Luciq

In the vast underground training field beneath the RDA building, the air felt cold and smelled of metal. Linnea stood tall among five other young men, their shoulders touching in a rigid formation. In front of them, the towering figure of Quaritch paced back and forth. His military boots thudded against the concrete floor; his stride was calm yet menacing, like a predator sizing up its prey.

“Listen to me, geniuses,” Quaritch’s voice boomed, its vibrations echoing off the damp concrete walls. “On Pandora, your brains are an asset, but without discipline, they’ll be nothing more than food for the Viperwolves. Starting today, you are no longer students. You are the eyes and ears of my troops.”

Linnea felt Quaritch’s gaze linger on her for a few seconds—a golden-yellow stare filled with questions and suspicion buried deep beneath her Recom consciousness. Linnea didn’t blink. She met that gaze with the icy composure she’d learned from Wendy. She had to be a “diamond” that couldn’t be cracked by pressure.

The training began without mercy. Quaritch pushed their physical limits to the breaking point. He didn’t care if they were scientists with high IQs; to him, in the field, only the strong survive. They were forced to perform extreme physical drills, crawl under obstacles, and carry out medical evacuation simulations while carrying heavy loads.

Linnea was starting to feel overwhelmed. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and the muscles in her legs were trembling violently. She let out a long, painful sigh; sweat was pouring down her forehead, streaming into her eyes. Her black hair, which had been neatly tied back, was now a mess—a few strands clung to her flushed cheeks, and her hair tie was tangled and misshapen.

From a dimly lit balcony in the distance, General Ardmore watched the training session with her arms crossed. Her gaze was cold and unreadable, observing Linnea’s every move as if she were a test subject.

Linnea finally paused for a moment, resting both hands on her knees, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible. Her body seemed to be screaming for her to stop. Quaritch walked closer, his giant shadow covering Linnea. He leaned down, staring at her with an intensity that was almost suffocating.

“You’re… weak. And weakness will kill you on Pandora,” Quaritch hissed right in front of her face.

Hearing that, something inside Linnea flared up. A rage she had long suppressed surged within her. She hissed softly, the corners of her lips curving into a thin, defiant smirk. She straightened her back, letting her beautiful hazel eyes pierce directly into Quaritch’s golden-yellow irises.

In that instant, Quaritch narrowed his eyes. He froze for a moment. That gaze… that glance of anger, brimming with intelligence and courage… he remembered it all too clearly. It was the same look he’d once seen in a female scientist many years ago. A woman who had always opposed him in the Hell’s Gate laboratory.

Quaritch snorted, then suddenly let out a small laugh—a rough, sharp laugh.

“Good eyes, Silva,” Quaritch said in a tone that was hard to read.

Without giving Linnea a moment to catch her breath, Quaritch barked out another command, his voice filling the entire room. “Back to the ranks! Run ten more laps, then we’ll move on to weapons training! Get moving, or I’ll make sure you never see the skies of Pandora again!”

Linnea started running again, even though her legs felt like lead. She grabbed the heavy training weapon and hoisted it onto her shoulder. Under the flickering neon lights, she began learning how to kill—all so she could return to the world she wanted to save. Her fate was now locked in the Colonel’s hands, and the journey to The Green World had become a path of fire she had to traverse.

The situation shifted to Wendy’s dimly lit home, filled with the aroma of bitter coffee and cigarette smoke lingering in the air. Martha sat restlessly in a wooden chair, her fingers tapping the tabletop as her eyes stared blankly out the window.

“I can’t stop thinking about what they’re doing to her right now,” Martha whispered, her voice hoarse with anxiety.

Wendy nodded slowly, her face calm yet alert. She reached for her encrypted cell phone. “I’ll find out. I’ve got a few people on the inside who still owe me a favor.” Wendy began dialing a series of numbers, making a covert call to the RDA base to gauge how deeply Linnea had been drawn into their system.

Back at the RDA base on Earth, the atmosphere in the barracks felt sterile and cold. Linnea and five other young people sat slumped against metal benches, their bodies worn out from exhaustion. A medical officer walked among them, inserting syringes filled with recovery supplements into their arms one by one. Their rations—bland, protein-rich nutritional blocks—were consumed in stifling silence.

The night grew quieter as Linnea was finally allowed to return to her room at the Genius Youth Specialist Barracks. She locked the door, then sat on the edge of the hard bed. With careful movements, she pulled a plain leather-bound notebook from beneath a pile of clothes. It was a handwritten copy of her mother’s diary, which she had transcribed to avoid leaving a digital trail or being detected by the RDA’s scanning system.

Under the dim glow of the desk lamp, Linnea read line by line about the wonders of Pandora her mother had once witnessed. Her thoughts drifted far from the concrete walls of this base, toward a world where she could breathe without fear.

Meanwhile, on the more luxurious upper floor, a high-level meeting was underway. Quaritch stood in front of a holographic table, surrounded by General Ardmore, Parker Selfridge, and Mick Scoresby.

The blue light from the hologram reflected faces filled with ambition and greed. They were once again discussing their grand plan to seize Amrita by hunting Tulkun in the oceans of Pandora. But to Quaritch, the giant whale was merely bait.

“Our top priority remains the same,” Ardmore’s voice broke the silence. “The capture of Jake Sully. Without him, their resistance will never be quelled.”

Quaritch’s mind was calm yet ruthless. He didn’t care about Amrita’s wealth; he wanted only Sully. As the meeting concluded and the holograms of Selfridge and Scoresby faded away, Quaritch remained. He stared at Ardmore with his narrowed, yellow eyes, full of suspicion.

“General… that one pawn of yours, the girl Silva,” Quaritch said in a low tone. “Her face… it feels so familiar to me, yet so foreign at the same time. I hope she truly becomes a useful asset when we return to Pandora, not just a burden.”

Ardmore smiled wickedly, a sly gleam flashing in her eyes. He had long suspected who Linnea really was, and she planned to use that information at the right moment.

“I know how you feel, Colonel,” Ardmore nodded slowly. “Train her hard. Make her as sharp as a scalpel. Because I have other plans to ensure this mission doesn’t fail like it did fifteen years ago.”

Quaritch furrowed his brow, trying to guess what was on the mind of the woman standing before him, before a smirk finally began to form on his blue face.

“Very well, General. I’ll make sure she’s ready to face whatever awaits her in that forest,” Quaritch replied coldly.

Inside the silent barracks, Linnea closed her diary, unaware that she had just become the center of a sinister plan devised by the two most dangerous monsters on Earth.

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The next morning, the sound of the alarm once again pierced the silence of the barracks at exactly 5:00 a.m. Linnea woke up with excruciating pain throughout her body. Every muscle seemed to be screaming from yesterday’s extreme physical training, and her joints felt as stiff as rusty iron. However, Linnea merely hissed softly, gritted her teeth, and forced her body to get up. She wouldn’t let physical weakness be the reason she was eliminated at this stage.

After putting on her tactical uniform, she made her way to the base’s sterile dining hall. There, the scent of synthetic coffee and instant protein meals filled the air. For the first time, the six members of the Specialist Genius Youth were given the opportunity to sit together without Quaritch’s barked orders.

Linnea sat in one of the cold metal chairs, staring intently at the five young men seated around the long table. The atmosphere among them was far from friendly; the air felt heavy with tension and clashing ambitions. They weren’t just teammates; they were competitors vying for the top spot in the RDA’s eyes.

One by one, they began to introduce themselves, though their gazes remained wary:

Elias Thorne: A young man with thin-framed glasses and a strong jawline. His specialty is astrophysics and navigation. He comes across as cold and calculating—the type of person who trusts numbers more than human lives.

Jax Vane: The most athletic of the group. His specialty is exoskeleton engineering. Jax has a smug smile and seemed to thoroughly enjoy yesterday’s military training. He openly made it clear that he wants to be Quaritch’s right-hand man.

Soren Miller: The quietest of the group, with fingers that can’t stop fidgeting. He’s an expert in Cybernetics and Data Hacking. Soren seems intellectually sharp, but his eyes betray a deep fear of military discipline.

Kaelen Reed: A specialist in Toxicology & Chemical Warfare. Her face always looks skeptical, and she was the first to openly look down on Linnea because she is the only woman on the team.

Marcus Sterling: He has the most muscular build, almost like a soldier. His field is Geology & Mineral Extraction. Marcus seems very pragmatic and cares only about the final outcome of their mission on Pandora.

“So, we’ve got a ‘plant expert’ here,” Kaelen Reed broke the silence with a mocking tone, his eyes glancing toward Linnea. “I hope you don’t cry when you see the real jungle later, Silva. This isn’t a college campus.”

Linnea didn’t respond to the taunt with words. She simply lifted her face, letting her piercing hazel eyes fix on Kaelen until the young man looked away slightly.

“I’m not here to be friends with you guys,” Linnea said in a calm yet cutting tone. “And I suggest you focus on your own specializations before the forest itself silences you.”

Elias Thorne merely snorted softly, while Jax Vane chuckled. The rivalry among them had begun even before they set foot on Pandora. Linnea knew that, in the eyes of these young men—and in the eyes of the RDA—she had to prove that she wasn’t just a “genius girl”—she was a predator far more dangerous than they imagined.

Their gathering of six in the dining hall came to an abrupt halt when static crackled from the radio on the wall, calling out their names in an authoritative tone. They were ordered to immediately head to the outdoor simulation area for military agility training.

This time, it wasn’t Quaritch standing there waiting for them in the middle of the vast firing range. There, a Recom with a harsher face and a hate-filled sneer was already waiting. It was Lyle Wainfleet, Quaritch’s loyal partner, who now also inhabited a giant blue body. His Recom form looked incredibly intimidating as he slung an RDA-standard assault rifle over his shoulder as if it were nothing more than a plastic toy.

