perform her botanical duties, she still had a secured spot in the program. Grace had promised to bring her eyes back when her Avatar was made.

     Moments pass and men begin shouting to each other to move forward. Jake holds Iris by her upper arm and pulls her through the zero gravity chamber. With carefulness he pulls her to a door and her feet touch a cold floor. She stands as steadily as she can while Jake chats with another man not far from her.

          (( Editing Paused Here - January 8, 2023 ))

I am yanked up abruptly and set on Jake's lap. He rolls a few feet, grunting about a bag. I feel along it on his back. Taking mine, I set in on his wheelchair.

"Let's go special cases, do not make me wait for you," the man yelled out. Jake and I both grumbled. He walked off, leaving Jake and I, I think, from what I could hear anyways. Jake rolled off of the ship, which I could tell because of the steep ramp.

Heavy steps and machinery boom in the background. The heavy machinery get closer. I hear the loud thumping reverberate in my ears, and the vibrations travel down my spine.

"What is it," I ask quietly.

"A dozer, with some kind of neolithic arrows in its tires," Jake replied. "And before you ask, yes, I read the book you gave me."

I chuckled. I'd given him a book on the Na'vi that I couldn't read, so he could get a better understanding. Then heavy mechanical footsteps came closer. Jake veered left. The footsteps stopped.

"Watch it hot rod," some guy said. His voice was slightly robotic, and loud, he must've been in some suit of some sort.

Jake chuckled lightly and kept on rolling. Then, I heard a few guys talking about "fresh meat." It made me growl, probably some scum brought here to hold guns, what idiots.

"Oh no," one of them said. "Meals on wheels!"

"Oh no," I replied. "Douches with legs! Go find an ass and stick yourselves in it. Don't you have something better to do than gawk and stare, half-pint?"

What sounded to be three men gasped. One began cursing loudly. Jake shook me in a proud motion. I laughed. Once we were inside, we ditched our masks, and Jake rolled me into what he said was the mess hall. It smelled like a mess hall, anyways. The distant smell of a long passed breakfast still lingering in the air, which also kinda smelled like sweaty Marines. Some things never change.

A man named Quarich, as Jake told me his name, began giving us the worst speech ever. Going on about dangerous indiginous natives, called the Na'vi. I was more interested in the poisonous arrows. Before I actually joined the Marines, I was a botanist. I was drafted to regrow destroyed rain forests. Until I lost my sight, that is. Now I study noises and smells. I can tell a few different species of plants apart. Usually by touch or smell.

Jake leads us down a hall after the pep talk and rule meeting. We both chuckle, poking fun at the over dramatic seeming jarhead who chokes the natives up to be "blue monkeys." Jake says he feels it's good, like an old school safety-brief, like when we still used to fight in the Marines. I agreed, kind of, because I'd give anything to be on the field, hearing my commander describe the horrible place ahead of us. Jake is twenty two, two years older than me, yet I've seen more. Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Venezuela, Morocco, Russia, the Sahara, and many more places. Tattoos dotted my arms, but I couldn't remember or see them. I sighed and leaned back. Others things I couldn't remember included the color of my hair, the color of my eyes, and even sometimes Jake's face.

Today was gonna be a loooooong day....

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

(( Editing Began December 20, 2022))