"I dream because there is no other way for me to see it happen."
Faith didn't know who came up with this quote but she believed whoever made it seemed make it just for her. It was the same sentence that ran through her head when she dreamed...which was supposed to be impossible while in cryo. She dreamed she was the middle of a exotic forest during midnight, seeing the bioluminescence creating breathtaking colors and scenery of the area. It was pure ecstasy for her to feel this happy. But just as always when she had a vibrant dream like this, she woke up.
Her eyelids opened with futility to reveal her dark brown hues that were completely unaffected by her condition. Like always, she saw pure black before her that expanded to all corners of her sight. Internally, there was a hammering migraine pounding in the center of her head and her body was so sore that it felt like she had spent 3 days training with her dad nonstop. Externally, her body felt extremely light and she could tel it wasn't really laying against anything. Good thing there were belts holding her from just floating aimlessly on all 4 of her limbs. 'No gravity. So we're finally here, huh?' She thought to herself as she lifted her arms only to be stopped when the restraints on her wrists held her back.
There was a sudden hissing sound. The sound of pressure suddenly being released and then a feeling of her body being moved along with her capsule. "Hey there, Darlin'." Came the male voice of the medical assistant that had removed her from the enclosed space. "Hows it feel to be out of your teen years?" He asked with an upbeat tone as he released the series of belts from her appendages. Like most blind people, she simply turned her head to where the sound was emanating and kept it in field of that area so others knew she was listening. She did it so long now that, along with her normal eyes, even the Seeing thought she wasn't blind.
She was confused for a moment, thinking of the reasoning behind his question was. Thats when she remembered it had been a total of 5 years, 9 months and 22 days which meant that a few months ago back on earth, she turned 22 years old. But the law of Cryogenic sleep states that all operation within your body is halted until awakened otherwise meaning she still looked like she was 16.
"Feels worse than I imagined." She joked clutching her agonizing head with a groan making the assistant laugh as he released the last restraint on her right ankle. "Its just the fact that you haven't eaten or drank anything in nearly 6 years. Don't worry, after you have the stuff thats in your bag, it will go away." He informed taking a gentle hand to her upper arm so she wouldn't float away. "I'm gonna flip you over but I have to hand you off to someone else so I can go help others, alright?" Faith quickly nodded allowing the assistant to move her body so that she was face down instead of up. But in space, who really knew anyways? She, unlike a lot of the disabled, didn't mind if people helped her. She was blind so she couldn't do a lot of things herself but it was just nice when people asked her if she needed their help instead of instantly assuming she was completely dependent on others.
"Hey man, can you do me a favor and help her to her locker? You being her capsule neighbor, it should be right next to yours anyway." He called out calmly. There was a small pause as her neighbor scanner her over figure though she would have never known. When he noticed that she couldn't look him directly in the eyes but struggled to make it look like she was gave him the tell of her disability. "Yeah, sure." Came the reply from another male. Faith was happy to hear that he didn't have any annoyance or distaste in his voice at the acceptance of the task. "Thanks, Sunshine." The assistant cheered as he took his hand in her's and brought it to the arm of her new helper.
A hand enveloped Faith's own against the arm she was holding. "You ready?" Spoke from her leader. She nodded giving him permission to continue. The palm holding her let go and she felt the sudden jolt of them being launched across the satellite they were in causing her grip to tighten slightly. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Asked her aide. Faith took no offense to the question yet with her personality, she couldn't help but counter back. "Don't you know its rude to ask a woman her age?" She teased with her own light laugh. She quickly calmed as they slowed down to their destination. "I'm 16." She answered truthfully.
They had come to a full stop and she could hear her helper open his own locker first and then her own due to the distance volume of both lockers. "Damn, really? No kidding?" He harped in disbelief with a sharp exhale. Faith smiled nervously and lightly dug into the cloth on his body to hide. This made her helper snigger to himself. She felt the same jolt of momentum push them forward but this time she wasn't prepared which made her yelp in surprise making his snigger turn into a full laugh.
She punched him lightly wherever she could get a hit. "Jerk." She muttered with a grin. They both quieted down and for a moment there was silence until he took her hand off his arm and held it out from him as far as his limb reached. "I have to let you go for a second but I'm still right here, okay?" Even though she had only been with him for 5 minutes, she trusted him wholeheartedly. She gave a curt nod and let go, letting her weightless body float.
