55 55. Time of Healing

It has been a bit more than a month since the Battle in the Hallelujah mountains and the departure of most of the RDA employees from Pandora.

"Ya sure you don't have anything more in your 'inventory' because you're heavy. It's insane, you're tall and built like a brick wall but damn. I see where the ten kilos of protein go every goddamn day… You are naturally gifted with a BMI beyond morbidly obese, though these outdated things mean shit it's amusing regardless.", Grace exclaimed looking at the weight on the balance.

The weight shown was 253.76 kilogram (~550lb) of which the exact weight of his armor, that of what he had in his subspace, and the lower gravity of this moon were already subtracted or taken into consideration, which meant it was his true weight if they were on Earth.

"Nothing, I'm just built differently. On another note, how is your relationship with the ex-Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya going? I don't judge you, but wasn't he one of your students?", Liam asked with a thin knowing smile, he was nigh 'omniscient' so to say, so he knew plenty.

Too much even. Every tidbit of data collected from technology he had connection to would ultimately be his but he couldn't be aware of everything at once, though.

It had almost become second nature, it was a necessity. It calmed his still rampant paranoia and was overall useful. Though he was aware it displeased many.

"You mean Tsu'tey...", she trailed off realizing her blunter, Liam feeling merciful and knowing he might have asked something sensitive let it go, "It's time. I have to go drive my Avatar, there are still many in need of care. It was a pleasant break."

Liam nodded, both were incredibly busy as they became the de facto leaders of Hell's Gate. Nearly everyone was perfectly fine with Grace but for him, it was the opposite, after all, he was a freak with strange 'powers' that appeared out of nowhere, he is a stranger and he killed hundreds of humans, some of their friends, and at that with extreme violence but at the end he had the final say. 

It wasn't a democracy, it never was, power ruled over all and he had plenty such as him being the owner of the entire base, every piece of technology a minimum advanced could be and was controlled by him. The life of every human was at his very fingertips.

Though he didn't care about many things as long as nobody tried something stupid, he was pretty chill overall, he just wanted the base to prosper. He needed it to do so, at least until he made his own, something he wanted but everyone will have to adapt until it happens.

'Hmm, it seems Katherine has a problem with a bunch of stupid teens…', he suddenly frowned, his pupils dilating and contracting in irregular patterns.

Grace walking away noticed that but didn't think much of it, Liam frowned a lot and this strange movement in his eyes meant he was interacting with technology.

He was always thinking, planning for things that would likely be for the next few months or even years, he was already working for when the RDA will come and he was open about it.  He never stopped. 

He was frighteningly smart, that much she knew with everyone he had interacted with as many still had the idea he was a brainless brute, and she knew how concretely smart he was.

She made him do an IQ test a few days ago with a specialized device and his score was inhuman, to say the least, she might as well be talking to a sapient supercomputer in a bag of flesh. Max would have paid any money to study Liam's nervous system even if Liam wouldn't let that happen, he stated clearly that anything remotely invasive was a no.

Others might be scared but she wasn't, she trusted him and if he wanted to cause harm she wouldn't be able to react or fight back anyway. And if he did so, chances are she would have deserved it.

And he wasn't a genocidal maniac, the opposite in fact, she remembers clearly his face of distress as kids from the Olangi when this clan arrived at Hell's Gate to help with the wounded and asked him why their Daddy and Mommy weren't there and he didn't lie to them, he told them why and he comforted them as best as he could. 

War affected everyone and its consequences revealed who people truly are.

Liam's frown deepened as he stood up and walked down the corridor to be met by a woman, Mary McCosker. She had pieces of clothes around her chest that held two baby boys, one her biological son and the other not, and her step became hastier when she noticed him even if she tried to be sneaky about it. 

The baby with brown eyes looked at him with great fascination which he responded with a simple wave of his hand. This baby was one of the war orphans and he knew whose son he was. And the father was Miles Quaritch, he didn't know how to feel about that.

Anyway.

'The new mine must be dug...',  he thought. He wasn't a fan of this but it was a necessity, the other mines were too far and too big for the base's current manpower as such they couldn't be exploited.

Recycling from existing equipment to garner raw materials was already a method used but it was temporary, self-cannibalism was never a solution. It only gave time.

