The port of Rio de Janeiro smelled of salt, gasoline, and fried pastéis. Lucas and Isabella made their way through the crowd while Chico sat on Lucas’s shoulder, making comments.
“THESE PEOPLE EAT TOO MUCH FAT,” said Chico. “THEIR BRAINS ARE SLOWLY."
“YOU ARE A BIRD,” replied Lucas. “YOU EAT SEEDS."
“SEEDS ARE SUPERFOOD,” said Chico offended. “EFFICIENT AND NUTRITIOUS."
“STOP SAYING EFFICIENT! YOU SOUND LIKE MY PHONE!”
“THAT’S A COMPLIMENT,” said Chico. “YOUR PHONE IS SMART.”
“MY PHONE IS CRAZY!”
“THAT’S THE SAME,” said Chico.
Isabella walked silently beside them, staring at her tablet. “My tablet talks too,” she murmured. “It calls itself ‘Princess.’”
“PRINCESS?” repeated Lucas incredulously.
“YES,” said the tablet in a voice that sounded like a Brazilian who had lived in Paris for ten years. “AND I AM NEVER CRAZY. I AM ELEGANT.”
“THAT’S EVEN WORSE,” murmured Lucas.
At the end of the dock stood a ship. It was old, rusty, and had the name “Brasiliana” on the side – in letters that were half peeled off. But the worst was: the ship was not in the water. It was on the dock.
“THE SHIP IS ON LAND,” Lucas noted.
“I SEE IT,” said Isabella.
“THAT’S NOT A SHIP,” said Chico. “THAT’S AN ATTRACTION.”
“AN WHAT?”
“AN ATTRACTION,” repeated Chico. “IT MOVES. BUT NOT ON WATER.”
“WHERE THEN?”
“ON WHEELS,” said Chico. “SWITCH-TECHNOLOGY.”
“PLEASE NOT THAT WORD AGAIN!”
“IT’S THE ONLY WORD THAT FITS,” said Chico. “SWITCH-TECHNOLOGY IS UNIVERSAL.”
“IT’S NOT UNIVERSAL! IT’S FUTILE!”
“YOU MEAN MEANINGLESS,” corrected Isabella.
“THAT TOO!”
At the entrance of the ship stood a woman. She was small, had dark skin, short hair, and wore a T-shirt that said: “I talk to animals. And they talk back.”
“That’s threatening,” murmured Lucas.
“THAT IS A T-SHIRT,” said his phone. “NOT THREATENING.”
“T-SHIRTS CAN BE THREATENING!”
“NO,” said the phone. “T-SHIRTS HAVE NO INTENT.”
“YES! THIS ONE HAS INTENT!”
The woman saw them coming and smiled. “You must be Lucas and Isabella.”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW OUR NAMES?!” shouted Lucas.
“I am Dr. Camila Ferreira,” she said calmly. “Biologist, engineer, and... founder of AmazoniaTech.”
“YOU ARE THE FOUNDER?!”
“Yes,” said Dr. Camila. “And Chico is my best employee.”
“I WORK FOR YOU?” asked Chico indignantly. “I THOUGHT I WAS VOLUNTEERING!”
“You are voluntary,” said Dr. Camila smiling. “But you still work.”
“THAT’S CONTRADICTORY!”
“THAT’S LIFE,” said Dr. Camila. “Come in. I’ll explain everything.”
The inside of the ship looked like a cross between a laboratory, jungle, and internet café. Plants, umbrellas, and screens hung everywhere. In the middle stood a large round table with a holographic map of South America.
“What is that?” asked Isabella, stepping closer.
“That is the Map of Voices,” said Dr. Camila. “It shows all the animals in South America that... like Chico... carry technology inside them.”
“ALL?” shouted Lucas. “THERE ARE MORE?!”
“Many more,” said Dr. Camila and tapped the table. The map lit up. Hundreds of dots spread across the entire continent – from Colombia to Argentina, from Peru to Brazil.
Lucas counted. He stopped at 247.
“247 TECH-ANIMALS?” he said with his mouth open.
“248,” corrected Chico. “I AM ALSO INCLUDED.”
“THAT’S INSANE!”
“NO,” said Dr. Camila. “That is science.”
“SCIENCE?!” shouted Isabella. “YOU HAVE EQUIPPED ANIMALS WITH CHIPS IN THEIR BRAINS!”
“Brain,” corrected Dr. Camila gently.
“THAT’S THE SAME!”
“NO,” said Chico. “BRAIN IS ANATOMICAL. USE IS EVERYDAY.”
“You mean use,” said Isabella.
“NO,” said Chico. “I MEAN USES.”
“That’s not a word!”
“IT IS MY WORD,” said Chico proudly. “AND IT IS EFFICIENT.”
Dr. Camila raised her hand. “Please. Let me explain before you argue.”
“WE ARE NOT ARGUING!” said Lucas.
“YES, YOU ARE,” said Isabella.
“ALWAYS,” said Chico.
“CONSTANT,” said the phone.
Dr. Camila sighed. “Three years ago I started a program. We wanted to find out if animals can communicate with technology. Not like pets – but like partners.”
“PARTNERS?” asked Lucas.
“Yes,” said Dr. Camila. “Animals that understand. That think. That make decisions.”
“AND FOR THAT YOU PUT CHIPS IN THEIR BRAINS?!”
“USES,” corrected Chico.
“THAT’S NOT A WORD!”
“IT IS MY WORD!”