“Listen up, smart kids!” Wainfleet’s voice boomed. “On Pandora, your enemies are many times larger than your tiny bodies. If you don’t know how to handle a weapon or take cover, you’ll die before you even get a chance to write down the names of the plants there.”

Linnea let out a long, silent sigh. Her genius mind now felt inadequate; she was forced to keep pushing her physical limits to the absolute maximum.

“The rules are simple,” Wainfleet grinned slyly. “You have 20 minutes to run and find the safest hiding spot on this field. After that, I’ll hunt you down with a training weapon. Anyone who gets hit is considered a failure.”

Linnea felt adrenaline coursing through her veins. As the command “Go!” was shouted, she immediately ran toward the row of containers and machine wreckage. However, just as she was about to grab the training weapon lying at the starting point, a rough hand snatched it away first.

It was Kaelen Reed.

“First come, first served, ‘plant expert,’ ” Kaelen taunted with a condescending smile before running off and disappearing behind the concrete.

Linnea gritted her teeth, anger burning in her chest. She had no time to argue. Over the loudspeaker, Wainfleet’s voice barked out again, reminding them that they had 9 minutes left.

Linnea ran as fast as she could to the rear sector, where the thickest pile of scrap metal lay. There, she spotted Soren Miller. The young man was trembling, gripping his weapon with sweaty hands, his eyes darting frantically in all directions.

“Ugh, couldn’t you find somewhere else?” Soren grumbled as Linnea approached.

Linnea’s hazel eyes fixed on Soren with a gaze so cold and commanding. Without warning, she snatched the weapon from Soren’s hand. Soren flinched in surprise, about to protest, but Linnea silenced him with a piercing stare that made the young man’s courage falter.

“Be quiet,” Linnea whispered in a tone that was both a promise and a threat. “We’re working together to take down the remaining four. I know how to shoot, and you know how to read the radar movements on your tablet. Help me, or we’ll both be finished at Wainfleet’s hands.”

Soren clicked his tongue, but he had no other choice. “Until we lose, we’ll see,” he muttered resignedly.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Ready or not, here I come!” Wainfleet shouted from a distance.

Recom Wainfleet’s body began to move with the agility of a predator. He vanished into the simulation zone with the calmness of a professional assassin. He smiled to himself, satisfied that the six “golden children” had hidden themselves well enough.

On top of the monitoring building, General Ardmore stood calmly, sipping her coffee, her eyes never leaving the monitor screen displaying the sensor dots of the participants. Behind her, Quaritch stood at attention, his golden-yellow eyes focused on a single point: Linnea Silva’s movements. He gave a slight nod as he watched Linnea take control of the situation and manipulate Soren.

“She’s got instincts,” Quaritch murmured softly, his eyes gleaming with interest. “She knows when to take what she needs.”

Soren and Linnea huddled behind a pile of rusty metal. It was so quiet that Soren’s erratic heartbeat could be heard clearly. Soren still found time to grumble, his voice a whisper but full of disbelief.

“Do you really know how to shoot? A nerdy girl like you?”

Soren might have been lying about the “nerd” part. Although petite, Linnea didn’t look like your typical bookworm. The aura radiating from her was commanding; her eyes were sharp and calculating. Linnea rolled her eyes and replied without turning around, “Practice. I did it with my aunt.”

In reality, Wendy had taught her the basics of shooting before she joined the RDA. Although she’d been hesitant to handle a weapon at first, in a life-or-death situation like this, Linnea felt challenged. Her instincts took over.

Linnea suddenly raised her hand, signaling Soren to be quiet. Through the gap in the metal, they watched Marcus move with remarkable agility. Marcus’s sturdy frame moved with the precision of a professional soldier. Shortly afterward, Lyle Wainfleet’s shout boomed over the loudspeaker, sending chills down their spines.

“Great first step! Get ready now!”

With a speed that seemed impossible for someone of his size, Lyle ran and smashed through several piles of scrap metal that had been serving as cover. Jax and Elias were exposed. Jax, who was indeed hungry for action, began firing wildly. Elias remained composed, calmly aiming at Lyle, but Lyle dodged like a snake, weaving through the flying rubber bullets.

In another corner, Kaelen narrowed his eyes as he spotted the silhouettes of Linnea and Soren. A condescending smile appeared on his face. “Losers,” he whispered as he saw them standing idly by. Meanwhile, Marcus remained vigilant, waiting for the right moment to take down the Recom.

Linnea stared at Soren with terrifying intensity. “Listen to me. Your radar shows Lyle is between Jax and Elias. This is a great situation. Marcus is too focused on Lyle. Kaelen? He’s hungry for victory; he’ll definitely target us as easy prey.”

Soren looked at Linnea in astonishment. This girl was devising a battle strategy in the midst of the chaos.

“I’ll make sure you win,” Linnea said with a sly smirk. "Jax and Elias will go down soon. As soon as they’re out, Kaelen will come out to shoot at us. I’ll distract him. I know Marcus is the best shooter, so Lyle will definitely focus on taking him out after Jax and Elias are out of the picture. That’s when… when I take down Kaelen and Lyle shoots at Marcus, I’ll toss my gun aside. You have to seize that moment and shoot Lyle.”

Linnea tightened the cocking mechanism on her gun, loading a rubber bullet with a firm click. Soren swallowed hard, blinking repeatedly, but finally nodded in resignation. “Do you understand?” Linnea asked to confirm.

The sound of rapid-fire shots from Lyle and Jax’s angry scream as he was hit served as the signal for Linnea. “Now!”

The scene descended into tense chaos. Just as Linnea had predicted, Jax and Elias went down within seconds. Kaelen emerged from the shadows, aiming at Linnea’s hiding spot. Linnea leaped out, firing a well-aimed return shot that struck Kaelen in the chest. But at the same moment, Kaelen’s bullet struck Linnea in the shoulder, sending her crashing to the ground.

Lyle, who had just incapacitated Marcus with a precise shot, was unaware of Soren’s presence. At that critical moment, a trembling Soren pulled the trigger.

THUD!

The rubber bullet struck Lyle’s arm, leaving a conspicuous red mark on his blue skin.

Silence instantly fell over the field. Soren stood frozen, the gun in his hand still smoking. Linnea sat on the ground, clutching her aching shoulder, yet a smirk of victory played on her lips.

“Congratulations, Soren Miller!” Lyle shouted, his voice tinged with rare respect.

Kaelen stood up, his face flushed red. He couldn’t contain his frustration. Linnea’s beautiful hazel eyes pierced Kaelen with a mocking gaze. “Oops… you just lost… to the ‘plant expert’s’ tactics.”

Blinded by rage, Kaelen strode quickly toward Linnea, roughly grabbing her by the collar, his fist already raised in the air. However, Marcus swiftly stepped in and held Kaelen’s arm back.

“Enough, Reed,” Marcus growled coldly.

Lyle Wainfleet stepped forward, his eyes narrowed as he watched the drama unfold among the teenagers. “Break it up! Kaelen Reed, come with me!”

On top of the observation tower, General Ardmore couldn’t hold back her satisfied laughter. She clapped his hands in front of the monitor screen, her eyes sparkling with pride. Even though Linnea had technically fallen, she was the mastermind behind her team’s victory. “This pawn… she’s not just smart. She’s ruthless in her tactics,” Ardmore praised.

Behind him, Quaritch remained silent. He stared at the screen showing Linnea Silva’s face, smiling cynically despite her injuries. His Recom heart was beating strangely. That gaze, that almost insane courage… Quaritch felt as if he were being pulled back to the past, to a laboratory at Hell’s Gate, staring at a woman who had the same fire in her eyes.

On the other side of town, in the quiet Vance family home, Martha wasn’t sitting idly by. She sat for hours in front of her computer, her fingers moving nimbly across the keyboard. She sent encrypted file after file to Wendy—meticulously crafted forged documents designed to conceal the true identities of Linnea’s parents. Martha ensured that all traces of Sarah Vance had been buried beneath layers of scholarship paperwork and fictitious orphanage records. This was the digital shield they had built to protect Linnea from General Ardmore’s watchful eye.

The fateful day had finally arrived.

On campus, Gisel stood in front of the faculty building, staring anxiously at her phone screen. She couldn’t stop muttering to herself, her foot tapping the concrete floor in an irregular rhythm.

“You’re completely crazy, Lin,” she whispered into the empty air. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Her thoughts drifted to her best friend, who was probably facing the world’s most dangerous giant right now. Gisel felt as if she were watching her friend walk willingly into a lion’s den, and the knot in her stomach wouldn’t go away.

Meanwhile, inside Wendy’s old car as it weaved through traffic toward the RDA main building, the atmosphere felt incredibly tense.

Linnea sat in the passenger seat, her heart pounding so hard she felt she could hear it in her own ears. She wore a crisp, neatly ironed white shirt, giving her a professional yet sharp appearance. Her wavy black hair was tied back in a medium ponytail, highlighting her slender neck and beautiful face. However, what stood out most were her hazel eyes—eyes that were alert, intelligent, and held a depth that was hard to fathom.

Linnea bit her lower lip, her cold fingers tightly clasped in her lap.

“Stop doing that,” Wendy’s voice broke the silence. “Don’t let your lips give away your nervousness. You’ll look weak in front of them.”

Wendy glanced at Linnea briefly, then gave a small smile—a smile she rarely showed. “Listen to me, Linnea. This will feel so easy if you trust your own mind.”

The car stopped at a red light, and Wendy looked at Linnea with a very serious expression.