Suddenly two sets of hands gripped both sides of her arms and in a split second all 120 pounds of her came back in a swift force. Her knees wobbled before she got her bearings and stood straight. She quickly thanked the people holding her or she surely would have crashed to her face. They didn't say anything but pushed her along her way. She unnoticeablely slipped both of them her middle finger then crossed her arms with a huff.
When her brief anger passed, she felt something bump against her leg. "C'mon, Kid. We have to get a seat." She immediately recognized her aide's voice. "Grab my chair." He instructed followed by the sound of small squeaking of wheels. "Chair?" Faith asked as she waved her hand in front of her til she felt a metal bar and quickly took hold of it. The bar pulled ahead forcing her to walk along with it. "Thankfully, you're not the only one out here thats different." His statement enlivened Faith making her smile in relief.
"By the way, I'm Jake Sully." He introduced with a little bit of embarrassment for taking so long. He had stopped down the bench that ran down the entire side of the plane they were now in. He turned in his chair to escort Faith down to the seat next to his and strapped her in. "I'm Faith Augustine." She returned holding her hand out for him to shake. When he had strapped himself in, he took her hand in his and shook firmly.
Jake then remembered the bags that were stored in their lockers and took them from the sides of his chair. He dug through them and brought out the food and water bottle that was stored in both. "Here." He offered putting them directly in her palms. "Eat slow, you don't want to hurl it all back up." Faith smiled and nodded in thanks as she unwrapped the food and began to devour it bit by bit.
During her time eating, everyone else from the satellite had boarded the plane and they had taken off down to the huge moon of Pandora. Her and Jake continued to make small talk and found out that they were both trained in Marine combat and the fact they were in the same program in the RDA here on Pandora. They both shared the story of how they got their disability and how they've dealt with it over the years. They were in the middle of their stories of life back on Earth when vibrating steps stomped down the plane. "Exopacks on!" The Chief shouted startling Faith in the process.
Jake instantly reached into her bag and handed the oxygen mask to her to put on while he got his own. The craft had just landed and the ramp was opening as Jake got his chair. "Remember people! Lose your mask, your unconscious in 20 seconds then you're dead in 4 minutes. Let nobody be dead today!" He seemed to finish but in a second added, "Looks very bad on my report."
Faith scoffed as she finished adjusting her mask just as the ramp had fully opened. "Go, go, go! Straight to the base! No stopping!" The Chief had continued to yell. Jake was rushing to fit himself in his chair when everyone but Faith had left. Chief then hollered louder than ever that they needed to get a move on. Jake quickly grabbed Faith's hand and guided her to the back bar of his chair and told her to run. She immediately obeyed and began to push him forward while he controlled steering out of the plane. She made sure to keep a short gate in her run so she didn't hit the chair's wheels.
"Whoa!" Jake gasped pulling the brake making Faith crash into the back as a vehicle bigger than the size of a house rolled in front of them. Faith gasped from both the sudden stop and the feel of the entire ground rumbling under her feet along with the ear ringing volume of the engine running as it passed. But once it way out of the way, out came two guards who had quickly spotted the paraplegic and blind girl. They began muttering offending words against the two with disabilities. Faith easily walked it off but Jake couldn't hold back. "What are you two limpdicks looking at?" They both chortled at their success to anger the paraplegic.
"Jake, let it go." Faith urged with a blank expression as she continued to pace herself. Jake gave in to her beg and relaxed back in his chair. They had safely managed to enter the station; 'Hells Gate'. Jake coordinated their destination and got them to the debriefing room just in time. Both of them had taken off their masks by now.
"You are not in Kansas anymore..." A high ranked personal spoke clearly. "You are on Pandora. Ladies and Gentlemen, respect that fact each and every day." Faith had wheeled Jake in more a bit into the room to hear it all. "Out beyond that fence is where every living thing that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes." His voice grew dark and it made the entire room fell deathly silent. "We have an indigenous population of humanoids here called the Na'vi." He continued and Faith could hear him begin to walk down the room in a slow step by step pace. "They're fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that will stop your heart in one minute. Their bones are reinforced with a carbon fibers, they are very hard to kill."
