Intangible

2: Zola'u nìprrte'

We followed the red haired genius into the dimly lit room. It smelled too clean and somehow dirty all at once. Like a mint tea you leave out for too long. 

"Here's your avatar. Max is the expert, I'll let you two talk and then I have my own questions." She stated. Her inflections indicated slight irritation but I thought nothing of it. 

"Welcome!" An enthusiastic bearded man greeted. He offered his hand for a simple greeting. I shook his hand.

"Hi, you must be Max."

"Yeah, here's your avatar." He said. My eyes were drawn to the great blue tank. Within it's cylindrical walls, there was a thin, willowy woman. Her hair was strewn about in the tank, all of it was loose. From the base of her skull, there was a bright pink neural link. The Na'vi USB. The queue was a thick spiral of nerves and flesh strung tightly together. Beyond that, her five fingered hands and five toed feet were attached to slender limbs with some muscle. Her long narrow tail ended with a tuft of fur. Her body twitched and moved and she turned towards me. Her hand brushed the glass. 

She was beautiful. Her nose was cat-like and somewhat wide. Her mouth was like my own, two even and full lips. She had little to no brow hair, a widow's peak and a sharp jaw-line. her cheekbones were well defined and slightly protruding. She was very thin. The markings on her face were unique and almost heart or apple shaped. Like a thorny crown, tendrils of deep blue pointed to the center or at other tendrils. All centered. Her bioluminescent markings touched the tips of the tendrils and where the tendrils met the apple/heart shape. They streamed like tears down her face and met her jaw, chin, and neck. Two big spots where were here eyebrows were to be. 

"Are you still gawking at yourself?" Kip asked shamelessly.

"Yeah, I am beautiful, thank you." I said with a false tone of cheek. We chuckled and I couldn't help but notice Grace. 

"Grace, you wanted to talk to me?" She looked up from her nail biting and looked down at me.

"Yeah, how's your Na'vi?" She asked?

"I think it is good, maybe not perfect. But good." I responded.

"Not too bad. You should work on informal speech. It'll help when we talk with younger kids." She replied, "But anyway, I'm glad to have you on my team." We began to walk to the dorms with Kip close behind, "Your brother has shown exceptional talent with the children, he relates to them well but he's much better at learning. So, you'll be taking his place as the instructor for younger students ages eighteen to ten."

"Okay!"

"This is your room. Your roommate is another avatar driver. We're pretty overcrowded, so same-sex dorm separation isn't available. If he bothers you at all, I'll kick his ass." Grace whispered.

"If he lays a hand on you I will make pottery with his bones, glaze it with his tears, and fire it in the deepest pit of hell." He threatened. A threat no one should take lightly. In high school, I was being made fun of for my nerdy extracurriculars. So, he decides to hunt down and punch each kid who did. 

"I know, I'll tell you if he does. And I'll make sure to boil his teeth and brew them for the tea to go in the bone-pottery." I replied with a crooked smile. Grace looked confused and concerned but also thankful that she had two co-workers with humor. 

I hugged Kip and bid them farewell. I got to unpacking.

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My roommate's name is James Blue. He's okay. Nothing too mentionable. He's quiet, polite, he's not too bad looking either. He's only a few years older than I am, he has deep brown hair, pale skin, and warm oak colored eyes. But he's not great for conversation so I tend to keep to myself.

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My first transfer. Today. Nervous excitement. I feel like I'll throw up. 

I watched the xenobiologists slowly drain the amniotic tanks and "birth" the avatars. They dressed them and they braided my neural queue's protective braid. They clothed me, cleaned me, then they cleaned the tanks. 

"C'mon Eyo, I'll be there with you. It's not so bad." Kip said. He tugged me to my link chamber and prepped the link bed.

"Now, just relax. It's like falling asleep."

I nodded and got into the box. Just like the simulations.

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I felt like I felt like I was falling forward. A wind rushing past my face and a buzzing in my ear. A song?

I jolted upright immediately and plopped back down onto the mat. 

"Jesus fuck... can I get some water?" I asked while shielding my eyes from the blinding white lights of the "birth room". 

"Uh yeah, lemme get that." I saw Kip return shortly with a pitcher-size glass of water. At least it was to them, but to me? Hydroflask size. I realized that Kip looked very different in an avatar body. Much bulkier and somehow thin, long hair looks odd on his squared face. His perfect nose was replaced by a thinner cat nose. He wore a necklace made from bone and beads. 

"You look different." I commented.

"You look sick." 

"Bad or good."

"Depends. But you look generally unwell." He took the empty glass from me and held out his hands, "Let's try standing up."

I gulped and took his hands. I looked down at my slender body covered in a hospital gown. I looked back at Kip's reassuring smile.

"Okay."

I leaned forward on my legs and pushed up without straining at all. In fact, I was surprised this thin body held so much power despite never being used. 

"Let's not push it too far, now." Kip nervously laughed.

Regardless, I kept going and soon I was confident enough to begin teaching the following week.