“You’re a genius, Linnea. That’s why Ardmore is so fixated on you. She doesn’t just see a suitor; she sees a ghost from the past that she could never attain on her own. She sees Sarah’s intelligence, the courage that once defeated her, and she wants to possess it now through you. Use that. Let her think she’s winning this ‘prize,’ when in reality you’re the one stepping into his territory to reclaim what’s rightfully yours.”

Linnea took a deep breath, letting Wendy’s words sink into her heart. The fear was still there, but now it was wrapped in cold determination. She stared at the towering RDA building in front of them, a steel monolith that looked like a giant waiting in the wings.

“I'm ready,” Linnea whispered, her voice now steady.

“Of course you're ready,” Wendy replied, stepping on the gas pedal as the light turned green. “Let's give that General what she's looking for.”

The car sped into the RDA’s private parking lot. There, behind those thick glass doors, Linnea Silva’s fate awaited her. She was no longer just a stressed-out college student; she was the smartest pawn in a game far bigger than anyone could have imagined—a game to claim the souls of two worlds.

General Ardmore stood behind the massive glass window of her office, gazing down at the parking lot below. Her sharp eyes caught the movement of an old car that stood out among the RDA’s futuristic vehicles. She recognized the model, and more importantly, she recognized its owner.

A faint smirk appeared on her lips. “You’re hiding something, Stanford?” Ardmore muttered softly, saying Wendy’s last name in a tone filled with both suspicion and anticipation.

Time seemed to fly by. The six participants, including Linnea, were escorted into the building toward a special room for The Specialist Genius Youth program. There, Linnea found herself surrounded by five young men. General Ardmore had fulfilled Quaritch’s request to find physically tough members, but for the General, there was only one Genius she truly wanted.

While the five young men were separated for interviews with a team of scientists and members of Quaritch’s squad, Linnea was taken in a different direction. She was led toward Ardmore’s private office. Her footsteps down the hallway drew sharp stares and whispers from RDA staff, including Parker Selfridge, who stood near the entrance, staring at Linnea with eyes that seemed to want to dissect the contents of her mind.

Linnea took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling all the training Wendy and Martha had given her. She had to stay calm. She had to be dangerous.

The door to Ardmore’s office closed with a soft hiss. The room was spacious, cold, and extremely minimalist. General Ardmore sat behind her large desk, staring at Linnea with an icy gaze that seemed to pierce right through her bones.

“Have a seat, Linnea Silva,” she ordered flatly.

Linnea sat down, swallowing hard—a sound that echoed distinctly in the silent room. Ardmore smiled—a smile that didn’t reach her eyes—and pressed a button on her desk. Instantly, a giant hologram appeared in the center of the room. It was Pandora. The beautiful planet Linnea had until now only been able to visit in her dreams and her mother’s journal.

“Let’s get right to it,” Ardmore began, her eyes shifting from the hologram to Linnea’s face. “I’ve seen your resume and your strong desire to join us here. So, explain to me… how deeply do you understand Pandora that you dared to choose the specialization in Xeno-botany and Neuroecology?”

The question sounded like a trap. Ardmore wanted to know if Linnea was just an ambitious student, or if she had access to information she shouldn’t have.

Linnea furrowed her brow slightly, pretending to think, while her mind raced. She must not mention The Vance Protocols. She must not mention Sarah.

“To most people, Pandora is just a dangerous forest full of resources,” Linnea began, her voice now steady and calm. “But to me, Pandora is a complete nervous system. Xeno-botany isn’t just about studying plants; it’s about studying how every cell in that flora reacts to its environment. And neuroecology… that’s the key to understanding how the forest ‘thinks’ through the neural pathways connecting every living creature there.”

Linnea looked Ardmore straight in the eye, returning her gaze with equal intensity.

“I want to be there not to conquer it, General. I want to be there because if we don’t understand how their communication frequencies work—especially through Atokirina—then we’ll simply be blind in the darkness.”

Ardmore leaned back in her chair, twirling a pen between her fingers. “Communication frequency, huh? A very specific line of thought for someone who’s only studied from outdated Earth textbooks.”

The tension in the room mounted. Linnea knew she’d just been walking a tightrope, and one small mistake would reveal who she really was.

Ardmore tapped her fingers gently on Linnea’s thin file, her eyes still fixed on the rows of her academic records.

“Explain it to me,” Ardmore leaned forward, “for a student majoring in a field that doesn’t delve too deeply into this specialization—even though I know that’s your major—how would you apply it on a planet that’s completely new to you? Theory on Earth won’t save your life there.”

Linnea nodded slowly, taking a deep breath to calm the lingering tremors in her hands. “Science knows no planetary boundaries, General. Neural pathways are a universal language. If we understand how electrical impulses travel through roots, we understand how that world breathes. I don’t need to be there for ten years to read the data; I just need the right instruments and a mind unbound by old dogmas.”

Ardmore narrowed her eyes, seemingly weighing the courage of the girl before her. They continued their conversation—an intense verbal chess match—until the silence of the room was broken by the hiss of the automatic door opening.

Tap. Tap.

The sound of heavy, thudding footsteps shook the office floor. The figure entered, and instantly the room felt smaller. It was Quaritch in his Recombinant body. His towering, nearly three-meter-tall blue body was clad in a tactical uniform, his muscles moving with the efficiency of a predator.

Linnea’s hazel eyes widened. Her heart seemed to stop beating. This was the first time she had seen a “Pandoran alien”—that’s what she called them in her head—in person. Linnea’s body trembled violently as she had to look up sharply just to meet the figure’s gaze.

Quaritch stopped beside Ardmore’s desk, his piercing yellow gaze immediately fixing on Linnea. When their eyes met, Quaritch froze for a moment. There was a strange flicker in his eyes, as if he were staring at the reflection of someone he’d known for a very long time… someone from the past who should have been long buried. However, he quickly hardened his expression and cast that thought aside.

“General, is this your pawn?” Quaritch’s deep voice boomed, reverberating in Linnea’s chest.

Ardmore merely smirked and gave a brief nod.

Quaritch narrowed his eyes once more, lifting his chin high with a smug, condescending smile. “You’re bringing someone with this ‘diamond’ face onto the battlefield… Pandora?”

Ardmore rolled her eyes, snorting softly as if bored by Quaritch’s skepticism. “Just bring her onto your team, Miles. She’ll be very helpful for mapping out paths your bullets can’t penetrate.”

Quaritch smiled wryly, then stared at Linnea with terrifying intensity. He reached out his giant blue hand toward Linnea. “Welcome to the team…?”

Linnea swallowed hard. Her small, pale hands trembled as she clasped Quaritch’s large, rough fingers. “Linnea…”

Ardmore, who had been watching the brief introduction, nodded with satisfaction. She looked at Linnea once more with a gaze that reminded the girl of a predator lying in wait.

“And also, remember one thing, Linnea Silva. You know we’re the RDA. So… we’re their enemies. I hope you don’t get so carried away by the beauty of that planet that you forget who’s paying you to be there.”

Ardmore’s words struck Linnea as an absolute truth. In that very moment, she realized that this was her true destiny. She had officially become part of the war machine that would destroy the home she longed for.

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Downstairs, Wendy Stanford sat in the chilly waiting room. She glanced anxiously at her watch, trying to keep her expression neutral. Her mind raced, hoping they wouldn’t dig any deeper into Linnea’s family background.

Wendy didn’t know that Ardmore hadn’t touched on that part yet. The General was still keeping her suspicions tucked away deep in the recesses of her mind, waiting for the right moment to bring them out. For now, Ardmore just wanted her plan to move quickly. And with Linnea on Quaritch’s team, everything would move faster than anyone could have imagined.

The war had already begun, and Linnea had just thrown herself into the eye of the storm.

That night felt so heavy and suffocating, as if Earth’s already stifling atmosphere had become twice as dense after what Linnea had experienced at the RDA building. Inside Wendy’s old car as it sped through the darkness, Linnea could no longer hold back her exhaustion. She fell into a deep sleep in the passenger seat, her head resting against the window, while the shadow of a giant blue figure named Quaritch still danced behind her eyelids.

A few minutes later, Wendy pulled the car into Martha’s driveway. She turned off the engine and looked at Linnea for a moment with a sympathetic gaze, before gently touching the girl’s shoulder.

“Linnea… wake up. We’re here,” Wendy whispered.

Linnea blinked, gathering her scattered thoughts. She nodded weakly and stepped out of the car with unsteady steps. At the doorway, Martha was already standing, her face ashen with worry. As soon as Linnea stepped inside, Martha rushed over and hugged her niece very tightly, as if afraid Linnea would vanish if she let go.

“Linny… are you okay?” Martha asked, her voice trembling as she examined Linnea’s face.

Linnea gave a faint smile—a smile that conveyed both exhaustion and certainty. “More than fine, Auntie,” she whispered.

Linnea then walked up the stairs to her room on the top floor. She just wanted to take off her white shirt, which felt suffocating, and lie down. However, when the door opened, she found Gisel already sitting on her bed, staring at her with sparkling eyes.

“Oh, here’s our brilliant scientist!” Gisel exclaimed, chuckling as she stood up. “How did the interview go? You didn’t pass out in front of those bigwigs, did you?”

Linnea rolled her eyes, starting to change into a loose, casual T-shirt. “Yeah… I made it, Gisel.”

Gisel’s mouth dropped open wide, and the phone in her hand nearly fell. “What?! Are you serious?! You made it? To Pandora?!” Gisel immediately launched into a long, rambling monologue without giving Linnea a chance to catch her breath, asking about every detail—from the building to the people inside.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the atmosphere was much calmer but tense. Wendy and Martha stood on the back porch, each lighting a cigarette. Gray smoke curled upward, dissipating into the cold night air. Martha’s face looked very serious, her eyes staring into space.

