“*******s.” said Dr. Eileen. They went into the other shack to find the mess that was made and began to tidy everything up. The others were already picking up papers and books from the floor. Once they returned everything back to the way it was, Dr. Eileen asked if anyone had sent any of the new information to other people to which they replied no. Dr. Eileen was relieved but she didn’t show any signs of this as it would have been a give away to what she had discovered.
“Ok well there’s quite a lot to go through so me and Tak are going to have a look through it again so unless you want to join us, I guess you can just keep doing your work as usual.”
The others weren’t keen at all, they weren’t even keen on doing their normal work, so they went back to what they were doing before the disturbance. Tak took his laptop over to his desk and Dr. Eileen brought her chair over. They opened folder after folder of information and had a quick look through what was inside. There were many reports, graphs and tables. They then came to a folder which had a word document titled “PLEASE READ THIS”. Tak opened the file to reveal a personal message from one of the scientists.

“If you are reading this then I will most likely be already dead. The information contained within this folder is extremely valuable. As to what it is, I cannot tell you. That is something you must find out for yourself. However, what you do with this information is up to you. I just hope that you make the right decision. The future of our planet is now in your hands.”
They already knew what the information was as they read the diary of one of the scientists and they already had the hard work done for them. All they had to do was keep the contents of this particular folder a secret. For the rest of the day they had another look at the new information, examining multiple computer models of chemical compounds and reports. After dinner they sent what needed to be sent to the main research centre at Hell’s Gate.
“Let’s just hope they don’t accidently discover what we’ve learned” said Dr. Eileen.

The next day Dr. Eileen received a request from Dr. Grace Augustine to come and visit her at Hell’s Gate concerning her good job on finding the hidden information. Not wanting to take all the credit she told Alan and together they went to wake up Tak who was still asleep. He was in a dream which he didn’t want to wake up from. Tak was walking through the forest, following a small river. As he walked along side it, it got bigger and bigger. Trees were everywhere until he reached a point where there was nothing ahead and the river ended with a waterfall. What presented itself in front of him was an amazing view of what seemed to be a massive well with many waterfalls all displacing their water to the ground far below. Plants covered the cliff faces of the well and some trees even grew horizontally out from the well. In the middle of the well was a large rock floating like an island in the middle of the sea. It was heavily covered in trees on top and small plants grew on the sides and bottom. Vines grew from all sides and connected it to other smaller rocks, anchoring it in the middle. It was unbelievably beautiful. Tak wanted to go to the island. Without thinking, he took a step forward, only to fall to the ground below. He hit the ground but there was no pain. Everything went black and silent. He didn’t know where he was now, but he could hear a voice calling for him. It was faint at start but it got louder. “Tak, Tak, wake up. Tak wake up, we have to go soon. Wake up Tak.” said the voice. Feeling his body being shook, he slowly woke up from the dream. Reality started to fade in and he saw Dr. Eileen.

“Damn you’re hard to wake up. We’re going to see Dr. Augustine so get ready. Our ride’s going to be here soon.” she said. Tak stayed in bed for a minute, reflecting on the dream he just had. What did it mean? Maybe nothing, but he wanted to return to that place. He got out of bed to get ready. On the way to Hell’s Gate Tak asked Alan about why theywere going to Hell’s Gate.
“Dr. Augustine wants to talk to us in person about how much of an awesome job we did recovering the information from Grave’s Bog. I don’t really want to meet her, but anyway.” said Alan.
“Why not?” asked Dr. Eileen.
“I’ve heard things about her, she hates my type.”
“Hmmm, I know what you mean. But just come meet her, she might not be as bad as you think.”
“Nah I’ll let you two handle this.”
For the rest of the flight Alan and Dr. Eileen discussed Dr. Augustine’s hatred for jarheads while Tak kept quiet. He was still trying to figure out what the dream he had meant.

When they landed at Hell’s Gate Alan decided to take a walk around inside. Tak unexpectedly joined him.
“You’re not coming?” asked Dr. Eileen.
“No, don’t feel like it.” Replied Tak as if he didn’t give a ****.
“But I can’t take all the credit. This was a team effort.”
“Yeah well get Yuki to go with you, I’m sure you’ll find her somewhere in the lab.”
“No. We’re all going together.”
“No. You two are going together. Besides, you two will get double the amount of credit. Ok bye.”

The two walked off, leaving Dr. Eileen standing alone. Raising her arms slightly and dropping them in as an expression of hopelessness, she made her way to the lab to meet Dr. Augustine. Tak and Alan walked around, giving themselves a tour of the Hell’s Gate complex. Everywhere looked the same. It was a never ending network of corridors and rooms. They continued to walk around the place, spending a number of minutes on each floor. They then came to a place which had a noticeboard with many notes pinned on it. They read some to find that they were notices for missing property. Alan walked to the counter.
“Hey, what is this place?” he asked to the man sitting in the chair.
“You lose something, you come here to find it. You die, then your valuable stuff gets sent here. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Alan and Tak decided to enter the large room full of personal belongings. There were all sorts of items and all of them were identified by a tag. They split up and looked through the stash of valuables. Alan had instantly turned into a child and the shelves around him were like the shelves at a toy store. His attention was drawn to all sorts of knives and blades, fancy watches, necklaces, Zippo lighters and any other thing he dreamed of having but couldn’t afford back on earth. On the other hand, Tak hadn’t found anything of interest. He slowly scanned the shelves only to find the usual crap, until his eyes were drawn to a black rectangular case. The material that covered it was worn out and was beginning to peel off around the corners. Tak took the case, put it on the floor and opened it to unveil what was inside. A beautiful Gibson Les Paul almost in mint condition laid in the case. He took it out to have a look at this magnificent guitar. The gloss coating was still present all over, the strings sounded great, the frets weren’t too worn out and only a little bit of the gold coating had come off from around the edges of the humbuckers and the bridge. Tak looked inside the case for a pick and found one. He took it and played a quick Blues lick, putting a smile on his face. He had to have this. He returned everything back to the case and held onto it. He then went back to the man at the counter.

“What do I need to do to have this?” he asked. The man left his seat and returned with a form.
“Just fill this out and sign at the bottom.” he replied. Tak filled in his details and handed the form over to the man. “Alright, done. Have fun with that.” he said. Tak returned to the shelves to look for Alan. He spotted him with a knife in one hand and a figure of a demon in another.

“Hey, you already got something hu? Anyway, check out all this cool ****! My pockets are filled. Come on have a look! There’s no way you’re leaving here with just that, this place is a ****en treasure chest!” said Alan. Taking his advice, Tak searched through the shelves. Alan was right, this place was a treasure chest. Maybe Alan got lucky and found where all the goodies were. Tak found a metal figure of an Asian dragon and held it close. “This would look great on my desk” he thought, and decided to take it. Half an hour since they found this place, both of them finally decided to leave. They checked out with all their stuff. Tak only had one item whereas Alan had item after item coming out of his pockets. With nothing to do, they headed outside and walked around. They decided to sit on the ground with their backs against the wall and watch as Samsons and Scorpions took off and landed. It was a beautiful day. The sun shined its light and warmth on them as a cool breeze swept across the ground. Tak took out his guitar and began to play it while Alan took out a necklace and looked at it.

“Ey, you think she’ll like it?” asked Alan but Tak wasn’t paying attention. “Right……. I hope she does” he said to himself. The two of them stayed there for nearly an hour before they were interrupted by an officer.
“You two with Dr. Eileen?” he asked.
“Yeah” replied Alan.
“She’s waiting for you back at where you were dropped off.”
The two of them stood up and made their way back. On the return flight Alan showed his new stuff to Dr. Eileen. She also explained what she discussed with Dr. Augustine. Grace was surprised to hear of a marine who actually took interest in the science. Tak kept silent again, he couldn’t wait to get back and play his new guitar.

When they returned Tak went straight to his amp and plugged in his new guitar. He didn’t stop until Dr. Eileen came to interrupt him. “It’s that time of the day again” she said. Tak wanted to play his guitar but he also wanted to explore more of the forest. He sighed as he turned off the amp and made his way to the link. The two of them made their way to the village. Before entering the outskirts of the village a little Na’vi boy came running out. Dr. Eileen stopped him and kneeled down to his level. It was Tak’s little friend. She spoke to him in Na’vi.

“What are you doing? You know it’s dangerous out here. If you’re caught then you’re going to be in trouble. Come on, go back bef-“
“Come back! Come ba- Come here now!” yelled Zetey. She was furious. Grabbing him by the arm and pulling him to face her she yelled at him.
“You know the rules! No children outside the village! Go back to your mother!” she yelled. The boy didn’t move so Dr. Eileen volunteered to take him back. They slowly made their way as the boy cried silently. Zetey waited for them to clear the area before she turned her attention to Tak.
“This is your fault.” she said as she pointed her bow at his face.
“Ever since you become his friend he has changed. He does not listen to his mother, he does not play with the children, he is always coming here where it is dangerous. Because of you.”
Tak couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“…….Are you ****en serious? How the **** is this my ****en fault?” he said.
“You teach him bad things!”
“I didn’t teach him **** except friendship! And if you think that’s such a bad ****en thing then **** you!”
“Go away!”
Zetey turned around and walked away with her back to Tak. “**** you! ****en bitch!” yelled Tak from behind. “FUUUCK!” he yelled as he picked up a large stick and took a swing at any plant he saw on the way back. He broke the stick in half and threw it away before returning to the shacks.

That night during dinner while everyone was half way through their meal, Tak had already finished and was on his third beer. He had been in an extremely **** mood since the afternoon and the beer wasn’t helping at all to calm him down. Just when he thought he had made another friend with the Na’vi, **** hit the fan. The conversation died down a bit so Dr. Brent asked why Tak’s day with the Na’vi finished so early. Tak ignored the question and got up to leave. He went to the food cabinet and searched for alcohol. He found a bottle of Vodka so he took it. He then went to the fridge and took three more beers. He opened the Vodka and skulled a third of the bottle as he went to his bed. He dropped the cans onto the floor and fell onto the matress, looking at the matress above. He let go of the Vodka and cracked open a beer. Zetey’s angry voice echoed through his mind as he drank his beer. His anger built up and caused him to crush the beer can. “****en bitch” he said as he threw the can away. Opening another beer, he tried to think of something else. Time passed and slowly felt more relaxed. His head was slightly throbbing. He got up to go and pee then returned. By the time Dr. Eileen to came to check up on him he was just finishing his last can. She saw the cans and the Vodka and got concerned so she reached for the Vodka. Tak grabbed it before she could.

“**** off that’s mine” he said. As he took a long sip, Dr. Eileen tried to make him feel better.
“So….. I heard what happened…. Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just a big misunderstanding.” Tak wasn’t convinced so Dr. Eileen continued.
“I talked to your friend. I think that’s the first time he’s spoken in a very long time. He really looks up to you. He told me that none of the kids would want to play with him, so when you showed your friendship he was overwhelmed. I do agree with his mother, he has changed. He spends all his time in his own little adventurous world. You know he’s been running to the edges of the village everyday? Yeah, he told me that everyday he think about running over here to the shacks, because he wants to meet you. But he can never bring himself to doing it. But you know, I’m glad he’s changed. He’s a lot happier now than before he met you……. You’re a good person, you just don’t realize it.”
Tak was getting tired. He could understand what Dr. Eileen was saying but he couldn’t comprehend it. He got up to go to pee again and this time he took the bottle with him. He drank as he peed and didn’t bother flushing or washing his hand. On the way back to his bed he stumbled a bit so Dr. Eileen helped him.

