98. Flesh to Energy

Sitting on a chair adapted to his weight and size into Scimod Liam gazed almost lazily into the eyes of Grace, her expression deadly serious compared to his calm one.

"So what is this about? Why did you pester me day and night for me to come not that I lack thing to talk about?", Liam asked curiously, both knew it was at best a rhetorical question but it was easier to play along and have a normal-ish conversation simply due to Grace's brain not working on this wavelength.

Even if that made it temporarily somewhat awkward.

He would jump from subjects at a speed she couldn't keep up all the while speaking only specific words that for him should tell entire sentences. It was hell to work around for everyone so that was why it was very rare he spoke this way but when he did… Well, he occasionally needed to be reminded not everyone had the same biological capacity, something ultimately silly since he didn't actually shouldn't forget.

"I wanted to do some more checks on your body. I need to know… What is actually happening to you? This is obviously not normal and you don't really speak about it.", she said with worry, accusingly pointing at the blue lines over his head, neck, and the most obvious of all, his eyes where the veins glowed a blue and purple whole his iris literally glimmered.

"If you so desire, Grace. I have nothing to hide if directly asked and it's an important subject. I'm not turning blue for some random reason and at the very least I can inform you and for that looking at my genome shall lay the basis for further explanation. It is both incredibly complex and very simple.", he said amiably, the Tek Gauntlet over his right hand unfolding to reveal his skin for her to take blood and whatever sample she might need in the realm of the reasonable.

"Don't break the needle this time aro-", she couldn't finish her sentence nor the movement of plunging the needle in vain that he jumped away faster than she could process. The only thing she heard and snapped her back was the sound of metal being bent violently.

"What the fuck Liam?!", she yelled in shock at the sight of the table with a deeply marked handprint and the post-human looking pensively at his right hand.

"This. It's happening at varying intervals but has been becoming more and more common. With it I sometimes temporarily lose control of my fine control, what happens to anything or anyone in the way does not need to be explained.", he responded, turning to her, one of his eyes red with blood, veins having burst as he showed the palm of his right hand. Deep marks laid on both the skin, the veins glowed faintly and the energy at the contact of air disappeared.

"Take this, put it into the scanner, and see. Words are not the best route for you to understand.", he said, flicking his left hand to a small flask of blood, his blood appeared and he gave it to her.

Her eyes shifted from his blood-red eye to the flask before she close her and mumbled a 'fuck'.

'He could have done that from the start but nooo! It wouldn't be fun without theatrics. How can someone be so analytical yet act this way.', the Avatar grumbled internally but it was of little importance compared to the excitement built up at what she was anticipating to discover. Her passion while focused on the flora engulfed biology as a whole.

She did as asked with speed, precision, and efficiency, taking three droplets of the flask with a micropipette before placing them on an incurved gold plate then she put them into the scanner. One far more advanced than any other as it used Tek, to put it simply took pictures but in a way that seemingly didn't care about laws of physics for example the possibility to observe subatomic particles smaller than photons in that highest of detail.

And it wasn't the only thing it did, all that was scanned was then simulated into other forms and studied to give the maximum amount of usable data. It did the work of dozens of machines in minutes for results better than all combined. To say it was revolutionary would be a very large understatement.

Long minutes of silence passed where Grace studied the information on the hard light screens, her expression switching wildly from fascination to shock and wonder then back again until she spoke.

"Your DNA… A new strand, a fourth one is growing and connecting, shifting the triple helix formation into a quadruple and your chromosomes are turning tetraploid. This should be impossible… And it's made of highly energized exotic energy and is spreading to the rest. How, how is that biologically possible or even physically possible? How does it work? It's some kind of plasma in solid form or something equally insane. The only thing I can think of is Element, that's the only thing. These changes, all of them that have happened, it's correlated to this isn't it?"

"Correct, it accelerated a process that had begun the moment of my appearance thirteen and a half years ago. It just wasn't my body at the time. The Element was a catalyst in many ways, my change one of them.", Liam laid out, raising more questions than answers for the xenobiologist.

"As to how this functions, the process is still a vast mystery even to Eywa herself, nevertheless me who is not versed in that field. Your supposition is also correct, it is the Element in one of its forms. Here take this and do not panic at what happens.", Liam instructed, plucking a few strands of his hair, both his regular dark brown ones and the ones made of blue energy.

"They're dissipating in the air… What is happening?", she said, her eyes widening to an almost comical level, she could feel the glowing strand of hair vanish in her touch by means beyond her comprehension.

"Without going deeply into a more advanced form of quantum mechanics. The hair I gave you cannot exist in a stable state within this plane of reality, and it fizzles out so quickly because they are too weak, but they don't disappear. They merge back to their point of origin and anchor, me.", he explained, the strands of hair made of energy that was plucked reforming as soon as they disappeared while the regular one plucked didn't seem to regrow at such impossible speed.

"Fascinating truly, if I wasn't used to your bullshit daily I would have lost it even if that takes the cake. It will likely hit me in the middle of the night. Is this phenomenon exclusive to your hair?", she asked, throwing the regular hair in the bin.