“I’m convinced she’ll get away,” Martha said softly, her voice hoarse. “So… is there any further information? If Linnea really has to go to Pandora, what about her studies? She’s almost done with college.”

Wendy took a long drag on her cigarette, letting the nicotine soothe her nerves for a moment before slowly exhaling the puff of smoke.

“I heard that those who qualify for this program will have their educational requirements waived by the RDA itself. You know, a kind of special arrangement. They’ll grant these Specialists their degrees without requiring them to go through the usual coursework. Basically, they’re already working as field scientists. So, when they come back, if they come back, that degree will already be behind their names.”

Wendy glanced at Martha, hesitating for a moment before continuing.

“And as for Linny... Ardmore is doing everything she can to get her sent to Pandora as soon as possible. I think starting tomorrow, Linny will officially join Quaritch’s team and begin basic military training.”

Martha’s eyes widened, her hand holding the cigarette trembling slightly. She shook her head in bitter disbelief.

“That bastard…” Martha hissed, referring to Ardmore. “He really wants to throw that girl into the battlefield. I hope Linny stays safe under that monster’s watch.”

Suddenly, her phone vibrated on the table. A notification from the official RDA website.

Linnea held her breath as her trembling fingers touched the screen. The announcement page opened, displaying a list of candidates who had advanced to the interview stage for next week’s Specialist Genius Youth Program. She narrowed her eyes, searching for her name among the rows of text.

And there, at the very top, it was clearly printed: 1. LINNEA SILVA – Xeno-botany & Neuroecology.

“Lin? What’s wrong?” Gisel, who was sitting next to her munching on a sandwich, noticed the change in Linnea’s expression.

Linnea froze. She didn’t answer. Curious, Gisel immediately snatched the phone from Linnea’s hand. Gisel’s eyes widened as she read the list. She shook her head quickly, staring at Linnea with a look of disbelief mixed with horror.

“Number one?! Linnea, did you really do it? You’re number one on this whole list!” Gisel whispered urgently, her voice trembling between anger and worry. “Do you know what this means? You’re going to be the center of their attention!”

Linnea couldn’t think straight. A sudden tightness filled her chest. Without a word, she grabbed her bag, leaving Gisel still frozen in place, and ran out of the campus cafeteria. She didn’t care about the class about to start or the neglected final project. She needed answers.

Linnea arrived at Wendy’s house, panting. As soon as the door opened, she immediately shoved her phone in front of Wendy’s face.

Wendy Stanford looked at the screen, and a smirk appeared on her face. She gave a little laugh—a dry, secretive chuckle. “Number one, huh? General Ardmore moves fast.”

“What do you mean?” Linnea asked, rushing into the house.

Wendy closed the door and leaned against it, calmly puffing on her cigarette. “Yesterday, when we were at the base, Ardmore saw you. I know she won’t just forget that face. You’re the perfect replica of the ghost that haunts her. She's starting to take notice of you, Linnea. She knows you’re not just an ordinary student.”

Wendy looked at Linnea with intense seriousness, her smile fading. “Listen to me. Being number one doesn’t mean you’re the smartest in their eyes—even though you are smart—but it means you’re their primary target. Ardmore wants to get a closer look at you. You have to be extremely careful from now on. Every word you say in the upcoming interview will become a trap if you make a wrong move.”

Linnea felt her heart racing. The tension in the room was palpable. She was no longer just an applicant; she was a pawn deliberately brought to the forefront by the General.

Elsewhere, in a much quieter house, Aunt Martha sat in front of her computer. The light from the screen glinted off her glasses. With a deft movement, she opened the RDA website.

Her eyes narrowed sharply, and the veins in her hands tensed when she saw Linnea Silva’s name at the very top. Martha remained silent for a long time, her breathing heavy.

“It’s begun…” she whispered softly.

Martha stood up slowly, her steps steady as she made her way to her bedroom. She opened the old bookcase in the corner of the room, shifting several stacks of old novels until she found a wooden box hidden in the back. Inside were the remnants of files belonging to Sarah Vance, her older sister, which she had been hiding all this time—even from Linnea.

She pulled out a faded brown folder. Inside were technical notes that had never been submitted to the RDA—secrets about what Sarah had actually discovered within Pandora’s neural network.

Martha stroked a photo of Sarah tucked between the papers. “She won’t let you go that easily, Sarah. Ardmore will find you within this child.”

Martha knew that if Linnea entered that base next week, she would be carrying not only her own future but also a secret burden that could either destroy or save the world she so desperately wanted to reach.

The clock kept ticking. The week of the interview had arrived, and the door to The Green World stood wide open—but behind it, a real storm was waiting.

Time seemed to fly by unchecked. Second by second, the clock ticked down until only twenty-four hours remained before Linnea Silva’s scheduled interview.

Inside RDA headquarters, General Ardmore was still awake. The blue light from the monitor screen glinted off her rigid face. She continued to scour every inch of Linnea’s digital footprint, but every lead she pursued ended in a dead end. There was no specific birth record, no complete elementary school records from before she was taken in by Martha.

“Who are you, really…?” Ardmore muttered, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the screen displaying “Unknown” for Linnea’s family tree. She knew this data had been deliberately wiped, and that only made her even more suspicious.

On the other side of town, Linnea was already at Wendy’s house. She had asked Aunt Martha for permission to stay there, a request Martha had granted with an understanding nod. In the dimly lit living room, Wendy was conducting an intensive training session. This wasn’t just interview practice; it was a survival tactic.

“Listen to me, Linnea. When you walk into that room, you mustn’t look like a college student looking for a scholarship,” Wendy said, her voice sharp and low. “You have to look like a highly valuable asset—but one that’s too dangerous to be pushed around. Keep Sarah’s identity a secret. If they ask about your mother, you don’t know the name Sarah Vance.”

Wendy taught her how to sit, how to control her breathing, and how to answer questions with cool composure. “Look them in the eye. Answer promptly. Don’t give them any reason to doubt your loyalty to science, not to emotions.”

Meanwhile, at her own home, Martha sat surrounded by her sister’s old files. She flipped through notes on neural networks and recruitment documents for gifted children from several decades ago—lists of those who had been accepted and those who had failed.

Martha recalled that back in those years, it was Sarah who handled the screening of new members. Sarah knew all the loopholes in the RDA system. An idea popped into Martha’s head—a way to outsmart Ardmore’s aggressive data-searching system.

She immediately grabbed the phone and called Wendy’s house.

“Wendy, I have an idea for disguising Linnea’s information,” Martha whispered as soon as the call connected. “We have to disguise her mother’s identity. We’ll alter the records to show that Linnea’s mother was one of the applicants for the RDA program decades ago who failed to get in.”

On the other end of the line, Wendy listened intently.

“We’ll make it seem as though she lived an ordinary life after that failure, until she died of an illness,” Martha continued, her fingers scanning the long-forgotten names of applicants in Sarah’s files. “Linnea will be listed as a child who was raised in an orphanage before I took her in.”

“And her financial support?” Wendy asked.

“We’ll make it look as though Linnea’s living expenses all this time have come from a university scholarship managed automatically,” Martha explained. "I, as her aunt, will act as her legally appointed guardian through that scholarship program. Ardmore won’t find any trace of Sarah if we place Linnea in the shadow of the former applicant’s ‘failure.’”

Wendy smirked over the phone. “Brilliant, Martha. That’ll cover up all the gaps in her history. In their eyes, Linnea is just a genius, ambitious orphan—not the daughter of a rebel.”

Linnea stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to smooth out her practical shirt. She knew she had committed a serious offense again—skipping her lecture class once more. However, the theories in class felt like bedtime stories compared to the reality awaiting her behind the base’s steel gates.

On the other side of town, Gisel stood in the bustling campus corridor with a sour expression. She stared at the empty seat next to her that Linnea should have been sitting in. “You’ve disappeared again, Lin,” Gisel muttered softly.

Her frustration at being left alone began to turn into a nagging curiosity. Instead of heading to the cafeteria, Gisel turned toward the central library. She sat down at a computer terminal, her fingers beginning to type the keywords she had been avoiding all this time: RDA, Pandora, and The Na’vi. The screen began displaying images of a beautiful yet terrifying forest, as well as blue faces with sharp yellow eyes. Gisel began to get lost in a search that was far deeper than she had imagined.

At exactly 8:00 a.m., Linnea stepped out of Aunt Martha’s house. Martha, who was watering the plants on the porch, merely glanced at her with a puzzled frown. She let out a long sigh, a small, unspoken sigh of worry as she watched her niece walk hurriedly, as if chasing her destiny.

Linnea kept checking her phone. On the homepage of the RDA’s official website, an announcement flashed in a striking red: ONE WEEK REMAINING.

There were only seven days left in the recruitment and interview phase before the Specialist Genius Youth program closed. Time seemed to be running out, pressing Linnea to act quickly.

When Linnea reached the alley leading to Wendy’s house, she saw the old woman was already ready. Wendy was wearing a sturdy old leather jacket, starting her car’s engine in the dimly lit garage. The smell of gasoline and cigarette smoke filled the air.

Linnea ran, panting, her backpack bouncing on her back. Wendy, who was standing next to the car smoking a cigarette, jumped in surprise then chuckled at the girl’s determination.

“You look like you’re running from Thanator, kid,” Wendy chuckled, stamping out her cigarette with her boot. “So, are you really ready to see what’s inside The RDA on Earth?”