“Anyway, I talked to his mother and I think she understands now. I also had a chat with Zetey, and she understands too. Don’t know if her bad impressions of you are gone though, I guess you’ll have to find out yourself.”
Dr. Eileen took the bottle from his hands and finished it off in one go. She let out a long breath.
“Don’t worry, these things happen. Just get some rest ok?” she said as she squeezed his shoulder to try and comfort him. She stood up and began to walk. “Oh by the way nice guitar. You can tell me all about it tomorrow.” she said with a smile before returning to the others. Tak had now completely forgotten about the argument and was now thinking about Dr. Eileen. Why was she such a nice person? Why couldn’t more people be like her? He kicked off his shoes and closed his eyes.

Chapter 18

Tak woke up the late next morning feeling a bit like ****. His stomach felt weird from all the alcohol he drank last night and wanted to eat something. He laid in bed for a while and thought about the argument he had the day before. Last night he was angry but now he didn’t know what to feel. Thinking about it took too much of a toll on him mentally and now his mind was scrambled. He decided to try and forget about it. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths and finally got out of bed. He made his way to the bathroom with his towel and took a long shower. When he came out he went back to his bed where his clothes were and got dressed. He then got himself a bowl of cereal and brought it to his desk and ate it as he turned on his computer and waited for it to start up. As he ate his breakfast Dr. Eileen walked over to see how he was doing.
“How you feeling?” she asked.
Tak shrugged his shoulders. He seemed like his usual self, very dull and unmotivated. He didn’t seem like he wanted to talk so Dr. Eileen finished there. The computer was now ready to use but Tak didn’t touch the mouse or the keyboard. There was really no work to do and if there was then he wasn’t in a rush to finish it. He looked out his window and stared into the never ending forest, remaining silent and still like a lifeless body. Everyone else was still wondering what was wrong with him since last night. Dr. Eileen didn’t talk about it and decided to keep it that way. Tak went to clean his bowl and brush his teeth. When he returned to his desk he resumed staring out the window.

Before afternoon Dr. Eileen, Dr. Brent and Dr. Dale had an early lunch as they were going to go hiking through the jungle in their Avatars. They hopped into the links and Dr. Isaac got them set up. As they connected to their Avatars Alan watched. Dr. Isaac had to stay and keep an eye on the Avatar drivers so Alan decided to stay. He asked her how it worked so she explained to him the whole process of transferring the human mind over to the Avatar. Meanwhile Tak was still sitting at his desk. It was one of those days where he didn’t know what he wanted to do. Instead of forcing himself to do something, he just let the time pass. He finally realized how long he had been sitting down for and looked around them room. No one was there. He got up to get a drink. He could here Alan and Dr. Isaac chatting away in the other room, nothing unusual. He got a drink and returned to his desk. Before he sat back down, something hit the window and caught his attention. He scanned the area outside the window but there was nothing. Then another object hit the window. It came from within the thick growth of plants. He waited to see if it would happen again, and it did. This time two objects were thrown, one after the other. It was as if someone was trying to get his attention. Could it be? It didn’t seem like a hostile move so he decided to go outside and find out what it was. He got an exopack and headed to the door. Alan didn’t even stop his conversation to ask where Tak was going as he was deeply immersed in all the science behind the Avatar program. Tak put on his exopack and headed outside. He went around to the window at which he sits in front of and saw four sticks on the ground. He then turned to face the direction in which they came from. He was certain that someone was calling for him. He walked into the growth of plants, making his way through the many branches and stems which he had to push apart.
“You come, good” said Tsuwokan. He was kneeling to the left of Tak.
“We need your help. Skypeople attack Swotulu village. They bring machines, very big. Swotulu is a special place. We must stop them and we need your help.”
“**** off. After all I do for you people, all this time being nice and helping you, this is how you repay me. Bull****, just ****en bull****.” Tak’s view of the Na’vi had been ruined by one small incident. Tsuwokan could tell something obviously angered him and he had an idea as to what it was. He sighed.
“Zetey, she is not happy with you, yes I know… she does not understand what you try to do. She is still young and get angry easy. Please forgive her. But know we must go.”
“Just **** off.”
Tsuwokan placed his hand on Tak’s shoulder.
“Matsmukan, please” he said with a calm but begging voice. Tak wasn’t in the mood to do anymore favors for the Na’vi, but something inside him didn’t let him refuse. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“……Fine” he said. “Thankyou.” replied Tsuwokan. “Come, we must hurry” he said as he began to run back. Tak followed. They got on the direhorse and first rode back to home tree where Bakteyo and Aketuan were waiting for them with banshees. They got off and went to the secret stash of weapons. Tak took an automatic rifle and a pistol. He loaded the weapons and brought a few extra clips. They all hopped onto their banshees. Tak had never seen one so this was quite an experience. Tsuwokan signaled him to get on but as he approached the banshee snapped at him. Tsuwokan calmed it down and Tak got on. He held onto harnesses. They rode off to Swotulu. It was a rough ride but Tak managed to stay on the banshee. On the way he got an incredible view of the forest. From where the shacks were it seemed like the forest never ended but even from high up above it really seemed like it continued for ever. It was quite a lot for him to comprehend, here he was riding on a banshee while getting an amazing view of Pandora. They finally reached Swotulu, a heavily forested area well known for its sacred river. The water was beautiful, it was very clear and sparkled in the sunlight. The forest wasn’t as open as the FEBA but it had natural passages that were like a network of roads. The few dirt roads were an indication that RDA had been through the area previously. They descended into the forest and landed somewhere near a mine. They hopped off their banshees and followed a path which ended with a fence up ahead. “Thankyou for helping us” said Bakteyo, but Tak didn’t reply. They crept to the fence which had a cut in it just big enough for Na’vi to crawl through. Tsuwokan explained to Tak what the plan was before heading out. Before he began, a large bulldozer roared past.

“We must destroy that machine. Skypeople have been here for a long time but they are close to destroying sacred place, many trees. We go to where skypeople control the machine and stop them.”
Tsuwokan was the first to go. He checked to see if there were any troops in the area, then crawled through the fence and ran to the huge tree in front of them for cover. He signaled for the others to come and they did. Tak was the last to go. They made their ways from one tree to another, evading detection by RDA troops. They were now in the area close to the mine. Massive scars had been left in the ground from the heavy machinery used to excavate the land and transport the Unobtanium, but the forest was still very much alive with plants and animals still refusing to give up their habitat. Tak continued to look around the place feeling very exposed. This wasn’t nothing like what he first thought of Swotulu, humans had bulldozed large sections of forest to create roads and now it was a very open space. It was hard to find a hiding spot, unless you were high up in the trees. They continued to move and stopped when the control tower was in sight.
“There, I think machine are controlled from there. You must destroy it.“ said Tsuwokan as he pointed to the building with his bow.
“We will help you get there, but you must go inside yourself.”
“Yeah sure, just leave all the hard work for me to do.” replied Tak sarcastically.

There were a few troops scattered around the place with three hanging around the base of the tower, sitting down on some large crates. Tsuwokan loaded an arrow onto his bow and took aim. He pulled back and has he slowly exhaled he released the arrow. It went flying and nailed his target to the tree he was leaning against. The other troops were alerted but they couldn’t see the enemy. Tsuwokan loaded another arrow and fired, hitting his next victim in the stomach. “Go now!” he yelled, and Tak ran to the next tree for cover. The three Na’vi had now been spotted and they were under a heavy fire of bullets. Tak peered from cover and took aim. He opened fired, providing cover for his allies as they advanced closer to the tower. He still wasn’t good with a rifle but he managed to hit one of the troops. Tsuwokan decided to split up with Bakteyo and Aketuan. As he ran to another tree he felt something sting his arm. He looked to see blood coming out, a bullet had skimmed his arm but it was nothing. Tak was waiting for the others to do something since he was stuck in his position. Bakteyo loaded an arrow and pulled back. He suddenly jumped out of cover and aimed at the first opponent he spotted. He immediately released the arrow and hit his opponent in the face. The arrow broke through the exopack and speared the Tawtute in his head, breaking through the skull. A lucky shot it was. They continued to fire arrows, patiently waiting for the right time to do so. Tak had another look to see if he was clear to make his way to the tower. The troops attention seemed to be more drawn to his Na’vi allies so he ran from his position out into the open. He fired at the troops inaccurately and when he ran out of bullets he pulled out his pistol and shot one guy in the face. The other ran out of bullets and was reloading so Tak ran as fast as he could at the guy and kicked him to the ground. He quickly got back up and stomped his opponent in the stomach, causing the downed soldier to curl up in pain. Tak kicked the gun away from him and held it down with his foot. Wasting no time he silenced his enemy with a bullet to the side of the head. The blood splattered onto his exopack. Splashes of red now partially blocked his view but he continued to advance towards the control tower. Tsuwokan went to retrieve his arrows and so did the others while Tak laid down fire, holding off the enemies temporarily. A few more men came out of the door at the base of the tower. As Tak reloaded his rifle, the other three fired arrows. Tak looked at the dead bodies and found grenades attached to them. He took one.
“Where are they?!” he yelled as the sound of gunshots filled the area. Tsuwokan’s reply was a little delayed as he was a bit busy trying keep himself and the others alive.
“There.”
“Near the crates?”
“……Yes, yes near the crates.”
“Throw this at them. It shou- No not now you dumb ****! After I pull the pin!”
Hiding behind a log, the two of them waited for a chance to attack. Tak had another look at the dead bodies.
“Hey, get him.”
“He is dead.”
“I can ****en see that! Just get him!”
Tsuwokan dragged the dead body towards him.
“Slowly raise it up. Slowly. Get the head to poke out.”

As Tsuwokan slowly revealed the dead troop from behind the log, Tak looked at the head. When it was in sight, the troops opened fire. The head was ripped apart by the bullets and Tsuwokan was lightly sprayed with blood and glass. He dropped it and left it on the log. Tak poorly judged which direction the bullets came from and guessed his enemies position.
“They’re probably over there.” said Tak as he pointed to show Tsuwokan. He set the timer on the grenade and pulled the pin. He then handed it over to Tsuwokan.
“Throw it throw it throw it!”
Tsuwokan tossed it and a few seconds later a loud explosion went off. The sound of someone yelling out loud could be heard for a split second. They must have killed someone. With his rifle ready, Tak popped out from cover and had a quick look. He could hear people yelling to each other so he decided to go to them. Aiming his rifle, he slowly walked to them. He found one who had been blown away by the blast lying on the ground and killed him. Bakteyo and Aketuan joined Tak with their bows loaded, ready to fire. A troop managed to get back on his feet with his gun but Bakteyo had already spotted him and sliced his throat pen with a blade. Tak continued to look around the destroyed crates and found the last man. He slowly tried to stand up but Tak stepped on him, sending him back to the ground. He pulled out his pistol and emptied it into the back of his victim’s head. The four of them had defeated everyone on the ground, and now it was time to take control of the bulldozers.

