(AN: Heads up there is a lot of talking in still. Enjoy :) )
Grace barely had time to take her helmet off before the argument started.
The Valkyrie docked cleanly with the ISV, clamps locking into place with a dull thud that echoed through the hangar. The moment the ramp lowered, Grace was already moving, tablet under her arm, expression tight. The rest of the science team followed close behind, still riding the adrenaline of their first ground excursion.
They didn't make it far.
"Grace."
Parker Selfridge's voice cut across the hangar, calm and controlled in that way that always made her tense. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, flanked by a small group of analysts. Colonel Quaritch leaned nearby in full marine gear, arms folded, eyes sharp and unreadable.
Grace stopped short. "You moved fast."
Parker smiled thinly. "We don't have the luxury of slow."
She stepped closer, holding up her tablet. "We were on the ground for less than three hours. And you already picked a site."
Quaritch spoke before Parker could. "Hell's Gate. Secure ground. Clear approach vectors. Easy perimeter."
Grace turned on him. "You didn't wait for the data."
"We waited long enough," Parker said. "Orbital scans. Geological surveys. Mining projections. It all lines up."
Grace shook her head. "You're ignoring half of what we just brought back."
She tapped her screen, pulling up scans. "The forest isn't just dense. It's connected. Biologically. Electrically. You clear-cut that area and you're not just removing trees, you're disrupting a system that reacts as a whole."
Parker's expression barely changed. "Noted."
Grace stepped closer. "I don't think you understand. The wildlife reacts. The plants react. This isn't passive terrain. You bulldoze a landing zone, and the entire ecosystem responds."
Quaritch finally smirked. "So we bring bigger guns."
Grace stared at him. "You're missing the point."
Parker raised a hand. "Grace. Hell's Gate is positioned for logistics. Refining facilities. Mining access. Spaceport operations. Valkyries in and out. This is about unobtanium. Not academic curiosity."
Grace felt her jaw tighten. "You're setting up in the middle of something you don't understand."
"And you're forgetting why we're here," Parker replied evenly. "This operation exists to secure a superconductor that keeps Earth running. Not to preserve a forest because it's… interesting."
"That forest is alive in ways we've never seen," Grace snapped. "And it will respond if threatened."
Parker paused, just long enough to acknowledge the point. "We'll factor that into security planning."
"That's not what I meant," Grace said sharply.
Quaritch straightened. "We'll handle the response."
Silence stretched between them.
Grace exhaled slowly. She knew that tone. The discussion was over.
"Fine," she said. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
She turned and walked away before either of them could reply.
The science team followed without a word.
They regrouped in the research wing, the hum of machinery and analysis equipment filling the space. Containers were unpacked, and samples logged. Screens flickered to life as data streams began processing the new data.
Mira broke the silence first. "They weren't listening."
Grace dropped into a chair. "No. They heard just enough to feel justified."
Kwon sealed the woodsprite container and placed it under observation. "So what now?"
Grace looked at the samples laid out before them. "Now we do what we came here to do."
Sam Calder leaned over a console, already pulling up scans. "I'm seeing something odd in the neural readings."
Grace stood again, interest cutting through her frustration. "Show me."
On the display, biological structures unfolded in layered detail. Neural fibres. Bioelectrical pathways.
Jacob frowned. "That looks like an interface."
Grace's eyes narrowed. "Zoom in."
Sam complied.
There it was.
A specialized neural structure. Not random. Not decorative.
"It's an adapter," Grace said slowly. "Like a biological port."
Kwon blinked. "You're saying these organisms can… connect?"
Grace nodded. "To each other. Maybe more."
The room went quiet.
For the first time since leaving Pandora's surface, Grace smiled.
"Alright," she said. "Let's see what else this moon has been hiding."
The research bay settled into a steady rhythm.
Grace moved between stations with renewed focus; irritation from the meeting with Parker was pushed aside for now. This was familiar ground. Data, observation, patterns. Things that made sense when people didn't.
"Bring up the neural scan again," she said, stopping beside Sam's console.
Sam complied, pulling up a rotating model of the specimen's nervous system. Fine strands of neural tissue branched out from the base of what looked like a braided appendage.
"This," Sam said, highlighting the structure, "isn't just sensory. It's active. Signal transmission both ways."
Jacob leaned closer. "Two-way communication?"
"More than that," Grace replied. "It's structured. Deliberate."
Mira crossed her arms. "You're saying it's not just for receiving data."
Grace nodded. "It's an interface."
Kwon frowned. "Like… a USB port?"
Grace shot him a look. "Crude, but not wrong."
They stared at the image in silence for a moment.
"Alright," Grace said. "Let's stop guessing. Compare it to everything we've logged so far."
Sam's fingers flew across the controls. Screens filled with data from multiple samples - plant tissue, animal neural structures, woodsprite readings.
"There," Mira said suddenly. "That pattern repeats."
Grace leaned in. "Where?"
"In the fauna samples. Different species, same structural layout near the spinal column."
Kwon's eyes widened. "You're telling me this isn't unique."
"It's consistent," Grace replied. "Across multiple organisms."
Jacob shook his head slowly. "That suggests a shared design principle."
"Or a shared system," Grace corrected.
Sam frowned. "If that's the case, then these organisms aren't just reacting to the environment. They're participating in it."