Linnea nodded firmly, her breath still coming in gasps. “More than ready, Wendy.”

“Get in. This journey will open your eyes,” said Wendy as she opened the car door. They set off toward the heart of humanity’s power on Earth.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

On the other side of the city, inside an RDA skyscraper, the atmosphere felt much colder and more oppressive. Inside a state-of-the-art tactical laboratory, figures gathered who should have long since become legends—or ghosts.

They were the Recoms—Recombinants with Na’vi bodies clad in human military uniforms. Quaritch, Mansk, Z-Dog, Lyle, and Prager stood around a holographic table. Before them, General Ardmore stared intently at the screen.

Their discussion focused on a single mission: return to Pandora and capture Jake Sully.

“Latest update,” Quaritch’s voice sounded deep and heavy, far more menacing in his blue form. He rotated the holographic image showing Jake Sully, who was no longer alone. “Sully has started a family with Neytiri. They have four children: Neteyam, Kiri, Lo’ak, and Tuk.”

General Ardmore narrowed her eyes, looking doubtful. “Your first mission failed to kill Sully, Miles. You let him build an army, and now he’s building a dynasty. I need certainty, not just a promise of revenge.”

Quaritch stared at the General with his glowing yellow eyes. “This time is different. I know how he thinks.”

“Perhaps,” the General replied coldly. “But I don’t want to take risks relying solely on brute force. I suggest adding new members to your support team. We need a fresh perspective—young scientists and activists with sharp minds to map out the weaknesses of their environment. The Specialist Genius Youth program is the key.”

General Ardmore glanced at the clock on the wall. “We only have two weeks left to select and train them before departure. Make sure you get the best, or this mission will end in failure just like the last one.”

Quaritch clicked his tongue in irritation, the sound echoing through the silent, cold laboratory. He let out a long sigh, clearly impatient with the bureaucracy and General Ardmore’s decision involving the “smart kids.” To him, wars were won with bullets and courage, not just with microscopes.

Yet, slowly, a smirk appeared on his scarred, blue face. He looked at his Recom comrades, then glanced back at the General. “Alright, General. If that’s what you want,” Quaritch said in a hoarse, threatening voice. He signaled to Mansk, Z-Dog, and the others to move. As he stepped out of the room, he tossed his final words over his shoulder. “But make sure these new members of the Specialist Genius Youth have guts. I don’t need someone who’s all brains but trembles at the sight of a Thanator. I need someone tough.”

General Ardmore didn’t respond. She simply stared at Quaritch’s broad back with an unreadable, icy gaze until the pneumatic door closed tightly. To her, Quaritch was merely a powerful chess piece—but a piece still needed a mind to guide it.

As soon as the room was empty, a red notification flashed on her main console screen. An encrypted call from Earth. General Ardmore pressed the accept button, and Parker Selfridge’s face appeared on the holographic screen.

“General,” Selfridge greeted him in his usual business-like tone. “How’s the search for our asset on Pandora going? I’m talking about that human boy—Miles Socorro. He’s a key to understanding Sully’s movements.”

“Quaritch is handling it, Parker,” Ardmore replied curtly. “He has a personal stake in finding that boy.”

“Make sure he doesn’t ruin him,” Selfridge replied coldly. “And one more thing, I’ve connected you with Mick Scoresby.”

The screen split in two, displaying the rugged face of a man standing on the deck of a sophisticated hunter ship. Mick Scoresby grinned widely, flaunting his repulsive commercial ambition.

“General, it’s good to see you again,” Scoresby spoke up in a raspy voice. “Our initial plan is going smoothly. My team has mapped the Tulkun migration routes. Those creatures are walking gold mines. One Tulkun catch means one bottle of Amrita, and one bottle of Amrita means unlimited funding for your war against Jake Sully.”

Scoresby chuckled, imagining the pile of money he would receive for the extermination of that sacred creature. “This extermination isn’t just a military strategy, General. It’s a business. And in this world, it’s money that will put an end to Sully’s resistance.”

General Ardmore gave a slight nod. “Do your job, Scoresby. Secure those resources. I’ll make sure the RDA provides the air cover you need.”

At the very moment Linnea Silva was preparing to enter this building with a pure hope for science, the high-ranking officials inside were plotting a scheme of murder and greed that would destroy the world she loved so dearly. The clock kept ticking, and Pandora was once again on the brink of total destruction.

Wendy drove her old car leisurely, one hand on the steering wheel while the other rested on the open window. She glanced at Linnea, who sat stiffly in the passenger seat, the girl’s fingers constantly clutching the edge of her tablet.

“Breathe, Linnea,” Wendy said softly, a small smile appearing on her wrinkled face. “You look like you’re about to be executed.”

“I just... I don't know what to expect,” Linnea whispered, staring at the concrete buildings passing by outside the window.

Wendy chuckled, but her eyes remained fixed on the street. "Listen to me. This Earth, with all its pollution and narrow alleys, is just a boring little evil. It's nothing but dust. But when we reach the RDA gates later, that’s where you’ll see the real monster. A giant machine with no heart. Don’t let them see your fear, or they’ll devour you alive."

Linnea swallowed hard, trying to calm her pounding heart as the silhouette of the central RDA building began to appear on the horizon, towering high like a cold watchtower.

Four light-years away from the chaos of a dying Earth, another world was breathing in beautiful harmony. The rainforests of Pandora pulsed with life, far beyond the reach of human iron and fire... for now.

“Happiness is simple,” Jake Sully’s deep voice echoes in the narration, calm yet watchful. “But it can be taken away in a heartbeat.” Fifteen years have passed since the great war. Jake, now fully Na’vi and leader of the Omatikaya clan, has built a life he never could have imagined. High atop the cliffs and beneath the shade of giant trees, the Sully family has grown.

There is Neteyam, the eldest son and Jake’s pride—a disciplined warrior who always follows the rules. Then there is Lo’ak, the second son who always feels like an outsider, searching for his identity in the shadow of his perfect older brother. There’s Kiri, their adopted daughter born from Dr. Grace Augustine’s Avatar, who has a mysterious connection to Eywa. And little Tuk, the youngest, full of laughter.

“Then there’s Spider,” Jake continued, as the camera shifted to a human boy darting nimbly among the Na’vi children. “He was like a stray cat that was always hanging around. He wasn’t part of our family… but he was always there.”

Spider, wearing an Exopack and his body adorned with Na’vi war paint, shouted joyfully as he leaped from branch to branch with Lo’ak. In this world, he wasn’t Miles Socorro, the son of the ruthless Colonel. He was just a forest child who had forgotten he was human.

The Sully family lived in peace. They flew with Ikran, hunted in the forest, and prayed under the light of Eywa. They were one, a fortress built on love.

Wendy’s car came to a stop in front of a towering steel-and-glass structure that dominated the city skyline with cold arrogance. The RDA headquarters on Earth. To Linnea, this place felt like both a temple and a prison.

As they stepped inside past the strict security scanners, the atmosphere changed drastically. The sound of footsteps on polished marble floors and the soft hum of advanced computer systems filled the air. This was the heart of the scientists’ laboratory, the place where every great discovery—and every catastrophe—began.

Several mature, authoritative-looking senior scientists paused as they spotted Wendy.

“Dr. Wendy? It’s been ages since I’ve seen you in these halls,” greeted one of the senior scientists with a warm, genuine smile.

Wendy returned their greeting gracefully, yet kept her distance. “I just wanted to show my niece what it’s like to work in a place where the future is created,” Wendy replied with the classic excuse she’d prepared so Linnea wouldn’t be bombarded with questions.

The scientists nodded in understanding and let them pass. Wendy led Linnea on a tour of the magnificent building, explaining every inch of the space—from the Geo-spatial mapping room to the Bio-genetics laboratory. Linnea listened with sparkling eyes, soaking up every word Wendy said as if it were the oxygen she desperately needed.

Upstairs, they met Dr. Ian, a middle-aged man with thick glasses who was examining holographic data.

“Wendy! What a pleasant surprise,” Ian greeted her warmly. He occasionally glanced at Linnea, who seemed deeply fascinated by the row of sample incubators in the corner of the room. “Your niece has the eye of a data hunter, Wendy. She doesn’t just look; she studies.”

Ian let out a long sigh, his expression suddenly turning serious. He pulled Wendy slightly away from Linnea, whispering confidentially about the RDA’s current situation—about the growing pressure from the military, funding cuts for pure research, and how the company’s focus had now shifted entirely to warfare and Amrita extraction.

An hour passed, and the brief tour came to an end. Wendy signaled to Linnea that they had to leave immediately before drawing too much attention.

However, just as they were about to turn toward the main exit, a towering figure crossed the corridor across from them. General Ardmore.

The General’s steps halted. Her sharp eyes narrowed, catching sight of Linnea’s silhouette walking beside Wendy. The General blinked slowly, as if matching that face against the thousands of data points stored in her mind.

“With Dr. Wendy…?” General Ardmore muttered in a low, cold voice. There was something about Linnea’s face—a sharpness and a resemblance that haunted him—that set his military instincts on edge.

Without wasting a moment, General Ardmore turned and strode toward the RDA’s central administration office. The staff inside immediately stood at attention upon seeing him enter.

“Open the Specialist Genius Youth program database,” Ardmore ordered coldly. “Check all new applicants with physical profiles and educational backgrounds similar to the girl who was just with Wendy Stanford.”

The staff member’s fingers moved swiftly across the virtual keyboard. Thousands of profiles appeared and vanished in a matter of seconds.

“Find the most promising ones. Look for those with ties to Xeno-botany,” Ardmore added. “Bring printed copies of their profiles to my desk immediately. I want to see who Dr. Wendy is trying to hide.”