He made his way up the stairs with his rifle aimed and ready to fire. As he approached the control room, he could hear someone calling for help on the communication device while others discussed in panic. There was atleast one armed person who was telling everyone to calm down and get in a safe area. Tak quickly made his way as this may be a chance to kill him while he was distracted. And so he was. As he was ordering people to stay calm, Tak took advantage of this distraction and shot him in the chest. The people inside panicked. Tak quickly looked around to see only scared and shocked people. Without a thought, he killed everyone in the room except one man who was still sitting at the controls of one of the bulldozers. The screen was still on and the bulldozer was still operating. The man begged for his life but Tak wasn’t going to let anyone live so he shot the man in the head, making it a quick death. He then pulled the dead man off who was slouched across the controls and sat in the chair. Grabbing the controls, he started to move the bulldozer. He followed the dirt road on the screen for many minutes while playing around with the other controls and working them out. He finally found the fence which surrounded the mine and followed that to a gate which was the entrance into the mining complex. He rammed the gate at full speed and destroyed it along with the turrets. He then headed for the AMP suits which were parked along a building and took them out one after another. He then reversed and turned around to head for the Samson that was on the helipad. He rammed the Samson and continued until it hit the fence. He reversed all the way and rammed it again. It damaged the fence and he gave it one last go. The fence broke and the Samson, along with the bulldozer, fell into the deep mine. The massive bulk of metal came crashing down and exploded on impact with the ground. Tak made his way back out.
“What’s next?” asked Tak, seeming eager to finish the job.
“Now we must stop them from destroying village. Village is next to river, so we go there now.”

They ran to the village as fast as they could, navigating through the thick forest. Everywhere they went there were vines hanging down from above with colourful plants exploding from everywhere. But there were no animals insight. They had all been scared off by the nearby fighting. Tsuwokan lead the group to the village but they seemed to have showed up a little late. There was already a group of Na’vi which had done the work for them. The village had been torched and the local tribe had suffered were casualties, but the RDA had clearly lost with even more loses. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere with two AMP suits downed and flaming. Tak looked around. The Na’vi were cheering loudly as they dismembered their human victims, stabbed them or smashed they faces with axes and clubs. The humans which were still alive were gathered and were executed slowly one by one. As Tak and the other witnessed the slaughter taking place, one of the Na’vi approached them. He made eye contact with Tsuwokan and smiled slightly then looked down to Tak. He began to speak in Na’vi.
“Do you speak our language?” he asked Tak.
“Yes.”
“I hear good things about you tawtute……. I was very surprised to hear of you and what you did. Is it true? Did you really kill your own?”
“Yes.”
“Show me, please.”

The Na’vi man brought Tak over to a human who’s hands had been tied together and was kneeling on the ground. Next to him was a machete.
“I must see for myself.” said the Na’vi.
Tak picked up the machete and held it in both hands like a baseball bat. He brought the machete as far back as possible and with all his force, swung at the back of his helpless victim’s neck. The machete penetrated the skin and dug deep into the flesh where it stopped at the spine. The man’s scream of pain together with the surrounding Na’vis’ cheers made a chaotic atmosphere which only drove Tak to take every swing with more hate, anger and enjoyment. He hacked at the flesh like he was chopping a tree. With every hack, blood flew onto his clothes. His arms were dripping with fresh blood. As he was about to take cut all the way through, he threw the machete away and ripped off the head with his bare hands, tearing apart the skin and flesh. The Na’vi cheered loudly and Tak dropped the head. Taking of a man’s head with his very own human hands made him feel unstoppable. He felt like he could take on the whole RDA. He picked up the machete again and let out what intense aggressive energy still remained in him, hacking away at the decapitated corpse. The Na’vi man was impressed with what he saw and silenced everyone.

“Well done. I had my doubts but you have proven me wrong…… I would like you to join me for a celebration with the rest of my people back at our home. Come in your dreamwalker. I hope to see you there.” he said and he walked away. Tak remained silent as adrenaline rushed through his body but Tsuwokan snapped him out of it by placing his hand on Tak’s shoulder.
“Tak. Tak. Tak! It is done…… it is done.”
Tak held onto the machete, his clothes and exopack covered in splatters and the smell of human blood. He walked over to the river which calmly flowed. He first washed his arms, getting rid of the blood, then washed his exopack. He then returned to Tsuwokan. “Let’s go back” he said. It was a long flight back and by the time they reached the FEBA it was dark. Tak was tired and was starving. Before he returned to the shacks, Tsuwokan had a quick chat to him.
“The celebration will be tomorrow night. Please meet me at hometree when the day is gone and I will take you there.”

Tak made his way silently back to the shacks and he went straight to his bed where his clothes were. He quickly got changed and threw his blood stained clothes into the washing machine. He pressed the buttons to start it up and then got food. He went to his desk and sat down, eating his dinner.
“Hey where have you been all day?!” asked Dr. Eileen. Tak continued with his meal.
“You were gone for most of the day, I think you owe us an explanation.”
Dr. Eileen was annoyed with his absence and Tak could notice this but he didn’t care. He swallowed what was in his mouth and took a sip of water before answering.
“I just felt like staying outside.”
“Alone?! Until this late?! You can’t be serious!”
Tak didn’t reply and this annoyed Dr. Eileen more.
“Ok look, I know you’ve been out into the forest on your own and I don’t think that’s the smartest thing to do, but I can see that you’re able to keep yourself alive. That’s why I let you go out there. But going out at night is just unacceptable. I’m not even going to explain why, I’m sure you know…….. Just…..please don’t ever do that again.”

The next night Tak got ready to meet Tsuwokan. The Alpha Centuri A had departed the sky and it was now night time. Tak headed to the link and he was stopped on the way by Dr. Eileen.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Going out for a while.”
“Tak, what did we talk about last night?”
“Can’t you see I’m going in my Avatar?”
“Yeah, I can see that. But it doesn’t make a difference. It’s still dangerous even in your Avatar. Not even the Na’vi leave their homes when it’s this dark.”
“Yeah well a friend from hometree offered to show me around the forest at night time. No way I’m going to refuse that offer.”
“Oh….. so, you solved your problems with-“
“Bye.”
“Wait!........ ****.”
Dr. Eileen could have terminated the link but she didn’t bother. Tak was now in his Avatar and ready to head off. the forest came to life as it put on its daily light show but Tak wasn’t interested in looking. He wasted no time in meeting up with Tsuwokan, who led him to the place. Tak was curious as to who the Na’vi man he was confronted by was.
“So who was that guy yesterday?” he asked. Tsuwokan began to explain.
“I do not know his name, but I know him for long time. He was in another clan but he leave.”
“Why?”
“……I cannot explain. But, he is different. He is not Na’vi.”
“…….What?”

No more words were spoken until they reached the home of their host. It was a small village with huts arranged around a central gathering place. In the middle there was a large wooden alter setup and people gathered around. Tsuwokan and Tak were approached by one of the clan members who told them to join the crowd. The Na’vi man then went to the alter and he silenced everyone. He then began to talk.
“My brothers and sisters, we are here today to celebrate another victory over the skypeople!”
The clan cheered ferociously, yelling out their war cries.
“Let us not forget that we are outcasts, individuals who have been banished from clans but have come together, and together we arise! We will show the skypeople, and the ones who threw us away, that we will live, the way we want to live! We will do what we want, when we want, how we want and no one will stop us!”
The crowd cheered again, this time even more louder. The atmosphere that was building up was too much to be contained within the area. Their cries could definitely be heard echoing though the forest.
“Today, we welcome a new brother. By flesh and blood, he is one of them. But by spirit, he is one of us.”
The man then looked at Tak.
“We are not the same, but we believe in the same things. Together, we will kill the skypeople and take back what is ours. Come.”
Tak walked up to the altar. The leader signaled some others, who left and returned with a live human who was breathing through an exopack. He was naked and had ropes tied around his arms. They threw the ropes over the alter and pulled the human up. Tak was face to face with the human. The leader then looked the human in the eye then turned to Tak.
“Eat him, and his powers will live within you.”
Tak stared at the living sacrifice dead in the eyes who was trembling with fear. He then grabbed the tawtute by the head and shoulder and bit into the neck, tearing out a chunk of flesh. The tawtute screamed in pain but the Na’vi yelled in excitement. Tak chewed the flesh to mince and swallowed. The taste of blood and raw human flesh was horid but he wasn’t going to stop. He then tore up the arm, roughly stripping it of flesh and then the chest. Blood covered his face and dripped down from his chin. He tore open the chest and dug his fingers into the rib cage. He ripped off the rib cage with all his power to unveil the heart still beating. He wrapped his hand around the heart and pulled it out. As the heart beat in his hand, blood poured from the lifeless body. He looked at the heart for a short moment before tearing it apart with his teeth and consuming it. The clan leader watched as he laughed in astonishment. Tsuwokan was just shocked. Not wanting to be a part of what was going on for any longer, he turned around in disgust and walked away. Tak was now done consuming his victim and walked off to clean himself. When he returned to the shacks and woke up from the link he didn’t know what to think. He had just eaten a human being. Although it was indirect, it was still cannibalism. But Tak didn’t regret it. Feeling tired, he went to have a shower then brushed his teeth and went to sleep.

Chapter 19

Tak was devoting his time to the plants inside the shacks, analysing the chemical compositions of the plant’s fluids. They had been showing consistent results that were looking good and it was only a matter of time before they would be ready to be exported back to earth for good use. As he sat in front of the plants and stared at them, Dr. Eileen moved next to him in her chair.
“You ok? Is something wrong? You haven’t said anything today and you were quiet yesterday.” she asked.
Tak continued to stare at the plants. He kept silent for a moment before answering as usual.
“No.” he said with no emotion.
“You’re not angry at me are you?”
“No.”
“Well then, what’s wrong?” There would be another moment of silence before her question would be answered.
“Don’t you ever get sick of this?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Doing research, getting hassled by ********s, being ordered to solve the problems of other people. Why do you do it?”
“Oh right, my job. Well because it’s what I love to do. Sure, sometimes you have to deal with stuff but that’s part of the job. And besides, we have an obligation to do whatever we can to help our planet. Our world gave many things to us so it’s only fair that we give back.”
“It’s not like you’re going back to that ****hole so why bother?”
“Oh come on, really? I’ve got friends and family back there and if I can do anything to make their home a better place then I’m willing to do so. And so should you. You can’t be mad at the world forever you know. If your life is fuelled by anger and hatred then it’s going o drive you insane and eventually it’ll consume you.”
“.......It already has” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Ok, well let’s try and put a smile on that face.”
Dr. Eileen returned to her desk and continued looking at photos of animals on her computer. Dr. Dale leaned towards her and began quietly talking to her.
“What’s wrong with him this time?”
“Not much, he’s just in a, you know, ‘I hate the whole world’ mood.”
“Oh, nothing new.”
“Yeah well, he has some issues. I just wish he would talk about them.”
“Mmmm, I see. Oh, did you here? The Na’vi attacked one of the mines two days ago.”
“What?”
“No really, they were going to clear out one of the nearby villages but the Na’vi fought back and they decided to also go for the mine.”
“Oh god, things are getting really heated. This is so bad.”
“Yeah but that’s not all, the bodies at the control tower? They were shot dead. Na’vi don’t use guns, nor could they fit inside the building. Hilton was right, someone’s helping the Na’vi. Honestly, I really don’t know if this is good or bad. I just don’t know what to say.”