A steady and close-by source of primary raw material was needed. The fact it broke the Three Laws was a nonproblem for Liam as Eywa was aware it wasn't for something as primitive as greed.

While he had this though he was 'looking' down through the cameras of a dozen drones at a forested area, a Bulldozer with its faded yellow paint laid immobile but behind it was a trail of uprooted plants and destruction showing it only recently stopped.

The one leading the new mining operation was the said Katherine Hale, a redhead woman in her late thirties; her small crew of ten men could be seen behind as she jumped down from the giant vehicle. 

She approached a group of Na'vi that stopped them, an arrow was aimed at her head but she still advanced and pushed the arrow away at her head with her bare hand, an annoyed expression on her face.

Their discussion was all for him to listen to as he used Katherine's exopack integrated microphone to do so, it was to be expected that there would be tension and potential conflict even with the accord of many important Na'vi.

The humans weren't the ones responsible for the death in the battle but it mattered little when actions weren't driven by reason and logic but emotions. 

There was bad blood and will likely remain for the foreseeable future, it was only thanks to him, Grace, and Jake that a great amount of the Na'vi did not continue attacking.

"Enough.", his voice through the drone echoed loudly as one of them hovered between the human and Na'vi.

Ka'ani, the 'leader' of the small Na'vi group jumped backward, his gaze locked onto the strange flying device as he snarled while Katherine on her side sighed, if she didn't have her exopack she would have massaged her brow.

'Thank god he is watching and hearing everything…', she thought with relief, she didn't know what she could have done otherwise aside from going back to the base. 

She didn't care all that much about who or what Liam was, he had separate goals but at least he worked toward everyone's survival.

Situations where emotions flow in abandon such as anger were tricky to work with and could end very badly. She understood why Ka'ani and his small troops were angry, they were young and the wounds of war were still burning hot, and destroying a hectare of rainforest wasn't helping.

"There will be no more senseless death or violence against anyone. This area has been chosen to be a future mine, this includes it being temporarily raised off most life. This operation is done with the approval of your Olo'eyktan and Tsahìk, you do not have a say in the matter. I recommend you go back to your clan and be actually useful instead of looking for ways to sow further conflict.", Liam said rather harshly as it needed to be said, the camera of the drone he was speaking through focusing on the Na'vi.

Ka'ani long pointed ears folded back at his words, the Na'vi recognized the voice, it was unmistakable, it was the Lost Child a dangerous being that was an enigma and he seemed to have displeased him. 

He messed up, but emotions still ran wild in his heart but not enough to make him do any more stupid actions.

In a fake show of courage with irritation in his eyes, he motioned for the others to follow him as he stomped away.

"Thank you for intervening, boss. Dumb teenagers no matter the species seem to be consistent in the pains they bring...", Katherine said, if it wasn't an obligation for their survival she wouldn't have destroyed such a place but it was.

The drone bobbed in the air in an almost affirmative manner before flying back up into its original formation with the others.

"Boys! Restart the engine, no dinner until half of this hectare is cleared!", the woman ordered as she climbed back the metallic ladder of the behemoth of metal on wheels. 

"Hmm… Jake needs to have more control over his clan or let everything turn to shit.", Liam muttered under his breath with no small amount of annoyance as his eyes turned normal again.

Jake after he transferred his Mind and Soul into his Avatar thereby killing his human body, something Liam found peculiar but understandable and fascinating led the human-turned Avatar to have little to no time for more 'minor' things. 

His new positions as the Toruk Makto and Olo'eyktan overwhelmed him but even then, this scuffle between the remaining humans and the Na'vi, mostly of the Omatikaya, will need to be solved. 

It was a small problem now but it can escalate beyond everyone's control. Neither humans nor Na'vi were truly innocent here and punishment for trying to create conflict should be heavily punished, he only needed to make them all the more clear to Jake.

Walking up to the elevator he called it with a mental command, a few seconds later the door opened and he was met with Dr. Norm Spellman.

"Huh…", the scientist was caught off guard and his body refused to move as Liam entered, the holographic button for the ground flour turning green by itself.

