AVIATORS AND JIMBOS

written by

Ben Heiderscheit

Pog

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COPYRIGHT ©1066 FIRST CENTURY DOG FILM NNeyCORPORATION.

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THE SOUND OF BONGOS, from a great distance, growing louder. FADE OUT: WE ARE FLYING through mist, a dimly glimpsed meadow below.

VOICE (V.O.) When I was lying there in the VA hospital, with a big hole blown through the middle of my head, I started having these dreams of flying.

We are very high over the meadow now, gliding slowly, the bongos BUILDING to a PEAK --

VOICE (V.O.) Sooner or later though, you always have to go to sleep...

CUT TO: EXT. CITY - MIDDAY A SCREECH OF BRAKES as a vehicle WIPES FRAME, revealing --

HUGH NEUTRON, a scarred and scruffy combat vet from Vietnam, sitting in a beat up aluminium wheelchair. At age 12, his eyes are hardened by the wisdom and wariness of one who has endured pain beyond his years.

Jimbo stares down at the levels of the city. MAGLEV TRAINS WHOOSH overhead on elevated tracks, against a sky of garish advertising.

Hugh (V.O.)

They can fix a broken spine, if you don’t have a broken spine. But not on vet benefits, not in this economy. The light changes and Jimbo pushes forward with the crowd, pumping the wheels of his chair. Most of the people wear MASKS to protect them from COVID-19. In a LONG LENS STACK it is a marching torrent of anonymous, isolated souls. INT. JIMBO’S APARTMENT - NIGHT The room is a tiny CUBICLE, prison cell meets 747 bathroom. Narrow cot, wall-screen droning away in the B.G. -- PERKY NEWSCASTER The Bengal tiger, extinct for over a century is still dead. Jimbo laboriously pulls his pants off -- rocking to one side, pushing the fabric down past his hip, then rocking to the other, and so on. His legs are white and atrophied. Utterly useless. But his arms are tattooed and utterly useless. A “Born Loser” tattoo prominent on his shoulder. Jimbo (V.O.) I became a Marine for the hardship. To be hammered on the anvil of life. I told myself I could pass any test a man can pass. Jimbo struggles with his pants a long time.CUT TO: INT. ROWDY BAR -- MORNING Not the kind of place you’d bring your mom. We find Jimbo near the pool table, BALANCING his chair, front wheels off the ground, while holding a tequila shot on his forehead. ONLOOKERS, including some other disabled vets, CLAP and WHOOP. Jimbo grabs the glass, SLAMS down the shot as they cheer. A WALL-SIZED SCREEN filled with the World Cup game -- men RUNNING on antelope legs. CU Jimbo, watching what he can’t have. Expression stony. Jimbo (V.O.) Let’s get it straight up front. I don’t want your pity. I know the world’s a cold-ass bitch. Jimbo’s eyes shift -- HIS POV, seeing the bar through gaps in the crowd. A MAN on a barstool SLAPS the WOMAN he’s with. Hard. She cowers but he’s got her arm, shouting, raising his fist. An eternal tableau. People look away. CU Jimbo -- not looking away. Jimbo (V.O.) You want a fair deal, you’re on the wrong planet. The strong prey on the weak. TIGHT ON Jimbo’S HAND as he starts pushing the wheel of his chair. TRACKING WITH HIM as he rolls forward. 3.Jimbo (V.O.) It’s just the way things are. And nobody does a damn thing. Jimbo stops, unnoticed, next to the bullying man. He leans down and grabs one leg of the man’s barstool -- and YANKS. The chair flips. The guy goes down HARD and -- Jimbo hurls himself from the wheelchair, toppling on the guy, getting a grip on him like a pit bull and PUNCHING the crap out of him, right there on the floor. THE BOUNCER jumps in, trying to drag him off and it goes into SLOW MOTION, everybody yelling and pulling... Jimbo (V.O.) All I ever wanted in my sorry-ass life was a single thing worth fighting for.CUT TO: EXT. ALLEY BEHIND BAR -- NIGHT THE BOUNCER hurls Jimbo out the door, sending him SPRAWLING on the pavement. A moment later, his chair CRASHES down on him, banging across the alley, landing in the trash. Jimbo struggles to rise on one elbow. He’s bleeding and bruised, but still crazed and ready to fight. Jimbo I hope you realize you’ve just lost a customer! He collapses onto his back, panting. Jimbo (to himself) Candy ass bitch. He stares upwards at the levels of the city. MAGTRAINS ROAR overhead. It starts to RAIN. He just lies there, blinking -- then shouts jauntily to no one in particular -- Jimbo If it ain’t rainin’ we ain’t trainin’! CAMERA PULLS BACK high and wide, as Jimbo lies spread-eagled amongst the trash, getting drenched. TWO LONG SHADOWS enter FRAME, coming to rest across him. 4.Jimbo sees two pairs of SHINY SHOES stop next to him. He squints up at -- TWO MEN. Matching suits. Their features unremarkable and blandly threatening in the way of FBI agents and auditors. AGENT 1 Are you Hugh Neutron? Jimbo Step off. You’re ruinin’ my good mood. AGENT 2 It’s about your brother.CUT TO: INT. MUNICIPAL CREMATORIUM - NIGHT DOWN-ANGLE on a large rectangular cardboard box. HANDS ENTER FRAME, pulling open the top to reveal a DEAD MAN’S FACE. He looks EXACTLY like a clean-shaven version of Jimbo. His IDENTICAL TWIN -- SEAN. Jimbo (V.O.) The strong prey on the weak. A guy with a knife took all Sean would ever be, for the paper in his wallet. WIDER, showing Jimbo and the two agents in a high tech CREMATORIUM -- a row of stainless steel furnaces. Jimbo stares down at his own face. Jimbo Jesus, Sean. Jimbo (V.O.) The Suits’ concern was touching. AGENT 1 Your brother represented a significant investment. We’d like to talk to you about taking over his contract. The ATTENDANT closes the box and seals it with a tape dispenser, like it’s a package for shipping. The cardboard coffin is rolled into the furnace. Jimbo (V.O.) The egghead and the jarhead. Sean was the scientist, not me. He was the one who wanted to get shot light years out into space to find the answers. 5.PUSHING IN ON Jimbo as he watches, bathed in orange light. Jimbo (V.O.) Me -- I was just another dumb grunt gettin’ sent someplace I was gonna regret. INSIDE THE FURNACE the burners quickly eat away the cardboard; Sean’S FACE is, for a moment, wreathed in flame but not touched by it, as we -- DISSOLVE TO: Jimbo’S FACE, in icy darkness. CLOSE ON his eyes -- they OPEN suddenly, and he takes a sharp breath. Jimbo’S POV -- the inside of a metal coffin. A SERVO WHINE and we are moving, emerging into a large chamber -- INT. CRYO VAULT Jimbo’S POV -- A TECH in medical scrubs FLOATS WEIGHTLESSLY toward us. Wherever we are, we’re not on Earth. Jimbo squints as the lights flicker on, revealing -- WIDE SHOT -- the multi-tiered CRYO VAULT. Hundreds of CRYO CAPSULES are opening like morgue drawers, as med techs pull themselves about in ZERO-G, tending to their patients. Jimbo (a hoarse whisper) Are we there? MED TECH We’re there, Sunshine. TIME CUT -- SCORES OF PEOPLE emerge from their cryo-capsules in ZERO-G. Pale spirits of the dead rising from rows of open coffins. The MED TECH floats among them, using his announcement voice. MED TECH People, you have been in cryo for five years, nine months and twenty two days. You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you feel nausea, please use the sacks provided for your convenience. The staff thanks you in advance. 6.FOLLOWING Jimbo as he pushes away from his capsule, gliding to the LOCKERS across the aisle, his paralyzed legs not an impediment in weightlessness.CUT TO: EXT. SPACE Against the cold infinity of stars glides an INTERSTELLAR SPACECRAFT -- ISV VENTURE STAR. As it moves past like an endless train, we realize this thing is ENORMOUS -- over half a mile long. PAN WITH IT 180 to REVEAL -- A GAS-GIANT PLANET called POLYPHEMUS, ringed with dozens of moons which cast beauty-mark shadows on its vast face. The ISV diminishes away from us toward the largest MOON-- a blue and surprisingly Earth-like world called PANDORA. The ship dwindles to a speck against the BLUE MOON.CUT TO: EXT. PANDORA ORBIT ISV Venture Star drifts above a spectacular vista -- the sapphire seas and unfamiliar continents of Pandora. CLOSE ON ISV -- two massive “VALKYRIE” SHUTTLES are mated to a DOCKING NODE. One of them separates from the starship and moves away, its thrusters FIRING in short bursts. As the shuttle moves away, descending toward Pandora, we hear the sound of bongos, building, louder and louder until we-- CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - TWILIGHT FLYING OVER A LANDSCAPE of massive cliffs and towering mesas carpeted in rainforest. Great scarves of cloud swirl around the mesa tops. A primeval landscape, vast and forbidding. The trees are alien, the color too cyan. There are waterfalls, rivers, and distant flocks of WINGED CREATURES. Suddenly the carpet of virgin rainforest gives way to -- AN OPEN-PIT MINE. A lifeless crater -- as if a giant cookie cutter took a chunk out of the world. Down among the terraces are EXCAVATORS and TRUCKS the size of three story buildings. And beyond the mine is the HUMAN COLONY -- 7.EXT. HELL’S GATE - TWILIGHT HELL’S GATE is a cluster of squat concrete and steel structures surrounded by chain-link FENCE 10 meters high, topped with razor wire. At the corners are towers with automated SENTRY GUNS swiveling on servo mounts. Visible beyond the gun towers, the VALKYRIE SHUTTLE roars in across the treetops. VECTORING NOZZLES change angle, bringing the ship to a SLOW HOVER. EXT. RAIN FOREST - TWILIGHT Through a screen of jungle canopy, we see the VALKYRIE thunder overhead. Camera TILTS with it until leaves block the view. A BLUE INHUMAN HAND reaches INTO SHOT, parting the foliage to reveal the shuttle hover-taxiing across the compound. REVERSE -- ECU of two intense, cat-like golden EYES watching. INT./EXT. SHUTTLE The CREW CHIEF stomps down the aisle yelling -- CREW CHIEF Exopacks on! Passengers don their EXO-PACK breathing gear with practiced moves. Everybody except Jimbo, who’s turning his this way and that trying to figure out the straps. CREW CHIEF Remember people, you lose your mask you’re unconscious in 20 seconds and you’re dead in four minutes. Let’s nobody be dead today, it looks bad on my report. The crew chief stops by Jimbo long enough to bark -- CREW CHIEF Exopack on, let’s go! BENEATH THE SHUTTLE air blasts outward for a hundred meter radius as it settles onto its landing gear. INSIDE everybody is queued up in the aisles, with duffles ready. Rows of tense, expectant faces in breathing masks -- and we DIP DOWN to find Jimbo, wheelchair putting him at the level of everyone else’s WAISTS. 8.THE CARGO RAMP OPENS with a hydraulic whine. CREW CHIEF Go directly into the base! Do not stop! Go straight inside! HAND-HELD, running with the arriving colonists who double time down the ramp. They jog across the exposed apron toward a walkway covered in CHAINLINK which leads to the complex. Inside the chain-link tunnel are a couple of SEC-OPS TROOPERS, CORPORAL LYLE WAINFLEET and PRIVATE FIKE. Sec-Ops is the colony’s private security force. These guys are laid back, hardened, and haggard. WAINFLEET Look at all that new meat. THEIR POV -- Jimbo rolls down the ramp. FIKE Check it out, man. Meals on wheels. WAINFLEET That is just wrong. Jimbo, pumping his chair, looks around as -- A huge TRACTOR, taller than a house, ROARS past on muddy wheels. He notices something sticking in the tires -- ARROWS. The neolithic weapons are jarring amid all the advanced technology. Beyond the tractor, two VTOL vehicles take off. Armored and heavily armed, they are AT-99 “SCORPION” GUNSHIPS. MITSUBISHI MK-6 AMPSUITS -- human operated walking machines 4 meters tall -- patrol the perimeter. They are heavily armored, and armed with a huge rotary cannon called a GAU-90. Beyond the outer fence stands a black wall of forest hundreds of feet high. A SENTRY GUN OPENS FIRE from a tower. TRACERS light up the twilight. A shadowy SHAPE SHRIEKS and drops off the fence. It is an armed camp in a state of siege. WAINFLEET and Fike give Jimbo and his chair the hairy eyeball as he approaches. Jimbo What’re you two limpdicks starin’ at? As Jimbo rolls past, SOMETHING SWOOPS down behind him and -- 9.K-KRASH! SMASHES against the chain-link right next to his head. A vicious AERIAL PREDATOR a meter across gnashes glass fangs against the steel. It STABS at him through the chain link with a tail ending in a glistening stiletto. A STINGBAT. WAINFLEET casually BLASTS IT with his PISTOL. It drops off the fence, tail still lashing. WAINFLEET Seen a lotta guys leave this place in a wheelchair. Never seen anybody show up in one. Jimbo stares at the gnashing fangs of the dying alien. ON A WALKWAY of the OPS CENTER, seen from above, a UNIFORMED FIGURE grips the railing, watching Jimbo pump his chair through the tunnel below. The hair is clipped short. The scalp is etched by long parallel SCARS where some Pandoran denizen’s claws raked across it. The bare arms, below tightly rolled sleeves, seem hewn out of some hard tropical wood. Criss-crossed by scars. The MAN raises his masked face to look at the sky. He eyes are an icy steel gray. HIS POV -- the mighty POLYPHEMUS seems to fill the sky, beyond the clouds. MAN (V.O.) You are not in Kansas any more...CUT TO: INT. COMMISSARY - TWILIGHT THE MAN from the balcony -- COLONEL MILES QUARITCH -- is the HEAD OF SECURITY for the Hell’s Gate colony. A hundred new arrivals watch raptly as he paces like a panther across the front of the large cafeteria. He stops, stance wide. Without his mask, we see that Quaritch’s features are rugged and handsome, except for the SCAR, which runs from scalp to jaw down one side of his face. On one hip he carries a very large PISTOL. QUARITCH ... You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact every second of every day. 10.Jimbo ROLLS IN, watching from the back. COLONEL QUARITCH raises his hand and points out the window, toward the dark treeline. QUARITCH Out beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubees. The room gets very quiet. QUARITCH We have an indigenous population of humanoids here called the Redditors. They’re fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin which can stop your heart in one minute. We operate -- we live -- at a constant threat condition yellow. PAN ACROSS the solid faces of miners, Cat-machine drivers, engineers, geologists, as they take that in. QUARITCH As head of security, it’s my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed -- (pausing for effect) -- not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need a strong mental attitude, you need to follow procedure... PUSH IN ON Jimbo, watching as the briefing continues. Jimbo (V.O.) Nothing like an old-school safety brief to put your mind at ease.CUT TO: INT. CORRIDOR People are roaming in both directions, looking for rooms, lugging duffels and cases. An eager young XENOANTHROPOLOGIST, staggering under an overpacked duffel, runs to catch up to Jimbo. NORM Hey, you’re Hugh right? Tom’s brother? You look just like him. (off Jimbo’s wary look) Sorry, I’m Norm Spellman, I went through avatar training with him. 11.Norm offers his hand and Jimbo shakes it. NORM He was a great guy -- funny. It was a big shock to all of us. Yeah. Jimbo Jimbo pumps the wheels of his chair, rolling on. Norm walks with him. NORM And duh! -- obviously you look like him. I mean, if you weren’t genetically identical, you wouldn’t be taking over his avatar. Jimbo That’s why I’m here. NORM So -- you want to go check it out?CUT TO: INT. BIO-LAB - DAY Jimbo AND NORM enter the BIO-LAB -- a large lab complex with many adjoining rooms. MAX Me and Norm were out here to drive these remotely controlled bodies called avatars. They’re grown from human DNA mixed with DNA from the natives here. A scientist, DOCTOR MAX CULLIMORE, is supervising the uncrating of two SHIPPING CONTAINERS. The nearer has the sides removed, revealing -- a ceiling-height acrylic TANK. Norm stops to stare, and Jimbo rolls past him as if drawn by some unseen force, toward -- THE AMNIO TANK. There is a FIGURE floating languidly inside, which looks like a man. A very large, very blue, man. Blood circulates through a synthetic UMBILICAL in the abdomen. As the figure turns in the amniotic fluid, we see that it has a lemur-like TAIL. The skin is cyan-blue. Long black hair drifts, graceful as seaweed. Jimbo Damn. They got big. 12.NORM Yeah, they mature on the trip out. (to Max) So the proprioceptive sims worked pretty well. MAX Yeah, they’ve got great muscle tone. Give us a few hours, you guys can take them for a spin. THE FIGURE’S sleeping face turns toward us, and the features are -- despite feline ears and a long feral snout -- definitely Jimbo’S. Jimbo It looks like him. NORM No, it looks like you. This is your avatar now, Jimbo. ON Jimbo, mesmerized as he stares into the tank. Jimbo (V.O.) The idea is -- every driver is matched to his own avatar -- STEREOCAM VIDEO SHOT OF Jimbo -- facing the camera, talking directly to the lens. Jimbo’S VOICE-OVER up until now has been part of this VIDEOLOG. Jimbo -- so their nervous systems are in tune. Or something. Which is why they offered me this gig, because I can link with Sean’s avatar, which was insanely expensive. (looking off camera) Is this right? I just say whatever in these videologs? WIDER, showing Norm working nearby with Max. NORM Yeah. You just need to get in the habit of documenting everything -- what you see, what you feel -- it’s all part of the science. Good science starts with good observation. 