It was a beautiful day and the sun was begging Tak to get outside. Sitting inside for half of the day was getting uncomfortable so Tak went outside for a quick walk. Since his partaking in attacking the mine all he could think of was killing people. He thought going for a relaxing walk through the forest would clear his mind but it didn’t. The images from last night’s brutality were trapped inside his head. For the meantime he just dealt with it, thinking nothing of it. He returned to the shacks and sat down. He didn’t know what he wanted to do and the day was passing by. Dr. Eileen caught him sitting at his desk, looking like a corpse. She felt bad for him as he seemed like he lived life in infinite misery. Tak had returned to his old self, filled with negativity and remaining almost mute. Bad relations with some specific members of the Takahayo clan only made things worse. Tak needed to change his attitude in order to prevent this cycle from repeating itself. It was doing him no good. Dr. Eileen then decided to do something about it, and it would be the last time. She walked over to Tak who was staring at his desk which had nothing on it. “Obviously something’s troubling you. Talk to me” she said.
“Nothing’s troubling me, don’t know why you think so.”
“Well, what’s on your mind?...... It’s ok, just let it out.”
“Alright then.... I probably told you that I never had any friends. Well, in high school there was this one guy. He had no friends either so I guess he thought he would try and hang around with me. I thought he was pretty ****en annoying, but now I realize he was just trying to be a friend. And here I am wondering what a dick I must’ve been to him..... Just a random thought.”
“You learn from your mistakes, and I’m sure he’s forgiven you by now. And it’s about time you forgave someone too, make things right again.”
There was a silence amongst the two with the background noise of the others carrying on with their work. Tak hadn’t felt regret and guilt like this ever in his life, and if he did he had certainly forgot about it.
“Come on, let’s go” she said as she pulled his arm. He stayed seated so she pulled again and repeated herself. Without arguing, Tak got up and followed her to the links as if his lifeless body was being controlled by something. They got connected and woke up in their tents, sweating lightly from their foreheads due to the heat. Tak could still taste the human blood from consuming his live human victim last night. He walked outside and headed to the river to rinse his mouth. Dr. Eileen began to make her way to the usual place and Tak followed.
“Now listen, I’ve known the people for a long time now. They’re forgiving people and you need to trust them. I remember the first few months I met the Na’vi. Things weren’t great, they didn’t trust me and I really felt like I was hated for no reason. But I didn’t give up. I kept on offering my friendship and eventually they took it. You’re at that point and you need to keep pushing, so don’t give up. I know I’ve said this before but I mean it when I say this, there’s so much to learn from these people. So when we get there can you please do something for me and for yourself? Just go and talk to Zetey, show her that you want to sort things out. She can teach and show you so many great things, and it would be foolish to pass up such an opportunity. So what about it?”
Tak didn’t answer and continued to walk.
“Ok, well I know you heard me. Just think about it.”

Tak was in no rush to go have a chat to the person he needed to go see so he walked into the base of the very large hometree. It was calm and quiet inside the massive wooden hall. He had never been to the other side of the base so he went back out to find that the other side was a river. The beautiful, clear water sparkled as the sunlight reflected of it. The river bed could be clearly seen covered in anemone and other types of plants. In the distance some of the clan members could be seen bathing while children splashed and swam. One of the roots of hometree grew back out of the ground and extended into the river, forming a natural pier. It was inviting so Tak walked to the end and sat down as he looked into the water to see his own reflection. As he watched the small ripples in the water, he felt his singlet being lightly pulled. He turned around to be greeted by his friend with a smile. At first he didn’t care to see him but it eventually put a small smile on his face too. His friend was holding the creatures they had made with sticks from a while ago. Seeing this reminded Tak of the fun times they had together and it made him want to go back to those not too long ago days. So what was he waiting for? He stood up and began walking and his friend followed but as they reached the central spiral, they ran into Zetey who was coming down. She had just returned from hunting and still had her bow in her hand. Tak’s inability to maintain eye contact annoyed her. She still saw him as a trouble maker and a bad influence to her people. Tak’s friend was scared of the mean lady who had yelled at him before and his hiding behind Tak, clinging onto his khakis as he looked towards the ground. Tak didn’t know what to do so he remained silent, not moving a single bit but Zetey’s anger was only building up and she was getting restless. She couldn’t contain it anymore and swung her bow to hit Tak across the face. “Who does this arrogant prick think he is?” she thought. She didn’t want to be in his presence anymore and walked off furiously. The numbness started to retreat from the right side of Tak’s face and pain kicked in. He was still as calm as a rock, feeling no anger or hatred. Just nothing. All of a sudden he didn’t feel like spending time with his friend. He just wanted to go out for a long walk on his own. He decided to abandon his friend and leave the place to go for a long walk through the forest. Dr. Eileen was too busy teaching the kids more English to notice he had left. Tak decided to get lost, taking a random path but making sure he knew how to get back. He walked for minutes until his legs were became tired and he sat down. He thought back to the day he killed first since arriving on Pandora. Pulling the trigger and emptying the clip in his victim’s face, feeling the skull crack under his foot. It was all still clear and satisfying to think of. As he remembered all the ways he had killed his victims, it hit him. All this time he had found out hardly anything about how to stop the RDA. And as he wasted time, the RDA were destroying more and more of this world. He was now seriously doubting himself, questioning if he could even manage to even put a dent in their operation. No one else was willing to do it and although he had Alan’s help, Alan had done nothing so far. He had to finish what he started.

“No more ****ing around. You will bring this greedy corporate abomination down, even if you go down with it. To live is to die. Get it done.” He told himself. A sudden rush of determination flowed through his veins like a hit of adrenaline. He got up and looked around him, taking in the beauty all around. The thought of it all being gone one day was hard to imagine but it would happen if he didn’t stop it. He returned to the shacks and went straight to Alan to have a discussion at the bunk beds.
“Alright, I’m ****en sick of this. We haven’t done anything to stop those greedy bastards and we’ve been here for a number of weeks. You haven’t done anything to prove yourself. You’ve just been sitting in here, chatting up that ****en woman and I’m out there doing everything, nearly getting killed. You haven’t forgotten who’s team you’re on have you?” said Tak.
“Hey! You never ask for help! You’re always going out on your own doing whatever the **** it is you do and I’m here trying to explain to everyone why you’re always gone for ****en half a day and trying to not make them too suspicious! What am I supposed to do?!” replied Alan just quiet enough so the others wouldn’t hear.
“The why don’t you ever come along? I shouldn’t have to ask you should I.”
“.......Alright, I will. Next time you go I’ll come with you. And don’t talk **** about her she’s a nice person.”

The next day, after Tak had finished his daily duties on the plants and going through some other stuff, he decided to go out for a while and Alan decided to come along as well. On their way to the FEBA base, Tak went over his rough plan on how they would tear apart the RDA one step at a time.
“We find someone, beat the **** out of them and ask them questions. If they don’t give us the answers then we beat it out of them, then we kill them and get rid of them. No witnesses either. I don’t care if they didn’t do anything, we can’t afford to take risks like that.”
“Wow, how thoughtful of you. So what is it that we want to know?”
“A lot of stuff. I don’t think taking out this base is going to do much, probably just annoy them. So we need to know how to access all sorts of places within the base and Hell’s Gate, we need to know where certain things are kept, schedules and routines of military personnel, how to get past all the security systems and so on.”
“You’ve upped the ante haven’t you.”

A long walk later they finally reached the base. They entered through the large gate and scanned the area.
“Who do you think would know most about the security of this place?” asked Tak.
“Probably just one of these regular jack offs patrolling the place.”
“There’s probably more of them inside, let’s go.”
They entered the main building and looked for people to interrogate. There were less people than they expected but continued to search every corridor. Coming across a map of the building they looked at some places where they could kill their victim. “There’s the sanitation room. I’m sure it runs off into the river. We’ll dump them there.” said Tak. They continued their search and eventually found someone who had their back facing them.
“I’ll see if I can get this douche to follow me. Wait for me at the sanitation room. You got your gun?”
“Yeah”
“Good, if I don’t come after a long time then meet me back outside the base.”
“Yeah ok.”
The two split up, Alan went to the meeting place and Tak continued to follow his target. He was lead to the bathroom and entered, going into one of the toilet cubicles. The man finished and washed his hands. Tak exited the cubicle and walked towards the exit but on the way purposely bumped shoulders with the man which annoyed him.
“Hey come here you smart ***! Come back here!” said the angered man who was unaware of the brutality that was to follow. Tak kept his head down and lead his victim to the sanitation room. He opened the door and the smell of sewage filled his nose. He walked through and turned right. The man was now pissed off and mindlessly followed Tak to see him standing still. He then felt a gun pressed to the back of his head.
“What the fu-“
“Shut the **** up and don’t turn around” said Alan with the gun loaded, ready to pull the trigger. Alan took the man down some stairs and got him on his knees by the flowing water which went out to the river.
“Hands on your head. Try anything funny and I’ll kill you. Don’t look up or I’ll ****ing kill you! Eyes on the floor!”
Tak went down to where they were.
“What a dumb ****. Maybe you should’ve just let it go, then you wouldn’t be here now would you?” said Tak. “You’re going to answer some questions.”
“Go **** yourself!”
“Ha, funny. But seriously, you will answer some questions.”
“Oh yeah? And if I don’t?”
“Hey, give me your knife.” asked Tak. Alan pulled out his combat knife from the holster and tossed it over to him. Tak took the knife to the man’s face and carved him half a new smile. The blade dug deep into the skin, starting from one side of the mouth and across the cheek. The man yelled in pain as the knife made its way up and across his face with blood dripping down from the cut. He took the knife and pressed it onto the other side.
“If you don’t answer my questions then I’m going to finish that smile off for you and if you still don’t answer my questions then I’ve got more planned for you. Your choice.”
“**** you!”
“Ok then.”
Tak dug deeper this time, coming close to slicing through the wall of the mouth. The yelling echoed through the large room but no one else was there to hear it. The man couldn’t take it anymore and eventually gave up.
“Ash stop! Stop! I’ll tell you whatever, just ****en stop!”
“How do you turn off the turrets around this place?”
“….Control room, you have to go there.”
“Keep going.”
“You have to access the weapons system but not everyone can do it. Only authorized people.”
“And who would that be?”
“How the **** should I know?! I just do security!”
“Not good enough.”
“Ok ok wait! I’m not sure but I think there’s people who specifically do that sort of stuff. You’ll probably need the password from them.”
“And we can just walk in there?”
“Yes.”
“No security cameras? No guards?”
“There’s cameras. There maybe someone on duty but, I don’t know. People around here don’t follow the schedule.”
“What schedule?”
“We all have our own shift of patrolling the place. I don’t make the schedule. That’s all done in the control room as well.”
Tak nodded to Alan to signal that he was done. He wiped the knife on the man’s shirt who’s cheeks were covered in blood. There was a small puddle of blood on the floor and some on his shirt and pants. Alan got his hostage to stand up and walked him over to the flowing water. “Hey, what are you doing? What’s going on?!” he yelled as he watched the brown dirty water which drizzled from the pipe flow below him. Alan pressed the pistol hard against the back of the head and with no hesitation pulled the trigger. The dead body flopped over the metal railing and Alan dumped it into the water. He watched as it flowed down stream and once it was no longer in sight, he walked back to Tak. Tak looked at him to see his face emotionless as if he was still trying to comprehend what he had just done. They walked back up and checked for people through the small window in the door before exiting the room.

