Auxiliary Chapter 2 : Bitterness
The next morning, Ben leaned against a wall and reached into his pocket while looking out the window at the forest outside the base. He took out his cigarette pack and pulled one out. He looked for a moment at what he had left. Ten.
Ben putting the cigarette in his mouth: Damn! I'm going to have to save money in the meantime.
He closed the pack and put it away again. The former soldier took his lighter out of his shirt and lit the cigarette. He still had time before he had to make the connection to join his trainer.
As he lit his cigarette, he heard footsteps to his right. He turned his head with the lit cigarette in his left hand and recognized Grace Augustine.
Ben: Hello, ma'am.
Grace pulling out a cigarette: You have to report to me. You haven't forgotten?
Ben blowing out a smoke: Not at all. I was even waiting for you.
Grace after lighting her cigarette: I hear you've been doing your lonely thing from what I've heard.
Ben inhaled another puff before answering.
Ben raising his eyebrows: Are you going to reprimand me? If the Thanator had fallen on them, I think you'd already have two pairs of out of order binoculars on your team.
Angry Grace: Do you know how much an avatar costs?
Ben: I know it very well ma'am. But you don't get to do what you want in the field. I had to make sure there was no danger. I was doing my job.
Grace: We saw the result!
Ben didn't answer and just kept smoking with the scientist. This moment of silence lasted several minutes before he was cut off by the scientist.
Grace: Where is your avatar?
Ben pushed a smoke before answering.
Ben: Simply put, I'm in the same situation as Jake.
The scientist couldn't hide her surprise. Grace: Shit, Ben took out his pack and handed it to her.
Ben: You owe me one.
Grace taking one: Thank you
Ben looked at his watch while Grace lit her cigarette. 6:30 am. Grace: You're going to tell me you're in a na'vi clan?
Ben as he finished his cigarette: Yes.
Grace sighed before taking and giving out a smoke.
Grace: I think I'm dreaming! After Jake, now you! I wish I knew why.
Ben sarcastically: Ask Eywa. I'm sure she'll answer all your questions.
Grace: You're not going to make friends with that kind of viewpoint.
Ben: I'm not looking to make friends with them. I didn't ask for anything! I was dragged along without asking my opinion!
Grace: You don't realize how much this means to us.
Ben sighed: If you say so.
Grace smoked her cigarette to calm herself in the face of this reflection. She preferred to ask another question to calm the tension.
Grace after a puff: Do you know the name of your clan?
Ben: No, but I know the name of their leader. Rather young to carry such a responsibility in my opinion.
Grace raised her eyebrows, interested: And that's?
Ben: A certain Lutsey.
Grace couldn't hide her surprise.
Ben: Do you know her?
Grace: Everything I know about her was told to me by her sister. Neytiri loved her deeply despite the fact that she was quite tumultuous and difficult. She even confided to me that she sometimes fought with her. I find it hard to believe that she is olo'eyktan.
Ben smiles: You know, it takes everything to make a world. And experience has taught me to beware of appearances.
Grace: Really?
Ben smiles: Yes. Does that surprise you?
Grace sighed and just finished before she left. Without failing to tell her to be on time for the affair.
Later, Ben went to the liaison room with his friends, but his mind was elsewhere. He had taken advantage of the advance to visit them, although his mind was preoccupied with the facts of that last day.
Sted : Ben, je te trouve bizarre, ce matin. J'ai l'impression que tu es tracassé par quelque chose.
Ben agacé : Qu'est ce que tu racontes ? Je ne le suis pas du tout. (Ben, je te trouve bizarre, ce matin. J'ai l'impression que tu es tracassé par quelque chose.)
Ben agacé : Qu'est ce que tu racontes ? Je ne le suis pas du tout ( Qu'est ce que tu racontes ? Je ne le suis pas du tout)
Gaël : C'est ça ! Si ce n'était pas le cas tu serais moins agressif. ( That's it! If it wasn't the case you would be less aggressive.)