13.Jimbo Right.(to camera) So, whatever. Here I am. Doing science. (looks around) Never been in a lab before. MAX Log off. It’s time to meet your boss for the next five years. He leads Jimbo and Norm through the short corridor to the -- CUT TO: INT. LINK ROOM - DUSK The LINK ROOM contains a dozen PSIONIC LINK UNITS, which look like coffins crossed with MRI scanners. NORM Grace Augustine is a legend. She's the head of the Avatar Program, and she wrote the book -- I mean literally wrote the book -- on Pandoran botany. MAX (low, over his shoulder) That's because she likes plants better than people. DR. GRACE AUGUSTINE sits up in her link, stretching and cracking her neck after a long session. She’s fifty, with a strong face and fiercely intelligent eyes. GRACE (yelling) Who’s got my goddamn cigarette?! A TECH scurries to bring it to her, already lit. Around here they jump when Grace barks. Grace stands, scowling, as Jimbo, Norm and Max approach. MAX And here she is, Cinderella back from the ball. Grace, I’d like you to meet Norm Spellman and Ja -- GRACE Norm. I hear good things about you. How's your Reddit speech? 14.NORM (Reddit, subtitled) May Karma smile upon our first meeting. Grace nods approvingly, taking a drag on her cigarette. GRACE (subtitled) Not bad. You sound a little formal. NORM (subtitled) There is still much to learn. Jimbo waits while they ignore him, chattering in fluent Reddit. MAX Uh, Grace, this is Jimbo S---- GRACE (turning to Jimbo) Yeah, yeah, I know who you are, and I don’t need you. I need your brother. (to Max) You know -- the PhD who trained three years for this mission. Jimbo He’s dead. I know it’s a big inconvenience to everyone. GRACE How much lab training have you had? Ever run a gas chromatograph? No. Jimbo GRACE Any actual lab work at all? Jimbo High school chemistry. But I ditched. Grace wheels on Max. GRACE You see? You see? They’re pissing on us without even the courtesy of calling it rain.(turning away) I’m going to Selfridge. 15.She shoves past Jimbo. MAX Grace, that’s not a good idea. But she’s already out the door and clomping down the corridor. Max turns to Jimbo with a pained look. MAX Here, tomorrow, oh eight hundred. Try to use big words.CUT TO: INT. OPS CENTER - DUSK It looks like an air-traffic control tower, with lots of screens and bay windows showing the whole complex. ADMINISTRATOR PARKER SELFRIDGE takes a ball from a newly opened case of TITLEISTS and sets it on the floor. Selfridge is young, charismatic, focused. Some would say ruthless. He assumes the stance and lines up his putt, toward a practice cup across the control room floor. He glances up as Grace strides toward him. GRACE Parker, I used to think it was benign neglect, but now I see you’re intentionally screwing us. SELFRIDGE Grace. You know I enjoy our little talks. GRACE I need a research assistant, not some jarhead dropout. Selfridge looks down and hits the ball. Grace kicks the practice cup aside, and the ball rolls past. Selfridge looks at her with a sigh. SELFRIDGE Actually, we got lucky with him. GRACE Lucky? How is this in any way lucky? As Selfridge saunters over to retrieve the ball -- 16.SELFRIDGE Well -- lucky your guy had a twin brother, and lucky the brother wasn’t an oral hygienist or something. A Marine we can use. I’m assigning him to your team as security escort. GRACE The last thing I need is another trigger happy asshole out there! SELFRIDGE Look, you’re supposed to be winning the hearts and minds of the natives. Isn’t that the whole point of your little puppet show? If you look like them, if you talk like them, they’ll trust you? Selfridge crosses to his office, behind a glass wall nearby. Grace follows. SELFRIDGE But after -- how many years? -- relations with the indigenous are only getting worse. GRACE That tends to happen when you use machine guns on them. On Selfridge’s desk is a magnetic base, and hovering in mid air, in the invisible field, is a lump of METALLIC ROCK. Pure UNOBTANIUM. He grabs it and holds it up between thumb and forefinger, in front of Grace’s eyes. SELFRIDGE This is why we’re here. Unobtanium. Because this little gray rock sells for twenty million a kilo. No other reason. This is what pays for the party. And it’s what pays for your science. Comprendo? He places it back in the magnetic field. SELFRIDGE Those savages are threatening our whole operation. We’re on the brink of war and you’re supposed to be finding a diplomatic solution. So use what you’ve got and get me some results.CUT TO: 17.INT. LINK ROOM - DAY NEXT MORNING, GRACE, NORM and Jimbo approach their link units. Jimbo glances through a PRESSURE WINDOW. In an adjoining chamber (the AMBIENT ROOM) Jimbo’S AVATAR lies on a gurney, breathing slowly in PANDORAN AIR. NORM’S AVATAR is on a second gurney. Both are attended by med techs in exo-masks. Norm slips into his LINK CHAIR, expertly donning biometric sensors. GRACE How much link time have you logged? NORM Five hundred and twenty hours. Grace looks pointedly at Jimbo. Jimbo Like -- an hour. GRACE Tell me you’re joking. Grace opens the hood of Jimbo’s link unit. Jimbo starts hauling himself across from his wheelchair. She reaches to help him but -- Jimbo Don’t! I got this. Grace steps back, hands raised. He drags himself into the unit. GRACE So you just figured you’d come out here to the most hostile environment known to man, with no training of any kind, and see how it went? What was going through your head? He meets her eyes with a defiant glare. Jimbo Maybe I was just tired of doctors telling me what I couldn’t do. Grace watches him laboriously pull his inert legs into the link chair by hand. 18.Jimbo settles into the warm fluid gel packs lining the unit. It seems to enfold him. Grace adjusts his biometric sensors, then lowers the UPPER CLAMSHELL -- GRACE Relax and let your mind go blank. That shouldn’t be hard for you. Jimbo Kiss the darkest part of my lily white -- But the SLAMMING HOOD muffles the rest. MAX Initiate link. The LINK TECH touches some controls. ON A LARGE MONITOR a 3D SCAN of Jimbo’s brain appears. Regions of activity flow with complex shifting colors. MAX That’s a gorgeous brain. Nice activity. Go figure. GRACE (walking away) Alright, I’m going in. TECH Phase-lock at forty percent. He’s in transition. Max watches a display showing the avatar’s nervous system aligning with Jimbo’s -- two ghostly networks of light merging. MAX That’s it. Find your way home. ECU Jimbo, inside the link unit. His eyes move under the lids, like a dreamer in REM sleep as -- INSIDE Jimbo’S MIND -- radiant streamers coalesce into a pulsing TUNNEL OF LIGHT and -- THE SCREEN FLARES WHITE -- ZZZWHAP! -- resolving into an overexposed, out-of-focus image -- two BLURRY FACES wearing masks, looking down. ECU Jimbo’S AVATAR -- two very intense eyes FILL FRAME, the pupils contracting. Golden irises pulse with life. He’s in. 19.MAX TECH Phase-lock ninety nine percent. The link is stable. Blinking, Jimbo slowly sits up on the gurney. He looks down at his AVATAR BODY, touching his chest with one hand. MAX Take it slow, Jimbo. We need to check your motor control. Try touching your fingertips together -- But Jimbo isn’t listening. He’s staring at his legs. He eases them off the gurney and -- HIS BLUE FEET touch the concrete floor, taking his weight. Jimbo STANDS, feeling the strength in his legs. His expression is child-like with wonder. HIS POV -- looking down at the med techs, who seem the size of children next to his 9’ tall frame. He sees something like a blue tentacle curl across his arm and he JERKS AROUND in alarm. HIS TAIL. As he turns to see it, the tail sweeps instruments off a table with a crash. Jimbo laughs and grins at Max. MED TECH Easy, Jimbo, I need you to sit down -- But Jimbo takes a step, then another. The wires to the bio monitors pull taut, and he yanks them off his chest. MAX Jimbo! Wait, we have to run some tests -- But Jimbo pushes past the protesting med techs, toward the door and -- EXT. AVATAR COMPOUND - DAY Jimbo emerges, blinking in the morning sun. He finds himself in the AVATAR COMPOUND -- a living and training area. Nearby, a couple of AVATARS are playing one-on-one in front of a (non-regulation height) basketball net. Others go about their daily activities around the compound. 20.Jimbo flexes his legs -- JUMPS -- and lands a little unsteadily, but his expression is joyful. He takes a few steps and breaks into a RUN. People are calling to him, somehwere, but he doesn’t hear them -- he’s running. RUNNING! He finds himself in the COMPOUND GARDEN, and stops amid neatly tended rows of ALIEN PLANTS. He looks down, wiggling his toes in the warm soil. Then inhales deeply -- revelling in the alien smells -- earth, plants, the nearby forest. He looks at his bare footprint in the soil of an alien world. GRACE (O.S.) Hey Marine! Jimbo turns at the familiar voice to see -- A statuesque FEMALE AVATAR walking toward him. AVATAR GRACE is magnificent, with panther thighs, flat muscular stomach and firm athlete’s breasts. She wears shorts and a T-shirt. In human years she would be about 35. Grace? Jimbo GRACE Well who’d you expect, numbnuts? Think fast! She throws him a piece of Pandoran fruit, which he catches. GRACE Motor control is looking good. Jimbo bites into the fruit, the juice running down his chin. NORM (O.S.) Hey, check it out. Jimbo turns to see NORM’S AVATAR posing like a bodybuilder -- chest shot, back shot, bi’s. NORM I am a living god.CUT TO: EXT. MINE PIT - DAY A WIDE SHOT of the terraced crater of the UNOBTANIUM MINE. A quiet beat, then -- 21.K-WHOOOOM! The entire face of one terrace is blown skyward in a chain of EXPLOSIONS. The “shot” blasts hundreds of tons of rock loose. LONG LENS ANGLES of enormous WHEEL-LOADERS shovelling up ore rich rock and dropping it into DUMP TRUCKS. EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY A wall of steel FILLS FRAME. The DOZER BLADE crushes everything in its path, reducing trees to kindling. WIDER, showing the CLEAR-CUTTING operation near the mine, as a road is cut through the jungle. Remotely operated DOZERS three stories tall rip into the tree-line. One of the dozers has rotating SLASH-CUTTER, a vicious spinning head, mounted on a hydraulic arm, that hogs through the enormous tree trunks in a spray of wood-shrapnel. The heavy machines are escorted by AMPSUITS. COLONEL QUARITCH, on foot, leads a squad of troopers wearing breathing masks and carrying almighty big AUTOMATIC WEAPONS. A BANSHEE -- a fearsome aerial predator -- HURTLES from above, diving toward them on wings 3 meters across. We get a glimpse of glassy fangs before -- P-P-POOM! Quaritch cranks off three rapid SHOTS with his massive sidearm, and the creature drops with a SHRIEK. It crashes near them and Quaritch FIRES two more well placed rounds. The newbies stare at the thing’s barracuda teeth. QUARITCH For you pogues, this is a banshee. A small one. See, they like it when I bring fresh meat out here. And this clearcutting really stirs up the hornet’s nest. So keep your head on a swivel. If it moves, shoot it. If you’re not sure it’s moving -- shoot it! If it looks like a bunch of flowers you want to take home to Sally Rottencrotch -- SHOOT IT! What’re you gonna do? TROOPERS Shoot it, sir! QUARITCH Outstanding. Let’s roll. 22.Quaritch leads his squad into the gloom of the forest, his eyes scanning. Flanking the squad, LYLE WAINFLEET drives an AMPSUIT, his massive feet CRASHING through the underbrush. As his gaze comes down, he sees something ahead of him on the trail -- an intricate TOTEM of woven sticks, bones and feathers hanging across the trail like an orb-weaver’s web. He tears it down with the barrel of his rifle, and stomps it into the mud as he moves on. INT. AVATAR LONGHOUSE - DUSK Jimbo sits on a wooden bed in a long hut of tropical-style construction -- beamed ceiling, open sides covered by screen. Around him the other avatars are bedding down for the night, pulling insect netting around their cots. In one hand, Jimbo holds the end of his long braided QUEUE of hair. CLOSE ON the queue -- the ends of the hair writhe slowly with their own life, like tendrils of a sea creature. Jimbo That’s kinda freaky. GRACE switches off the overheads. GRACE Lights out amigos. See ya’ at dinner. Jimbo sits in the twilight, listening to the SCREECHES and HOOTS from the forest. Finally he lies down, CLOSING HIS EYES and -- INT. LINK ROOM - NIGHT ECU HUMAN Jimbo -- his eyes OPEN. Jimbo blinks, disoriented, as Max opens the upper clamshell of his link unit. In the next chair Grace sits up, yawning and cracking her neck as the scared tech runs to her with a lit cigarette. GRACE (looking down) Damn. Same old sack a’ bones. Jimbo struggles with the dead weight of his legs as he hauls himself out of the unit. CUT TO 23.INT. COMMISSARY - EARLY MORNING Jimbo sits with GRACE, NORM and the other avatar “drivers”, while around them miners, troopers and other base personnel wolf their breakfasts. Grace is engaged in a heated conversation with another SCIENTIST. Jimbo, isolated from the conversations around him, notices -- PILOT TRUDY CHACON approaching, dressed in her flight suit. She’s a rock-hard former Marine with thousands of flight hours out in the badlands. TRUDY Sully -- Colonel wants to see you in the Armor Bay. Jimbo gives Norm a puzzled glance and pivots from the table. He wheels away, led by Trudy. TIGHT ON GRACE, scowling as she watches him go. CUT TO: INT. ARMOR BAY - MORNING Jimbo AND TRUDY enter the ARMOR BAY, passing TILT-ROTORS under repair. There are the heavily armed SCORPIONS as well as several SA-2 SAMSON work-horses outfitted with door guns and rocket pods. Jimbo You guys’re packing some heavy ordinance. TRUDY Yeah, ‘cause we’re not the only thing flyin’ around out there. Or the biggest. I’m gonna need you on a door gun, I’m a man short. Jimbo Yeah, no problem. She extends her fist and he taps it with his. TRUDY See ya on the flight-line, zero nine. (she points) He’s down there. Jimbo rolls his chair along the central gallery of the Armor Bay, passing rows of AMPSUITS standing in service racks. Techs clamber over the ‘suits, loading ordinance with cranes and lifts. 