When they got back Alan was asked by Dr. Isaac where they went. Alan sat down and explained but with less enthusiasm. He was still trying to take in the fact that he had just murdered someone. Killing someone in war was very different to executing someone.
“You’re a little quiet today, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing… just a bit tired.”
She gave him a smile which he returned but had to force one. He was in the mood for a cheery discussion. Meanwhile Tak was sitting on his bed playing his guitar. He was in lazy mode and didn’t feel like doing anymore work. He could have spent the rest of the day alone with his guitars but he was interrupted.
“You really love playing that thing don’t you?” said Dr. Eileen as she leaned against the doorway. Tak kept going, no one interrupted him from playing the Master of Puppets solo. As Dr. Eileen listened to the clicking and clanging of Tak’s unplugged solo she walked over and sat down next to him.
“You can play that after, we’ve got some stuff to do now.” she said after Tak had done. Again, without resisting Tak got up and headed to the link for his daily meeting with the Takahayo. Tak’s parents had sent him to see counsellors which he hated. Nothing was accomplished and his parent’s never found out what was wrong with him. Dr. Eileen wanted to know the same as the mental health of her colleagues was important and so therapeutic sessions of socialising was probably a lot better than talking to some know it all jack off in a room for an hour. If she could get rid of his dull personality rather than find out the cause then even better. She had succeeded the first time but it went to **** and now she was back to the beginning. When they got outside, Dr. Eileen saw a bruise on Tak’s face. Concerned about the purple mark on his right cheek, she asked what happened.
“Zetey hit me with her bow.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.
“…….You must be really pissed off.”
“No.”
“Really?..... Alright, well let’s get going.”

Dr. Eileen managed to convince Tak to come and play games with the kids. Simple games like scissors paper rock and Simon says kept the kids going for hours. At first Tak just watched but he eventually got a little involved. He still lacked enthusiasm and was getting bored. The kids nagging him to play started to annoy him so he left to find some peace and quiet. He decided to return to the spot he found the previous day and sat down by the river. It was a cool afternoon and the breeze along with the beautiful sights of the area was very relaxing. Unexpectedly Zetey sat down next to him. Both their legs dangled over the water.
“I’m… sorry I hit you.” she said. There was some remorse in the way she said it, and even more from the look on her face.
“I have short temper”.
Tak said nothing and it made it more awkward for her to continue justifying her actions.
“Dr. Eileen is élan, so you should be élan as well.”
She couldn’t think of anything else to say so she decided to try her last chance at apologising. In her hand she held a beautiful blue flower with some purple, orange and fluoro green mixed into the petals. The style was a beautiful orange surrounded by lots of orange and green stamen. The stem was purple and covered in purple leaves with dark orange fury edges. It was very exotic and very beautiful. She held it out to him and he accepted it. Tak had a look at it while Zetey waited for him to say something.
“……..Thanks.” he said softly. This was enough for Zetey to feel she had made things right. She let out a small smile and placed her hand on his shoulder to seal the deal. She then got up and left.

Later that night Tak was drawing pictures of creatures and plants he had seen so far on his time on Pandora. He did his best from what he could remember and when he drew all the things he could remember, he dropped his pencil and took a break. Everyone was chatting about what they disliked most about the RDA and how they ran things. There were many laughs but Tak couldn’t care about what they were going on about. He then remembered about the plant he had received earlier in the day. He went outside and searched the pocket of his Avatar’s khakis for the flower. In his Avatar hands it wasn’t very big, but in his humans hand it was huge. He took it back inside and stood it up on his desk. As he began sketching it Dr. Eileen noticed the unusual plant on his desk and couldn’t help but come over and have a closer look.
“Hey where did you get this?” she asked.
“I got it from Zetey.” he said while concentrating on his sketch.
“Gosh I haven’t seen one of these in a long time. It’s called a fire ****, and they are really rare. It’s given as a gift to a friend or loved one….. I think she wants to put whatever happened between you two behind her. I think you she-”
“Alright I get it.”
Dr. Eileen laughed a bit as it was obvious that Tak was the type who didn’t like to talk about his emotions. She left and came back with a beaker of nutritious jelly.
“Put it in this, it should keep it nice and fresh for a while.”
“Well, it maybe beautiful but it’s also dangerous. The leaves have some nasty chemicals so wash your hands after you’re done with it.”
“…..Really?”
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate but there were some biologists years ago who were making drugs from the leaves and dealing them to people at Hell’s Gate in exchange for stuff like alcohol and…. I don’t know, just other stuff. Gave the botany department a really bad reputation…..Well I’ll leave you. You’ve got to show me some of your drawings one day, they look really good.”

The next day Dr. Eileen took Dr. Dale and Dr. Isaac out for some conservation work. While they were out counting the numbers of different species, Dr. Brent and Alan supervised them in their links. They were busy talking about their lives before coming to Pandora. Once again Tak was left on his own. He was really bored and was looking for something to do. Looking at the fire **** flower sitting in the beaker he then got a little curious, maybe a little too curious. Dr. Eileen should have kept her mouth shut but it was too late. Tak began to gather the necessary equipment and chemicals on his desk. He didn’t know how those drugs were made, but he did know how cocaine was made. Who ever knew reading random articles on how cocaine was made would come in handy one day. After lots of crushing, adding chemicals, drying, heating, adding more chemicals and final drying it was done. Tak had never made drugs before so he was stoked. The chemicals used probably resulted in something nasty and impure but he wouldn’t know unless he tried it. By now he was really questioning his actions. He had never done drugs and he never intended to but his curiosity insisted. He dumped some of the finished product into a Petri dish and used a scalpel to the stuff into lines. He then ripped off a piece of paper and rolled it into a tube. He leaned towards the dish but stopped before proceeding further and took one last moment to think about the consequences. His life wasn’t that great, he had nothing to do all the time and it would be a waste not to try your own drugs, especially your first batch. With a strong snort, he did the first line and the drug kicked in very strong. At first there was a strong burn, and then his nose and throat went numb.
“This is ****en great.”

Chapter 20

Dr. Eileen was glad that Tak had decided to get back into the routine of going out with Zetey to do daily tasks. Experiencing the Na’vi lifestyle firsthand was a rare thing amongst Avatar drivers since not alot of them had gained the trust of the people like Dr. Eileen had. Everyday Tak would make his way to the village and he would either find Zetey and the two would go and collect food or Dr. Eileen would ask him to join her in playing games with the children. Tak would be shown different plants, learning about their uses. Whenever they saw a creature Zetey would stop to show him, sometimes even picking up insects to give him a closer look. However as weeks went by Tak seemed less interested and would easily lose focus. Zetey would have to occasionally pull him away from whatever he was staring at, which was nothing. He was irresponsive and almost like he was ignoring anything that was said to him. She wasn’t the only one to notice this. Dr. Eileen also noticed a decline in Tak’s productivity over the weeks. Everyday he would take long breaks spent on staring out the window or staring down at his desk. He had lost motivation to continue his work and was even barely doing the things he loved like playing his guitar or drawing in his sketch pad. But for Tak this wasn’t evident, and even if it was he didn’t care because all that mattered was that he had found an excellent way to relax and kill time. Taking down RDA was still on his mind, but it was always pushed to the back of his mind. “I’ll get on with it, but after I get high” was what he would tell himself. The Pandoran plant was so strong that all he needed was one small hit a day and he would be in his own world free of troubles for most of the day, but it wasn’t worth the bad things that were to come. Dr. Eileen noticed the fire **** flower was missing and she questioned him about it.
“Where’s your flower?”
“I threw it out.”
“Why?”
“It was taking up space on my desk, and I didn’t want to keep it” he said, but the truth is he didn’t want her to get suspicious over why all the leaves were missing from it.

As days past he felt like he was falling away from everyone, talking less to them and sometimes even ignoring them. Whenever he wasn’t high, he felt like a pathetic piece of ****. Depression was kicking in and it was only a matter of time before the hallucinations began as well. Dr. Eileen was starting to get concerned but she wasn’t sure if it was only her who noticed these things so she decided to find out. She went to the village one afternoon without Tak and asked Zetey about his unusual behaviour. This was to be a serious conversation so she spoke in Na’vi.
“How is he? Is he talking to you? Does he seem interested?” she asked in a normal tone.
“......He is quiet.”
“Mmmmm, well that’s nothing unusual, but does he seem less active? Does he ignore you sometimes?”
“Yes. Sometimes he looks at things and when I call him he does not respond.”
“He does the same to us as well.”
“I try to show him our world but he does not appreciate it. Why do I waste my time?!”
“I know, but please do not be mad. Maybe-“
“What’s wrong with him?!”
“......I do not know, but I will find out.”

That night after dinner Tak tried to get into a game of FPS but he just didn’t feel like it. He stopped playing and looked over to the others chatting to each other. They were laughing and having a good time. He saw Alan talking to Dr. Isaac and they seemed happy, enjoying each other’s company. Tak never cared for the two of them having formed a friendship, and maybe it was to become even more than that, but that night he had envied what they had. The depression had made him realize what he had been missing out on all these years and made him feel lonely and miserable. He wished he had someone that he could talk to, whether it be something or anything. No one noticed Tak at his desk, sitting alone with his head in his hand. He looked back to his game, he had been killed.

