Selective Sight 2
Disclaimer: The Avatar universe is a creation of James Cameron, not me. I intend not to, nor am I making, any money from this work.
Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Author's Note: A continuation of the story. The plan is unfolding, but clearly there is still more to do before we will see Pandora again.
Selective Sight 2
Bright white light flooded the small space. In the past the room would have been called a closet at best. In present times it was known as the standard bathroom, just large enough for the average person to do what they needed to do. The walls were lined with glossy white tiles that reflected the light from the fluorescent strip above the mirror. The reflection of a tired man stared back at its owner. He was young, in his twenties, fresh out of university. His skin was pale, and he had short dark hair that was either brown or black depending on the light, his eyes equally dark and shared the same quality. He had just shaved off several days worth of stubble and splashed his face with water to throw off the last vestiges of sleep. He had thought over the plan many times, and he was sure it would work. He just needed the right leverage, and the right person to use it on. As a scientist, he had made connections in university with people he knew would be able to help him.
He exited the minuscule bathroom and stepped into his equally small bedroom. Barely large enough to contain his bed and wardrobe, this was the room that he had slept in since he left his parents' home and began his studies at university. He had more than enough money saved up to upgrade to a much better apartment, but the reason he saved up instead of spending was to pay for a day such as this. He knew that the chance would one day come where he could make a worthwhile investment, and now was the time. To get to Pandora he would need a ship, and if he wanted to use the schematics he had acquired from an ancient Na'vi computer system, he would need raw materials to build it. There was only one place that he could reliably gain access to what he needed, and the person he needed to see to make it possible just happened to be a friend of his. He grabbed a black jacket that hung in his wardrobe and pulled it on, then slipped two devices into the inside pocket. Satisfied that he was ready, he tapped the panel on the wall next to the door to open it and exited his apartment.
At the end of the grey corridor was the elevator, for those daring enough to venture on to the dangerous streets below. Fortunately he lived on a floor that had access to the air train, an elevated rail network that weaved its way through the massive city. He stepped out on to the platform and waited. Several minutes later a train that passed by his destination pulled into the station. He stepped forward and boarded, his transport card automatically charged. Old technology, he knew, but then this was a government service. Private competition in the field of planetary transportation had been outlawed years ago, thereby ensuring that technological progress almost completely halted. The trains still used wheels and rails, even though magnetic levitation had been successfully deployed years ago when there was still a semblance of a real market.
While not entirely clean inside, this train was better than most, and the man risked the first available seat he found that appeared reasonably untainted by filth. The train pulled away from the station and began to speed up. He looked out the dirty window and watched as he passed giant skyscrapers that literally touched the clouds above. As the train sped along the track, he began to think about what he would leave behind if he went through with his plan. His parents came to mind, but he immediately dismissed them. They had never shown much interest in his life, been too busy edging their way into high society to have the time. When he left home he had forgone much of their wealth in the process, but still had learnt enough from them to be frugal. He was an only child, so he had no siblings he would miss. He had a handful of friends, in fact he could count them on one hand, and none of them were close. Everyone he knew were not so much self-centred, which was an attribute he valued highly, but rather they were self-absorbed. They had very little appreciation for those around them, and this to him was contradictory. Self interest was an excellent compass for life, and one must know when others are important to accomplishing one's ends, but as unenlightened as they were it was clear that they were lost. There was a fine line between the good and the bad in this case, and unfortunately, for his plan to work, he needed to step across that line. He needed to exploit a friendship to get what he wanted.
The train eventually arrived at his stop. He stood, walked up to the doors, and tapped the button to release them. They slid open and he stepped off the train on to the empty platform. The building he wished to enter had access to the station via a short footbridge. He made his way to the entrance of the large grey concrete building. This was an industrial area, so many of the towers were drab and uninteresting. This building, however, housed several floors of a factory that constructed components of space ships, and a friend of his just so happened to work there as a technician. As he approached the entrance he was scanned by sensors and cameras above the door. This was part of the security system of the building, to ensure that 'undesirables' were not granted entry. The glass screen next to the door lit up to indicate he needed to provide a fingerprint signature, an extra measure that the corporation that owned the building insisted on using. He placed his thumb to the grey screen, and after a few seconds the panel changed to a shade of green. He had permission to enter.
