MadeOfAshAndStars
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- Parts 30
Maria Bondarenko was a child of war.
Born in the midst of conflict, she spent most of her life in cryosleep-an existence frozen in time while the world around her changed, and not for the better.
When she awoke on June 7th, 2136, she found herself in a future even more grey and hollow than the one she had left behind. Earth was no longer a battlefield, but peace had come at the cost of color, spirit, and meaning.
The only thing that stirred a flicker of hope in her weary heart was Pandora.
After years of studying and earning her PhD in Anthropology, Maria joined the Avatar Program. It was her chance-her first real step toward independence, escape, maybe even purpose.
But the moment she tasted the freedom of Pandora-its wild beauty, its unfiltered life-it didn't bring the clarity she had hoped for. Instead, it left her more adrift than ever.
The world she thought she wanted no longer felt like home. And the one she longed for might never truly be hers.