111. Power Dynamics at Play

*THE INCOMING MESSAGE WOULD BE REPEATED EVERY THREE HOURS FOR THE NEXT TWELVE HOURS*

This message reached every ISV Venture Star, the cold robotic voice of the Artificial Intelligence Motherboard echoed, it reached every room and square centimeter of the twenty massive spacecraft without any delay attracting the attention of all.

"Good afternoon everyone, this is Charles Stringer speaking to you. Some may know me and some may not and for the majority who do not I'm the Head Administrator of the Colony, I'm in charge of taking care of the mission's success but first of all your well-being. I am reaching out to you for the first time to inform you of our current status and how we will proceed. However before I begin I must give my felicitations to everyone for our safe travel and arrival in good health.", the gentle, smooth, and calm voice of Charles followed with the appearance of his face on most holoscreens, this time grasping the attention of everyone.

Within a room filled with the most unique passengers aboard, they numbered two twelve and were Na'vi human hybrids that were vat-grew during the travels from Earth to Pandora.

They were known as Recombinants, the product of the billions put behind Project Phoenix, and contrary to what the name suggested there was no resurrection involved however each of the twelve hybrids was implanted with the memories of long-since dead mercenaries from which a part of their genes was.

They were clones with preset memories, though if all understood it or even wanted to acknowledge it that was different. Or even cared to think about it for that matter, they weren't memories from the most philosophical and spiritual of people.

As the voice caused their pointed ears to twitch each of them suddenly stopped fiddling with what was for them a new body that they weren't acclimated to, and the voice like thousands of others grabbed their attention leading to one of the two females of the group exclaiming, "So we finally know who is Selfridge two point o after a five day of being awake huh. He sure took his sweet time and it's not even face-to-face."

"Can't disagree with this statement right there Walker, one paper pusher for another all the same smooth-talking and ass-licking motherfucker. Let's hope he is less of a dimwitted manlet than the last.", Quaritch said amusedly while his tail he still wasn't used to was moving as if it had a mind of its own… And it was amusing at first but it was rapidly getting annoying particularly when he stepped on it or he made things fall with his current poor spatial awareness.

"Speaking of, I heard from this cute technician that he was there and as a secretary at that. Should have probably deflated his ego a tiny bit.", Weinfleet said with a smirk at the thought of this infernal man obsessed with golf that ended with his human self getting hit several times by a badly aimed golf ball.

There was a shared chuckle between the Recombinants at this, all disliked the man to various degrees, and seeing him suffer was all but a plus for them, though unknown to them Selfridge was still far above any of them in terms of authority but it didn't say much since they weren't even considered as people by laws. The ones that had sold their memories didn't exactly care for how dangerous the condition would be for their future bluer clones.

"What I'm about to say is of utmost importance and will affect our collective mission for the greater good of humanity.", at the words of Charles more than quite a few scoffed audibly or rolled their eyes, the Recombinants in particular as they knew it was all crap and propaganda, but as long as violence was at the table none would complain.

Though unknown to them it wasn't propaganda to rail the mass this time, well it was but there wasn't any express lie in what was said. Failing to have peace with Hell's Gate and starting a war with an unknown enemy of alien origin and superior technology would be catastrophic on the scale of humanity as a whole and could end in the extinction of the species.

It wasn't even within Charles's authority or anyone abroad for that matter to speak of this and decide, this was why this speech wasn't even truly his. The supraliminal radio on board had been turned up to a hundred for good reason, and even then it wasn't within the RDA authority to have such choices but adding countries and other powerful individuals would turn a potential extinction event into an extinction event.

It might be an overreaction but it was the only one that was valid in the face of a visibly far more technologically advanced space-faring civilization, it was an extreme situation that required extreme measures.

Of course not informing the authorities such as the United Nations of this situation was a crime that could make Marcus LeRoy the CEO of the RDA and everyone here if it was discovered the most wanted men and women that humanity has ever seen. This even if it wouldn't be the first time the RDA had done crimes against humanity, they do it daily by simply existing but it very well could be the one to tip over the overfilled glass.

