In the Field | Pandora Bio-Lab.

The heavy rotors of the SA-2 Samson whipped up a gale of tropical air, flattening the bioluminescent fern-fronds surrounding the clearing before finally dying down into a low, mechanical hum. The smell of raw, unfiltered Pandoran soil—rich, damp, and intensely alien—flooded into the open air as the ramp dropped.

Inside the mobile lab module dropped off near the forest edge, absolute chaotic energy immediately erupted.

"Watch the telemetry unit! Carefully, Norm, I swear to God..." Dr. Grace Augustine barked, hoisting a heavy, reinforced crate onto a field bench just outside the open doors. She wiped a smudge of dirt from her cheek, her tied khaki shirt and Stanford tank top already damp with jungle humidity. She looked utterly exhausted, yet completely in her element as she slapped a clip-board against her thigh.

Norm Spellman—standing a full ten feet tall and looking wildly out of place in his ridiculous green fishing vest, khaki shorts, and baseball cap—clutched a yellow waterproof field log to his chest like a shield. He ducked under a hanging vine, practically vibrating with nervous energy. "I'm being careful! I'm just saying, the environmental feedback parameters in this sector are far more complex than the baseline simulators prepared us for—"

"Norm, take a breath before you pass out," Grace cut him off with a heavy sigh, running a hand over her face before her sharp yellow eyes snapped toward Jake Sully.

Jake was currently standing near the tree line, flexing his massive blue toes directly into the Pandoran dirt, completely mesmerized by a cluster of heliconian plants. His tail switched wildly behind him, almost knocking a rack of bio-sample vials right out of Norm's reach. "So... do I touch these twitchy flower things or what?"

"Don't touch ANYTHING, Sully!" Grace snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose in absolute agony. She turned toward the shadows of the forest path leading into the site, letting out a rough exhale. "Please tell me somebody out here actually knows how to set up a perimeter bio-scanner, because these two are going to give me an aneurysm before sunset."