Her apathy was in majority due to her shock that she was trying but failing to hide from the post-human superior senses. And there was way more to unfold.

"No, it isn't. All my body's tissues that shift into that state of energy behave similarly when separated from my unchanged ones. They cannot stay in a stable form and as you described dissipate.", Liam answered while cleaning the blood that had begun to trickle down from his bloodshot eye as if it was a normal action to do with such nonchalance.

"Then you are… No this can't be.", she mumbled without daring to end her sentence at what was slowly happening, the horrifying implication that came with it.

"Grace, your worries are deeply appreciated but no, I'm not dying and neither disappearing. I would not be this merry. But in some way, it would be comparable if I wasn't acting to prevent either from becoming a reality, my body has more chance of failing with the sheer amount of food and water I need than becoming extra-dimensional cosmic dust.", he clarified with a smile, calming the rapidly beating heart of his decade long friend even if the subject was delicate.

"This leads to a point I need to bring to you today for I think your help might be needed, there is an obvious pattern and method behind where I build the Green and Blue Obelisks. The Red Obelisk is to be built in this location.", he lifted his left hand at those words and a hologram of Pandora flashed into existence.

On it were dots that showed the most important points such as Hell's Gate, the new Hometree of the Omatikaya, and the Obelisks… Of which two were crystal clear in their shape and brightness, the third was the Red one and it was blinking in and out showing it was not yet a reality and it was located…

"The Obsidian Valley, the most volcanically active location of this moon… You want to build the third here and on that specific location within it. The locals… Would be a problem.", she mumbled, her memories clear onto who inhabited those forbidden lands.

Legend spoke of an ancient clan, far more ancient than the first Toruk Makto, a clan that had many times died be it either due to wars, betrayal, diseases, or natural catastrophes but each time survivor held on and the clan was reborn anew from their ashes.

Na'vi from all origins and backgrounds were their members, all of ancestry originating from banished and exiled clanmates for great crimes and sin if not then they are exiled themselves, no matter if of first-generation or tenth, their status remained the same among the others for they possessed a belief that was against all that the others stood for.

They have forsaken their ancestors' wisdom and knowledge, their morals toward lives and members of the People, and the greatest sins of them all, for they did the same to the All-Mother.

For the other clans, they were no more than savages and creatures to tell nighttime stories to spook children, and Grace didn't believe any of that aside from the fact they were rather very aggressive to outside interference.

She was oh so very wrong but Liam reserved the surprise for when she would see the reality because he knew and it was… Hard to stomach even for someone like him with irrational emotion dampened. She was very naive in believing the Na'vi, sapient beings, were incapable of the vilest of horror themselves.

A fatal flaw in her way of thinking to correct.

With empathy came cruelty, the two were the facets of the same coin. Perhaps they didn't commit and never will do horror on scales equal to humanity but that didn't change the nature of their actions.

"That is why I require your help, we can try to be civilized with the Ash People. It's your specialty. However, know that the Obelisk will be erected. It is mere politeness, an olive branch if you will. I don't hope for great results but we can at least try.", he said, his face hardening and voice turning rather cold showing how little he thought of this idea but still decided to propose it.

"I don't have much of a choice in the matter, do I?", she said, exhaustion in her voice growing already and a pressure was felt on her shoulder.

"I didn't even need to order you around, see. You propose it yourself and I graciously accept your help. Don't worry about your schedule, I have worked on it beforehand.", after saying his two bits he lifted his hand and waved goodbye a pleased smile growing as he heard a frustrated and exasperated sigh from behind.

And so two weeks flew by, today was August 18th of the year 2167. The sun was shining, flowers were blooming and Septen and Orien were singing on Liam's broad shoulder to the music blasted in their Tek Armor.

"Good morning Grace and Jake. I hope you have prepared everything in advance, my inventory is not limitless.", the post-human sitting cross-legged on the massive head of the Voidwyrm Carnifex said inquisitively as two Avatars advanced toward him.

Both Jake and Grace wore clothes completely inadequate for the encasement they were going to walk, one wearing the classic garbs of Na'vi which pretty much consisted of a thong, and a dagger, and the other's clothes would enter the case of 'for going on a walk in a jungle' but not much else.

A drastic difference compared to Liam in his full Tek Armor which now was more of a life support system that constantly gave him the necessary nutrients and water. And there was no need for them to wear special gear, the two Tek Belts at their waist were there for a reason.

As for Jake's addition to the equation, an ex-marine, Olo'eyktan, and Toruk Makto, all in was going to be beneficial for their little team.

'I hope it won't turn into a bloodbath…', Liam thought grimly inside while on the outside said in an even tone to the two, "What are you waiting for? Climb up, we are going there on Voidwyrm's back."

His heavy frown was still present on his face for the two others to see.

*

My P@treon if you want to give me money and have chapters I have finished in advance, around 23.

p@treon.com/user?u=60424165