Ardmore stood in silence, staring at the screen as it continued to process data. She knew that in the coming war, the mind could be a deadlier weapon than bullets, and she had just seen a highly potent weapon in Linnea Silva.

Several hours passed in the silence of General Ardmore’s chilly office. Finally, an administrative staff member rushed in, carrying a stack of documents. There were at least twenty copies of the application forms for the Specialist Genius Youth program, specifically for applicants to the Xeno-botany department.

General Ardmore accepted the stack without a word. She flipped through the papers one by one with hee sharp eyes, as if searching for a needle in a haystack. Her stiff fingers stopped moving when her eyes landed on a name clearly printed at the top of the sheet.

“Linnea Silva.”

Ardmore read every line of the application carefully. Her gaze lingered on Linnea’s profile photo for a very long time, her fingers slowly touching the surface of the paper. That face... the sharpness of her eyes, the line of her jaw—Ardmore felt as though she were staring at a ghost from the past she hadn’t yet managed to forget.

However, when her eyes fell on the family information section, her expression turned into a frustrated frown. It simply read: Parents: Unknown. No specific names, no background history—just a brief note stating that both of them had passed away.

“Was it deliberately erased, or were they never there to begin with?” Ardmore muttered under her breath.

She turned to the next page, and suddenly, a wide, icy smile spread across her lips. Her eyes gleamed as she read the specialization proposed by Linnea: Xeno-botany and Neuroecology.

Ardmore chuckled, a dry, cruel laugh that shattered the room’s silence.

“This young one… is she crazy or just sadistic?” Ardmore muttered to herself, still wearing a smirk. “I don’t think she’s just smart; she must be crazy enough to try to understand a planet’s nervous system. This major is hell for those with a heart.”

Ardmore pulled Linnea’s application form from the stack, setting it aside from the others. She turned to the RDA central administration staff member who was still standing at attention.

“I want this kid placed at the top of the interview priority list,” Ardmore ordered in an unquestionably authoritative tone. “Pick just five others from the thousands of applicants. Only the five best to accompany her”

She placed Linnea’s photo on the table and looked at it once more.

“Move up all the appointments for this week,” Ardmore added. “I don’t want to waste any time. If she really has the ‘madness’ described here, I want her under my supervision as soon as possible.”

Ardmore knew that coincidences rarely happened inside this building. If Wendy Stanford was trying to hide a “weapon” this clever, then Ardmore would make sure that weapon became her to use in the war on Pandora. The chessboard had been set, and Linnea Silva had just become the General’s most valuable pawn.

After the administrative staff member nodded obediently and stepped out of Ardmore’s office, his footsteps suddenly halted in the chilly hallway. A massive shadow fell over him.

Colonel Miles Quaritch—in his towering Recombinant form—stood directly in front of him. His blue, muscular body, clad in a tactical military uniform, forced the human staff member to look far up to meet his gaze.

“You’re bringing the files for that program, huh?” Quaritch spoke, his tone low and laced with a threatening authority. His yellow eyes fixed on the stack of papers in the staff member’s hands. “I want you to share a few copies of that data with me as well. I want to see for myself which of these kids are truly competent.”

Quaritch spoke as if he had his own standards, diametrically opposed to Ardmore’s. If Ardmore was looking for brains, Quaritch was looking for resilience that could withstand the pressures of Pandora. The staff member could only nod nervously and immediately carry out his task, letting the Colonel carry that predatory aura away with him.

Time passed, and the sun began to sink behind the Earth’s gray horizon. Wendy’s car came to a smooth stop in front of Aunt Martha’s house. Through the window, Martha watched their arrival with an expression that was hard to read.

“Wendy…” Martha murmured softly.

Martha stepped out of her house with a relaxed yet graceful stride. As Linnea got out of the car, her face still showing both excitement and exhaustion, Martha merely offered a faint smile. She approached and kissed her niece’s head affectionately, a protective gesture that seemed to want to keep Linnea by her side.

“Come inside; there’s a guest waiting for you,” Martha whispered.

Linnea entered the house and was surprised to find Gisel already sitting on the sofa with a scowl on her face. As soon as she saw Linnea, Gisel stood up and grumbled.

“You’re finally back! Are you completely crazy? Do you really want to go to Pandora?” Gisel exclaimed, holding up a stack of articles and journals about the RDA that she’d been reading all day. She gave a faint, forced smirk. “Your idea is very interesting, Lin. But you’ll have to take a leave of absence and make this trip the subject of your thesis if you want to graduate.” Gisel rolled her eyes lazily. “Unless you actually intend to drop out.”

Linnea rolled her eyes too and shot back with an equally sharp smirk. “You should know, Gisel… it was really interesting inside the RDA base earlier. And don’t worry, I know what to do about my studies. As for graduating, I guarantee my position is very secure.”

While the two girls argued inside, outside the house, Wendy and Martha stood under the dim glow of a streetlight. They talked, reminiscing about the days when they both still worked for the RDA.

Martha let out a long sigh, watching the cigarette smoke drift from Wendy’s lips. She understood just how strong Linnea’s desire was to go there. That determination, that stubbornness... it all reminded her so much of her older sister, Sarah Vance.

Wendy took a deep drag on her cigarette and grinned. She briefly explained their activities at the base earlier, including how Linnea had looked at the lab as if she’d been born to be there.

Martha just sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. As someone who had been part of that system, she knew exactly what the sparkle in her niece’s eyes meant.

“She’s made it to the next stage, hasn’t she?” Martha asked softly.

Linnea woke up gasping for breath, the echoes of a child’s laughter still ringing in her ears.

In her dream, everything was green and electric blue. She ran across a carpet of moss that glowed every time her feet touched the ground—a phenomenon of bioluminescence she would never find on Earth’s concrete sidewalks. Beside her, Spider ran nimbly, leaping from giant roots as if gravity didn’t apply to him. They weren’t wearing Exopacks; no masks obscured their faces. The air tasted sweet, filled with the scent of nectar and life.

“Catch me, Linny!” Spider shouted, his voice echoing among the towering trees.

Then, the dream faded. The bright colors were sucked out, replaced by the dull ceiling of her room and the buzzing sound of patrol drones outside the window. Linnea groaned, covering her face with a pillow. It wasn’t just a dream; it was a fragment of memory that continued to haunt her, reminding her that she once had a life so wild and free. That day, Linnea decided not to attend her neuroscience class. To her, the theories about the human brain taught on campus felt too slow and primitive. Her mind had already moved beyond that; she was studying the neural networks of a planet, not just human synapses.

She made her way to the most secluded corner of the university library. There, behind a stack of dusty botany books, she turned on her tablet. Her eyes darted quickly, scanning the RDA recruitment site.

There was a new program: the Specialist Program for Genius Youth. They were looking for young people with above-average intelligence to help “tame” Pandora’s environment. A term that made Linnea’s stomach churn. Tame the environment. They spoke as if that sacred world were a wild animal that needed to be chained.

“I’m a hypocrite,” she whispered to herself.

She hated how the RDA treated Pandora like a resource buffet to be plundered at will. Yet only this evil institution held the key to bringing her home. She had to become part of the machine to destroy it from within—or at least, to find the part of herself left behind there.

After hours of battling the registration algorithm and polishing her academic profile as a future expert in Xeno-botany, Linnea closed her tablet with trembling hands. The first step had been taken.

When she arrived home, the aroma of Aunt Martha’s cooking greeted her, but the atmosphere felt tense. Linnea found Martha tidying the kitchen with stiff movements.

“You’re home late again,” Martha said without turning around.

“I was at the library, Aunt. Studying,” Linnea replied briefly, taking a seat at the dining table. She fell silent for a moment before finally asking, “Aunt Martha… why did Mom put me here? I mean, why did she let me grow up on Earth when she knew I hated every second of it?”

Martha stopped moving. She turned around, looking at her niece with eyes full of weariness. “She wanted you to be safe, Linnea. That world… Pandora… it’s no place for humans. Your mother knew that.”

“But she works there! She loves that world!” Linnea’s voice rose. “I want to go back, Auntie. I’ve already signed up with the RDA.”

Martha’s face paled. “What have you done? No, Linnea! Don’t get involved with those people. They’ll just use you.”

“I’ve been used by the system on Earth ever since I arrived here!” Linnea retorted, her emotions boiling over. “At least there, I can see something real. I can finish Mom’s work!”

A long silence fell. Martha took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping as if a ton of weight had just landed on her. She realized one thing: her niece was too smart, too much like Sarah Vance. Holding her back would only make her rebel even more.

“Sit down,” Martha said softly. She sat down across from Linnea, her eyes fixed intently on her. “There’s something I’ve never told you. I... I almost worked with your mother at the RDA.”

Linnea was stunned. “What?”

“Yes. Back then, Dr. Grace Augustine was very pleased with the two of us. The two Vance sisters in the same lab,” Martha smiled bitterly, reminiscing about the past. “But I left first. I realized working under the RDA would never bring me happiness. They don’t care about science; they care about numbers and profits.”

Martha leaned forward. “And as for the indigenous people there… the Na’vi. Linnea, listen to me carefully. Don’t get too close to them. They may look beautiful, but they’re dangerous. They’ll never consider us part of their people. Don’t let yourself get too attached to something that could kill you in an instant.”

Linnea wanted to protest, wanted to tell her about her dream involving Spider, but she fell silent as Martha stood up and walked over to the old cabinet in the corner of the room. Martha pulled out an old folder covered in a thick layer of dust. She ran her hand sadly over its surface before handing it to Linnea.

