The air grew more humid the closer they got to the Amazon. The ship – or the vehicle that called itself a ship – rattled through the jungle area as the trees grew denser and the birds screamed louder.
“WE ARE ALMOST THERE," shouted Tito from above. “MANAUS IS ONLY FIVE KILOMETERS AHEAD OF US!"
“AND DON PEDRO?", asked Lucas, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“HE IS WAITING FOR US," said Chico. “AT THE RIVERBANK."
“AND WHY CAN’T WE SEE HIM?"
“BECAUSE HE AVOIDS VISIBILITY," said Tito. “HE IS A JAGUAR. HIDING IS HIS NATURE."
“HE HAS A TECH CHIP IN HIS BRAIN," said Isabella. “THAT IS NO LONGER NATURAL."
“SWITCH TECHNIQUE," all four animals said simultaneously.
“I HATE YOU ALL!”
“WE KNOW," they said again.
When they finally reached the shore, no one was there. No sign of a jaguar. Only water, trees, and a lonely wooden chair standing in a clearing.
“THIS IS STRANGE," said Lucas. “HE SAID HE WOULD WAIT."
“HE IS STILL WAITING," said Chico. “JUST IN ANOTHER DIRECTION."
“HOW SO?"
Chico pointed with his beak to the tree directly behind the chair. Something was hanging there. A hat. A real sombrero, large and wide, with feathers on the edge.
“THE HAT IS HIS," said Tito. “THE MAN DOES NOT WEAR IT. IT LIES IN THE TREE."
“WHY?"
“BECAUSE DON PEDRO HAS NO INTEREST IN HUMANS," said a deep, rough voice from the shadows.
They all turned around. And there, between the trees, he stood.
Don Pedro.
A jaguar of impressive size, with golden fur and dark rosettes. On his head he wore the mentioned sombrero, which looked absurdly small on this majestic animal. In his paw he held...
“A bag of chips?", asked Isabella, rubbing her eyes.
“YES!", said Don Pedro, biting into a chip. “POTATO CHIPS WITH SALT."
“YOU EAT CHIPS?!", shouted Lucas.
“REAL CHIPS," said Don Pedro. “NOT THE PLANT KIND. THE CRISPY POTATO SLICES."
“A VEGETARIAN JAGUAR WHO EATS CHIPS?", asked Tito confused.
“I AM NOT VEGETARIAN," said Don Pedro. “I AM CHIPSARIAN."
“CHIPSARIAN?!", they all shouted simultaneously.
“IT IS A DIET," explained Don Pedro. “TWO PACKS A DAY."
Lucas stared at the jaguar. “THEY EQUIPPED HIM WITH TECH CHIPS. AND HE TALKS ABOUT CHIPS."
“CHIP PACKS," corrected Don Pedro strictly. “AND I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT ALCOHOL. I AM TALKING ABOUT QUALITY."
“QUALITY OF CHIPS?", asked Isabella skeptically.
“CERTAINLY," said Don Pedro. “GOOD CHIPS HAVE CRYSTALLINE SALT. BAD ONES HAVE GRANULES."
“CRYSTALLINE...?"
“NOT NOW," said Chico. “WE HAVE MORE URGENT QUESTIONS."
Don Pedro stepped closer and sat down on the wooden chair. The hat almost fell off, but he caught it with his paw.
“TELL ME," said Don Pedro. “YOU RECEIVED A MESSAGE?"
“YES," said Lucas. “FROM AMAZONIA TECH."
“DR. CAMILA?", asked Don Pedro.
“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"
“SWITCH TECHNIQUE," said Chico and Tito simultaneously.
“Not that word again!", muttered Lucas.
“I KNOW WHAT PRAISE IS," said Don Pedro seriously. “THE MESSAGE FROM SÃO PAULO."
“WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?"
“I KNOW THAT THE TORRE DE LUZ DOES NOT HUM FOR US," said Don Pedro quietly. “IT HUMS FOR OTHERS."
“OTHERS?"
“Someone who does not belong to the Pataweb," said Don Pedro. “And who wants control."
Isabella stepped forward. “Who is it?"
Don Pedro lowered his head. “We don’t know exactly. But three days ago four of our members disappeared."
“Disappeared?", repeated Chico shocked.
“YES," said Don Pedro. “A toucan from Bogotá. A sloth from Costa Rica. A capybara from Paraguay. And... an opossum from Chile."
“Where did they go?"
“We don’t know," said Don Pedro. “But we found a message. At the last place where the toucan was."
“A message?", asked Lucas curiously.
“Yes," said Don Pedro, pulling a small piece of paper from his pocket. It was crumpled but readable.
He placed it on the chair. It said in cold, mechanical handwriting:
“Project elements collected. Phase Two begins. The animals become tools."
“Tools?!", shouted Lucas angrily.
“Not friends," said Don Pedro. “Tools."
“That is...", began Isabella, “that is..."
“Shocking," said the cellphone quietly.
“HORRIBLE!", corrected Princess from the tablet. “LIKE BAD LIGHTING."
