Avatar Page #5

QUARITCH:

... You are on Pandora, ladies and

gentlemen. Respect that fact every second

of every day.

10.

JAKE 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 Na'vi. 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 JAKE, watching as the briefing continues.

JAKE (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 Jake.

NORM:

Hey, you're Jake right? Tom's brother?

You look just like him.

(off Jake's wary look)

Sorry, I'm Norm Spellman, I went through

avatar training with him.

11.

Norm offers his hand and Jake shakes it.

NORM:

He was a great guy -- funny. It was a

big shock to all of us.

JAKE:

Yeah.

Jake 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.

JAKE:

That's why I'm here.

NORM:

So -- you want to go check it out?

CUT TO:

INT. BIO-LAB - DAY

JAKE 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 Jake rolls past him as if drawn by

some unseen force, toward --

THE AMNIO TANK. There is a FIGURE floating lanquidly inside,

which looks like a man. A very large, very blue, man.

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