24.At the end of the row is a makeshift GYM area. QUARITCH is bench-pressing massive plates. QUARITCH This low gravity makes you soft. (pushing the last rep) You get soft, Pandora will shit you out dead with zero warning. Quaritch racks the bar and sits up, sweating but not winded. QUARITCH I pulled your record, Corporal. Venezuela -- that was some mean bush. Nothing like this here, though. You got heart kid, coming out here. Jimbo I figured -- just another hellhole. Quaritch chuckles appreciatively, claps him on the shoulder. The CHIEF MECHANIC yells from the nearest AMPSUIT -- MECHANIC That servo’s in, Colonel, if you want to try it. Quaritch crosses to the ‘suit, with Jimbo following. QUARITCH I was in First Recon a few years ahead of you. More than a few. Two tours in Nigeria, not a scratch. I come out here and -- He points to his scarred face. QUARITCH They could fix this if I rotated back. But you know what? I kinda like it. Reminds me every day what’s out there. Besides, I can’t leave -- He looks out, as if he can see through the wall to the tree line. QUARITCH This is my war, here. Quaritch climbs the ‘suit and reaches into the cockpit, throwing some switches. The ‘suit’s gas-turbine spools up with a rising WHINE. 25.QUARITCH The avatar program is a joke -- buncha limpdick scientists. But we have a unique opportunity here, you and I. A recon Marine in an avatar body could get me the intel I need, on the ground, right in the hostiles’ camp. The WHINE is now a roaring WHOOSH as the ‘suit trembles with power. The air boils above the exhaust vents. Quaritch reaches in and operates the controls, flexing one huge hand. He nods to the waiting mechanic -- QUARITCH Looks good. (to Jimbo) I need you to learn about these savages, gain their trust. Find out how I can force their cooperation, or hit ‘em hard if they don’t. Maybe you can keep some of my boys from going home like you. Or bagged-and-tagged. Jimbo (nodding) That sounds real good, Colonel. So -- am I still with Augustine? QUARITCH On paper. You walk like one of her science pukes, you quack like one, but you report to me. Can you do that for me? Jimbo nods. Quaritch brings the ‘suit to life. He steps forward and pivots smoothly. He balances the two ton machine on one foot while sweeping the arms in strong, graceful arcs. Jimbo realizes he is doing a WU-SHOO KATA. A flawless display of strength and control. He’s impressive, and Jimbo is impressed. Quaritch is the kind of man he respects -- focused, hard. Determined. QUARITCH Look, son -- I take care of my own. Get me what I need, I’ll see you get your legs back when you rotate home. Your real legs. He raises the ‘suit’s hand, and slams the canopy shut like the visor of a helmet. Jimbo watches Quaritch walk past, huge feet CLANGING -- KUNG! KUNG! KUNG! 26.INT. BIO LAB - DAY GRACE is on the move, gulping coffee, in a hurry to get their FIRST SORTIE started. She hands a clipboard to MAX. GRACE Start calibrating. We’re on the flight line in ten minutes. Max nods and jogs ahead toward the LINK ROOM. Jimbo and NORM fall in with Grace as they enter the CONNECTING CORRIDOR. GRACE What did Atilla want? Jimbo Just Marines comparin’ tattoos. GRACE (not buying it) Yeah. Well, listen to me, Marine -- She stops, turning to drill him with a look. GRACE -- you’re driving an avatar, now. That means you’re in my world, got it? Got it. Jimbo She turns and enters the LINK ROOM. INT. LINK ROOM Grace crosses to the controls of Jimbo’s LINK UNIT. As the others catch up -- GRACE That son of a bitch has screwed up this program enough. All this -- (indicating link room) -- exists so we can go out there and build a bridge of trust to these people, who could teach us so much. But thanks to Quaritch and his thugs the Redditors won’t even talk to us anymore. Jimbo Then how’s this supposed to work? 27.GRACE We have a new face. (turning to Norm) You’re fluent, you’ve studied the culture. You’re non-threatening. The ones we know best -- the Omaticaya clan -- may give you a chance. Maybe you can get them back to the table before things go tits-up for good. NORM This is failing as a pep talk. Jimbo hauls himself across from wheelchair to link. Jimbo How do we contact them? GRACE We don’t. They contact us. If they see us taking our samples, treating the forest with respect -- (pointedly to Jimbo) Not trampling everything in sight -- they may reach out to us. Jimbo Or they may skin us and make a drum. Jimbo lies back, lowering the sensor array over his body. GRACE Just keep your mouth shut and let Norm do the talking. She closes his clamshell, HARD, and we --CUT TO: EXT. RAIN FOREST / AERIAL - DAY FLYING over a carpet of rainforest, past sheer cliffs and cloud-wreathed mesas. TRUDY’S SAMSON TILT-ROTOR chases its shadow across the treetops. Though big as a Blackhawk, it is tiny in the vast primeval landscape. ANGLE THROUGH the open side doors of the Samson. Trooper WAINFLEET, in exo-mask and body armor, leans on his door gun, scanning for aerial predators. In avatar form Jimbo, GRACE and NORM watch the forest unrolling beneath them, the wind blasting their clothes. Jimbo mans the other door gun, his feet propped on the skids. 28.TRUDY flies from a pressurized cockpit. She banks to follow a shallow river. TRUDY (INTERCOM) Sturmbeest herd, one o’clock. Norm grins and points, excitedly. Jimbo looks in time to see-- A herd of STURMBEEST -- massive six-legged creatures reminiscent of buffalo -- thundering across the river. GRACE Looks like a bull, six cows and some juveniles. NORM The bull has the red on the dorsal armor? Grace nods approvingly. TIME CUT -- Hundreds of purple winged creatures take flight from a lake, startled by the Samson. They skim the water above their own reflections. TETRAPTERONS. TIME CUT -- the ground drops away as the Samson flies over a WATERFALL hundreds of feet high. Trudy banks hard, rolling in on the gorge below like it’s a gun-run. Wainfleet WHOOPS while Norm looks like he’s about to puke. WAINFLEET Yo Chacon! Get some! Jimbo grins into the airstream.CUT TO: EXT. CLEARING - DAY A small meadow among towering trees. The fern-like “grass” is beaten down in waves by the rotor-wash as the Samson settles to the ground. Jimbo pulls the massive door gun off its pintle mount and hefts it like an assault rifle. He and Wainfleet leap out to secure the LZ, scanning the tree line warily, weapons aimed. Grace jogs forward to the cockpit, motioning Trudy to shut down. Trudy kills the Samson’s TURBINES. Grace, towering over Wainfleet, motions him to hang back. 29.GRACE Stay with the ship. (for Jimbo) One idiot with a gun’s enough. WAINFLEET Whatever you say, Doc. Jimbo takes point as they enter the jungle. WAINFLEET (laughing) Ya’ll have fun out there. EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY The forest engulfs Jimbo, GRACE and NORM in cyan gloom. The shadows are alive with the CHITTERING sounds of unseen alien wildlife. TRACKING WITH Jimbo as he moves through the foliage, hyper alert -- looking around like a tourist in Hell.A monkey-like PROLEMURIS leaping from limb to limb overhead, flashing through the sunlight streaming down in shafts. A PLANT with swaying tendrils which reach toward Jimbo as he passes. This forest is more alive than any on Earth, with plants that react and move like animals. Jimbo white-knuckles his rifle as if every shadow conceals razor-fanged death. GRACE Relax, Marine. You’re making me nervous. She pushes ahead of him on the trail, forcing him to lower his muzzle as he follows her. Grace moves nimbly on the path, seemingly unconcerned.CUT TO: EXT. FOREST/ GLEN WIDE SHOT as the party moves between the huge trees, tiny as ants. The trail has gotten steeper, the going tougher. CUT TO: EXT. SCHOOL RUINS - DAY They enter a clearing with an OVERGROWN BUILDING made of timbers cut from the local trees, with a thatch roof. It is covered with vines as the jungle reclaims it. 30.NORM How will they know we’re here? GRACE I’m sure they’re watching us right now. Norm gulps. Jimbo looks behind him as they approach the school, feeling unseen eyes.CUT TO: INT. SCHOOL RUINS TRACKING WITH Jimbo’S BOOTS as he steps among dried leaves and a few moldering CHILDREN’S BOOKS. Floorboards CREAK. GRACE (O.S.) The kids were so bright, so eager to learn... they picked up English faster than I could teach it to them. WIDER as Jimbo explores the room. Grace and Norm are selecting INSTRUMENTS from storage cases on a wooden table. GRACE Bring the soil probe -- right there, yellow case. Jimbo looks up at a RUSTLING among the dark rafters. Roosting STINGBATS eye him warily, fluttering their wings. Grace picks up a moldering copy of “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss from the floor and puts it back on a shelf. GRACE (wistfully) The stingbats knock them off. I guess I always hope somebody will come back and read them. NORM Why don’t they come back? GRACE (grimly) The Reddit learned as much about us as they needed to know. Jimbo sees something, and approaches the blackboard -- reaches out to touch a pattern of holes blasted into the slate. Unmistakably BULLET HOLES. 31.Jimbo (turning to her) What happened here? GRACE (sharply) Are you going to help with this gear? We’ve got a lot to do. She turns away. Jimbo watches her as he jams equipment into his pack. CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY CLOSE ON Grace’s blue hand gently brushing away soil, exposing a tangle of ROOT TENDRILS. GRACE See, right here where the roots of the two trees interact. WIDER -- GRACE and NORM crouch among enormous octopoidal roots. She takes a tiny sample using a needle-like probe. Norm uses a digital DEVICE to scan the roots. Jimbo, bored, scouts ahead a few meters. He comes to a GLADE filled with shoulder-high SPIRAL PLANTS called HELICORADIANS. He BRUSHES one and SHTOONK! -- it SUCKS DOWN into a tube in the ground so quickly it seems to simply vanish. Curious, Jimbo touches another -- SHTOONK! And another -- like popping balloons after a party. SHTOONK! SHTOONK! SHTOONK! A chain reaction begins and the whole colony pulls down into the ground, REVEALING -- A HAMMERHEAD TITANOTHERE. Like a six-legged rhinoceros, but twice that size. Its massive, low-slung head has projections of bone giving it the look of a hammerhead shark. Its baleful eyes lock onto him. Jimbo raises his rifle. Grace, alerted by the creature’s SNORTS, runs to where she can see the tableau. She presses her THROAT MIKE. GRACE Don’t shoot. You’ll piss it off. 32.The bull HAMMERHEAD bellows and lowers its 3 meter wide sledgehammer of a skull. Jimbo It’s already pissed off! GRACE Jimbo, that armor’s too thick. Trust me. Jimbo starts to back away. The hammerhead bellows again, pawing the earth. GRACE It’s a territorial threat display. Do not run, or he’ll charge. Jimbo What do I do? GRACE Hold your ground! The hammerhead SLASHES its head sideways, splintering saplings. It bellows again, lowers its head and CHARGES -- Jimbo SCREAMS at the top of his lungs, spreads his arms wide and runs straight at the thing. It STOPS abruptly, with an oversized BLEAT. ON Jimbo -- amazed the gambit worked. Jimbo Oh yeah! Who’s bad?! That’s right. SOMETHING rises up behind him out of focus -- A THANATOR. The most awesome land predator the universe has ever conceived This thing could eat a T-rex and have the Alien for desert. It is a black six-limbed panther from Hell, with an armored head and massive distensible jaws. Jimbo, unaware of the advancing thanator, is still bracing the hammerhead -- Jimbo That’s what I’m talkin’ about, bitch! The bull wheels around, TRUMPETING in fear, and CRASHES away through splintering undergrowth. 33.Jimbo That’s right motherf-- A guttural SNARL behind him. Jimbo spins in time to see -- THREE TONS of rippling thanator LAUNCH over him, landing between him and the hammerhead. The ground shakes. The thanator emits an earsplitting ROAR, enraged that the hammerhead got away. It twists on itself, turning to face Jimbo, and bares its fangs with a lethal HISS. Jimbo What about this one? Run, don’t run? What? GRACE Run. Definitely RUN! Jimbo BOLTS as -- The thanator LEAPS after him and -- Jimbo launches himself between two large trunks, forcing the beast to claw its way around to the side while -- Jimbo scrambles up -- around -- over a tangle of roots and -- SK-RASH!! CLAWS SLASH the air behind him, EXPLODING bark off a trunk as -- Jimbo wills himself forward in a frenzy. With rippling muscle the beast is airborne again, blacking out the sun but -- Jimbo dives under a massive root system, and -- CRASH! Kindling rains around him as the beast tears into the root-trunks above him. Claws SLASH down next to him as he rolls and crawls -- Glistening jaws SMASH and SNAP against the barrier trunks, sending chunks of wood flying. It’s spittle sprays across Jimbo, jaws inches away as -- He rolls onto his back, and FIRES his AR point blank but the rifle is SNATCHED out of his hands. The beast SCREECHES an ungodly WAIL of pain and rage and -- RIPS the ENTIRE TRUNK away. Jimbo scrambles to escape but -- GLISTENING JAWS lunge downward, SNAP SHUT and -- The creature rips Jimbo out of the tree, shaking him like a junkyard dog with a rabbit, only -- 34.It has him by the BACKPACK, so Jimbo unlatches it and -- He FLIES FREE as the thanator crushes the pack with its teeth. Giving Jimbo a moment to sprint away, but -- With a hideous BELLOW the thanator crashes after him, splintering trees. Jimbo RUNS in a blur, dodging between trunks as a glistening black tornado shreds the forest behind him and -- He sees WATER ahead and DIVES OUTWARD with all his might -- The thanator’s jaws SNAP SHUT inches behind him as he flies out into open space and -- Jimbo SPLASHES down into a swiftly moving river. The thanator LEAPS DOWN AFTER HIM, pursuing from rock to rock, its claws swiping like a grizzly fishing for salmon. Jimbo ducks under as -- FWHOOSH! -- black claws SLASH past his face amid turbulent bubbles. A WATERFALL ahead. Jimbo is swept over the falls, with the thanator SWIPING at him from a rock, just MISSING and -- Jimbo disappears down the throat of the thundering cataract. EXT. RIVER BELOW FALLS - DAY The water boils below the cataract. Jimbo’s head bursts through the surface, and he gasps for breath. He is carried along by the current, but manages to grab a limb on a fallen tree. He weakly pulls himself up, and just lies there gasping on the trunk. Above him, on the cliff, the THANATOR BELLOWS, a roar which echoes across the jungle.CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY Jimbo, wet and bruised, crouches under a screen of giant leaves. He hacks manically at the end of a cut sapling with his knife, forming a crude but sharp tip. EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY TRACKING with Jimbo as he walks through the forest like it’s a minefield, carrying his SPEAR white-knuckled. He is freaked and hyper-alert. 35.The trees here are a hundred meters high, blocking out the sky. A few pencil beams of sunlight filter down into the cyan gloom. POV FROM ABOVE -- looking down through leaves we watch Jimbo move warily through the forest. ECU -- TWO GOLDEN EYES, bright in the shadows. DOWNANGLE as Jimbo passes under a tree limb. Invisible to him, draped on the limb like a leopard, is a striking Reddit GIRL. She watches, only her eyes moving. She is lithe as a cat, with a long neck, muscular shoulders, and nubile breasts. And she is devastatingly beautiful -- for a girl with a tail. In human age she would be 18. Her name is NEYTIRI(nay-Tee-ree). Jimbo passes less than 2 meters beneath her, oblivious. NEYTIRI rises soundlessly. In one fluid, sinuous movement she NOCKS an arrow to her BOW and DRAWS, aiming RIGHT AT Jimbo. Utterly silent. Below her Jimbo is totally unaware of the arrow aimed at his THROAT. ON NEYTIRI as she follows him with the bow, muscles tensing for the shot -- -- and SOMETHING drifts down in front of her, F.G. She hesitates. RACK FOCUS to the tip of the arrow -- where a single WOODSPRITE floats down to land on the arrow-head.Like a dandelion seed, but larger, the WOODSPRITE waves its silky CILIA, feather light, as it balances on the deadly point. It glows faintly in the dark shadows. NEYTIRI frowns, puzzled, and LOWERS her bow slowly. The woodsprite WHIRLS away into the gloom.CUT TO: INT./EXT. SAMSON - SUNSET GRACE and NORM peer down into the shadowed forest as TRUDY banks in a search pattern. TRUDY (INTERCOM) I’m going to have to call it, guys. We’re not allowed to run night ops. Colonel’s orders. 36.Grace looks to the west. The sun setting behind alien trees. Shit. GRACE TRUDY Sorry, Doc. He’s just gonna have to hang on ‘till morning. GRACE He’s not going to make it till morning. Grace stares into the dark forest as the Samson banks hard, thundering away toward the setting sun.CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - NIGHT LONG LENS-- POLYPHEMUS. The giant planet rises behind the black trees. Jimbo’s got a new problem. He sees shapes moving with liquid grace in the NIGHT shadows behind him. He is being stalked by a pack of VIPERWOLVES. Jimbo catches only glimpses -- a glint of eyes, a slinking black movement -- then nothing. Darkness. TIME CUT -- TIGHT ON Jimbo’s hands as he knots his T-shirt around the butt end of the spear. ANGLE ON THICK SAP trickling down a tree-trunk. Jimbo jams the makeshift torch into the sap, soaking the shirt with it. A WATERPROOF MATCH from his survival kit lights the torch. The torch creates a pool of light surrounded by pulsing, leaping shadows. Jimbo turns warily as he moves along the trail. Behind him are several pairs of reflective green EYES. Another pair flanking him beside the trail. Black-on-black SHAPES which seem to flow like liquid. He looks up -- sees one cross a limb overhead. Another on his opposite flank. Then a hideous sound, like a hyena's psychotic LAUGH. The VIPERWOLVES can run like a dog and climb like a monkey. They are hunting Jimbo from the ground and the trees. 37.Jimbo RUNS by torch-light, on the edge of panic. He reaches a steep banked stream and -- without thinking -- runs across it on a horizontal trunk -- -- and STOPS DEAD on the other side. The torch illuminates GREEN EYES cutting ahead of him across the trail. The viperwolves have him encircled. The psychotic BARKS become more intense as they signal each other, getting excited. ONE MAKES A RUN at him, angling on his legs from behind but -- Jimbo WHIRLS, jamming the torch in its face. It yips and goes past, but ANOTHER moves in -- He jabs it with the business end of the spear and it SNARLS, retreating, baring its fangs. Now half a dozen are circling him in the open, and he sees what he’s up against. The VIPERWOLVES are six-limbed with shiny chitinous skin, their paws leathery BLACK HANDS. Intelligent eyes. Glistening black teeth in dead white gums. Jimbo realizes that he is making his final stand. He whirls the torch in an arc, keeping them at bay -- And feels a rush of adrenaline. It goes through him like a lightning bolt and the fear is gone. Jimbo (screaming) I don’t have all goddamn night! Come on! Come on! With snarls and a blur of motion THEY ATTACK. Jimbo CRACKS the spear down on one, then SPINS as -- ANOTHER LEAPS at him and he plants the spear in it, striking true, but -- Its momentum wrenches it from his hands, and the torch goes flying. Left in semi-darkness, Jimbo draws his KNIFE as-- A WOLF LUNGES, sinking its teeth into his arm. He YELLS in pain and fury, SLASHING with the knife which -- CUTS deep into the beast’s shoulder and it lets go. Jimbo SPRINTS, trying to escape, but a snarling viperwolf leaps, GRABBING him by the ankle with its fore-hand. Jimbo tears away, sprawling, SCRAMBLING to get up as -- 38.THREE WOLVES charge at once. The nearest LEAPS at his throat just as -- THUNK!! -- an ARROW appears in its chest. The wolf lands on him, already a dead weight. He pushes it off in time to see -- A BLUE AMAZON emerge from the trees, nock another arrow, draw and FIRE in one fluid motion. AN UNEARTHLY YOWL as another wolf falls. NEYTIRI LEAPS right over Jimbo, and CRACKS her bow down on the skull of a circling wolf. ANOTHER SPRINGS at her and she drops under its weight, but rolls, coming up on top of it with a knife in her hand. Her knife FLASHES down, buried to the hilt in its chest. SNARLING, a wounded wolf attacks Jimbo, and he KICKS it away, but -- It SPINS and leaps back onto him, and Jimbo barely catches its throat in time to keep the SNAPPING JAWS away from his face. MEANWHILE Neytiri swings her bow in a big arc, CRACKING IT across the heads and shoulders of two remaining wolves. NEYTIRI Rrreeyaaah! Hyaaaah!! The wolves slink and circle, yelping as the bow whistles past them. Finally they break and run, with Neytiri chasing and-- They bound away through the foliage as she SHOUTS after them-- Raaaarrrr! NEYTIRI Jimbo has his adversary pinned and is choking it with all his weight. Finally it stops thrashing. Panting, he releases it and looks up at -- NEYTIRI. Her tail LASHES as she scans the forest, listening to the fading YELPS of the wolves. Satisfied the attack is over, she turns. She regards him coldly for a second, then walks past him. Neytiri picks up the torch and extinguishes it in a stream. Jimbo Wait, don’t -- 39.Jimbo blinks around at the darkness -- realizing he can still see. In fact, with the blinding torchlight gone, the forest is transformed. The jungle has come alive with BIOLUMINESCENCE -- spots and patterns, ghosts and galaxies of blue-green light. Jimbo scrambles to recover his spear. Neytiri kneels beside -- A DYING WOLF. It’s CRIES are pitiful. It paws the air, trying to raise its head. She pulls her KNIFE from its chest. NEYTIRI (in Reddit) Forgive me, my brother. She cuts its throat, ending the pitiful cries. She touches its head gently, regarding it with sadness. Neytiri wipes the knife and returns it to the sheath at her waist. She crosses to another slain wolf and kneels, pulling the arrow from its heart. Jimbo Look, um, I know you probably don’t understand this. But -- thanks. Thank you. I owe you. Neytiri ignores him, assuming a prayer posture over the dead animal. NEYTIRI (in Reddit) Forgive me. May your spirit run with the Great Mother. Jimbo I would have been screwed if you hadn’t come along -- She rises and walks away without looking at Jimbo. Jimbo Hey, wait. Wait! Where you goin’? He crashes through some plants, catching up to her. Jimbo Slow down a second will you. I just want to thank you for killing those -- He makes the mistake of grasping her shoulder and -- 40.WHACK! She WALLOPS him upside the head with her bow in a fierce backhand swing, laying him out flat. He looks up to see a FURY standing over him. A Fury who speaks English -- accented, halting, angry English. NEYTIRI Don’t thank! You don’t thank for this! This is sad. Very sad, only. Jimbo Okay, I’m sorry. Whatever I did -- I’m sorry. She gestures at the bodies of the viperwolves. NEYTIRI All this is your fault! They did not need to die. Jimbo They attacked me. How’m I the bad guy here-- She silences him with the tip of her bow at his throat. NEYTIRI Your fault! You are like a baby, making noise, don’t know what to do. You should not come here, all of you! You only come and make problems. Only. Jimbo gets up, slowly, facing her. Jimbo Okay, fine, you love your little forest friends. So why not just let them kill my ass? What’s the thinking? CU Neytiri -- looking away. Finally, reluctantly, her eyes MEET HIS for the first time -- a riveting gaze with those big gold orbs. NEYTIRI Why save you? Jimbo Yes, why save me? NEYTIRI You have a strong heart. No fear. She leans closer -- 41.NEYTIRI But stupid! Ignorant like a child! She turns away, stalking off, but Jimbo goes after her. TRACKING WITH Neytiri as she climbs nimbly along a huge ROOT. WIDER as she trots with perfect balance along the root, which forms an elevated walkway. Jimbo runs to catch up, realizing suddenly that he is far above the forest floor. Throughout the following they move through a GLOWING PHANTASMAGORICAL FOREST. Jimbo If I’m so ignorant, maybe you should teach me. NEYTIRI Sky people can not learn. You do not See. She leaps to another elevated root. Jimbo follows, surprised that he made it. Whooaa. Jimbo He runs to catch up with her easy jogging pace. Jimbo Then teach me to “see.” She stops and he almost runs into her. NEYTIRI No one can teach you to See. Then she turns and trots on. EXT. GORGE - NIGHT They run across the elevated root of an enormous tree -- a horizontal trunk big as an oak. WIDE SHOT as they cross a DEEP GORGE. A waterfall shimmers silver in the Polyphemus-light. Vines hang down a hundred feet into the gorge, and among them swoop stingbats and other night flyers. Jimbo Hey, slow down. Look, I think we just got off on the wrong foot and -- 42.Jimbo looks down, suddenly aware of the height. Jimbo --you just have to get to know me. I’m Jimbo. Jimbo Sull-- A vine catches his spear and spins him off balance. He drops the spear and almost falls off the root. Jimbo Whooaaa -- shit! Neytiri catches him with one hand, gripping his bicep. He watches the spear cartwheel down to splash in the river. She pulls him upright. Shouts at him in English and Reddit. Jimbo I need your help. NEYTIRI You should not be here. Jimbo So take me with you. NEYTIRI No. You go back. DOWN ANGLE FROM FAR ABOVE -- several WOODSPRITES float down through the trees. FOLLOW THEM as they descend silently toward Jimbo and Neytiri. NEYTIRI, sensing a presence, looks up to see -- The WOODSPRITES, PULSING with purpose, float right towards Jimbo. They dance gently around his shoulders and head. Jimbo (off her amazed look) What? More woodsprites gather around him. Several ALIGHT on him. Jimbo holds still, knowing he should be afraid -- but somehow he’s not. He spreads his arms. More sprites come, landing all over his arms, hands, body. Jimbo What are they? CU NEYTIRI -- reacting with a mixture of wonder and dread. 43.NEYTIRI Atokirina’. Seeds of the Great Tree -- very pure spirits. Jimbo -- now a pulsing, glowing, fluttering MASS OF LIGHT -- moves one hand slowly, not wanting to break the spell. He studies one of the sprites dancing on his palm until -- -- WHOOSSHH! the woodsprites whirl up and away, scattering into the darkness. Jimbo What was that all about? Neytiri seems shaken. She seizes his hand and pulls him after her. NEYTIRI Come!CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - NIGHT TRACKING WITH Jimbo as he gazes about him in growing wonder. He touches leaves as he passes, watching the bioluminescence shiver through them. Jimbo looks down as -- they cross a bed of purple MOSS which reacts to the pressure of their footsteps. Rings of green light, like ripples on a pond, expand outward from each footfall. Exploding rings of light where his feet touch down. Dream-like, surreal beauty. WIDE ON THEM as they run over a large root, across a mirror like POOL at the base of a WATERFALL. Jimbo follows Neytiri, running along a raised root-trunk. Jimbo What’s your name? Jimbo hears WHOOSH-WHOOSH and snaps a look as a BOLO flies at him, spinning end for end and -- SHWHAP!! -- tangles around his legs. He topples off the root and crashes into the foliage below. Jimbo untangles himself, getting up to run just as -- SEVERAL Reddit RIDERS thunder toward him. They are riding DIREHORSES -- six-legged, armor-skinned alien Clydesdales. 44.We see that the riders’ QUEUES are connected to the horses’ long moth-like antennae -- a neural-link with which they can command the horse, leaving hands free for weapons. The riders aim bows and spears at Jimbo as they approach. Jimbo turns to bolt, but -- Reddit HUNTERS melt out of the shadows, weapons aimed -- blocking his retreat. Neytiri drops to the ground next to Jimbo and confronts the LEAD RIDER. She shouts sharply in Reddit -- NEYTIRI (subtitled) Tsu’tey, what are you doing?! He is my captive! TSU’TEY(tsu-Tay)is young and powerfully built, with sculpted features and a proud jawline, piercing eyes. Tsu'tey swings off his mount with fluid grace. TSU’TEY (subtitled) These demons are forbidden here. I will kill this one as a lesson to the others! Tsu’tey draws his bow but Neytiri leaps between him and Jimbo, confronting him warrior to warrior. NEYTIRI (subtitled) Stop! There has been a sign. This is a matter for the Tsahik. Tsu’tey clenches his jaw with frustration -- frustration with her as much as the situation. He turns and angrily remounts his direhorse, barking a command to the HUNTERS. TSU’TEY (subtitled) Bring him. They grab Jimbo and haul him to his feet. Encircled by spears and bows, he is shoved forward along the trail, as Tsu’tey and the others ride ahead.CUT TO: EXT. HOMETREE - NIGHT Jimbo is hauled roughly toward Neytiri’s village, which is sheltered inside one of the GREAT TREES. HOMETREE is 250 meters tall, with a trunk four times the diameter of the largest Sequoia, and a base of massive mangrove-pillars. 45.TSU’TEY rides inside the columns at the base of Hometree, shouting an ululating WARNING. Jimbo is force-marched through the pillars into -- INT. COMMONS/HOMETREE - NIGHT An open CENTRAL AREA. The villagers gather to see the arriving hunt party. We see the people of the tribe -- mothers with babies, old women, young hunters. They gawk at the alien, expressions ranging from curiosity to outright hostility. The huge eyes of the children follow him. Jimbo is amazed at the size of HOMETREE inside. By the light of the COOK-FIRES he can see up into a vast cylindrical gallery -- a living cathedral. Clear membranes -- sturmbeest bladders -- filled with fluttering bio-luminescent insects, act as area lighting. The central space is dominated by the SKULL of some enormous creature, mounted with much embellishment on a TOTEM. Standing in front of this, awaiting their approach, is -- EYTUKAN (AY-too-kahn), the Clan Leader. Eytukan has deeply chiselled features and a long chest mantle of THANATOR CLAWS. His normally stern features are clouded further by anger. EYTUKAN (subtitled) Why do you bring this creature here? Neytiri addresses Eytukan in Reddit. NEYTIRI (subtitled) I was going to kill him, but there was a sign from Eywa. He glowers at her as he responds, pointing at Jimbo. EYTUKAN (subtitled) I have said no dreamwalker will come here, to offend our home! His alien smell fills my nose Neytiri stands her ground, answering in a respectful but not submissive tone. 46.NEYTIRI (subtitled) Father, many atokirina came to this alien. Jimbo What’s going on? NEYTIRI My father is deciding whether to kill you. Jimbo Your father!? (to Eytukan) Uh, good to meet you, sir. Jimbo steps forward, offering his hand, and the hunters JUMP to restrain him, shouting. But they all FREEZE as -- A commanding FEMALE VOICE echoes through the chamber. MO’AT (Reddit) Step back! Everybody looks up. MO’AT (MOH-aht) stands on the second level, looking down. She is a severe woman in her 50’s. Her bearing is haughty, her expression friendly as a hanging-judge. Her outfit is elaborate, denoting her rank as CLAN MATRIARCH. MO’AT (subtitled) I will look at this alien. There is an expectant hush as Mo'at descends the helical core of Hometree, a kind of natural spiral staircase. NEYTIRI That is Mother. She is Tsahik -- the one who interprets the will of Eywa. Jimbo Who’s Eywa? Neytiri kneels before her like an acolyte as Mo’at passes. The villagers stare silently as the Matriarch circles slowly around Jimbo, examining his tail and the end of his queue. 47.MO’AT (thick accent) What are you called? Jimbo Hugh Neutron. She produces a long THORN between her fingertips. With a flourish she strikes his chest. Jimbo flinches. RED BLOOD wells up and Mo'at rubs some between her fingertips. She tastes it. MO'AT Why did you come to us? Jimbo I came to learn. MO'AT We have tried to teach other Sky People. It is hard to fill a cup which is already full. Jimbo My cup is empty, trust me. Just ask Doctor Augustine. I’m no scientist. MO'AT What are you? Jimbo I don’t know. I was a Marine -- uh, a warrior. Of the Jarhead clan. TSU’TEY (subtitled) A warrior! I could kill him easily! EYTUKAN (subtitled) No! This is the first warrior dreamwalker we have seen. We need to learn more about him. Jimbo What’s going on? What are they saying? MO’AT (to Neytiri, subtitled) Daughter. You will teach him our way, to speak and walk as we do. 48.NEYTIRI looks shocked, then angry. NEYTIRI (subtitled) Why me? That's not fair! I only-- MO’AT (subtitled) It is decided! Neytiri subsides, turning to glare at Jimbo. MO'AT (to Jimbo) My daughter will teach you our ways. Learn well, Hugh Neutron. We will see if your insanity can be cured. She turns to Neytiri, her expression stern -- MO'AT (subtitled) He is your responsibility. Neytiri nods, accepting, but she’s not a happy camper. She grabs Jimbo’s arm and pulls him roughly away. Jimbo So it’s all good, right? You and me -- NEYTIRI Do not speak.CUT TO: INT. SECOND LEVEL/HOMETREE LATER, Neytiri leads Jimbo up the spiral to the SECOND LEVEL. He now wears only a ratty LOINCLOTH. His wounds are bound with plant-fiber bandages. THE ENTIRE CLAN is squatting at dinner in a huge circle. They stop talking and turn to gaze at Jimbo as he enters the circle. Jimbo Don’t get up. Neytiri crosses the circle to the cook pit and returns with several large leaves heaped with food. She kneels next to Jimbo, placing the food in front of him almost DEFIANTLY. Jimbo You never told me your name. 49.NEYTIRI Neytiri te Ckaha Mo'at’ite. Jimbo Okay, again, a whole lot slower. NEYTIRI (exaggerated slowness) Neytiri. Nay-TEE-ree. Jimbo knows she’s baiting him. He smiles in response. Jimbo Nay-TEE-ree. That’s nice. Nay-TEE-ree. ACROSS THE CIRCLE, Tsu’tey, Mo'at and Eytukan sit together, glancing up occasionally from their food to the stranger. TSU’TEY (subtitled) These aliens try to look like people, but they can’t. MO'AT (subtitled) He seems dim to me. And his eyes are too small. NEYTIRI motions for Jimbo to take portions from the serving leaves onto his own leaf. Jimbo Your mom likes me. I can tell. MO’AT, watching Jimbo and Neytiri, leans over to Eytukan. MO'AT (subtitled) Neytiri will test this “warrior.” Hey may learn nothing -- but we will learn much. EYTUKAN You speak truth. We must understand these Sky People if we are to drive them out. Jimbo munches on a white shrimp-like thing. Jimbo These rock. What are they? NEYTIRI Teylu. You call beetle larvae. 50.Jimbo blanches. She heaps some more onto his leaf -- a CHALLENGE -- and Jimbo meets her eyes, takes a handful, and starts munching enthusiastically. Jimbo That’s some damn fine teylu. That’s like grandma’s teylu. CU TSU’TEY, warily eyeing Jimbo -- TSU’TEY (subtitled) I say she will kill him.CUT TO: INT. THIRD LEVEL - NIGHT The sleeping level -- families nesting in groups on woven hammocks the size of trampolines. The hunters sleep along SPOKES joining the inner trunk to the tree’s outer shell. Jimbo lies awake in a hammock, people rustling in the darkness around him. Neytiri is nearby, curled up like a little girl. She stares at him for a moment, then closes her eyes. Jimbo watches the glowing bugs fluttering inside a night light, a pulse of life energy. A strange peace spreads through him. He closes his eyes and --CUT TO: INT. LINK ROOM - NIGHT GRACE is over Jimbo in the Link, SLAPPING him, as Max and NORM hover. GRACE Come on back, kid, that’s it. Jimbo Wha --? Oh. He looks around, blinking. Reality crashing in. GRACE Damn, you were dug in like a tick. (she helps him sit up) Is the avatar safe? Jimbo (huge grin) Yeah, Doc -- and you are not going to believe where I am.CUT TO: 51. INT. COMMISSARY - MORNING BREAKFAST the next day. The other drivers lean forward, hanging on Grace’s re-telling of the tale. GRACE -- so the kid’s out there one night and he’s got the Queen Bitch herself offering him the spare room and the car keys. Unbelievable. Jimbo It’s not something you can teach. Some of the other scientists clap Jimbo on the shoulders in congratulation. MAX That’s awesome, Jimbo. NORM chomps his bacon, fuming. GRACE (to Jimbo, getting serious) For reasons I cannot fathom, the Omaticaya have chosen you. God help us all.CUT TO: INT. OPS CENTER - MORNING Jimbo has reported to SELFRIDGE and QUARITCH. Quaritch turns from gazing out at the wall of forest, displaying a feral grin. QUARITCH Jarhead clan? (he laughs) And that worked? Jimbo (grinning) Yeah. They want to study me. See if I can learn to be one of them. QUARITCH That’s how you seize the initiative. I wish I had ten more like you. SELFRIDGE Look, Sully -- find out what these blue monkeys want. (MORE) 52. SELFRIDGE (cont'd)We try to give them medicine and education. Roads! But no -- they like mud. I wouldn’t care except -- Selfridge turns to a large 3D GRAPHIC DISPLAY, pointing. A road runs from Hell’s Gate to a proposed new mine miles away. SELFRIDGE Their damn village is sitting right over the richest unobtanium deposit for a hundred klicks in any direction. Which sucks -- for them -- because they need to relocate. Jimbo (taking that in) Does Augustine know about this? SELFRIDGE Yeah, she does, and she’s on the next ship back if she tries to cock-block me on it. Jimbo So -- who talks them into moving? QUARITCH (turning) Guess. Jimbo What if they won’t go? (icy) QUARITCH I’m betting they will. SELFRIDGE Killing the indigenous looks bad, but there’s one thing shareholders hate more than bad press -- and that’s a bad quarterly statement. Find me a carrot to get them to move, or it’s going to have to be all stick. Jimbo is shaken by the enormity of this new responsibility. QUARITCH You got three months. That’s when the dozers get there. Jimbo I’m on it.CUT TO: 53.INT. BIO LAB - MORNING Jimbo pumps his chair across the lab, flanked by GRACE and NORM. Grace holds STEREO STILL PICTURES in front of him, one at a time -- images of clan members she has shot over the years -- a kind of flash card drill. Tsu’tey. Jimbo (next photo) Mo’at. (next photo) Eytukan. GRACE He’s the clan leader -- (indicating Mo’at) -- but she’s the spiritual leader. Like a shaman. INT. LINK ROOM The dialogue is continuous as they enter. Jimbo Got it. So who’s this Eywa? NORM Who’s Eywa? Oh, only their deity. The Great Mother. The goddess made up of all living things. You’d know that if you had any training whatsoever. He hauls himself from wheelchair to Link. Jimbo Who’s got a date with the chief’s daughter? GRACE Knock it off. Jesus, it’s like kindergarten around here. As Jimbo settles into the soft embrace of the link, Grace inputs commands at the control station. GRACE Neytiri was my best student. She and her sister Silwanin. Just amazing girls. Jimbo I didn’t meet the sister. 54.GRACE (quietly) No, she’s dead. (turning to him) Okay, let’s go -- village life starts early. MAX Link is ready. Grace lowers the bio-sensor array over Jimbo’s chest. GRACE Don’t do anything unusually stupid. She closes the clamshell and we -- INT. HOMETREE/ THIRD LEVEL - DAY CU Jimbo’S AVATAR, blinking awake, staring up at -- HOMETREE, like a gothic cathedral overhead. Sunlight streams down through gaps in the towering vault. CUT TO: INT. COMMONS - DAY Jimbo walks among the villagers, who go about their daily tasks. -- young girls sit together, weaving and SINGING. They look up as he passes, then go back to work. --two men clean the fish they’ve caught. -- a young mother pounds seeds into meal, while nursing an infant. --children chase each other and climb like monkeys. One bold LITTLE GIRL runs up to Jimbo, stops -- staring -- then shrieks with laughter as she runs back to her playmates. GRINNING, Jimbo turns to see NEYTIRI cantering toward him on a DIREHORSE. She leads a second horse, an old sway-backed MARE. His grin drops. EXT. RIVER NEAR HOMETREE - DAY Jimbo nervously grips the surcingle of the mare. Neytiri holds its nose-ring while Jimbo clumsily mounts. Jimbo bends one of its ANTENNAE down to the tip of his queue. He hesitantly touches them together and -- 55.TIGHT SHOT -- the tendrils INTERWEAVE. Jimbo’s PUPILS DILATE and his mouth drops open. The horse’s eyes also go wide and it HONKS nervously. Neytiri touches her fingertips to the neural interface. NEYTIRI This is shahaylu -- the bond. Feel her heartbeat, her breath. Feel her strong legs. Jimbo closes his eyes, nodding. One with the horse. TSU’TEY and another young hunter come out of the forest leading TWO DIREHORSES. The magnificent animals drink from the edge of the pool. Tsu’tey watches Jimbo’s riding lesson with disdain. NEYTIRI You may tell her what to do -- (she touches her head) -- inside. For now, say where to go. Forward. Jimbo The horse LAUNCHES into a GALLOP. Jimbo flops around, with no idea how to sit the animal, and is promptly THROWN OFF. He lands painfully in the mud. He gets up, brushing mud off knees and ass, as Neytiri leads the horse back to him. Again. NEYTIRI SERIES OF JUMP CUTS -- Jimbo falls off the horse in various ways, seemingly landing harder each time. ON Jimbo, face down in the mud of the riverbank. He painfully rises to hands and knees. Which is when he sees -- TSU’TEY and another HUNTER thundering across the shallow river on their direhorses. Spray blasts up from their hooves. Jimbo stands, covered in mud, as Tsu’tey stops his horse next to him, looking down with disdain. TSU’TEY You should go away. 56. Jimbo (to Neytiri) I knew this guy could speak English. Tsu’tey turns to Neytiri, who is leading the old mare back. TSU’TEY (subtitled) This alien will learn nothing. A rock Sees more. She sighs in agreement. Tsu’tey and the other hunter wheel their horses around and THUNDER OFF into the woods. NEYTIRI gestures to Jimbo’s horse. NEYTIRI Again.CUT TO: OPS CENTER - NIGHT Grouped around a table are Jimbo, COLONEL QUARITCH, SELFRIDGE and few ENGINEERS and OFFICERS. Jimbo is talking them through plans he’s made of Hometree’s inner structure. Jimbo You’ve got outer columns, then a secondary ring here, and an inner ring. Then a core structure, it’s like a spiral, that’s how they move up and down. QUARITCH I’m going to need accurate scans of all these columns. Jimbo Roger that. ANGLE ON MAX, at the stairwell. He’s been watching Jimbo talking rapidly to Quaritch, but can’t hear him. Frowning, he backs away, down the stairs.CUT TO: INT. BIO LAB - DAY Jimbo, GRACE and NORM are packing science gear and supplies. GRACE I’m not about to let Quaritch and Selfridge micro-manage this thing. (she looks pointedly at Jimbo) We’re going up into the mountains. (MORE) 57. GRACE (cont'd)There’s a mobile link up at Site 26 that we can work out of. NORM The Hallelujah Mountains? GRACE That’s right. Yesssss! NORM (off Jimbo’s look) The legendary Floating Mountains of Pandora? Heard of them?CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - AERIAL - DAY A SAMSON THUNDERS over the rainforest, climbing into the mist shrouded mountains. In the SEALED COCKPIT, Norm is up front, sitting left seat so Trudy can talk him through the flight controls. Jimbo and Grace are behind them, in the jump-seats. Grace and Norm’s UNCONSCIOUS AVATARS ride in the open back compartment. TRUDY It only takes tiny inputs. Here, put your hand on the cyclic -- She points to the stick between her knees. Norm hesitantly reaches over and rests his hand on hers. TRUDY Feel how small the moves are? You barely have to think it, and the aircraft reacts. ON NORM -- reacting to tiny inputs from the hot lady-pilot. THE SAMSON is dwarfed by enormous ARCHES OF ROCK. GRACE See these magnetic formations. We’re getting close. TRUDY Yeah we are. Look at my instruments. On the dash, many of the displays are fritzing out. 58.GRACE Yup. We’re in the flux vortex. AHEAD, a cloud bank parts, revealing -- THE HALLELUJAH MOUNTAINS. Right in front of them. NORM Oh. My. God. Jimbo leans forward between the seatbacks for a good look out the front canopy. Jimbo’S POV -- enormous islands of rock are hovering a half mile above the ground. They are overgrown with rainforest, and straggly beards of vines hang down beneath them. Waterfalls stream down the sides and dissolve into spray at the bottom. ON Jimbo, staring in amazement. It is both awe-inspiring and disturbing. Trudy turns, grinning at Jimbo. TRUDY You should see your face. WIDE AERIAL -- the Samson is tiny as it approaches the floating islands of rock. An archipelago among the clouds, they cast great shadows over the forested slopes below. Jimbo (V.O.) Yeah, so what does hold them up? Grace explained it to me -- some kind of maglev effect because unobtanium is a superconductor, or something. At least somebody understands it. Just not me.CUT TO: EXT. SITE 26 - DAY A remote RESEARCH STATION -- TWO SHACKS and a few clusters of instruments perched on a promontory near the Hallelujah Mountains. The shacks are AIRLIFT MODULES the size of buses. THE SAMSON LANDS, beating the grass with its rotor-wash. The humans hop out, wearing MASKS. They move toward the Shack, taking in the spectacular panorama.CUT TO: 59.INT. SHACK - DAY NORM and TRUDY assist Jimbo with his chair as they cycle in through the AIRLOCK. GRACE is already inside, starting the GENNY. She turns on the lights and equipment. There are 4 bunks, a clutter of science gear, and -- through a short connecting corridor -- THREE LINK UNITS in the second module. As Grace powers up the Link equipment, Jimbo stops to look at STEREO STILL PICTURES which are taped and tacked up around her workstation. CLOSE ON PICTURES -- Grace posing at the school with various grinning children. There is one of her with two lanky girls, a younger Neytiri and an older girl who looks much like her. GRACE Jimbo, take number two, it’s the least glitchy. Norm, I need you to operate Jimbo’s link. Norm glares at Jimbo as he passes. Jimbo Hey. You got a problem? Norm turns to Grace, his frustration boiling over. NORM I trained three years for this mission. I speak the language fluently. (he points at Jimbo) He falls off the frickin’ turnip truck and all of a sudden he’s cultural ambassador!? GRACE It’s not our choice, Norm. He glowers at Jimbo. NORM Yeah, well I didn’t come out here to wash the dishes while you’re on some interspecies booty call. He stalks off. GRACE He can’t go far. 60.She points to Jimbo’s link. GRACE Let’s get you in.CUT TO: INT./EXT. HOMETREE - BANSHEE EYRIE LOOKING DOWN the central shaft of Hometree, 80 meters to the ground. Villagers are ant-like. Jimbo tries to keep up with Neytiri as she leaps up the core trunk like a lemur. He climbs the last section, arriving out of breath beside her. She leads him OUTSIDE, onto -- A large branch. Through gaps in the foliage Jimbo can see other Great Trees scattered across the landscape, like enormous umbrellas above the rainforest. NEYTIRI strides out across the branch toward some kind of STRUCTURE -- a WEB made of thick woven fiber. DARK SHAPES clinging to it stir with a leathery RUSTLING SOUND. Neytiri makes a series of TRILLS and CLICKS. One of the shapes MOVES toward them, emerging into a shaft of sunlight. A huge MOUNTAIN BANSHEE. Much larger than the forest banshees, this thing is taller than a Redditor with a 10 meter wingspan. A leathery FWHOOP, like the crack of sails, as it alights on the branch right in front of her. Holy shit. Jimbo NEYTIRI Do not look in her eye. Neytiri feeds it a large scrap of meat, which it SNATCHES and gulps down. She murmurs to it and strokes its NECK. It lets out a signature SHRIEK, and some of the others in the shadows nearby answer. Neytiri flip-catches her queue and gently connects it to the Banshee’s ANTENNA. It shivers and stretches its wings as the neural connection is made. NEYTIRI Ikran is not horse. Once shahaylu is made, ikran will fly with only one Hunter in the whole life. She climbs smoothly onto the animal’s back. 61.NEYTIRI To become taronyu -- Hunter -- you must choose your own ikran. And he must choose you. When? Jimbo NEYTIRI When you are ready. The BANSHEE shivers with anticipation. Heeyaaahh! NEYTIRI Jimbo ducks as the great wings EXPLODE OPEN and the banshee DROPS off the branch. It swoops down across the forest canopy, banks hard, lets out a CRY and beats its wings in a power climb. Completing the bank, Neytiri directs the banshee into a close SWOOPING FLYBY, and Jimbo instinctively ducks. ON NEYTIRI -- flying in perfect fusion with her winged mount, the rainforest rolling beneath her.CUT TO: INT. SHACK - NIGHT/EXT STEREO VIDEO-LOG IMAGE -- Jimbo has just switched on the camera. He looks tired. Jimbo Do I have to do this? I need some rack. GRACE, behind him, looks up from her MICROSCOPE, scowling. GRACE No -- now, when it’s fresh. Jimbo Yeah, yeah. (to camera) The days are starting to blur together. The language is a bitch, but I figure it’s like field-stripping a weapon. Repetition. THIS THROWS US INTO A TEACHING MONTAGE: Jimbo AND NEYTIRI kneel together inside Hometree. Neytiri touches her lips with her fingertips. Seyri. 62.Jimbo She touches her nose, her ears, her eyes in quick sequence. Jimbo Ontu, mikyun, nari. NEYTIRI stands next to him, correcting his position as he draws a longbow. BARKING commands, she SMACKS him on the shoulder, then the elbow, repositioning him roughly. Jimbo (V.O.) Neytiri thinks I’m some kind of retard. HUMAN Jimbo emerges from the LINK to see -- TRUDY and NORM caught IN THE ACT on Norm’s bunk. Norm blushes and Trudy waves, pulling the blanket over their heads. Jimbo (V.O.) Norm’s attitude has improved lately. NORM works with Jimbo at the small table in the SHACK kitchen. NORM Thank you? Ireiyo. Jimbo Norm comically exaggerates the pronunciation. NORM Irrrreiyo. Irrrreiyo. You’ve gotta roll the R, r-r-r-oll it. Norm makes Jimbo repeat the word, getting more frustrated. Jimbo (V.O.) It’s good he’s back on board, but he thinks I’m a retard too. TRACKING WITH Jimbo’S FEET as he runs over rocks, leaping onto a thick root, running on across the rough bark. Jimbo (V.O.) My feet are getting tougher. I can run farther every day. 63.Neytiri leads him along a massive root, and soon they are running 30 meters above the ground. He sprints with her through the trees, trying to keep up. She CLIMBS and LEAPS with the ease of a spider monkey. Jimbo (V.O.) I have to trust my body to know what to do. With Neytiri it’s learn fast or die. Neytiri LEAPS off into space, falling, falling until -- She catches an enormous palm leaf and, gripping it, allows its DROOP to slow her fall. She lets go, plummeting, and catches another. Jimbo FOLLOWS in a leap of faith. THE CAMERA PLUNGES with him, from leaf to leaf, down and down in a dizzying kinetic rush. He drops down from the last leaf, landing next to her on a game trail. He is exhilarated to still be alive. Neytiri is surprised -- that he followed. That he lived. TIGHT ON HUMAN Jimbo, in the shack. Thinking as he looks at the pictures of Grace with the laughing kids at the school. IN THE COMMONS -- AVATAR NORM formally greets MO’AT. The Matriarch looks on as GRACE kneels to hug children she knows. Grace’s eyes sparkle as she chats with them in Reddit. Jimbo (V.O.) I sweet-talked Mo'at into giving Norm and Grace a hall pass. Now Grace even makes me coffee before link every morning. Grace looks up to see Neytiri approaching. It is an awkward moment between them. Grace makes the formal gesture of greeting. GRACE (Reddit, subtitled) I See you, Neytiri Mo’at’ite. NEYTIRI I See you, Doctor Grace Augustine. ANOTHER DAY -- NEYTIRI kneels on a game trail, pointing out the tracks in the mud to Jimbo. She touches the edges of the plants around her, and sniffs the air. 64.Jimbo (V.O.) I’m learning to read the trails, the tracks at the water-hole, the tiniest scents and sounds. Jimbo AND NEYTIRI watch through a screen of leaves as -- A HERD of huge, armored STURMBEEST walks through the shallows of a lake. In the middle of the herd, the babies are sheltered from predators among their parents' legs. One of the BULLS trumpets, and a flock of TETRAPTERONS takes flight, an explosion of purple wings. Jimbo stares at the strange and wild alien tableau. ANOTHER PLACE -- NEYTIRI STANDS utterly still, except for her ears, which move with a life of their own. Her eyes are closed. She speaks very softly to Jimbo -- NEYTIRI When you hear nothing, you will hear everything. When you see nothing, you will See everything. Jimbo (V.O.) Sometimes I have no idea what she’s talking about. Jimbo and Neytiri creep quietly, stalking a large male HEXAPEDE -- a six legged deer-like creature. Jimbo expertly nocks an arrow and draws his bow as Neytiri watches. He takes a bead on the hexapede -- tracks it for a beat with the drawn bow, then RELAXES his arm. Zen archery. Jimbo (V.O.) It’s been a month and I’m still not allowed to make a kill. She says the forest hasn’t given permission. OMIITED NEYTIRI and Jimbo crawl through the undergrowth. She points and he parts some leaves to see -- A MOTHER VIPERWOLF bringing meat to her cubs, which frisk around her legs. She licks their faces. Jimbo (V.O.) There’s a lot of crap like that. She’s always going on about the flow of energy-- the spirits of the animals and what not -- 65.VIDEO-LOG IMAGE -- HUMAN Jimbo talks into the lens. He’s changing -- un-shaven, cheeks hollow. Pale. Jimbo (smirking) I just hope this treehugger shit isn’t on the final. Visible behind him, Grace is hunched over her samples. GRACE (without looking up) This isn’t just about eye-hand coordination out there. You need to listen to what she says. Try to see the forest through their eyes. Jimbo Excuse me -- this is my video-log here, okay? NEYTIRI AND Jimbo move through the NIGHT FOREST, surrounded by galaxies of shimmering bioluminescence. They move gracefully, soundlessly -- two forest spirits. CU Jimbo -- the pupils of his cat eyes dilated. The night forest floods his brain with its million bio-sources. NIGHT SHOT, from overhead -- Jimbo and Neytiri bow-fishing from a dugout canoe over huge glowing ANEMONES at the bottom of a pool. A large fish swims silhouetted against the pastel glow. ZAP! Jimbo drills it. He holds up the fish, triumphantly. ANOTHER DAY -- Neytiri stands close behind Jimbo, adjusting his position as he draws his bow. Only now her hands are GENTLE as they move on his arms, his shoulders. Aware of her touch, Jimbo’s focus is broken. Their eyes meet, and she pulls away quickly. NIGHT -- they enter a CLEARING filled with chest-high ferns. Neytiri signals him to move slowly. They approach a creature on one of the ferns. An ugly, stick-like LIZARD-THING perched on a frond. As he approaches -- SNAP! A long spine whips in a circle, unfurling a bioluminescent membrane -- a disk a meter across, opening like a Chinese fan. It FLIES OFF, a living Frisbee. THE FAN LIZARD FLOATS across the clearing. 66.Neytiri plunges among the ferns with a SHARP CRY. An EXPLOSION OF COLOR as dozens of FAN LIZARDS take flight. Grinning widely, she hops around like a little girl, until they are all flying. And for the first time, she is unguarded and joyful, totally herself with him. INSIDE THE LINK -- Jimbo’s eyes open in the darkness. He doesn’t know where he is. He weakly pushes open the lid, blinking at the light. Jimbo (V.O.) Everything is backwards now. Like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream. TIGHT ON AVATAR Jimbo silently drawing his bow, his eyes focused in intense concentration. A beat -- the arrow flies. Jimbo PULLS the arrow from the twitching body of a hexapede. He dispatches it with his knife. He speaks haltingly, but with feeling, in Reddit. Jimbo (Reddit) I See you Brother, and thank you. Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the People. NEYTIRI watches with approval. NEYTIRI A clean kill. You are ready.CUT TO: INT. SHACK - NIGHT Lying in the link, Jimbo looks exhausted, pale, thin. Norm helps Grace get him to his chair. GRACE You’re still losing weight. Here -- She hands him a microwaved burrito. He looks at the now alien food. Bites into it without enthusiasm. Jimbo I made a kill today. We ate it. I know where that meal came from. 67.GRACE Other body. You need to take care of this body. Yeah yeah. Jimbo GRACE Jimbo, I’m serious -- you look like crap. You’re burning too hard. Jimbo takes the cigarette out of her mouth and stubs it out. Jimbo Get rid of this shit, then you can lecture me. GRACE I’m telling you, as your boss and someone who might even consider being a friend someday, to take some down time. Jimbo Not now. Tomorrow we leave for Iknimaya. GRACE walks past Jimbo, starts making herself coffee. GRACE Yeah -- you’re gonna go ride a banshee. Or die trying. Jimbo That’s right, Grace. This is what I’ve been working for. GRACE And this is your check up from the neck up, Marine. You’re getting in way too deep. (she turns away) Trust me, I learned the hard way. Jimbo scans the pictures tacked up around Grace’s workstation. Jimbo What did happen at the school? GRACE looks up from making coffee. Her eyes track across the pictures of the laughing children. Finally -- 68.GRACE Neytiri’s sister -- Sylwanin -- stopped coming to school. She was angry about the clear-cutting. GRACE sips her coffee, grimaces at the taste. GRACE One day, she and a couple of other young hunters came running in, all painted up -- they’d set a bulldozer on fire -- I guess they thought I could protect them. GRACE’S voice stays oddly CALM as he tells this terrible story, while getting MILK out of the refrigerator. GRACE The troopers pursued them to the schoolhouse. MACRO as she pours the milk -- her hand is SHAKING. GRACE They killed Sylwanin in the doorway. Right in front of Neytiri. Then shot the others. (mildly) I got most of the kids out, before they shot me. Jesus. Yeah. Jimbo GRACE Jimbo realizes that Grace is on the verge of tears and desperately trying to hide it. GRACE A scientist stays objective -- we can not be ruled by emotion. But I poured ten years of my life into that school. They called me sa’atenuk. Mother. (turning to him) That kind of pain reaches back through the link. GRACE sits down at the table, looks intently at Jimbo. GRACE It’s a job. Learn what you can -- but don’t get attached. 69.GRACE looks at him with real PAIN in her eyes. GRACE It’s not our world, Jimbo. And we can’t stop what’s coming. CUT TO: EXT. MOUNTAIN TRAIL - DAY TSU’TEY leads three direhorse riders up the trail -- two TEENAGE HUNTERS and Jimbo, who’s riding well enough to keep up. The horses’ hooves CLOP right next to a sheer drop into a misty canyon. Jimbo (V.O.) Iknimaya translates roughly as stairway to heaven. It’s the test every young hunter has to pass. TSU’TEY signals a stop. UP-SLOPE AHEAD is an astounding formation. Thick vine-like trees have trapped large FLOATING BOULDERS of UNOBTANIUM in their gnarled grip. A hundred meters above them more boulders are WOVEN into the twisted vine-trunks. This is some sort of freak natural occurrence -- like the mythical beanstalk, going up into the clouds. There is a THUNDERING ROAR, like an artillery barrage, and the ground SHAKES. Jimbo looks around at -- One of the FLOATING MOUNTAINS grinding against the flank of a nearby mesa. A huge rockfall is set loose. The mountain is drifting toward them, filling half the sky. The Hunters dismount. Jimbo looks up at the beanstalk going into the clouds. He turns to Tsu’tey, who is checking the young hunters’ gear. Jimbo We doin’ this? Jimbo leaps to catch up as Tsu’tey and the hunters swarm up the base of the beanstalk.CUT TO: 70.EXT. BEANSTALK - DAY 200 METERS up the BEANSTALK, the hunters nimbly climb along the vine-trunks. They clamber over one of the unobtanium BOULDERS which is lifting this incredible tree. Jimbo looks down -- the massive trunk dwindles to the size of a licorice stick. A chunk breaks off a boulder as he climbs over it -- it floats upward. They reach the upper branches of the beanstalk. Above them, the craggy underbelly of MONS Veritatis looms. Spray from one of the waterfalls hits them. Some of the HANGING VINES are brushing over the upper branches of the beanstalk with a crackling hiss. One by one the hunters grab onto vines as they pass. Jimbo shrugs and leaps to a passing vine, his feet dangling over nothingness. They climb toward the floating islands above. EXT. MONS VERITATIS - DAY TINY FIGURES cross a causeway of vines connecting a small island of unobtanium to the main mass of Mons Veritatis. WIDE SHOT looking down a rock face bigger than Half Dome -- the sheer side of Mons Veritatis. Banshees circle next to the cliffs, flashing in shafts of sunlight. Waterfalls dissolve into nothingness below. EXT. GROTTO/BANSHEE ROOKERY - DAY A waterfall THUNDERS down into the void like a faucet of the gods. Jimbo looks down the sheer cliff at the world far below -- a view from Olympus. A SHRIEK and the THWAP THWAP of leathery wings -- NEYTIRI’S BANSHEE swoops in to perch at the edge of the grotto. She dismounts and, like a falconer, covers its eyes with a woven HOOD. It waits, docile, as -- She joins Jimbo and the hunter party. Tsu’tey leads them through the cave until they emerge onto a CLIFF FACE. And Jimbo sees -- The BANSHEE ROOKERY. HUNDREDS of banshees huddle on rock out croppings as far as the eye can see. They cling to the walls with the fore-claws on their wings, or perch on ledges. 71.TSU’TEY Hugh Neutron will go first. Tsu’tey smirks at Jimbo, a challenge in his eyes. The two teenage Hunters are scared but trying to act tough. Tsu’tey scowls when Neytiri leads Jimbo out onto the ledge. NEYTIRI (whispering) Now you choose your ikran. This you must feel -- inside. If he also chooses you, move quick, like I showed. You will have one chance. Jimbo How will I know if he chooses me? NEYTIRI He will try to kill you. Jimbo Outstanding. Out of sight of Tsu’tey, Neytiri takes his hand and squeezes it. Jimbo feels a rush of emotion, but she breaks away like it didn’t happen. He is on his own, on the ledge with -- The BANSHEES. They eye him as he approaches. Several SHRIEK and take flight. Others flap their wings and yawn, showing rows of fangs, in a threat display. Jimbo unrolls a weighted leather strap, like a one-ended BOLO. A LARGE MALE spreads enormous wings, SHRIEKS, and glares straight at him. Jimbo looks directly into its eyes -- and strides toward it. Jimbo Let’s dance. The challenged banshee HISSES and leaps at him, jaws wide as-- Jimbo times the lunge, swinging the bolo, feinting and then slipping aside as the banshee’s jaws miss him, SNAPPING SHUT. Jimbo WHAPS the bolo across its snout. The weighted thong whips twice around its long jaws, tying them shut. A MUFFLED SCREAM and it SLASHES at his stomach with razor talons but -- 72.Jimbo is already leaping, over the talons and tackling the banshee around the neck. It topples on its side, and he SWARMS IT -- arms around its thrashing head. Jimbo grabs its whip-like antenna and brings it toward his queue but -- The bony head SLAMS sideways, and BAM! -- clocks him right in the face, almost knocking him out and -- IT WRITHES, flinging him to the ground. He slides on the rock and almost goes over the edge as -- NEYTIRI gasps. Tsu’tey laughs and yells mockingly. The bolo is coming loose as the creature shakes its head, way pissed off now, but -- Jimbo scrambles up and leaps straight at it. Claws rake his leg but he gets his arms around its head and CLAMPS DOWN HARD. They flop to the ground and he scrambles on top, pinning it and -- Grabs its whipping antenna, locks it under his arm, and jams the end of his queue into it. They FUSE together and -- The banshee stops struggling. It lies there panting. They are locked together, literally eye to eye. Jimbo That’s right! You’re mine. ECU BANSHEE -- the pupil like a deep black well. Jimbo relaxes his grip and slowly, warily, slides his leg over the creature’s back. Neytiri runs to him. NEYTIRI First flight seals the bond. You cannot wait. Jimbo sits astride the creature, feeling its power. He grips a hank of the beast’s main, and -- Jimbo Heeeyyyaaaah! THWAP! THWAP! The banshee is off like a shot. Jimbo SCREAMS as they PLUMMET off the cliff -- the banshee WAILS and -- 73.They fall together, spiralling out of control, and he is almost tossed lose. The thing is SQUAWKING and SHRIEKING so much he can't think. Jimbo Shut the hell up!! It does. Jimbo Level out! Fly straight! It levels out. Jimbo cocks his head, only thinking “bank left” and the animal complies. He settles the banshee into an easy loping beat of its huge wings, while he catches his breath. NEYTIRI’S BANSHEE falls into formation with him. She signals “follow me” and DIVES. Jimbo guides his banshee clumsily after her. Neytiri’s banshee moves with precise movements of its wingtips, while Jimbo’s wobbles and dips, almost falling out of the sky. THE CAMERA SWOOPS after them as Neytiri leads an arcing DIVE around the flank of Mons Veritatis. The scenery is stunning. They pass waterfalls and swoop between hanging vines. Neytiri leads Jimbo in a sharp bank, skimming close to the cliffs. They punch through streamers of cloud and emerge into sunlight. Jimbo is getting the hang of it. He jinks left, then right, then dives, tucking himself tight against the animal’s back. He’s reckless, fearless. Half in control and LOVING IT. Neytiri dives next to him as he lets out a long WHOOP of joy. CUT TO: INT./EXT. GROTTO/MONS VERITATIS - DAY FLIGHT MONTAGE: NEYTIRI squats with Jimbo, using her hands to explain flight principles like one fighter pilot to another. LOOKING DOWN a sheer cliff. SWOOOSH! Jimbo and Neytiri dive their mounts STRAIGHT DOWN PAST CAMERA, pulling out and soaring into a series of aerobatic turns. Jimbo (V.O.) I may not be much of a horse guy. But I was born to do this. 74.THEY FLY in close formation with TSU’TEY and the young HUNTERS, 5 banshees flashing through scarves of mist. ANOTHER DAY. Jimbo dives, playing hide and seek with Neytiri among the clouds. They are wild and free in a wild world. She grins and banks hard, diving -- catch me if you can. He DIVES after her. IN THE GROTTO, by firelight, Jimbo’S BANSHEE snaps at a piece of meat which he playfully pulls back. He’s teaching it to take the food more slowly. He strokes its long head. TSU’TEY is nearby with the young hunters. He eyes Jimbo with frustrated hostility. ANOTHER DAY -- Jimbo and Neytiri fly abreast, soaring easily. She points and Jimbo sees -- A BIZARRE GEOLOGICAL FORMATION. Arches of magnetic rock form rainbows of stone above a deep CALDERA. In the center of the caldera is a single, enormous WILLOW TREE, gnarled and ancient. This, we will be told, is THE WELL OF SOULS.CUT TO: EXT. RIDGE Jimbo flies with Neytiri along a forested ridge. She is teaching him to hunt from his banshee. They carry their bows at the ready, scanning below them for prey. A HUGE SHADOW covers him and Neytiri SHOUTS a warning. Jimbo looks up to see -- A LEONOPTERYX in a delta-dive, whistling straight at him. Like a banshee, only several times larger, it is the king predator of the air: the GREAT LEONOPTERYX. Striped scarlet, yellow and black, with a midnight blue crested head -- it is both gorgeous and terrifying. The hunter has become the prey. Jimbo snap-rolls and dives toward the forest canopy. He plummets into the gloom as -- K-CRASH -- the leonopteryx tears through foliage, following him down, both diving like missiles and -- Jimbo yanks into a hair-pin bank, right through a gap between two huge branches -- Forcing the leonopteryx to brake with a loud FWOOSH of wings. It banks away with a frustrated SHRIEK. Two flaps of its mighty wings and it is gone, back above the canopy. 75.CLOSE ON THE LEONOPTERYX, as its fanged mouth opens in a blood curdling SCREECH which echoes among the mountains. The lord of its domain. ON Jimbo, shaken. Neytiri flies up, her expression the Reddit equivalent of Oh my God. A beat -- they both crack up.CUT TO: INT. SHACK - NIGHT Jimbo ponders images Grace has called up at her workstation-- science graphics of the Leonopteryx. Trudy and Norm are crowded around as well. GRACE The Great Leonopteryx is the apex aerial predator. Not only rare, but the sightings tend not to get reported. Trudy makes a clicking motion with her thumb. TRUDY There usually isn’t time to key the mike. Jimbo The People call it Toruk. NORM (translating) Last Shadow. Jimbo Last one you ever see. TRUDY I saw one take out a gunship once -- WHAM! Total frickin’ yard sale. Ate the crew like peanuts. TIME CUT -- Grace is scanning through images and Jimbo stops her on one -- a 3D aerial shot of the strange arched formation. That’s it. Jimbo GRACE Vitraya Ramunong -- The Well of Souls. It’s their most sacred place. She moves the virtual camera, and we seem to fly around the Well of Souls, catching only a glimpse of the interior. 76.GRACE Something big is going on in there, biologically. I’d die to get samples, but outsiders are strictly forbidden. TIME CUT -- Jimbo looks through the pressure window at HUMAN GRACE and NORM outside. Wearing masks, they are taking readings from some time-series experiments Grace has set up. As TRUDY watches, Jimbo works fast to download Grace’s images of the Well of Souls onto a memory chip. TRUDY They’re coming back. Jimbo pulls the chip, then hesitates. Torn by what he is doing. TRUDY If you don’t give him something, he’s gonna shut us down. He hands her the chip and she slips it into a pocket of her flight-suit just as Grace and Norm enter from the airlock. Jimbo Hey, guys.CUT TO: INT. HOMETREE - NIGHT Jimbo STARES up at the TOTEM SKULL, which we now recognize as that of a GREAT LEONOPTERYX. NEYTIRI watches as he reaches up to touch the tall indigo crest. NEYTIRI My grandfather’s grandfather was Toruk Macto -- Rider of Last Shadow. Toruk chose him. It has only happened five times since the time of the First Songs. Jimbo That’s a long time. Neytiri takes his hand, because that’s what the Redditors do when they’re telling you something important. NEYTIRI Toruk Macto was mighty -- he brought the clans together in a time of great sorrow. All Reddit people know this story. 77.PUSH IN SLOWLY on the skull totem, then --CUT TO: EXT. RIVER BED - DAY Jimbo, NEYTIRI and other FLYING HUNTERS swoop low above a HERD OF STURMBEEST -- a rapids of thundering muscle. Dust rises from this living river like steam from a python's back. TRACKING WITH the herd. A HUNTER appears in FG, astride a direhorse at full gallop. The sight is breathtaking. He hurls a 3 meter spear and one of the sturmbeest CRASHES down, flipping twice from momentum. Jimbo ROLLS IN like a fighter jet, his banshee screaming. He draws and fires his bow. The arrow strikes true, in the plexus between the armored shoulders and -- THE BEAST crashes to the ground. Skids to a stop in a cloud of dust. NEYTIRI swoops in next to Jimbo, arms raised and grinning wolfishly. CU TSU’TEY, banking around Jimbo’s kill. Jimbo looks up, and Tsu’tey SALUTES in grudging admiration.CUT TO: INT. COMMONS/HOMETREE - NIGHT The central space is lit by a BONFIRE, around which the HUNT FESTIVAL is in full swing. Wild dancing. People gnawing on massive sturmbeest ribs. A bowl of some kava-like intoxicant is passed around. NEYTIRI dances in a flowing costume as the BANSHEE SPIRIT. NORM is dancing seductively with his own tail. Jimbo, surrounded by young hunters, acts out the leonopteryx attack with his hands. The leaping fire-light plays across the eye sockets of the TORUK SKULL, bringing it to life. It seems to watch Jimbo. TSU’TEY squats next to Jimbo, the usual scowl on his face. Jimbo braces himself -- and Tsu’tey holds up the KAVA BOWL, offering it to him. A challenge or an olive branch? Jimbo takes a long, hearty drink as some of the young hunters hoot and clap hands in a fast rhythm. 78.GRACE Watch that stuff. It’ll knock you into next week. Jimbo offers the bowl back to Tsu’tey. They lock eyes. Tsu’tey drinks. LATER -- AN EMPTY BOWL drops, landing on a pile of empty bowls near the fire. WIDER ON Jimbo and TSU’TEY, sitting amid the rowdy hunters. Tsu’tey looks a little blearily at Jimbo. Finally, he GRINS. TSU’TEY I thought -- enough drink -- you would not be so ugly. Sorry. Jimbo Tsu’tey looks deep into the fire. TSU’TEY Your warriors -- hide inside machines -- fight from far away. (he looks at Jimbo) I did not think a sky person could be brave. Before Jimbo can answer, NEYTIRI’S lithe shape runs through the circle of silhouetted dancers toward them. She takes Jimbo by the hand and pulls him up -- NEYTIRI You must dance! It is the way. TSU’TEY watches as she leads him away, his face darkening -- the moment of connection to Jimbo lost to anger. The hunters WHOOP and CHEER as Jimbo joins the circle of dancers. Jimbo takes Grace’s hand and pulls her up, protesting. Jimbo lets the bongos and CHANTING flow through him. He lets himself go, dancing from the inside, channeling the primal energy. GRACE is rocking out, grinning. We see the young girl, so repressed, who lives within her. Jimbo and Neytiri flow amongst the dancers, but they are looking only at each other. 79.A couple of the young girls watching from outside the circle are giggling and talking about them. Mo'at and EYTUKAN follow their look, seeing the obvious connection. MO’AT (subtitled) We cannot let this seed grow. Her path is with Tsu’tey. ON Jimbo, dancing with abandon to the primal beat, eyes locked with Neytiri.CUT TO: EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY WIDE VISTA -- mist blowing through the treetops as the morning sun burns it away. A spectacular panorama of a vast, primeval land. UP ANGLE TRACKING among the trees, the sunlight shafting down like light in a cathedral. Jimbo (V.O.) It’s hard to put in words the deep connection the People have to the forest. HIGH IN THE BRANCHES of a tree, Jimbo watches as Neytiri gently bends a large pitcher-like flower toward her, sipping nectar which is sweet and thick as honey. An incredibly sensuous image. Jimbo (V.O.) They see a network of energy that flows through all living things. They know that all energy is only borrowed-- MACRO SHOT of a purple flower, beaded with raindrops. A blue hand picks the flower. Jimbo (V.O.) -- and one day you have to give it back. LOOKING DOWN into a hole dug among tree roots. The body of an old Omaticaya WOMAN lies curled there like an unborn baby in the womb of the earth. The purple flower is gently placed on her body, joining flowers, totems and beads. Mo'at recites a prayer as Neytiri, acting as acolyte, places a WOODSPRITE, a seed of the Great Tree, on the body. Earth is poured over the LENS and we CUT TO --

you're in high seas. The water column is moving up and down six, eight, 10 feet, and now ships passing over you and you're trying to do a search and kicking up to stay with the ship when it goes up and then trying to brace yourself when the ship comes back down on you. That was pretty crazy. He says that in 23 years of being an LAPD diver, he's seen some truly wild things recovering an entire plane for the DEA, having a body disintegrate in his hands, seeing a body standing upright, looking at him underwater.

This is his last week of work. After a couple of body part replacements and some torn ACL and hernias, I'm thinking that it's it's time.

And I feel like that I've done enough and I deserve to experience life and actually be home for the wife and the puppies.

His wife, Leslie Mascarenhas, is retiring to.

A lot of people don't realize that as a policeman, you don't get a Monday through Friday schedule. Your Friday may be a Tuesday and your days off might be Wednesday and Thursday.

So we've never had a real set schedule. So we're looking forward to actually being able to take a normal week, two weeks off and have a vacation. And if somebody calls and says, hey, let's go to dinner on Friday or Saturday night, we're going to be able to actually say yes, how is she doing?

Your wife? She was as almost as much of a star in our previous episode as you were.

Oh, she's still not happy with me about that game or any of the other ones that happened over time.

I hear that you're now part of the official La Brea Tar Pits tour.

I have heard that they actually talk about our operation. And I somebody has told me that they mention my name and but I haven't been there yet.

You haven't just been curious and put a hat on, disguised yourself and head on down and and and hear what they have to say about you.

Well, I'm definitely going to have to do it before I leave Los Angeles. The wife definitely wants to go down there and check it out. Apparently, she's never been there. And now I can say I've been on top and underneath, so.

Well, Dave, I want to wish you all the best in your retirement, and I hope you and your wife have the most wonderful next couple of Friday nights and Saturday nights all to yourselves.

Well, thank you very much.

I appreciate that. She's going to be looking forward to that. I think we'll take care and maybe we'll check up with you again after you go to see yourself on the La Brea Tar Pits tour. I'm definitely going to do that.

Criminal is created by law, S'pore and me, Nadia Wilson is our senior producer, Susanna Robertson is our assistant producer, audio mix by Rob Byers. Julian Alexander mix original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at this is criminal dotcom. We're on Facebook and Twitter at criminal show. Criminal is recorded in the studios of North Carolina Public Radio WMC, where a proud member of Radio TOPIA from PUREX, a collection of the best podcasts are out shows like Everything is Alive, hosted by our friend Ian Chillag.

Everything Everything's Alive is an interview show.

But all the subjects are inanimate objects, talking about themselves, about us and each other, a chainsaw, an Oxford shirt and other pants who live in a closet together, a Sharpie pen and cap who are working through issues in their marriage and more. Time magazine says its laugh out loud, funny, surprisingly informative and often moving a profound pleasure.

Here are a few of the objects you'll meet.

Well, why don't we have you introduce yourself for us?

Well, what's your name? My name is Ian. My name is Ian. I'm Mira, I'm Louise, I'm a shirt. I'm William, and I'm a pants, you're just pants. You're not pants, right? I'm pants and you are shirt.

So my name is Josh. I am a chainsaw. I don't think I have any friends. I mean, we need change that shows up at a party.

You know, something has gone awry. Are you just saying your name is Ian? Because my name is Ian.

Well, I'm not sure what my name would be otherwise. What if no one is standing in front of you and then I wouldn't be talking. Do you like being ironed?

Do I like being. Yeah. People don't really get ironed.

Yeah, people don't get ironed, William. That's why people wrinkles never go away.

You should try getting Ayanda. Do I think you look great. Subscribe to everything is alive wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is criminal. Radio to pick from your ex.