Dyle : Je sais. Tu as rencontré quelqu'un ! (I know. You've met someone!)
Ben outré : N'importe quoi ! (Anything!)
Dyle : Ooh ! Ben est amoureux. Pourrait t on savoir qui est l'heureuse élue ? (Ooh ! Ben est amoureux. Pourrait t on savoir qui est l'heureuse élue ?)
Ben énervé : Tu as fini de raconter des conneries ! Je ne suis amoureux de personne ! (You're done bullshitting! I'm not in love with anyone!)
Dyle ironiquement : Bien sûr Ben ! On te croit sur paroles. (Of course Ben! We take your word for it.)
Ben énervé : Pourquoi ? Tu veux une preuve ? ( Pourquoi ? Tu veux une preuve ?, )
Sted en se mettant entre les deux :On se calme ! (On se calme !)
Ben relaxed before the group finished the trip in an awkward silence. Dyle looked at his friend suspiciously, suspecting that something was wrong. Since his arrival on Pandora, he has been strangely evasive, especially on his first day of expedition. Why was he evasive?
Finally, they arrived at the liaison room and Ben greeted them before entering the room.
Sted : Si ça se trouve, tu as raison, Dyle, Il l'est peut être. (Maybe you're right, Dyle, maybe he is.)
Gäel : Arrête Sted ! Tu connais Ben ! Chaque fois que Dyle le taquine ça finit généralement en queue de poisson ( Stop Sted! You know Ben! Every time Dyle teases him, it usually ends up in a fishtail.)
Dyle : Oui mais il est tracassé par quelque chose et ça se voit. D'habitude je mets un peu de temps avant de le saouler. Là j'ai réussi en à peine dix secondes. (Yes, but he is bothered by something and it shows. Usually it takes me a while to get him drunk. Here I succeeded in barely ten seconds.)
Gael : Peut être que c'est la pression au programme. Vous savez que la relation entre militaire et scientifique c'est comme celle entre chien et chat. En plus, il est dans l'équipe de Grace Augustine et vous connaissez l'opinion de celle-ci sur les militaires ! ( Maybe it's the pressure of the program. You know that the relationship between military and scientist is like the relationship between dog and cat. Besides, he is on Grace Augustine's team and you know her opinion on the military!)
Sted : Peut être. (Maybe)
Upon entering the room, Ben could watch Jake consulting with Norm and Grace, important members of his host tribe. He turned to the datapad he had hidden from his friends and could see images of a burned tree similar to Kelutral, stacked native bodies covered with holes, various burned bodies. Seeing these images, unpleasant memories came to his mind. Fires...Bloody bodies....
Even the smell of blood and burning came to his mind. He was so focused that he didn't hear the conversation between Grace and the two men with her until she talked about Neytiri.
Grace looking at the picture with a melancholy look on her face: She was my best student. She and her sister, Silwanin. They were...Two great girls.
Saying this, she started the liaison procedure
Jake: I have a date with the sister.
When she heard this, she gave him a brief angry look and the dry tone showed it.
Ben en murmurant : Cela explique donc cette profonde colère qu'elle a envers les humains. (This explains the deep anger she has towards humans.)
He glanced at Norm and could read envy towards Jake's box. The Frenchman understood the scientist's resentment towards the sailor and had a little compassion for him. So much work to see a beginner take the place in which he put so much effort and passion.
Ben in thought: I'm going to get yelled at, but too bad.
He didn't need to look for the scientist because the scientist went to his panel to start the connection.
Norm: Grace said you shouldn't hang out, either.
He could feel the bitterness in her voice.
Ben: Norm, listen. I need to talk to you first. We haven't known each other long, but I understand how you feel.
Norm: Are you trying to comfort me? That's nice of you, but Grace also told me that you joined a clan.
Ben: Norm...You have the passion and the skills. But the Na'vis don't have the notion of a resume to choose who would be best to learn their visions. They rely on what they see and on Eywa. I'm sure that if they see that you understand their point of view and respect it, you will have your place. It may take time and effort, but I'm sure you can do it.
