Still Breathing

Chapter 2. Chlorine

"I'm so sorry I forgot you." ~ Twenty One Pilots

As Erica sat in her mothers now empty house, reading up on everything she could about Doctor Augustine's knowledge on Pandora, she was interrupted by a knock at her front door. Confused, Erica slowly and cautiously made her way towards the door. When she opened it, she was met by two men wearing suits while holding an umbrella seeing as it was raining outside.

"Hi, we're looking for Erica Lambton. Is she home?" One of the men asked, tilting his head at the young blonde.

"Yup, that would be me." The two men looked at each other with the same confused look before turning to face her again.

"I'm sorry," The other man spoke up causing Erica to shift her gaze towards him. "But we were expecting someone a little more... qualified."

"What? Just because I'm young you don't think I'm qualified for the Avatar program?" She asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the door frame. The two men looked at her with wide eyes as she smirked at the two of them.

"It's not hard to put two and two together." She spoke almost sarcastically as she pushed herself off of the door frame, gesturing for the two men to join her inside. The two obliged as the one man closed his umbrella before entering the house.

"As you know, we are mostly using memories of previous soldiers on Pandora as our Avatar's this time." The taller man spoke as he sat down on the couch next to his partner. Erica was sitting across from them in a chair, legs crossed over one another as she tried her hardest to be intimidating.

"I'm aware." She spoke matter of factly, not breaking eye contact. The shorter man shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he cleared his throat before speaking.

"What makes you qualified. You don't have a PHD and you have no military skills." Erica felt her lips quirk up into a sly smile as if she was hoping they'd as her that question. She uncrossed her legs, leaning forward in her chair as she rested her elbows on her thighs.

"Well to be quite frank. You need me." Her tone was sharp as she cocked her head at them. "I mean, how many of these military men can speak Na'vi? Or know anything about the Na'vi?"

"Do you?" The taller one interrupted, looking slightly annoyed at her outburst. Erica chewed the inside of her cheek as she leaned back in her chair.

"Yes I do. More than you ever will, skxawng." Erica spoke in fluent Na'vi, stunning the two men. She felt a smirk overcome her face as they turned to talk amongst themselves for a moment. 

"How well did you do in high school sciences?" The shorter one asked.

Erica looked up to the ceiling as she tried her hardest to remember. Inhaling sharply through her teeth before speaking. "I think it was a 97. Maybe a 98." She shrugged, trying to keep a stone face as she added. "Unless you're talking about my grade nine science mark which was a 100."

The two men shared a look of amazement before the shorter one began to speak. "We're going to need to see-" He was cut off by Erica handing him her high school transcripts that he was about to ask for.

All of the marks showed 90s with her average being a 94%. Was any of it real? No, she faked the transcript. Her actual science mark in grade 9 was a 67% and then she never took it after that. But desperate times called for desperate measures. She would do whatever it took to go to Pandora, to finally meet her father.

The taller man walked towards her, handing her a small business card. "Go to that location on Friday. Bring whatever belongings you think you'll need on Pandora. This is where you'll learn more about the Avatar program and they'll start mixing your DNA with the Na'vi's."