The heavy metal door slid open to reveal a corridor of polished concrete. The scientist stepped inside before the door shut on him. Security in this facility was such that one had a short access window in and out. If one were too slow, one could be locked out for hours, and if one just so happened not make it through in time, the door could shut on someone and sever a limb from their body. The fingerprint signature acted like a contract, ensuring that the corporation could not be sued for causing physical harm. The man quickly found the elevators and pressed on the button that indicated he wished to go down. A few moments later the doors rolled open and he stepped inside the dark grey elevator car. He pushed a button on a panel to close the doors and select the level he wanted. In a matter of seconds he was well on his way. The doors opened again and he stepped out. He recognised the logo on the wall opposite which belonged to the company that built spacecraft. At least he knew he was in the right place. Below the logo was a glass panel that served as a directory for the factory. He began to type in the name of his friend, and immediately the computer knew who he wanted, as it automatically completed the name and selected the information. He was even given directions on how to find his friend, right down to his friend's current location. His friend was presently in the manufacturing plant.
He made his way with the directions he was given. He passed several doors before he found the one he wanted. A tap on the panel later and he was inside the control room. The room was an ensemble of desks, chairs, and computers. At the moment it was almost completely empty. The only other person there was a technician. When the door slid shut, the technician lifted his head from his computer screen to face the newcomer, and his face immediately lit up in recognition.
"Pax!" his friend called out as he jumped to his feet and rushed forward to greet him with a smile and an outstretched hand. "I wasn't expecting you."
"Hey Dave," Pax greeted his friend with a smile as they shook hands. "I thought I'd surprise you with a visit."
"What brings you here?" Dave asked.
"Can't a friend drop by unexpectedly to say hello?" Pax responded with a smirk.
"Well sure," Dave grinned. "But I know you, and you definitely want something."
"Since you brought it up..."
"Okay," Dave chuckled. "I walked into that."
"Yeah. Anyway, I have a little personal project I'm working on, and I thought maybe you could help me with it."
"What sort of project?"
"The secret kind."
"Right..." Dave said with incredulity, hands on hips.
"I can take my money elsewhere if that's how you feel about it," Pax replied as he crossed his arms.
"Hold on a minute," Dave said quickly, arms out in placation. "Are you going to pay me to do something for you?"
"Sort of. Part of the funds are dedicated to raw materials that are stored in this plant, the rest of the funds are for you. I have a shipment of unobtainium that is ready to be sent here as part of the manufacturing process, that is, if you agree to do this for me."
"Hmm... So you want me to build something for you. I'm guessing it's a ship?"
Pax nodded.
"I have the schematics here," he replied as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a storage device. "I have set up an encryption on this data so that when it is inside the system, if anyone tries to access it other than me, that it will erase everything."
"Why all the secrecy? Couldn't you just go through the regular channels like everyone else?" Dave asked with his arms crossed.
"Let's just say that the ship is a prototype and I don't want anyone trying to steal the idea from me," Pax replied firmly in an attempt to make it appear as if that were the real reason.
"So it's worth a lot of money then?" Dave asked with a sly grin.
"Could be. Won't know until it's built and I've done a few test flights," Pax lied, been sure to stress the sound of reluctance in his voice to make it seem like he was sincere. "Which is why I need you to promise me that you will not tell anyone about this. That's part of the deal."
"Hmm... I don't know. Seems to me like you get more out of this than me," Dave mused in a sly tone. "I mean, if I get caught constructing a ship that is off the books, I could get fired. That sort of thing doesn't look good on a resume you know."
"What if I also throw in the deed to my apartment. Does that sweeten the deal for you?" Pax countered.
"Let me think for a sec..." Dave mulled it over, before his face broke into a smile. "Um, yeah. You know that I'm still living with my parents. Any chance to get out of there, I'll take it. Pax, you've got yourself a deal."
They both shook hands, both with a smile on their faces. Pax knew that if it had been anyone else he would never have been able to get this far. He knew what his friend wanted, and he had used that against him. Still, they both were going to get what they wanted. Pax got a ship that he could use to travel to Pandora while Dave got an apartment and enough money to set him up for early retirement. Pax would not need the money or the apartment where he was headed.