"As head of Security, it is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed," He seemed to pause for the idea to kick into people. "Not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need a strong mental attitude. You need to follow procedure..." The debriefing continued and Faith could hear Jake whisper, "Nothing like a school safety brief to put your mind at ease." She giggled quietly not to get in trouble and waited patiently to be set free.
When it was all done, Jake led Faith a series of corridors trying to get where they needed to. "Jake!" Faith heard someone call but Jake didn't seem to catch it. "Jake." The same voice came again and this time someone rushed up on them with. "You're Jake, right? Tom's brother?" Jake had mentioned to Faith on the plane how he got the job but he wasn't very open about it all and she respected it. Jake didn't say anything back to the guy and he took it as a way to drop the subject. "I'm Norm Spellman. I went through avatar training with him." The sidelined blind girl couldn't hear much due to the crowded hallway but she could make out the two of them shaking hands. "Nice to meet you and this is Faith Augustine." Jake kindly remembered his younger friend.
It went completely silent for a second. "Augustine?" Norm asked in utter amazement and disbelief. "As in the-" Faith rose a finger to her lips and gave a harsh hush to which he complied. "I want it to be a surprise, alright?" She played off with a smile. Norm bought it and smiled back with a nod even if she couldnt see it. "Then lets get to the Bio-lab, shall we?" Norm cheered beginning to walk down the hallway with the two in tow.
When they entered the area, Faith could smell the chemicals instantly making her nose turn slightly. Norm had seemed to drift off and introduce himself to the other scientists. Faith had paused in her steps, not sure where to go but Jake suddenly pulled her with him and she could hear him give a sharp inhale. "What is it, Jake?" She asked walking to the side of the chair but not daring to let go. "Its the Avatars." He answered looking at the three tanks with Na'vi-Human bodies within them.
"Damn, they got big." Jake laughed lightly. Norm had stopped his socializing and headed over with the two. "Yeah, they fully mature on the flight out." He then turned to the co-leader of the program; Max Patel. "Please tell me you guys are talking about the entire Avatar right?" Faith's teenage mind had to ask. With no eyesight and those sentences mixed together it definitely could've been like 'that'. "You cant even see them why would it make a difference?" Jake teased following with the coversation. "I cant even see my own goods so it really doesn't matter to me." She scoffed with no interest whatsoever. "But the fact that you have naked replica of me in a tank.....I should have the right to know if I'm making friends with perverts." Jake broke into a bellowed laughter at her reply.
"So proprioceptive sims seemed to work pretty well." Norm finished his subject from earlier towards Max who nodded in full agreement. "Yeah they all have great muscle tone. But Faith's was tricky. Since shes still growing herself, we had to make her avatar here in this lab to align the ages so that the Avatar will grow as she does." Max explained. Max knew who Faith was but he never knew she would be out here with them someday. He was anxious to see what Grace would say.
"Hear that, Faith, your still growing." Jake continued to mess with her. She got tired of it and threw a good powered punch to his back, quickly shutting him up. "It'll take us a while to get them out but if all goes well, you guys can take them out tomorrow." Max informed excitedly. Faith's heart raced while Jake kept staring into the tank that had the avatar with his face sculpted to match his own. "It looks just like him." He muttered to himself. Norm, who had overheard leaned down and smiled. "No, looks like you. This is your avatar now, Jake." Faith, upon hearing it as well, leaned on the opposite side. "At least you two can actually see what yours looks like!" She reprimanded with a tease.
"C'mon. You two need to learn how to make a video log." Norm escorted. Faith snorted and gripped Jake's chair once again. "Speak for Jake only. I've been making those things since I could talk." She complained remembering all the times she was forced to sit at her desk and make a record of her day down to the very last detail.
So Norm left Faith out and made Jake sit down and talk into the video which he thought was pretty dumb. After that little session he told them it was time to meet their boss for the next 5 years. He seemed so excited and Faith was too. She hadn't been near her Mom in the past 15 years but 10 years by her memory. She had sometimes gotten a prerecorded video message of her mom asking how she was doing and telling her how her job was doing up there on Pandora but this would be the first in a long time when she'd be able to actually touch her.