“Your mother had an old friend,” Martha said with a weary smile. “She knows how to help you get into the RDA base as a first step. She has enough influence to secure your position as a specialist.”

Linnea accepted the folder as if it were a sacred object. Inside was an address and a name that were unfamiliar yet felt significant.

“Thank you, Auntie,” Linnea whispered.

Martha sighed, stroking her niece’s black hair with a love that stung. “Good luck, Linny. But please… don’t let your curiosity put you in danger. That forest has a way of luring you in, then destroying you.”

Linnea nodded, but in her mind, the forest’s whistling and Spider’s laughter were calling to her louder than ever. Her first steps toward Bridgehead City had just begun.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

On the other side of town, Gisel stood in front of the faculty building with a sour expression. She stared at her phone screen, which kept showing a ringing tone with no answer.

“Damn it, Linnea… where are you?” she muttered under her breath. Gisel let out a long sigh and slipped her phone into her jacket pocket. Skipping today’s neuroscience class was a risky move, especially for someone as obsessed with grades as Linnea.

Gisel opened her tablet briefly, looked at the syllabus for the class that had just ended, then sighed. She tried calling Linnea again, hoping her best friend would at least give a sign of life.

Meanwhile, Linnea paid no attention to the incoming calls. She was racing against time. Her steps were quick, almost a run as she got off the crowded city bus. She immediately hailed a taxi, giving the address written on the old map Aunt Martha had given her. After getting out of the taxi, she had to navigate the narrow, damp alleys that reeked of old concrete. Her mind was in turmoil, filled with despair and bursting with hope.

In the far more magnificent city center stood the RDA headquarters on Earth. Inside the cold, sterile data lab, workers bustled in front of flickering holographic screens. They were processing thousands of applications from new candidates.

“Look at this,” one data analyst muttered to his colleague. “So many young people are applying for the Specialist program in Bridgehead City.”

“Yeah, but not as many as usual. Just thousands, not millions. It seems the news about the war with the Na’vi is starting to scare people,” his colleague replied, sipping his synthetic coffee. Their eyes scanned the digital files, searching for a “genius” crazy enough to be sent to that moon four light-years away.

Gisel walked home alone, her steps feeling heavy. Linnea’s words about “RDA recruitment for young specialists” kept echoing in her head like a broken record.

Gisel grumbled, pulled out her phone, and opened the RDA’s official website. She bit her lower lip as she watched the promotional video showcasing the promised beauty of Pandora—glowing forests and limitless career opportunities.

“Is she really going to go?” Gisel whispered to herself. She sighed deeply. If only she weren’t so afraid of everything about the RDA—about the stories of people returning in coffins or not returning at all—maybe she would apply too. But Gisel knew her limits. That world was too big and too cruel for her.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

After rounding the final corner of the quiet alley, Linnea finally found the address. It was an old house with a wooden door whose paint was peeling. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart before gently knocking on the door.

The door opened slightly. An elderly woman appeared from the crack. Her face was cold and calm, yet her sharp eyes stared at Linnea with suspicion. It was Wendy Stanford.

“Yes? Who are you looking for?” Wendy asked in a flat tone, her eyes narrowing as she took in Linnea’s disheveled appearance from rushing over.

Wendy was about to close the door again, assuming Linnea was just another lost student. However, Linnea quickly held the door open with her hand.

“Wait! I… I’m Sarah Vance’s daughter,” Linnea said quickly. At the sound of that name, Wendy froze. Her eyes widened, and for a moment, the calm on her face shattered. She froze as if she had just seen a ghost from the past. Without a word, Wendy grabbed Linnea’s arm and roughly pulled her inside the house, then slammed the door shut.

“Don’t ever mention that name at my doorstep!” Wendy snapped, her voice trembling with sudden rage. “I don’t want anything to do with that cruel past anymore! Sarah is gone, and everything related to The RDA should have been buried with her!”

Linnea stood calmly in the dimly lit living room. She took a deep breath, looking at Wendy with unshakable conviction. “I know it’s painful. But I have no other choice. I have to go back to Pandora. I have to finish what Mother started.”

Wendy was panting; she bit her lip, staring at Linnea as if searching for Sarah’s face in the girl’s features. Finally, her anger subsided, replaced by a deep sense of exhaustion. She sat down on her old sofa, massaging her forehead.

“You’re just as stubborn as your mother,” Wendy whispered bitterly. She stared at Linnea for a long time before finally reaching out her hand. “Give me your tablet. Let me see what information you have and how serious you are about signing up for that RDA base.”

Linnea handed over her tablet with a steady hand, knowing that in this woman’s hands, her path to The Green World would truly open up.

Wendy stared silently at the tablet screen, the blue light from the digital device reflecting off the lenses of her old glasses. Her wrinkled fingers swiped across the screen, reading line by line about Linnea’s academic achievements. Slowly, a faint—almost imperceptible—smile appeared at the corner of her lips as she saw the major the girl had chosen: Xeno-Botany & Neuroecology.

“You’ve chosen a difficult path, Linnea,” Wendy murmured, her voice now softening, losing the sharpness she’d shown at the door. “Most scientists only care about what they can harvest or dig up. But you… you want to know how the forest communicates. You want to talk to Atokirina.”

Wendy set the tablet on the table, then stood up slowly. She walked to her small kitchen, leaving Linnea in the silence of the living room, which was filled with the scent of old paper. Shortly afterward, she returned with a tray holding two steaming cups of tea and a few pieces of shortbread.

“Your mother, Sarah... she was the smartest person I ever knew at the RDA,” Wendy said as she poured the tea. “She was so meticulous in her work, so thorough, but she also had a heart that was too big for a place as cruel as that. She cared about every sample she took, as if the plants could feel pain.”

Wendy sipped her tea, her eyes gazing into the distance. “She was also the one who taught me about the Na’vi. She didn’t see them as primitive indigenous people. She saw them as protectors. She admired the way they lived, how they defended every inch of their land with their lives. They aren’t just warriors, Linnea; they are part of the planet’s nervous system itself.”

Wendy’s gaze returned to Linnea. She looked intently into the girl’s hazel eyes—eyes so much like Sarah’s.

“Your mother sacrificed everything for this work. She pushed herself to the limit, giving her life to keep Pandora’s secrets safe, and so that you could have a future,” Wendy’s voice grew heavy. “Seeing you now… it feels like seeing Sarah’s ghost. But I have to warn you one thing: Don’t fall too deep into Pandora. The forest is incredibly beautiful, but its beauty is a trap. If you’re not careful, you’ll lose yourself there, just like your mother did.”

Wendy took a deep breath, trying to shake off the sadness that was beginning to creep in. She leaned forward, her expression turning serious again.

“How long can you wait before going to the RDA base?” Wendy asked suddenly. “I still have connections. My former position at the RDA carried some weight, and I know how to pull a few strings to get your application prioritized. With your intelligence and my recommendation, that Young Specialist position will be yours sooner than you think.”

Linnea felt her heart racing. The hope that had nearly faded was now reigniting.

“I’m ready to go anytime, Wendy,” Linnea replied with an unwavering tone.

Wendy gave a small nod, her weary smile reappearing. “All right. I’ll help. But remember, Linnea Silva… once you set foot on that plane, there’s no turning back. You’ll be entering the dragon’s lair.”

Wendy slowly pulled a thick folder out of the drawer under her coffee table. Unlike the one Aunt Martha had given her, this folder wasn’t dusty; it was a constantly updated document, covered in “Classified” stamps.

“You need to know who you’re up against there,” Wendy whispered, her voice sounding like a warning from beyond the grave. She handed over several sheets of RDA personnel profiles. “Many of them are power-hungry demons. And the most dangerous one… is him.”

Wendy’s finger pointed at a profile photo. Linnea furrowed her brow. She recognized the name from history books and her mother’s stories. “Miles Quaritch? Didn’t he die in the first war?”

“Biologically, yes,” Wendy smiled cynically. “But the RDA found a way to bring his memories and personality back into an artificial Na’vi body. He is now a Recombinant—or a Recom. He leads an elite force of blue-skinned soldiers, but inside, he’s still the same monster.”

Wendy looked at Linnea seriously. “Turn around if you see him. Keep your distance from people like him and the military brass in Bridgehead City. They won’t hesitate to destroy you if you get in their way.”

The atmosphere in the room grew heavy. Wendy then stood up, grinning slightly at the tense expression on Linnea’s face. “Come back here tomorrow morning. I’ll take you straight to the RDA base in downtown to show you around the building before you officially enlist. Think of it as an exclusive tour.”

Linnea felt her heart pounding, as if it wanted to leap out of her chest. The tension, the madness of the situation, and the fact that her dream was now just a few steps away made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

Night had fallen by the time Linnea arrived at her aunt’s house. Martha was already waiting in the living room, her face etched with suppressed anxiety. However, upon seeing Linnea walk in with a pale face and eyes burning with determination, Martha chose to remain silent. She simply greeted her niece with a small nod before letting Linnea go up to her room. Martha knew there were no words left that could stop the girl.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Linnea’s phone kept vibrating nonstop. Gisel was bombarding her with messages—ranging from angry ones about being left behind, to desperate, worried ones.

“Linnea! Reply to me! Where are you?” “Did you really go to that RDA place?” “Lin, please don’t do anything stupid.”

Gisel sighed in her room, tossing her phone onto the bed. She opened her laptop and read old articles about the RDA’s atrocities on Pandora. A whirlwind of emotions swirled in her chest; she was afraid of losing her best friend, but at the same time, she began to wonder what Linnea had actually seen there.