"Good afternoon Norm.", the armored man greeted, the elevator recalibrating itself as he set foot in the metal cabin, there was no response but a meek nod.

'Still scared shitless of me huh…', Liam noted with boredom he understood and excused this response even if he didn't like it, being feared had its use but not here. And it was getting old fast, he couldn't work with people afraid of his very presence and they couldn't either.

Ten seconds passed in complete silence as the elevator moved down, Liam hearing Norm's heartbeat which only became louder as it reached a crescendo and the latter seemed to garner enough courage to speak. 

"I have been thinking… Why did you kill her?", he asked with more curiosity than anger.

"Her…?", Liam uttered in confusion before he caught on, his eyes widening slightly, "The Na'vi you mean, she was of the Tipani, her name was Kalla, she was a sister and aunt of three boys, and she volunteered to fight because she was infertile. As for why I let her die, I couldn't have saved her, it is unpleasant to hear Norm but her life was not worth mine or that of others, not all lives equal. She was dying, I only cut her suffering short."

"Thank you… This is fair. I'm sorry for acting the way I do around you and the same goes for the others...", Norm spoke with more ease this time, but his body was still in a flight or fight response of neither he could do.

"Your response to my presence and my actions is perfectly natural but don't go around excusing the behavior of others. People will adapt as simply as that, maybe not now but they will. Trust me, humans are remarkably adaptable creatures.", Liam said with a smirk as the door opened and he strolled out.

Norm left alone inside sighed, his body slumping down and the hair on his neck became normal again. It was intense, he was in the same enclosed space with a being who could rip him apart with his bare hand.

Only the elevator going up snapped him from his terror-induced daze.

Two minutes later after having exited the vehicle hangers to end up outside in the airfield but still, with the base pentagonal perimeter, Liam smiled as Orien and Meri landed on each of his shoulders while Septen arriving last pushed Orien slightly away, the three got a snack in the form of meat jerky for that and a head pat.

They held guard of the spacecraft for him even if unasked and quite possibly unneeded but he wasn't going to make them feel sad. And they must be excited about seeing their sister back and Gladius.

He strode at a rapid pace on the asphalt route toward one of the two shuttle pods where Valkyrie 16 lay. 

The entire area aside from one hundred meters (~328ft) long and eighty meters (~262ft) wide space shuttle was completely empty and it made the large place eerie but also strangely relaxing as his sensitive senses were not constantly bombarded with stimuli.

'That reminds me of the other I called back from the gas giant… It should arrive in two weeks.', he thought briefly, he hoped nothing bad happened to it in between.

The Valkyrie he was thinking of was until now used as an automatic method to collect anti-hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium from Polyphemus's upper atmosphere; it was for the ISV Venture Star as it was its fuel but not only.

The two hydrogen isotopes were also what powered Hell's Gate and the Valkyries fusion reactors. 

It also brought the fact that if nobody knew about it and the Valkyrie he was entering was destroyed in the battle two weeks ago then when the fuel that alimented the fusion reactors of Hell's Gate ran out everyone would have died, even if would be in a decade.

There weren't any dedicated facilities to collect those, and neither were they blueprints of such facilities in the base massive 3D printer. Not that such facilities were complex. Deuterium could be garnered from water and tritium from lithium, even if Pandora extensively lacked the latter of these elements.

He doubted anyone other than him had the theory and technical knowledge to design them. Another problem to take care as accidents happened so fast and always at the worst time possible.

He walked past a makeshift bed next to the various scribbles on pieces of paper that represented various tools and vehicles of which an aircraft based on a dragonfly, an aircraft he was going to build as the Samson and Scorpion Gunship weren't good enough for him.

Too bulky, too slow, not adaptable, not maneuverable enough, and defenseless against a swarm of stingbats. And a plethora of other things he didn't like and wanted for his personal future mode of transport.

His implant glowed as airlock doors opened and closed one after another until he arrived at the cockpit, the entire spacecraft having already started hovering. His destination was his base in the great plain, his goal bringing a great deal of the recourse back here and Gladius as well.

The poor creature was in distress and he could feel it through their bond but until now he didn't have the timeframe to bring the bird back. It was chaotic times when micromanaging seemed to be an obligation.

*

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