The RDA was powerful but as expensive as their power was they were not invincible or without weakness… Or without powerful enemies, or moles in their ranks, quite the opposite. Companies come and go after all no matter how powerful and rich they are, it was why all those companies that thought this way fell or were bought.

Marcus understood it and why he managed to play this dangerous game for more than a century and knew when to fold his deck and quit… This situation, if it turn for the worse, would be far more devastating than all world wars combined, and as much of a monster as he was, he didn't want humanity to perish and he wasn't suicidal either, and in some form, it was an opportunity. And so Charles' words were calculated and not born of his own mind but from Marcus'.

"General Hardmore and I have entered in contact with the ones in control of Hell's Gate, our interests are in discord but a peaceful interaction is a plausibility, the outcome of violence is one we must strive against. Our goal is not to wage wars against one another but to grant humanity its rightful place! Lessening the blood spilled in every camp is but one of my duties as the Head Administrator.", there was a slight pause.

"I am speaking to inform you that diplomacy will begin between them and us. I will not speak of the intricacies involved in it, however… Outside of the confine of the ones who would participate in it, that is, this leads to my main point.", Charles stopped like before for a few seconds to let his audience wonder what he was going to say.

"In five days an exploratory team will be sent to Pandora, its purpose multiple but focused on diplomacy. Set members have already been chosen and will be informed soon but many more are lacking for this necessary but dangerous mission. I will not force anyone not under contract to come; this is your choice and yours only. But… Volunteering to come on this dangerous endeavor will see your boldness and bravery for humanity greatly rewarded in any form you may desire, the RDA will see them granted, be it to help your family on Earth or anywhere else. You have the words of Marcus LeRoy and his words are true.", and after this, Charles continued speaking of the various dangers but also how important this mission was.

At the same time on Pandora, the ones that are currently being talked about to meet were together around a table eating a full course meal of the most exquisite and beautiful food the Milky Way had ever sawn. It was varied in all taste and texture yet fully melded together to perfection, even their temperature seemed to mix together.

Calling this feast divine would be an understatement, each piece of meat and other ingredients calculated to be here at the perfect seasoning, place, and orientation to their very last subatomic particle. It was made from the building block of reality to be perfect, the mathematics behind far more complex and advanced than any theorem humanity ever made.

And Liam, the one who had cooked it, was both hating and loving it. His status as a Homo Deus made him unable to appreciate it, be it during its preparation or for consumption yet it also let him create such fine pieces of art never seen with a flick of the wrist. It was bittersweet.

He knew of its success from many sources, his inhuman senses letting him see the neurons of his guest interacting together and the various hormones produced with the more obvious evident aspect such as body language, he could read it all like an open book and even predict what they could do with a high percentage of success.

They appeared all so simple… Series of mathematical equations for him to decipher, nothing was truly random and every cause and effect was calculable by him. They were just at the end automata with barely an understanding of what was and wasn't and here he was playing with this lower life form, entertaining them like they were his pet, and in some way the relationship was comparable. Gaps in power, status, state of being, and intelligence.

It was… A strange change of view, strange but anticipated if ultimately rather depressing. He had forsaken most of his humanity a long time ago but seeing how alien he was yet how he could fully understand them deeper than he ever did from his adopted son to Max but also not at all since he was essentially reading data on a white page was a unique feeling of relief and discontinuity.

'It is unpleasant is it not? To understand them more than they ever will themselves yet not and to be aware of the gap between oneself and others that can never be crossed forever separating them from you.', the soothing voice of Eywa reached his mind, stopping his internal brooding.

'It is I suppose but maintaining contact to comprehend their importance even if they are specks of dust in the grand scheme of things is a necessity for my goal and to keep the little of what I was for as little as it will last. Logic is not all there is and only functioning by it is a pitfall to destruction, at the end you and I are just larger organisms with different views than them. And I owe them this much.', he responded with equal measure.