The next day Dr. Eileen finally decided to see what was wrong with Tak. She sat down next to him and began to explain some changes in him that she had noticed.
“You’re not talking to anyone, sometimes you even ignore them. You’re not doing as much work as you used to. You seem sad all the time Tak, what’s wrong?”
“....Nothing, I’m just tired.”
“But you hardly do anything. Are you feeling alright? You’re not sick or anything?”
“No I’m fine, now go away.”
Dr. Eileen sighed, something was wrong with him but she didn’t know what. “You shouldn’t push people away who care for you. One day you’re going to be in trouble and they’re not going to be there.” She said before leaving him. She went to the links along with Dr. Brent and Dale. She didn’t show anymore concern for him as she wasn’t going to let his attitude ruin her good mood, she was going to a new research area afterall. Tak waited for her to be in her Avatar along with the others so that he wouldn’t be disturbed. Alan and Dr. Isaac watched their colleagues in the links while they continued to learn more about each other. Tak was feeling bored as usual. With no motivation to do anything, he would get bored and resort to drugs, falling into this cycle. He took out the bag of drugs that he had been keeping in the metal frame that held wires the above, poured a little bit onto his desk and returned the bag back to where he had been hiding it. He rolled a piece of paper and sniffed it. It was strong and it burned. He sat in his seat for a while and stared at the ceiling as he became disorientated. His vision was distorted and it was getting more intense. Feeling thirsty, he got up and went to get a drink but collapsed after two steps. He hit the floor hard and rolled over onto his back. He felt a drop of liquid on his face and looked up to see the ceiling dripping with blood. He wiped his face as more blood dripped down onto him. Alan heard the sound of him crashing to the floor and came to see what it was. He spotted Tak flat on his back wiping his face.
“Hey, you ok? Hey? What’s wrong? Why are you wiping your face? Tak, what’s wrong? Stop, there’s nothing on your face! What the ****s wrong with you?!”
Alan helped him sit up. When Tak looked at Alan he was a bit shocked to see Alan’s face ripped apart. Skin was hanging from his cheek and his eye sockets had been smashed in. His eye was missing and blood covered his face.
“Tak, what’s wrong? Answer me!” he said, but Tak said nothing. He helped Tak back onto his seat and returned, not knowing what the **** was up with him. Tak rested his head onto his arms and closed his eyes. He could still feel blood dripping onto the back of his head and neck. When Dr. Eileen got back she went to the lab shack to see Tak resting at his desk. She pulled on his shoulder to turn him around and face him. All Tak could see was the same thing, her face had been brutally beaten and she was unrecognisable but he couldn’t look away. The look on his face showed something was obviously wrong with him. Tak turned away and went to lie on his bed. “I need to stop this” he told himself.

For the next week Tak tried to quit his habit. He tried hard to get a solid amount of work done but it was hard. He would lose focus easily and the urge to do some “stuff” would come and go. He needed to get outside to let his anxiety lose. Something then hit the window, he knew who it was. He went outside and into the direction of where the object came from.
“Fitseng.” whispered Tsuwokan. Tak found him and got down to avoid detection.
“Irayo matsmukan, we need your help. Tawtute will destroy river close to here. We must stop them.”
“Let’s go.” replied Tak. After weeks of doing nothing Tak would finally get to feed his hunger to kill. He went back inside the shacks and told Alan who was supervising with Dr. Isaac that he was going out for a walk. He went to his desk and stood on it, looking for the “stuff” in the usual hiding spot. He held it in his hand, contemplating whether he should or not. “.....Just a bit” he thought and went ahead. He was fired up and in the mood to kill. He went back outside and joined Tsuwokan. They joined with the unknown Na’vi and his war party before making their way to the site. It turned out to be a waterfall and there was the construction of some sort of structure being undertaken, possibly a hydroelectric generator. Construction workers carried on with their jobs while armed guards patrolled the area. It wasn’t heavily guarded so this wouldn’t be too hard. The Na’vi got into position and waited for the right time to attack. Arrows were fired, taking out some of the guards and then the rest charged, firing arrows at anyone who they spotted. Tak wasted no time killing the construction workers, massacring them ruthlessly one by one. The drugs had made him feel more tense and it was like he was fighting for his life. His heart was beating very fast and was sweating alot. He ran across the metal frame that had been setup and jumped down onto the ground, shooting a guard in the leg. The guard fell to the ground in pain. By now all the other tawtute had been killed or fled the scene. They wouldn’t make it back to safety, not on their own in this part of Pandora. Tak looked down at the man who was angry and confused as to why this human was helping the Na’vi. Tak’s heart rate was faster than ever and he needed to calm down. He sat down and took deep breaths. He looked around, hallucinations playing tricks on him and making it seem as if the trees were monsters that had come to life. The water had blood in it and there were fishes with razor sharp spines on their bodies feeding on human corpses and floating organs, but none of this was real. Unaware that the man was reaching for his pistol he continued to stare at nothing. The man pulled out his pistol and took aim at Tak. He was about to shoot but a Na’vi came rushing over and butchered his hand off with a large blade. The man yelled in pain and it caught Tak’s attention. He turned to see the man’s hand on the ground holding a gun and blood poured from the site of amputation, then worms began to squirm out from the flesh. Tak stood up and went to have a closer look. The worms looked so real as they wriggled below him. As he got closer, tentacles burst out from the man’s stomach and Tak flinched back. He grabbed the Na’vi’s blade with both hands and swung at the tentacles as they reached out towards him but they kept on appearing. Suddenly a large worm like creature with sharp teeth burst through the tentacles and tried to bite him. The Na’vi watched in silence as Tak swung the blade at nothing. He sliced the creature in half and chopped the tentacles as they wriggled in the air. He then started hacking away at the man who had turned into an infestation of worms, sending the large blade crushing down onto his stomach and ribs. The man yelled as he was being brutally murdered. His clothes were shredded together with his skin and blood soaked his body. Tak continued until nothing was moving. He then stabbed the blade many times to make sure of it. The body was a mess with lifeless tentacles hanging out from the abdomen, soaked in blood. Tak dropped the blade and went to clean his hands in the water. He then took a deep breath and removed his exopack to wash his face and cool himself down. He wiped his face with his shirt and put his exopack back on. “What the ****’s wrong with me” he said to himself. When he got back he went to his desk and rested, placing his head on his arms. He felt very tired and felt like he was being pulled to the ground. He had no energy in his legs and he was falling asleep, his vision fading in and out of black.

A few hours later he woke up with his head still resting on his arms. He could hear the others talking as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked up from the floor to the view outside to see the forest beginning to light up for the night.
“Look who’s awake!” said Dr. Eileen.
“Hey Tak you want to join us?”
“We got beers.” said Dr. Brent as if he was trying to tempt Tak to come over. Tak rubbed his eyes and yawned before replying.
“Uuuuuhhhh….. uhhh, yeah ok.”
He moved over to join them in his chair and sat back in it, still feeling tired.
“So we’ve been talking about going to this huge party next week. You coming?”
“…..there’s a party?” asked Tak as this seemed hard to imagine. People have enough time to waste?
“Yeah, there’s always one every year. And it’s ALWAYS lots of fun. You’ll regret not going.”
“....uh, don’t know. I’ll probably just stay here.”
Everyone exclaimed in extreme disapproval, Tak was such a downer. “Uhhhhh!!!!” No you have to come!” said Dr. Eileen. She wasn’t giving him a choice. Tak was still a bit tired and didn’t mean to intentionally provoke such a response but he really wasn’t interested. Dr. Dale tried to convince him.
“You know every year there’s always people like you, they say they’re not interested but you know they always end up going. And they ALWAYS have heaps of fun. It’s the only day when you can forget about work and just live it up. You know, get drunk, get crazy, maybe get....laid if you’re lucky.”
The others laughed. “So, change your mind?” asked Dr. Eileen. “Ehh, might as well just go to get pissed.” replied Tak. Everyone cheered. This was the Tak that everyone wanted to see.
“Alright then! But until then I want you to work hard, you’ve been getting a bit lazy these lately.” said Dr. Eileen.

For the next week Tak got on with his work but still wasn’t working at the pace that Dr. Eileen had expected him to. He was still slow and seemed to get side tracked by whatever was outside his window. When he was in his Avatar he wasn’t much different, but getting outside seemed to make him more active. One day Zetey took him to collect some fruits. She climbed the tree and expected him to follow but instead he stood there. She jumped down and finally decided to find out what was wrong with him.
“You do nothing now. What’s wrong?” she asked. Tak sighed before answering.
“I don’t know.” he said seeming depressed.
“Are you still angry, at me?”
“No...”
“Why you are not happy? Is it my fault?”
Tak shook his head. He was leaning against a tree with his back to the trunk. He then sunk to the ground and sat down then placed his head in his hands. He took a deep breath and thought about how he had destroyed his own life. The only small amount of happiness he had within the past weeks were now gone because of his actions and now he was facing the consequences. Back on earth only hopeless losers who had no future would destroy themselves with drugs, and now he had become one of those people which he thought were worthless pieces of ****. He was the one who got himself into this so he would have to be the one to get himself out of it. There was no easy way out. Zetey sat down beside him.
“Say something.” she said with a soft voice.
“....My curiosity got the better of me, so here I am, feeling like absolute ****. I didn’t think it would have such an affect on me.”
Zetey had no idea what he was going on about but he probably didn’t want to talk about it so she decided not to go further. She placed her hand on his shoulder as a sign of comfort but it didn’t help.

After waking up in his link Tak went to the bathroom to wash his face. It was a warm afternoon and the heat inside the link had built up. He washed his face and then looked into the mirror. He hated what he saw. Anger built up inside and he wanted to punch the mirror but he didn’t even bother. He looked down to see water from his face dripping down into the sink. This was going to end.

The day had finally arrived. A Samson had arrived in the morning to pick them up from the shacks and take them to Hell’s Gate. Earlier Dr. Eileen had uploaded all the secret information that she and Tak had been keeping a secret onto a portable device. Everyone was heading outside and onto the Samson but Tak had to do something before he left as this was the only time to do so. “Just go first, I’ll be out soon.” he said to Alan. He then returned to his desk and pulled his chair out and stood on it to get the drugs from where he had been hiding them. He then took the stuff to the bathroom, emptied the bag into the toilet and flushed it. Hopefully this would be the end of a short but dark chapter of his life. He then made his way to the Samson and joined the others. A few hours later they arrived at Hell’s Gate and entered the main building. Everyone took off but Dr. Eileen needed to inform Tak of her plans.
“Ah Tak, wait. I need to talk to you... So I thought it would be a good idea to let Dr. Augustine into our little circle, you know, about the secrets we uncovered. If there’s anyone else we can trust it’s her. Just thought I’d let you know.”
“Alright.... so what do I do now?”
“Just hang around somewhere.”
“And do what?”
“I don’t know, you’re a big boy now. You can take care of yourself. Well, I’ll see you later.”
Dr. Eileen walked off to leave Tak by himself. Great, now what? There was nothing to do at Hell’s Gate, nor was there anyone to go and see. Tak decided to go for a walk outside and get some sunshine. Hell’s gate certainly was a **** hole but the surrounding mountains covered in green sure were beautiful, not to mention the blue sky. As he looked around to see all the activity going on he saw people just going on with their daily jobs, not even stopping for a second to see what beauty they were surrounded by. Skypeople who did not see, nothing new. He continued to aimlessly walk around the massive complex and eventually made his way into the armour bay. Inside is where all the machines were kept. AMP suits, helicopters and land vehicles filled the place as they were being serviced. Sounds of heavy machinery operating echoed and everywhere he looked troops and technicians were busy fixing or carrying something. He stopped to watch a group of men work on an AMP suit. The 4m tall machine was an impressive piece of equipment but it wasn’t intimidating, not after he had destroyed a few. He walked over to it to get a closer look but he was noticed by a troop who jumped down in front of him.
“Hey! Is there a problem?”
“No.”
“Then what the hell are you doing here?”
“Just having a look at you guys fix this thing.”
“Really? Well why don’t you **** off. This place isn’t for scientist ******s like you. Get back to the lab.” Tak obviously didn’t belong here since he wasn’t wearing any camo or a technician’s suit and his ID tag clearly told others that he was a scientist. Tak gave a smart *** smile and walked off. He then had a look at a Scorpion gunship being loaded with ammo. It was overkill for just dealing with Ikrans and possibly the Na’vi as well. Perhaps it was to be used for something else? As Tak watched the gunship being fitted with missiles and a chain of bullets, a technician noticed him.
“You wouldn’t wanna be one of those Banshees, this’ll rip you apart.”
“You guys don’t **** around. This is some serious fire power.”
“Yeah well just making sure the job gets done properly next week.”
“What’s on next week?”
“Ah nothing really, just gotta clear out a village. Damn natives are sitting on top of a new mining site not too far from here. Somewhere in the mountains.”
“When?”
“I think they said five days from today, anyway when the time comes these things will be ready to bring the pain.”
A lucky tip off and just in time for him to get prepared to possibly stop the attack. Tak didn’t want to get too suspicious so he decided to ask no more questions.
“Show those blue bastards who’s boss.” he said while faking a bit of a smile. He then left the armour bay and continued to walk around Hell’s Gate.