Norm always looked at him with a bitter look but couldn't help but smile.
Norm: Thank you Ben. It's a little comforting.
Ben with a smile: Who knows, maybe Eywa will put a sign for you? She's quite generous these days.
Norm couldn't help smiling as the link module began to activate.
Grace: Enough small talk! Well, you're already late
Ben: Oh yes! Damn, I'm going to be massacred by this raging tigress!
He hastened to lie down in the box and lower the neuroligic breastplate while Grace went to help him for the lid.
Grace: Don't do anything stupid, okay?
Ben with a smile: I'll try. But with the tigress who serves as my tutor, I can't guarantee anything.
Grace: I'm serious. Lutsey doesn't like humans very much, so don't get cute.
Ben: I'll do my best, ma'am, but I can't guarantee it.
Grace looked up at the sky with a sigh, before closing the lid. The former soldier closed his eyes and emptied his mind to start the connection.
When he finally woke up, he got a slap in the back of the head, waking him instantly.
He looked up and saw Lutsey staring at him with his arms crossed, his tail wagging energetically, an angry look on his face.
Lutsey: First day and already late! You're looking for my anger, aren't you?
Ben: Because you're not, already?
She clenched her fists to stop herself from hitting him in anger and just turned her heels. The young olo'eytktan was furious to see such disrespect towards him but given the circumstances of their meeting, what could she expect? She couldn't help but look at her hair and her face for a few moments as it stood up. Even though it was a tawtute, she could not help but admire this strange hair. It was stronger than her! The young olo'eyktan shook her head to withdraw from this observation and signaled to her apprentice to follow her.
Ben: A problem? You look weird.
Lutsey: Don't abuse my patience, demon.
He shrugged his shoulders in response.
The two crossed the gaze of many members of the clan who looked at the dream walker with a look that mixed hostility and curiosity. Then Lutsey took her to a fairly high branch and asked her to sit in front of her.
Lutsey with an inflexible look: Given your wounds, we'll start with something quieter.
Ben: Namely?
Lutsey: Learning our language and we're going to start with the basics.
Ben: Sorry? No offense, but I already know them!
Lutsey in a dry tone: You keep quiet, tawtute, and obey, and he obeys it by grumbling barely indistinct words.
The main thing was over in an hour and Lutsey decided to take it to the next level. It took three hours because the words she taught him afterwards, the majority of which were unknown to Tawtute, had to be repeated several times so that he could memorize them, which irritated the native who kept calling him every possible name. These words provoked a hateful look from the uniltiranyu that Lutsey ignored. At least he was beginning to make progress in pronunciation, even if it was tiny.
At the end of the afternoon, she taught him a little more about Eywa and how they looked at the forest. Although not very religious, Ben was curious and listened attentively to his tutor's words. He would not admit it, but he admired the link between the Na'vis and their environment. Something that was sorely missing for his species.
Moreover, he could feel the olo'eyktan's deep respect for their goddess and she did not fail to emphasize the importance of each being born of her hand, whether organic or vegetable. As he listened to her, Ben raised an intrigued eyebrow. The pilot knew the deep connection between the natives and nature. However, hearing Lutsey speak and observing the various ceremonies led by Joltsyn, he noted that the menariyas seemed to share a deeper bond than the usual clans. This may explain the clan's hostility and aggressive reaction to the RDA and its mining activities.
When the meal arrived, he had to taste the famous teylus. Although reluctant at first, the former soldier threw himself into the adventure, under the scurrying gaze of the twins and was surprised by the strange taste of it. He did not know how to describe it but he knew he liked it. In his human body he might have hated the taste, but not in this body. Perhaps the native part of his avatar's brain influenced his perception of taste? It was strange. He will certainly report this observation in his daily report.
Again, he was not given a hammock to rest in and he had to return to the place of his last night.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone