LOG-017.Things, as always, had progressed given just a little bit of time, particularly when there weren't any big distractions halting said progress."Now now, just stand in front of the silly camera and try to look happy."The younger Na'vi in my grip practically growled at me through her wide grin, even as I used my hands to position Sylwanin slightly closer to a confused but infinitely less troublesome Neytiri, several flashes followed by the masked operator behind the camera giving us a thumbs up indicating that my efforts hadn't been in vain.Behind us, the sound of industrial machinery working away at trying to dig up magic space rocks without disturbing the countless corpses littering the spaces beneath the ground around the Omatikaya's hometree filled the air, hundreds of human men and women loitering around the area while their Na'vi counterparts begrudgingly watched them.Getting this far had already been an absolute trial of what few negotiation skills I'd managed to develop, and with the local clan's leadership constantly coming to me with concerns over damn near every little thing, there would likely be more tests in the future."Opal, why are we doing this?"Blinking at the interruption to my thoughts, I turned and glanced down at Neytiri, the young girl seemingly as curious as ever, even as Sylwanin pushed off of me with a growl, moving to stand by a bunch of other teenagers who were doing teenager things, like glaring at the RDA vehicles moving about and grumbling about not being allowed to set them on fire.I contemplated what answer to give for a long moment, before shrugging and going with the truth."Leverage."This time it was Neytiri's turn to blink, the Na'vi tilting her head slightly as she did so."Leverage? How do these 'photographs' give us leverage over the sky people?"Dropping to a kneeling posture, I wrapped one arm around the girl, gesturing up towards the sky with the other, only somewhat visible above the canopy of the immense trees that seemed to dominate this place."The ones here work for ones very, very far away, who live around distant stars. Those ones think that we are all getting along very well, and the more we make it seem that way, the more they prefer it. So long as we are not the ones to start any violence, the humans will not be able to either, caught up in their own rules as they are."The child seemed to consider that for a few seconds, before nodding quickly, a surprising amount of understanding flashing in her eyes."And so things like these 'photoshoots' will make it seem like we are being very friendly, and the…humans, will not want to be seen hurting their friends?"Smiling at how quick the kid was, I nodded."Correct. You're quite clever when you're not busy trying to mess with my kuru, you know. Maybe I'll ask your mother if I can borrow you sometime."The words earned me a giggle from the kid, even as one of the teams of workers manually trying to locate the unobtanium began to let out shouts, turning everyone's attention towards them, and more importantly, the vein they had apparently just found.Jackpot.—"Do you have any idea what kind of-of diseases the both of you could have picked up? I mean honestly we are talking about two separate biological specimens who have literally evolved along entirely different evolutionary lines! The fact humans and Na'vi even have similar reproductive organs is the most bizarre statistical anomaly recorded in the history of statistical anomalies!"I considered the doctor pacing back and forth in front of my oversized bed, feeling vaguely annoyed that she'd insisted I wear a medical gown during all of this, and responded with what felt like the most reasonable thing possible, considering the situation."Okay but is my cooch alright."The words earned a choking sound from a smaller bed nearby, as Parker turned and looked away, desperately trying not to die to his own spit. In turn, Grace just whipped around to glare at me with an incensed expression, spreading her arms wide as she did so."Where did you even learn that word?! I refuse to believe you sucked up cooch out of some dead marine's brain!"Bringing my hands together until the tips of my fingers were pressing against each other, I stared down the scientist until she finally groaned in disgust, palm coming up to gently smack against her face."Somehow, and I really do mean somehow, neither of you picked up anything, or had any kind of negative reaction. If it weren't so fucking stupid I'd honestly be incredibly intrigued by the biology behind it."A slight pause ensued, before being almost immediately followed up by a huff."Oh hell nevermind, I am intrigued by the biology behind it. Get out of my medical bay so I can run some blood tests in peace damn it."Smirking as Parker finally managed to beat his own body's attempt at killing him, I leaned back into my equally huge pillow and nodded with a hum."Cool, I need to go invest in more RDA stocks anyway. Just got a huge bonus to my account in exchange for my involvement with the whole hometree debacle.""Oh go fuck yourself Opal.""I have a guy for that actually.""GET OUT OF MY MEDICAL BAY!""Fine fine, don't get your Stanford panties in a twist."—Finally back in my proper outfit and staring at the small squadron of Samsons beginning to take off from the landing strip dominating most of Hell's Gate, I brought a hand up to keep the wind from pushing any hair into my face, forced to raise my voice ever so slightly in order to be heard by the older man standing across from me."You reckon they'll make it to the shore?!"Quaritch didn't respond until the wind from the aircraft had died down, and the screeching of the Kyra'meta Ikrans guiding them had faded into the distance, before turning to glance at me out of the corner of his eye, arms crossed like usually."With your scouts leading the way? I'd give them decent odds."Man, he'd really chilled out after being given the chance to kill a few motherfuckers, huh?Turning to watch the distant figures that represented the RDA's first attempt at scouting out my clan's old stomping grounds for useful mineral deposits, I frowned.I'd need to talk with Parker more about securing my legal claim to the area. The paperwork so far seemed pretty airtight, but I wasn't about to give up my biggest piece of leverage thanks to some bullshit legal loophole further down the line.…Or well, I'd need to talk to him after he finally got out of bed. Guy was almost definitely still tuckered out from last time, heh.