Grace felt a chill that had nothing to do with temperature. "Exactly."
She pulled up a comparative model, overlaying neural pathways from different samples. The alignment wasn't perfect, but it was close enough to be unmistakable.
"This isn't random evolution," Grace said quietly. "This is integration."
Mira sat down heavily. "So when the forest reacts to movement…"
"It's not just reflex," Grace finished. "It's a response."
Kwon looked uneasy. "To what end?"
Grace didn't answer straight away. She thought back to the way the forest had seemed to watch them. To the hum they'd heard deep beneath the canopy.
"We don't know yet," she said finally. "But we're not dealing with a passive ecosystem. This place functions more like a network."
Jacob rubbed his face. "If the Na'vi are part of that network…"
Grace's eyes snapped to him. "They are."
Sam looked up sharply. "You're sure?"
Grace nodded. "Every image we've seen. Every structure. That queue isn't cosmetic. It's a connector."
Mira frowned. "Connector to what?"
Grace didn't hesitate. "To the planet."
Deafening silence followed.
"That changes everything," Kwon said quietly.
"Yes," Grace replied. "And Parker just approved bulldozing straight through it."
Sam leaned back in his chair. "You think the forest will respond violently."
Grace met his gaze. "I think it already has systems in place to defend itself."
Jacob swallowed. "And if the Na'vi are part of that system…"
"Then clearing land isn't just environmental damage," Grace said. "It's an attack."
The weight of that settled over the room.
Mira broke the silence. "What do we do?"
Grace straightened. "We document everything. We build the strongest case we can. If Parker won't listen to theory, he'll have to listen to data."
"And if he still ignores it?" Kwon asked.
Grace's mouth tightened. "Then at least history will know who warned them."
She turned back to the console. "Now. I want a full breakdown of that neural interface. If this is a communication system, I want to know its limits."
Sam nodded. "Running deeper scans."
Jacob hesitated. "Grace… if we're right, first contact won't be optional anymore."
Grace paused, then nodded. "I know."
She stared at the screen, watching the neural pathways pulse softly with simulated signals.
Pandora wasn't just alive.
It was aware.
And humanity had already stepped on it.
The hours that followed blurred together.
Data streamed across screens in steady lines as the team worked through the samples they had brought back. Grace stayed on her feet, moving between stations, asking questions, pushing for clarity. The frustration she felt toward Parker and Quaritch didn't fade, but it sharpened her focus rather than dulling it.
Sam broke the quiet first. "Grace, I've isolated signal behaviour in the neural structures."
She stepped over immediately. "Talk to me."
"The interface isn't passive," Sam said. "It actively modulates signal strength depending on proximity and stimulus. When the organism is stressed, output increases."
"Defensive signalling," Mira said.
"Or a warning system," Jacob added.
Grace folded her arms. "Either way, it's coordinated."
Kwon leaned back from his console. "I've been comparing the woodsprite to the larger fauna samples. They're not identical, but the logic is the same. Simplified nodes in smaller organisms. More complex ones in higher fauna."
Grace nodded. "A hierarchy."
"And redundancy," Kwon continued. "Damage in one area doesn't collapse the whole network."
Jacob frowned. "So if part of the forest is destroyed—"
"The rest compensates," Grace finished. "Or responds."
Sam hesitated. "There's something else."
Grace turned. "Don't hesitate."
"I ran a simulated interference test," Sam said. "Artificial EM input. Very low strength."
"And?" Grace asked.
"The system reacts," Sam said. "Immediately. It treats it as an intrusion."
The room went still.
Mira exhaled slowly. "That means our equipment alone could trigger responses."
"Yes," Grace said. "And Hell's Gate is going to dump enough interference to light this place up like a flare."
Kwon shook his head. "They're walking in blind."
Grace's jaw tightened. "No. They're walking in stubborn."
Jacob looked uneasy. "What about the Na'vi?"
Grace pulled up an image from orbital data. Tall, blue figures moving through forest clearings. Neural scans layered faintly over their forms.
"They're not separate from this," she said. "They're part of it. Not controlled by it—but connected."
Mira frowned. "Which means first contact isn't just social."
"It's biological," Grace replied. "Cultural. Environmental. Everything at once."
Sam glanced at the time. "Hell's Gate construction begins in forty-eight hours."
Grace closed her eyes briefly.
When she opened them, her voice was steady. "Then we work faster."
She moved to the central console and began organizing files, tagging data sets with priority markers.
"We document the queue structure. We map the neural interface. We establish proof of a planetary network," she said. "If Parker won't listen to warnings, he'll have to confront facts."
"And if he still doesn't?" Kwon asked quietly.
Grace didn't look up. "Then we keep recording."
Jacob frowned. "That sounds like surrender."
Grace finally met his gaze. "It's survival. For us, and for them."
Silence settled again as they returned to their work.
Outside the research wing, machinery hummed as preparations for Hell's Gate continued. Schedules were finalized. Perimeters planned. Timber harvest zones marked.
Grace paused at her console and stared at the rotating model of the neural interface one last time.
A living network.
A connected world.
She exhaled slowly. "We're not alone here," she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else.
And for the first time since humanity had entered Pandora's orbit, she understood just how dangerous that simple fact might be.