'That We can agree… Solely working on logic would have resulted in a path We would not have preferred to tread upon.', she said, hunching herself over slightly with her Avatar over his artificial form made of the Argent Sea.

"Holy shit this is good.", Jake almost screamed, gorging himself on a drumstick only to get a slight elbow hit from Grace to snap back to reality even if her focus was on Max.

There was a lot on her mind presently like everyone else truly, from Liam's sudden shift from a dying husk to a hyperactive ever-present man after his supposed Ascension to him having from his words 'Respawned' Max which was her true focus point.

She couldn't believe it, but it was the truth and the doubt that this man wasn't her decade-long friend but a clone with his copied memories was dashed away with a basic understanding of the technology behind it and faith in the Homo Deus from which she trusted with her life.

Soul Drive didn't grant the memory after a point B in time if they were copied at point A in time, adding that they needed a living individual with a healthy brain to copy the memory, and if it weren't needed and Liam wanted to trick for whatever reason it would have been done before. Cloning was not hard, and with the post-human intelligence even less so figuring out how to paste the memory was not an impossible fit either.

And she had her consciousness switched from one body to the other believing something could do something similar but in a way to reincarnate long since dead individuals while ludicrous was very much in the realm of possibility.

Then there was the RDA…

"They are coming in five days.", Liam said as if answering her thoughts, the inhuman qualities of his voice stopping everyone dead in their tracks, "The CEO of the RDA had opted for diplomacy, not that it would change his fate but I can at least say he is reasonably wise. They will fold under us either way that I assure you."

Five days passed, and today was day 22 of the year 14 since Liam had been transmigrated by the Gregorian Calendar on the 11th of February of the year 2168.

Liam in his form without any subterfuge was floating within the upper layer of Pandora's atmosphere, the extreme conditions of such a place of no effect on him as his silvery fiery eyes observed something beyond. It was a space shuttle, one more advanced than the Valkyrie in many ways but that didn't change he had full control of the entire system.

A faint smirk appeared on his ghostly blue face of energy at the thought of not shifting the shield away from where this vessel was going but he still did, after all, he had accepted their demand to land on the moon and he kept to his words.

If they didn't go up for the diplomacy route then he would have let it happen and it would have ended with the forces of the RDA exploding against a night undetectable veil of hardened light without him having to lift one ethereal finger. A baby would have more sense winning against a bear in a fistfight than the RDA penetrating his defense.

"You're pitiful.", he said, he wasn't mocking them, however, only stating the truth even if he found it rather amusing in this instance.

More than he should for it to be considered healthy truthfully but he had his ups and downs as well. And a megacorp that was driving Humankind to an inevitable death, or his Humankind as it would soon become but also and mainly to his mate Eywa acting this way.

Seeing it fold backward, and scamper to find a solution to avoid destruction before him out of sheer existential terror was as close to the epitome of entertainment as it could get. Particularly when it was useless in the end, Humankind to flourish will need cleaning at every level, like his mate artificial and controlled were the only ways for something to reach balance. Everything on Pandora was in harmony by nothing but her will.

This situation, as amusing as it may be, didn't alter the fact that this submissive decision was the right one and in the best interest of all. Also… The RDA wasn't only composed of evil corrupt people, this wasn't a cartoon and things weren't black and white but of various shades of grey. Some were still fine pieces of work in need of a personalized Hell which was also a project for the Nexus.

On the side of potential casualty it didn't matter if he was able to reincarnate anyone by his fancy, he wouldn't cause unnecessary death and trauma. He had standards as flimsy, hypocritical, and contradictory as they may be.

Closing his eyes his body of light turned to flakes and disappeared in the wind to reappear right in front of Grace in Hell's Gate Airfield who was glaring at a dot in the sky that was none other than the space shuttle of his intrusive thought had won would have done like many birds have done against a pane of clear glass but far more fiery.

"Fucking shit Liam!", were her words as she felt her heart almost jump out of her throat but she ultimately smiled at her own expense. She was mentally far too old to be angry about such things.

*

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