Avatar: Feathers and Flowers

Step In His Shoes

Colonel Alejandro Vargas's dream wasn't to reach for the stars, that was always his brother's dream. The only thing that mattered to him was to survive.

Earth was a dying planet in the twenty-second century. Deforestation, resource depletion, air pollution, famine, overpopulation, massive flooding, and many other things caused by humans were causing its decline and eventually, were going to be the cause of the once lively planet's demise.

His twin brother, Samuel, was a nerd. He had an interest in reading, science, and mathematics. Alejandro and Samuel shared one interest in myths and legends. While Samuel was entranced in Greek mythology, especially with the hero Bellerophon, Alejandro leaned toward Aztec mythology, especially the goddess, Quetzalcoatl.

The crematorium was rows of stainless furnaces and Alejandro suppressed a shiver as he looks down at his brother's face. Even the soil was no longer rich enough to nurse the dead. Whenever they would look in the mirror, they would see the other twin. Even now, as he looked down at Samuel's pale face that was devoid of any of his liveliness and warmth, he only saw himself. His twin was now in a cardboard box that would sit with the rest of his family. A guy with a knife took all Samuel would ever be for the paper in his wallet.

Pathetic.

"Your brother represented a significant investment. We'd like to talk to you about taking over his contract." Even though the agent was only a few feet away from him, he sounded drowned out and far away.

The attendant closes the box and seals it with a tape dispenser as if Samuel was a package for shipping. It was rolled into the furnace and goosebumps prickled Alejandro's skin as the burners sparked to life. The fire made quick work with the cardboard and for a moment, he saw his face being engulfed by gluttonous flames. Alejandro turned away, not wanting to look at the horrifying image.

"Your genome is identical to his, so you could step in his shoes in a way."

Alejandro had heard details of Samuel's work through their frequent video calls. He wished he spent more time listening or at least acting interested, instead of brushing him off with a few nods or just completely dismissing him. From the parts that he did hear, Samuel talked about the lush jungle moon Pandora and the expeditions there. Pandora was an extrasolar moon and the fifth moon of Polyphemus warmed by the Alpha Centauri System, a star system that was similar to humanity's solar system. Samuel trained for three years to be an avatar, the driver of a genetically engineered body. He wanted to see the natives of Pandora that were called the Na'vi and the wonders of the strange and alien world. His brother was so determined that he learned how to speak and act like the Na'vi. He was meant to accompany Kate Laswell, a xenobotanist and in Samuel's words, "a legend to the scientific personnel." Now that he was gone, an open space was left that needed to be filled as soon as possible.

"What else do you have to lose?"

What did he have to lose? He didn't have any family left to look out for. If he wanted to see his family, he would have to look at a box. So, he signed the contract the agents carried. When his signature was finalized, Alejandro knew that he signed his life away.

And he didn't have the heart to give a damn.

The flight from Hell's Gate was long, but thank goodness it was. The SAMSON was piloted by Special Air Service operator Sergeant Charlotte Eleanor Johnstone, known as Charly by a few. The rotorwing soared over Pandora's plains.

In his Avatar body, his blue skin was smooth and iridescent. Indigo stripes struck and freckles dotted his skin. Laswell claimed that they followed the Na'vi's nervous system. His black hair was long and fixed into a braid. At the end of the braid, tufts of hair covered his queue, thin and pinkish tendrils that seemed to have a mind of their own, squirming and reaching out for something that wasn't there. No wonder the Na'vi wore almost nothing except for a few coverings, it was hot on Pandora. Alejandro was sweating, dressed in his military gear and he could feel the clammy skin of his hands and arms sticking onto the cold metal of his gun.