Hell's Gate base was forever filled with the roar of machinery and an oppressive atmosphere of human industrial civilization, utterly incompatible with the vibrant environment of Pandora.
Jake Sully sat in a wheelchair, pushed by base personnel through the busy corridors. His face wore the bewilderment of a newcomer, mixed with an instinctive discomfort with the cold surroundings. The pain of losing his legs and the marginalized life after discharge gave him complex, hard-to-explain expectations for this journey to Pandora—perhaps this place could offer him a fresh start, even if the opportunity stemmed from his deceased brother.
His first stop was Dr. Grace Augustine's lab.
Dr. Grace looked at this former Marine sitting in the wheelchair, whose eyes held a wild, untamed quality mixed with vulnerability, and her mood was far from pleasant.
"So, you're Tom's brother." Grace's tone was less than friendly as she walked in a circle around Jake, scrutinizing him. "Those corporate idiots think genetic matching solves everything. They don't understand that linking with an Avatar requires not just genes, but also this!"
She pointed to her own head. "Patience, comprehension, and respect for science! Not a mind completely filled with military-operation thinking."
Jake tried to show his value: "I'm a fast learner, Doc. And besides, my brother—"
"Don't mention your brother!" Grace interrupted him impatiently. "You are you, he is he. In my lab, you need to prove yourself from scratch."
She pointed to the two link pods nearby, one of which was currently in stasis. "That is the 'asset' you inherited. I hope you don't waste it."
Just then, the lab door slid open, and Maine's towering figure appeared. He first nodded to Grace as a greeting, and then his gaze landed on Jake. That look was calm yet carried an invisible pressure, causing Jake to instinctively straighten his back.
"Colonel Quaritch sent me to take a look at the newly arrived 'special talent'." Maine's voice was low, devoid of emotional fluctuation. "I am Maine, in charge of the joint training with the base security department."
"Jake Sully, former Marine." Jake instinctively blurted out his identity, a habit carved into his bones.
Maine nodded, making no further comment, only saying to Grace: "Doctor, the Colonel wants to assess this Mr. Sully's potential value as soon as he adapts to his 'new body.' He hopes the Avatar can provide more support in military reconnaissance."
Grace let out a cold snort: "Tell him my project is not his scout training camp! The Avatar is for scientific research!"
Maine remained noncommittal, merely casting another glance at Jake. His gaze seemed to evaluate him inside out, before he turned and left. His arrival and departure carried an efficient, purpose-driven aura that made Jake feel a pressure quite different from Grace's academic anger.
Meanwhile, in another area of the base, Lucy, who was responsible for monitoring internal communications, transmitted an intercepted, brief conversation between Colonel Quaritch and Administrator Parker Selfridge back to the Pathfinder.
Quaritch's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction: "...Parker, is that kid in the wheelchair really going to cut it? I don't want to pin our precious reconnaissance missions on a blue toy piloted by some rookie."
Parker appeared more pragmatic: "Miles, relax. That Avatar already cost the company a fortune; we can't just let it rot in the warehouse. Let Grace try first. What if he turns out to be useful like his brother? At least he can go places we humans can't, to see what those blue monkeys are really up to. As long as he can deliver intel, I don't care what body he uses."
Osiris listened to this conversation, a cold smile appearing on his face.
Excellent. The expectations and divisions within the RDA were perfectly consistent with his predictions. Quaritch wanted an immediately usable military tool, Parker cared more about cost and intelligence yield, while Grace held fast to her scientific ideals.
Jake Sully sat in the middle of these three pulling forces; his situation would be highly... interesting.
"Continue to monitor all of Jake Sully's activities," Osiris commanded. "Focus on his physiological data and psychological evaluation report from his first link. Dr. Grace should have results soon."
Just as Osiris expected, a few days later, under strict medical monitoring and Grace's reluctant guidance, Jake Sully underwent his first neural link with his Avatar body.
Inside the Avatar link lab, the atmosphere was tense.
Jake Sully lay in the link pod, a breathing mask covering his nose and mouth. Nearby, the Avatar body belonging to his brother Tom lay quietly in another pod, its blue skin harboring potent vital energy.
Grace, Norm, and several medical technicians bustled before the console, monitoring various physiological indicators. Maine, under the guise of "joint security evaluation," also appeared in the observation room, watching the entire process through the glass wall.
And on the outer perimeter, through an undetected, hidden data port in Grace's lab, Rei's team was remotely receiving copies of the crucial data.
"Link sequence initiated," Norm's voice carried a trace of trembling, both tense and excited.
Jake felt a violent wave of dizziness and detachment, as if his soul was being pulled from his body, falling into an endless vortex of colors and sounds.
Before long, an unprecedented sensation rushed in—touch! He felt the softness of the link pod padding beneath him, and felt the cool breeze brushing against his skin!
He snapped his eyes open, seeing the blurry outline of the lab ceiling, which then gradually came into focus. He tried to move his fingers; those long, powerful blue fingers belonging to the Avatar bent obediently. An indescribable ecstasy and excitement overwhelmed him.
He struggled, sitting up from the link pod with Norm's help, and then, trembling, tried to stand. When his feet—the Avatar's feet—stepped firmly onto the floor, supporting this three-meter-tall, powerful body, Jake almost wanted to shout out.
He took a few steps, stumbling at first, but quickly found his balance. He ran, he jumped, feeling the strength of his muscles and the sound of the wind brushing past his ears. He wept, tears sliding down from his massive, golden eyes.
This was rebirth.
Inside the observation room, Maine watched all of this expressionless. In his eyes, this was merely a successful biological neural interface operation, proving the feasibility of the technology. He paid more attention to the basic motor functions and potential reaction speed displayed by this Avatar body—these were the true elements of military value evaluation.
Grace's expression was far more complex. She was relieved by the successful connection, which proved her technology was valid, but watching Jake's near-frenzied joy, she felt a faint unease. She had seen Tom's excitement during his first link, but Jake's reaction... seemed much more primitive and emotional, lacking the calm expected of a researcher.