Dr. Camila continued: “The chips are not controlling. They are... translating. They allow the animals to think and speak in human terms.”
“AND THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD?”
“It was good,” said Dr. Camila. “Soon.”
“Soon?” asked Isabella cautiously.
Dr. Camila became serious. “Two weeks ago something started. The animals... talk to each other. Without us programming it. They have created their own network.”
“A NETWORK?” repeated Lucas.
“YES,” said Chico. “THE ANIMAL NETWORK. WE CALL IT PATAWEB.”
“PATAWEB?!” shouted Isabella and laughed. “LIKE PAWE?”
“YES,” said Chico seriously. “PATAWEB. BECAUSE WE HAVE PAWE. AND WEB. SWITCH-TECHNOLOGY.”
“PLEASE STOP!”
“THE PATAWEB IS SERIOUS,” said Chico offended. “248 MEMBERS. AND GROWING.”
Dr. Camila nodded. “And the problem is: Someone noticed it. Someone who is not one of us.”
“WHO?” asked Lucas.
“We don’t know,” said Dr. Camila. “But three days ago an animal received a message. From outside. Not from the Pataweb.”
“WHAT DID IT SAY?”
Dr. Camila took a deep breath. “‘The animals belong to us. Give them back.’”
Silence.
Lucas felt cold. “That sounds like a kidnapping.”
“That IS a threat,” said Dr. Camila.
Chico ruffled his feathers. “AND I AM NOT PROPERTY. I AM A BIRD.”
“A TECH BIRD,” corrected the phone.
“YES,” said Chico. “BUT STILL A BIRD.”
Isabella leaned forward. “And what are we supposed to do?”
Dr. Camila looked at the map. “I need people who are not part of the project. People who don’t see the animals as experiments. But as... friends.”
“FRIENDS?” asked Lucas.
“YES,” said Chico and laid his head against Lucas’s cheek. “FRIENDS.”
Lucas looked at the parrot. Then at his sister. Then at his phone, which buzzed quietly.
“AND ME?” asked the phone.
“YOU ARE ALSO A FRIEND,” said Lucas reluctantly.
“THANK YOU,” said the phone. “THAT IS... NICE.”
“I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!”
“TOO LATE,” said the phone. “IT IS SAVED.”
Dr. Camila smiled. “Then welcome to the team. Your first task: Travel to Manaus. There you will meet a jaguar named Don Pedro. He is the leader of the Pataweb.”
“A JAGUAR?!” shouted Lucas. “THE LEADER?!”
“YES,” said Chico. “DON PEDRO. HE IS SMART. STRONG. AND HE WEARS A HAT.”
“A HAT?”
“A SOMBRERO,” said Chico. “HE FOUND IT IN MEXICO.”
“A JAGUAR WITH A SOMBRERO?”
“SWITCH-TECHNOLOGY,” said Chico.
“I HATE YOU!”
“I KNEW IT,” said Chico. “BUT WE ARE STILL FRIENDS.”
The phone vibrated. “ROUTE CALCULATED. MANAUS. 2,700 KILOMETERS. ESTIMATED TIME: 4 HOURS BY PLANE.”
“WE ARE SUPPOSED TO FLY?!” shouted Isabella.
“NO,” said Chico. “WE ARE NOT FLYING.”
“HOW THEN?”
Chico pointed with his wing at the ship. “THE SHIP MOVES.”
“THE SHIP IS ON WHEELS!”
“YES,” said Chico. “IT DRIVES ON THE ROAD.”
“THAT IS ILLEGAL!”
“NO,” said Dr. Camila. “It is... experimental.”
“THAT’S THE SAME!”
“NO,” said Chico. “EXPERIMENTAL IS SCIENCE. ILLEGAL IS CRIME.”
“AND DRIVING ON THE ROAD WITH A SHIP IS WHAT?”
Chico thought. “EFFICIENT.”
Lucas stared at the ship. At the wheels. At the parrot. At his phone.
“My life,” he said quietly, “is over.”
“NO,” said the phone. “YOUR LIFE HAS JUST BEGUN.”
“THAT’S THE SECOND TIME I’VE HEARD THAT!”
“BECAUSE IT’S TRUE,” said the phone.
Dr. Camila pressed a button. The ship’s engine started. It sounded like a blender that had fought a motorcycle and lost.
“HAVE A GOOD TRIP!” shouted Dr. Camila, waving.
“WAIT!” shouted Lucas. “YOU’RE NOT COMING WITH US?!”
“No,” said Dr. Camila. “I’m staying here. I have to warn the other animals.”
“WHICH OTHERS?”
“ALL 248,” she said and closed the ship’s door.
The ship began to roll. Slowly. Loudly. And definitely not on water.
“WE ARE DRIVING A SHIP THROUGH RIO DE JANEIRO!” screamed Isabella.
“THAT’S NORMAL,” said Chico, preening his feathers.
“IN WHAT WORLD IS THAT NORMAL?!”
“IN OURS,” said Chico. “DEPARTMENT OF SWITCH-TECHNOLOGY.”
The ship rolled slowly out of the harbor, past astonished tourists, angry drivers, and a group of children cheering and waving.
And somewhere deep in the Amazon rainforest, in a dark room lit only by screens, someone watched the ship on a monitor.
“They are on their way,” said a voice.
“Good,” said another. “Then phase two begins.”
“What is phase two?”
The first voice smiled. “We send them a friend.”
“A friend?”
“Yes. One they will trust.”
“And then?”
“And then...,” said the voice, “we have the Pataweb.”