The sun departed and night finally arrived. After the evening meal people began to make their way to the armour bay. Vehicles had been moved outside to make space for where the annual party was going to be held. There was a small stage setup which had a computer hooked up to speakers and on the other side were boxes of beer and many bottles of other types of alcohol. People began to fill the area and once the music started the place came to life. Everywhere there were people talking or dancing with each other with drinks in their hands. This was the only occasion when the scientists and the troops got along, mainly because they would be too drunk to even show hatred towards each other, but also because it was the only occasion where everyone could take time off from work and have fun so for the sake of making it a great night everyone got along, well nearly everyone. About an hour into the party and a fair amount of people were already ****faced. The gang were standing together chatting and having a great time. Dr. Brent and Dale had their girls with them and Dr. Eileen had a few of her friends with her. Meanwhile Tak sat down away from the fun and drank beer alone. He was on his fourth can and he was just getting started. Alan spotted him sitting all alone.
“Hey, look who I found.” said Alan as he pointed towards Tak.
“Oh my god that is the saddest thing I have ever seen.” said Dr. Brent.
“Get him over here!” said. Dr. Dale.
Alan called Tak but he couldn’t hear him so Dr. Eileen went over and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up and brought him over to the others. She introduced him to her colleagues and they resumed chatting amongst each other but Tak very quickly went back to being unnoticed. He finished his beer and used it as an opportunity to break away from everyone else. “Need to get another drink, be right back.” As he went to get another drink he looked around to see people dancing to the music while others talked to each other in groups. There was a drinking competition between some idiot macho troops. A few people were completely hammered, unable to coordinate themselves properly. It was like the typical club back on earth, but a lot bigger. Tak got a beer and slowly made his way back. A little while longer they wanted to go dance but Tak decided to stay so he watched as everyone went onto the dance floor. The playlist contained a lot of classics from the 20th century and many people knew them as they sang along to the choruses. Suddenly a song came on which Alan and Dr. Isaac knew instantly and both could tell from the look on each others’ faces.
“You know this song?” asked Alan.
“Do I know this song? I love this song!” replied Dr. Isaac.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulder while he held onto her hips and they let the music take control of their bodies. Both knew how this night would end but they didn’t rush it and sang along.
“How do you want it? How do you feel? Comin up as a ***** in the cash game livin in the fast lane I’m for real!”

Dr. Isaac didn’t want to wait any longer and before the song ended she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the dance floor. The two of them made their way to the back of the armour bay without anyone noticing and found a spot which they thought no one would bother them. Wasting no time they got straight to it, kissing each other vigorously while taking of their tops off. He backed her up into an ammo crate and she sat down, giving him that “you know what to do” look. He unhooked her bra and threw it away, then unzipped her jeans. He paused for a moment to catch her smiling at him and he returned the smile to which she laughed with happiness and Alan kept going. He pulled her jeans down from her thighs and then undid his belt before lowering his trousers. Alan took a moment to stare at Dr. Isaacs beautiful bluey grey eyes and so she did the rest, taking of her underwear, then his. She pulled him towards her by the back of his neck and they kissed before Alan entered her. She moaned for a while as they got it on but it didn’t take long before she started to yell out in pleasure. Meanwhile Dr. Eileen had decided to take a rest and sit down next to Tak for a while.
“Where’s Aland and Lynda? I didn’t see them on the dance floor.” she said.
“I don’t know.” replied Tak
“They must’ve Ieft. I wonder what they’re up to right now.”
“Geez don’t act dumb. You know it, I know it. They’re probably somewhere ****ing.”
“Awwwww you jealous?”
“....You serious? **** no. Besides I don’t like her.”
“Why?”
“She’s always staring at me like she’s got a problem with me. If she does then she should just ****en say it to my face.”
“Oh don’t worry she doesn’t hate you. No one does.”
There was a moment of silence before Dr. Eileen got up.
“I’ll be right back, just going to the bathroom.”
As she made her way, a man followed her from behind and Tak noticed. He kept his eyes on the man and saw that he followed her to the corridor which lead to the bathroom. This wasn’t good. He quickly got onto his feet and went after the man but getting through the sea of people slowed him down greatly. When Dr. Eileen exited the bathroom she was confronted by the man who seemed to be waiting outside.

“Hey hey hey wait up, where you going?” he said in a calm voice.
“Uh, just back out there.” she said seeming a bit nervous.
“Really? Why not come with me? Come on we’ll go somewhere quiet away from here.”
“No thanks.”
“No really come on, it’ll be better.”
“Look I said no ok. I’m just goi-“
“Hey hey hey don’t go. I’m not done talking yet.”
“Move *******!” She tried to push him out of the way but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back so she kicked him in the shin.
“Ah! ****en bitch!” he yelled as he smacked her across the face. By now Tak was making his way down the corridor towards them and when the man heard his footsteps and turned around Tak dropped him with a fist to the chin. He then grabbed the man by the collar and beat the **** out of him. The man tried to cover his face but Tak just stepped on his arms and continued. Blood was pooring from the man’s nose and his cheek and eye was turning red.
“Tak stop! Stop! Tak that’s enough! Stop!” yelled Dr. Eileen as she tried to pull him away. Tak gave a few last punches and finally stopped. He let go and the man’s head fell to the floor. He wasn’t moving at all but was breathing heavily, sounding like the breaths of a dying man. Tak looked at the piece of **** as he lay on the ground then stepped on his face. “Come on, let’s go.” said Dr. Eileen. They returned and sat back down inside the side doorway of a Samson.
“Thanks for the help.” she said.
“It’s ok.”
“How did you know?”
“I saw the him follow you to the bathroom.”
“Really? ****en creep..... Do you think he’s dead?”
“Hopefully.”
“Oh ****, what if he is....”

Tak left and came back with two bottles of vodka and handed one to Dr. Eileen.
“Well, it’s been great having you on my research. You get work done, and you’ve even managed to start a bond with the people. I’m really happy for you Tak.” They clanged their bottles together and took a long sip. A long while later Alan and Dr. Isaac returned holding hands. By now Dr. Eileen was wasted.
“Heeeeey where have you two been?” asked Dr. Eileen.
“Uhhh, we’ve been here.”
“Don’t bull**** me, I know EXACTLY what you were up to, Lynda.”
“Oh really...”
“YES, I do and so does he!” she said pointing to Tak.
“....Shut up Gillian, you’re drunk.” said Alan. Him and Dr. Isaac just laughed while Dr. Eileen continue to babble on about something.

The party eventually ended and people made their way back to the living quarters. People were still in party mode and were yelling as they did their best to get themselves to where they were going while bumping into each other. Tak managed to walk in a straight line but Dr. Eileen needed some help. Her colleagues decided to take her to her bed and Tak went to his. It was still in the state that he left it in before leaving for the FEBA, unmade and messy. He kicked off his shoes and dropped to the mattress, planting the side of his face into the pillow before adjusting himself comfortably onto his back. A feeling of separation kicked in as he laid on his bed. “I wish I was out there right now.”

Daylight shined into the large room, casting a golden glow onto the hungover people. When Tak woke up other people were already awake or were beginning to. He put on his shoes and went to the dining hall for breakfast. A big night of drinking always left him starving the next morning. He joined the others who were all sitting at the same table retelling the events of last night but Tak kept quiet as usual. After breakfast they went to their ride which took them back to the FEBA. When they got back in the shacks they took turns going to the bathroom for showers and brushing their teeth.
“So what did Dr. Augustine have to say about what you showed her?” asked Tak to Dr. Eileen.
“She was surprised, it was quite alot for her to take in but she eventually got the big picture. She said she would go through it with her team of people that she trusts the most.”
“Good, now you should delete everything on that portable device just to be safe.”
“Yeah good idea.”
Dr. Eileen reached into her pocket but there was nothing. She reached into her other pocket and there was nothing. She checked her back pocket and the pockets of her lab coat. “Oh ****.”

hmm, I kind of forgot about this story, need to catch up on it...

Chapter 21

Dr. Eileen had been stressing out the whole day. She had contacted Dr. Augustine multiple times but there was no luck, all that information was out there waiting to be picked up by someone. If the RDA were to find out then they would most likely take over the science department and use them to develop the many possible biochemical weapons. That night she sat down with Tak and tried to remember the last place she had it with her.
“I had it with me when I met Dr. Augustine, I plugged it into her computer, I took it with me when I went to get lunch, returned to the lab and plugged it in again. She was with me the whole time. I even took it with me before leaving for the day.”
“What about during the night, did you have it on you?”
“Of course I did! I had it in my pocket.... well, I think I did.”
“You think.”
“What if it fell out during the night. Remember that guy who harassed me? You think it could have fallen from my pocket during then?”
“Probably not, he didn’t handle you too rough... but you were pretty **** faced later one. You were lying inside the Samson while talking gibberish.”
“I was talking gibberish? I don’t remember that part. You think it’s inside one of the Samsons?”
“Maybe.”
Dr. Eileen buried her face into her hands and sighed. She had ****ed up big time.
“There’s nothing we can do now, let’s just hope no one finds it.”