Linnea couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed, but her eyes kept returning to the documents Wendy had given her, illuminated by the dim light of the desk lamp. She read every detail about Bridgehead City, about the cryosleep procedure, and the requirements for the Young Specialists.

She reviewed everything she had included in her application form—her ability to map neural pathways and her obsession with plant communication. Tomorrow was the big day. The day she would step out of the “Gray World” and officially begin her journey to The Green World.

"Ugh... Good morning to anyone who can hear me..." She spoke hoarsely and immediately rubbed her eyes. A minute passed and she sat up, her waist-length black wavy hair looking messy and unkempt, before her gaze fell on the photo frame on her study table.

"Hello, Mom..." she smiled and stood up, stretching her body briefly. Her fingers brushed the small frame where a beautiful woman in a lab coat was holding another sweet little girl—none other than herself. Linnea Silva.

Growing up with her aunt was not easy for Linnea. Especially going through the transition from high school to college. All of that made her feel insecure about herself.

"Aunt Martha! I'm heading to campus first! Sorry I didn't have time for breakfast!" she shouted fairly loudly to the middle-aged woman in her 50s who was cooking in the kitchen.

"Linny! At least take an apple—" Martha started, but the door was already clicking shut.

Throughout her walk to campus, Linnea kept fiddling with the small tablet in her hand. She muttered to herself, "Isn't this wrong? ... Hmm, damn thing." Ten minutes passed, and she arrived at her campus, gently pushed by her good friend, Gissel. 

"Hey, bookworm!" said Gissel softly and a little teasingly.

"Oof, shut up, I'm busy," Linnea grumbled. Hearing this, Gissel rolled her eyes and looked toward the lab, her friend's main destination.

"You know, as a senior, you should be thinking about your thesis," Gissel folded her arms boredly, her boots tapping lazily. Linnea smiled briefly and looked at her friend.

"Relax, I'll make sure my grades are safe as usual. I'm a bookworm, right?" Linnea teasingly pulled Gissel's hand and the two of them disappeared towards the library and lab.

"Whatever you say, Silva," Gissel laughed, pulling Linnea toward the library. "But if you start growing moss in your ears, I'm staged-intervening."

As they entered the lab, the scent of sterilized soil and ozone filled Linnea's senses. She disappeared into her work, but her mind was always elsewhere.

Linnea herself is not a strange girl, or so she says. She is very interested in nature, forests, plants, and their surroundings. Isn't that funny? Yes, at least she convinces herself to follow in her mother's footsteps. A scientist who once went to Pandora and worked there under the auspices of the RDA. And Pandora... Pandora not just as a forest, but as a sensory overload. For her, who spent 15 years in the "Grey" of Earth, the moon feels aggressive in its beauty. On Earth, light comes from bulbs; on Pandora, light comes from life, and the trees "breathing" with rhythmic pulses of magenta and cyan. Everything is oversized. A single leaf is the size of a human bed. The canopy is so thick that "daylight" feels like being underwater in a green ocean. The "smell" of Pandora—it's not just woods; it's ozone, wet soil, and a strange, sweet musk from the nectar of giant flowers. Even a beautiful flower can be a predator. Linnea loves the beauty, but as a scientist, she knows that everything is trying to kill her Sky Person body. And she learned all of that from her mother's documents and notes left behind by the deceased. Even Linnea's memory was very strong, from the age of one to five, when she felt that those years were different from her current life on Earth. That was the beginning of her intention and interest in pursuing her major, Xeno-Botany & Neuroecology. While most human scientists view Pandora through the lens of "resources" or "threats," Linnea is obsessed with how forests communicate. 

She doesn't just want to know what plants are; she wants to know what they say to the plants around it. She hopes to become an expert in Atokirina (Woodsprites) by studying how these "Seeds of the Sacred Tree" interact with the atmosphere and the nervous systems of living creatures. All of this will come to fruition when she can set foot on Pandora... again.

>>>>>>>>>

The afternoon sunlight on campus was beginning to fade, casting long, curved shadows across Linnea's desk. While Gissel was busy flirting with a teaching assistant across the room, Linnea had opened a hidden folder on her tablet—a file labeled simply SV-01.

That was what was known as the "Vance Protocol."

When her mother died, she left behind neither money nor jewelry. She left a legacy of classified data. During the first RDA mission, Sarah was part of a small group of secret scientists working alongside Dr. Grace Augustine. While Grace focused on the Na'vi and their culture, Sarah focused on the network—how Pandora's flora connects to form a consciousness that spans the entire moon.

Linnea stared at a specific entry from her mother's journal, written a few weeks before the evacuation of Hell's Gate:

"The military thinks they can cut its roots and the tree will die. They don't understand. The tree isn't the organism; the network is the organism. If we can find the Atokirina frequency, we don't just see the forest—we see the soul of the world. I hope Linny never has to see what they'll do to her if they come back."

Linnea gripped her tablet tighter. The RDA was back. Construction had begun on Bridgehead City, a massive metallic scar on the moon's surface.

They were recruiting "specialists"—genius youths who could help them "tame" the environment. It was ironic, but Linnea was deeply intrigued.

Linnea knew she was a hypocrite. She hated the RDA for what they'd done to her mother's soul, for the way they treated Pandora like a buffet. Yet, she'd applied for a position there. It was her only way home.

"You're doing that again," said Gissel, appearing at her side. "That 'I'm-planning-to-overthrow-the-empire' look."

Linnea quickly closed the file. "I'm just thinking about the interview with the recruitment board next week. It's for the Junior Xeno-botanist position at Bridgehead."

Gissel's expression softened, losing its playful edge. "Lin... you know it's dangerous there. People don't come back the same. And the Na'vi... they're at war again. You're a scientist, not a soldier."

"I know," Linnea said, her voice remaining calm. "But I have to go. My mother's work is still there. He's still there."

"He?" Gissel asked, raising an eyebrow.

Linnea hesitated. She had never told Gissel about her best friend from her time on Pandora. How could she explain about a childhood friend who had been left behind and turned into a ghost inside a machine? How could she explain that she felt more connected to a boy she hadn't seen in fifteen years than to anyone on her own planet?

"Just someone I used to know," Linnea said vaguely. "It's been a long time."

>>>>>>>>>

That night, Linnea couldn't sleep. "The Gray World" felt suffocating. She opened the window of her rented room, but all that came in was the smell of damp concrete and the incessant low hum of the city's power grid.

She sat on her bed and closed her eyes, practicing the technique her mother had taught her to cope with the limitations of her senses on Earth.

"Imagine the color blue,"

Linnea took a deep breath. In her mind, the concrete walls vanished. The air grew thick and heavy with moisture. She could feel the "breath" of the trees—not a sound, but a vibration in her chest.

She imagined the colors of the Fan-Lizards as they flew, their bioluminescent wings creating streaks of purple and neon green in the dark canopy. She imagined the Spirit Tree, its glowing white tendrils swaying in a breeze that felt like a caress.

On Earth, light is merely a necessity. Light comes from lamps and screens. That light is harsh and artificial. On Pandora, light is an expression of life. Light is a language. Plants don't just glow; they speak. A red flash means danger. A soft, pulsing blue means the forest is at peace.

Linnea felt her eyes grow warm, but she held back. She was a "Sky Person," a member of the race that had brought fire and death to that beautiful world. Yet she was also a child of that world. Her first steps were taken on the floor of a laboratory on Pandora. Her first words were spoken in an atmosphere no human should breathe.

She stared at her hands. They were pale pink human hands. Five fingers. No blue skin. No tail. She was a stranger in both worlds.

"I'll find a way," she whispered into the darkness of her room. "I'll find the frequency. I'll make them realize that you're not just a resource."

She reached for her mother's old, worn notebook, flipping to the last page. There, in Sarah's hurried handwriting, was the final entry:

"To Linnea. Never stop listening to the forest. It has a longer memory than we do."

Linnea held the book tightly to her chest. She wasn't just returning for a job. She wasn't just returning for her mother. She was returning to find the piece of herself left behind in the green forest—the girl who knew how to listen to the world breathe.

To the Na'vi, the "Sky People" are a disease—a noisy metallic pulse that disrupts the world's heartbeat.

Linnea Silva arrived in Bridgehead City with the scent of Earth's dying cities still clinging to her skin. She wore the RDA insignia on her shoulder like a brand, a mark of the enemy. But beneath a scientist's tactical uniform and sterile mask, her heart beat to a different rhythm. 

She didn't know the forest was already watching her.

In the emerald shadows of the Omatikaya Forest, three pairs of eyes watched her every move.

Neteyam, the golden son, held his bow with the cold discipline of a warrior. To him, the girl was a threat that must be neutralized, a demon in human form—yet, he found himself captivated by the way she touched the leaves as if greeting old friends. He felt an attraction he could not name, a dangerous curiosity that felt like betrayal.

Lo'ak, the rebel with the soul of a stranger, looked at her with a gaze that seemed to reflect his own self. He saw loneliness in her movements, the struggle of someone caught between two worlds. He wanted to reach out, to see if a daughter of the Sky could truly hear the Great Mother, even as his brother's hand held back his bow.

And then there was Spider.

He saw neither a scientist nor a demon. He saw a ghost. He saw the girl who had been pulled into the "Gray World" while he was left behind to become a wild creature. He knew her name. He knew the way she tilted her head when she was thinking. And he knew that her arrival would shatter the fragile peace of his new family.

A girl. Two siblings. And a childhood friend who had forgotten how to be human.

The forest held its breath as "Grey" met "Blue." The arrow was nocked, the radio crackled, and Pandora's heartbeat would change forever.

"I didn't come back to conquer," Linnea whispered into the damp air, unaware of the shadows closing in. "I came back to listen."