They were all walking down the hallway. 'They' meaning, Max, Norm, Jake and Faith. "Get ready, Jake. You're about to meet the one and only Grace Augustine." The only female cheered in the group innocently as She threw out her mom's name to the world. She had to cover her mouth with hand to hold back from laughing when she realized Jake had gone completely silent. He slowly turned "Your mother is our boss?" He asked seemingly calm. "Yep!" She chirped popping the 'p'. Norm decided to pitch in at that moment. "Grace Augustine is a legend. Shes the head of the avatar program and she wrote the book- I mean literally- wrote the book on Pandorian Botany."
The last door opened at Max's presence as he walked in front of them. "Yeah, thats because she likes plants better than people." Suddenly a familiar voice boomed through the room. "Who has got my goddamn cigarette?" A groggy woman's voice demanded. "Guys! whats wrong with this picture?!" Faith didn't have to have sight to know Jake was looking back at her with a raised brow. She smiled nervously while continuing to walk forward. "Yep. Thats my mother."
"Here she is, Cinderella back from the ball. Grace, I'd like you to meet Norm Spellman, Jake Sully and Faith Augustine." It was at that split second moment of time, the entire room went silent. Faith could instantly feel all eyes on her and it made her seem really small to the world. "Faith?" She heard her mother call in amazement yet disbelief. A small smile spread to the blind girl's face and she could feel tears begin to sting in the side of her eyes. "Yeah, Mom, its me." Faith felt Jake's hand on hers and pulled her to the front of his chair. "Oh my baby girl." Grace chocked out as she gently reached out and caressed her daughters cheeks as if she was going to disappear at any moment. Faith leaned into her touch and even rose her own arms to hold her skin against her as long as she wanted. When she was assured she was real, Grace instantly pulled her into her arms and kissed her head. She made sure to hold her tightly not to let go. "H-how are you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here?"
"I was offered a job in the Na'vi avatar program when I graduated from high school. I got my diploma early since I skipped 5th and 6th grade." She stated proudly into her mothers chest. "I didn't think twice with the chance of seeing you again." Grace rocked her back and forth in her arms a bit longer. "How are your eyes?" Faith smiled and looked up internally wishing with all her might that she could see her beloved mother. "Still pitch black." She replied. Grace frown slightly but then kissed her Faith's forehead. "Its okay, Sweetheart." She encouraged before finally letting her go but not allowing her leave her side. Her arm was draped over her shoulder protectively.
Grace returned right back to her normal highly intelligent self. "Norm, I hear good things about you. Hows your Na'vi?" Norm paused for a second as he thought of what to say but finally came out with a proper greeting. "May the all mother smile upon our first meeting." As she listened, Faith assessed the language that she had grown up with and laughed. "Not bad, but you sound really formal." Grace looked down proudly at her fluent daughter as she continued to laugh. Norm seemed to get a little embarrassed and spoke again. "I've studied for three years but theres still a lot to learn."
Faith heard Jake take a deep breath of boredom of being left out of the conversation. That is, until Max got Graces attention again. "And this is Jake Sully." Faith could feel her mothers demeanor change. "Yeah, I know who you are and I don't need you. I need your brother," Grace then turned to Max. "Y'know, the PHD that trained three years for this mission."
"Mom!" Faith tried to make her stop but Jake cut in quickly. "He's dead. I know its a big inconvenience for everyone." Faith moved out from under her mom and walked cautiously back to Jake who grabbed her hand for an aide. "Mom, just give him a chance. He's probably your only option." Grace listened to her daughters plea and saw the connection she had already made with this Ex-marine. "How much lab training have you had?" She inquired. "None, but I dissected a frog once." Jake's answer made Faith face palm at his stupidity. "You see? Their just pissing on us without even the courtesy of calling it rain." Faith could hear her mother stomping away. "I'm going to Selfridge." Upon understanding what Grace was truly about to do, Max tried to reason with her that it was a bad idea. "No, man, this is such bullshit! I'm gonna kick his corporate butt. He has no business sticking his nose in my department. Especially when its about bringing my daughter into this without even telling me."
Max sighed heavily. "Be here tomorrow. 0800 hours. Try and use big words." He advised as he took off back to his lab. Faiths face was shocked at her mothers outrage and at that point there was only one thing she needed to get out.
"I'm so happy I ended up like my dad."