By the next morning everyone had fully recovered from all the drinking they had done two days ago. As Tak was working on his computer he saw in the corner of his eye Alan walk past. “Come here.” he said. Alan walked over, obviously in a great mood.
“What are you so happy about?” asked Tak.
“Nothing, just in a good mood.”
“Anyway, I was walking around the armour bay and I was talking to someone, he told me about an attack on one of the tribes in the hills near Hell’s Gate. He said in five days, that was two days ago so we’ve got three more days to prepare. This is going to a tough one. They plan to clear the area for a new mining site.”
“Damn, what are they bringing?”
“At least one scorpion, maybe two. Definitely some guys, I’d say AMPs as well. I don’t know the area but I’m sure of we can get a good vantage point we could take out the Scorpions. The rest shouldn’t be too hard. Any ideas?”
“Hmmmm.... When I was back on earth we took out aircraft with rocket launchers.”
“We don’t have ****ing rocket launchers, think dumbass.”
“Well, sometimes the snipers would pick them off from distances but we don’t have a sniper rifle. And I’m no sharp shooter either.“
“Well you’re going to have to become one. We need to get a sniper rifle.”
“Easier said than done.”
Tak saved his work and the two decided to head out for a while. Nothing suspicious, just the two going for their usual jog. They went to the FEBA base and headed to the armory. Luckily, it was the same guy on duty as last time. Alan did the talking and convinced him to let them through like last time.
“Hey you again. Watsup?”
“Hey you! You kill anything lately?”
“Oh yeah, last week I got me a nice sized direhorse. Shot that ****er in the head, went straight down.”
“Nice! So I guess you need something else today?”
“Yeah, going to hunt some of them Banshees. Gonna need something with alot of power”
“Damn, you’re stepping your game up huh?”
“Hey, go big or go home.”
“Damn right. But doesn’t he care?
“Who him? No he doesn’t know. He works with plants so while he’s doing his thing I just go and hunt. Besides even if he had something to say to me he wouldn’t, he’s a little bitch.”
“Aren’t they all, ***** *** scientists. You go and take whatever you need.”
Before Alan went in Tak asked him for a big weapon for him to use as an Avatar. Alan went in and after many minutes he came out holding a massive rifle. The barrel was half the whole length and the scope was big as well. The clip was a solid rectangular box obviously holding huge bullets. By the looks of it this thing could penetrate tank armour. He put it on the ground and went back in, coming out with an MBS-9M 50 cal Hydra.
“Is it ok if I take this as well?” asked Alan to the man behind the counter.
“Dude, take whatever you need. Everyone else does so why not you. Don’t know how you’re gonna carry it though.”
“Nice, thanks heaps bro.”
“Don’t mention it.”
They walked back to hometree to secretly stash their new toys. They were so big that they had to disassembled so they would fit inside. As they were about to return to the shacks they heard people approaching. Peeking from behind plants Tak saw a few tall blue figures approaching. Their voices were getting louder as well.
“Get back.”
Dr. Eileen, Dr. Brent and Dr. Dale were walking in their Avatars heading towards the village. Tak and Alan retreated deep into the growth and waited for them to pass before making their way back.

They reached the shacks and entered to see Dr. Isaac sitting by the links supervising. “I better get back to work.” said Tak. “Have fun.” said Alan as he watched Tak walk back to his desk. He waited for him to turn around the doorway of the other shack before turning to Dr. Isaac who looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a smile. Tak was at his desk in front of the screen looking at graphs. 20 minutes into his work he began to lose focus so he decided to fire up the 3D map program which had all explored areas of Pandora loaded to get a view of the area he would be fighting in a few days. There were a few valleys around Hell’s Gate but only one of them had a river running through it. “Must be in here” he said to himself. He followed the valley as it slalomed through the landscape, looking like a snake slithering through the hills. If this were the place, the winding valley would prevent them from targeting the scorpions from a distance. He stared at what was on the screen as he thought hard, trying to come up with a plan. He knew nothing about military tactics and he had a feeling that his usual “face the enemy and take them out” approach wouldn’t work. Alan would know more than him about this kind of stuff so he went to see him. He went to the links but stopped when he heard soft moaning. He saw a lab coat on the floor and leaned a bit to the side to see a shirt also on the floor. He closed his eyes and sighed while walking back to his desk, deciding to let them finish and save them from an awkward moment. This was bound to happen and he wouldn’t have a problem with it if it didn’t interfere with “the plan”. He let them off the hook this time but next time he wouldn’t be so patient. Sitting back down in his chair he blasted some death metal through the speakers while carrying on with his work. Half an hour later he decided to return. There they were, all dressed and sitting by the links like nothing had happened. Tak stepped into the room.

“What is it with you and that music you play, geez.” said Dr. Isaac, coming at him a bit hostile.
“I’m sorry. Next time I’ll play something more romantic, I’m sure you’d like that alot.” he responded. Dr. Isaac had no come back.
“I need to show you something.” said Tak to Alan. They returned to the desk and Tak showed Alan the map of the area.
“There are a few valleys within the area but I’m guessing the village is most likely in this one since it’s the only one with a water supply. And since Hell’s Gate is over here, I’m guessing they’re going to come from this direction. This place is pretty thick with forest so they’ll probably clear a path with dozers and the troops will escort them in, possibly along with AMPs. Your thoughts?”
“....I’ll camp high in the hills and do my best to pick them off but these valleys don’t give a good view. The natives are good at blending in with the environment so guerrilla tactics seems like a good way to go. We need to take them by surprise but it won’t be easy with the numbers we have.”
“Don’t worry about numbers, we’ve got more guys than you think.”
That night Tak thought he would get a good night sleep since he worked his *** off the whole afternoon and also into the night. After his shower he went to bed and closed his eyes, soon falling asleep. But then his eyes opened and all he could see was dead bodies everywhere. His feet were buried in decomposing flesh and gooey remains which hung on to skeletons. He looked around but the dead human collection seemed to go on forever. As he moved around the corpses slowly got pushed out of the way. Suddenly a hand grabbed him by the ankle and he tripped. He fell into the pit of carrion and was sinking deeper. He struggled to keep above the surface but the corpses were pulling him down as they came back to life. Soon he was submerged in boiling flesh, the pressure and heat suffocating him. He couldn’t breathe and was running out of breath quick. Just when he thought he was going suffocate he woke up. He gasped for air, his heart racing and sweating slightly from his face, neck and back. After realizing where he was, he took a few deep breaths and collapsed back into his pillow. He had quit the drugs, but the insanity still remained.

The next day Tak went to hometree and wasted no time in finding Tsuwokan. They went to the centre of hometree and sat down on the central spiral.
“This is very important so listen carefully, do you know a Na’vi village near Hell’s Gate? Do you even know where Hell’s Gate is?” he asked.
“Yes, I know.”
“Is that the ONLY village there?”
“Yes.”
“Well the skypeople are going to destroy the village in two days so we need to gather as many warriors as we can and go there and stop that from happening.”
“....How do you know?”
“Because someone told me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, and you need to be ready by then. Two days ok? Two days. I suggest you go tell that friend of yours, we need his help.”
“Why do your people attack us?! We do nothing!”
“Because that’s what humans do. They see something they want and they go and get it. It doesn’t matter how it’s done, as long as they get it then it’s all ok. You’ve seen all those big ****en holes in the ground haven’t you? Why you so surprised, you should know us by now.”
Tsuwokan snarled in anger. He then got up.
“I will tell him.”
“Good, and I’m bringing someone with me. He’ll be alot of help.”
“...A skyperson?”
“Yeah, got a problem?”
“Do as you wish.”
”I’ll meet you outside the village two days from now, early in the morning. We should get there as soon as possible and warn the village.”
“Yes, be here when sun rise.”
Tsuwokan walked off. As he exited hometree he ran into Dr. Eileen. They exchanged slight smiles before she came in and spotted Tak sitting down.
“You two seem to be getting along fine, anything interesting happen lately?”
“Uhhh, yeah actually. Tsuwokan asked me what I do, and I briefly told him about my work as a biologist. I told him about my work with the Pandoran plants and he said there’s a place I might be interested in so he’s offered to take me there.”
“Hey that’s excellent. Wow, that’s really nice. I told you there’s alot to learn from these people. That’s really good. So when’s this happening?”
“Two days from today. Yeah, he told me to meet him early in the morning. It takes a while to get there and I want to be back before it gets too dark.”
“Well looks like you’ll have to wake up early.”
“Yeah I guess so.”
During dinner Dr. Eileen announced to everyone that Tak was going on a special field trip soon. He preferred if she didn’t but it was too late. Alan wanted to know more about this field trip.
“So, where are you going?”
“Just, to some place where there’s some exotic plants.”
“Oh cool, when’s this?”
“In two days.”
“Two days.... sounds fun.... Maybe I could go as well?”
Dr. Eileen interrupted. “No Alan I don’t think that’s going to be possible. The Na’vi really don’t like humans.”
“But he’s going, and he’s a human.”
“Yeah but it’s...it’s different.”
“But I think this would be great, it’s better than staying inside here all day.”
Tak backed him up. “I think you would enjoy it alot.”
Dr. Eileen thought differently “No this really isn’t a good idea. Who knows how they’ll react to a human. It could all go ve-”
“No no it’ll be good. It’s about time they saw that not all skypeople are douchebags. Besides I need someone to help me with taking pictures and samples and ****. Alan’s the perfect candidate.”
Dr. Eileen sighed and sat back in her seat. “.....Alright. But you are to be extra careful not to get yourself in any danger. And I really don’t know how they’re going to react to seeing you.”
“They’re not going to kill me, it’s not like they haven’t met any of the scientists in their human forms. And what about you, haven’t you ever showed your true self to them?”
“....No I haven’t...”

The day finally came. Tak woke up extra early and went to have a morning shower followed by breakfast. He went to his computer and turned it on. Alan was already up sitting next to Dr. Isaac at her desk, talking to each other while listening to her morning playlist from her computer.
“What the **** is that ****?” asked Tak.
“It’s called Indie rock you dick, if you opened up that narrow mind of yours you may come to like it.” replied Dr. Isaac.
He played a song from his music folder and the look on Dr. Isaac’s face was one of disgust.
“And what the hell is that?” she asked.
“Death metal, if you opened up that narrow mind of yours you may come to like it.”
Dr. Isaac looked away. “*******.” she said, but Tak couldn’t hear her over the lovely sound of growls, distorted guitars and blasting drums. It was the perfect way to start the day and get into the right mood for what was to come.

After finishing his cereal and brushing his teeth, Tak got into his Avatar and met up with Alan outside. He packed his back pack with the necessary equipment for his “field trip” and they made their way. Tsuwokan was waiting for them. He saw Alan and stared at him for a while before for nodding his head as a sign of acceptance. Alan hesitantly nodded back.
“Let’s get our **** and go.” said Tak. He rubbed some dirt on his face and put on his mask, hiding his identity. They got their weapons, assembled them and the group made their way to the Ikrans that awaited them. Alan got a chill down his spine at first sight of the Ikrans but wasn’t too intimidated. Aketuan also stared at Alan for a while, then looked to Tsuwokan who signalled “it’s ok, he’s with us” and then Aketuan told Alan to get on. He was greeted with a nice hiss by the Ikran to which he jerked back. “It happened to me too the first time but he’ll start to like you eventually.” said Tak. Alan slowly stepped onto the Ikran’s back and sat down with the rifle strapped around him. He held onto the straps that were specially tied for him. Tak rode with Tsuwokan.