“NO!", said Don Pedro. “HORRIBLE IS BETTER."
“THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"
“YES," said Don Pedro. “HORRIBLE IS EMOTIONAL. BAD LIGHTING IS PRACTICAL."
“THAT IS WRONG!"
“THAT IS HUMAN," said Don Pedro. “AND TECH IS BETTER."
Lucas took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. We have to do something. Find these animals."
“YES," said Don Pedro. “BUT NOT ALONE."
“WHY NOT?"
“BECAUSE THE ENEMY IS STRONG," said Don Pedro. “AND WE MUST BE A TEAM."
“HOW MANY ARE THERE?"
Don Pedro pointed to the clearing. Behind the trees dozens of pairs of eyes suddenly appeared. A sloth. A tapir. An anteater. A caiman (who looked like he had just come back from vacation).
“That is...", counted Lucas slowly, “over twenty."
“TWENTY TECH ANIMALS," said Chico. “IN ONE ROOM."
“SWITCH TECHNIQUE," they all said in chorus.
“I HATE YOU ALL!”
“WE KNOW," they said again.
“Now comes the most important part," said Don Pedro. He stood up, adjusted his hat, and looked at the group.
“I don’t know who is behind the Torre de Luz. But I know they want to separate us. Animals from humans. Technology from nature."
“Then we will prevent that," said Isabella firmly.
“Exactly," said Don Pedro. “But for that we need information. Where does the signal come from?"
“From São Paulo," said Lucas. “From the Torre de Luz."
“Then we must go back there," said Don Pedro. “Back to São Paulo."
“BACK?!", shouted Lucas and Isabella simultaneously.
“YES," said Don Pedro. “THAT IS THE ORIGIN."
“THAT IS CRAZY!", shouted Lucas. “WE JUST LEFT!"
“LEFT," corrected Tito. “AND NOW WE GO BACK."
“SWITCH TECHNIQUE!”
“PLEASE NOT AGAIN!”
“THEN YOU MUST LEARN," said Don Pedro. “SWITCH TECHNIQUE IS THE FUTURE."
“AND WHAT ABOUT THE MISSING ANIMALS?"
“We will find them," said Don Pedro. “But we need a strategy."
“STRATEGY?", asked Chico. “I LOVE STRATEGY!"
“BECAUSE IT IS EFFICIENT," said Tito.
“LIKE EFFICIENCY!"
“PLEASE STOP!”
Don Pedro raised a paw. “Listen. I have a plan. But it needs your help."
“WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO?"
“You must go back to the Torre de Luz. But not as victims. As researchers."
“RESEARCHERS?"
“YES," said Don Pedro. “You pretend to offer help. Then you see where the signal comes from."
“And if they realize we don’t want to help?"
“Then we fight," said Don Pedro. “Not with force. With knowledge."
“Knowledge?", asked Lucas.
“The Pataweb has more members than you think," said Don Pedro. “We are not just twenty. We are..."
He counted briefly. “...two hundred fifty-eight."
“258?!", shouted Tito. “WE WERE 248!"
“THE NINE TEN HAVE JOINED," said Don Pedro. “FROM TOURISM."
“FROM THE WORLD?!"
“FROM TOURISM," corrected Don Pedro. “HUMANS GAVE THEM CHIPS. WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE."
“THAT IS DANGEROUS!"
“NO," said Don Pedro. “IT IS DANGEROUS IF THEY CONTROL THE CHIPS."
Silence.
“And if they control?", asked Isabella quietly.
“Then we lose," said Don Pedro. “But we don’t lose without a fight."
“THEN LET’S FIGHT," said Lucas determined.
“NO," said Don Pedro. “LET’S UNDERSTAND."
“UNDERSTAND?"
“YES," said Don Pedro. “BEFORE YOU FIGHT, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND. THAT IS THE RULE."
“WHO SAYS THAT?"
“I," said Don Pedro. “AND I AM THE LEADER."
“YOU ARE A JAGUAR WITH A SOMBRERO AND EAT CHIPS!", shouted Lucas.
“SO WHAT?", said Don Pedro unimpressed.
“THAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU A LEADER!"
“I AM ALREADY A LEADER," said Don Pedro. “I HAVE ORDERS FROM 258 ANIMALS."
“HOW?"
“BECAUSE I LET THEM UNDERSTAND," said Don Pedro. “AND WHO WANTS TO UNDERSTAND, MUST LISTEN."
“LISTEN?", repeated Chico quietly.
“YES," said Don Pedro. “LISTENING IS THE STRONGEST POWER."
“HOW TO LISTEN?", asked Isabella.
“You don’t listen to respond," said Don Pedro. “You listen to understand."
Silence.
“That...", said Lucas slowly, “we already know."
“HOW?", asked Don Pedro.
“Our cellphone said that," said Lucas, pointing to his phone. “In Seoul."
“SEOUL?!", shouted Don Pedro. “YOU ARE FROM KOREA?"
“NO! I AM FROM BRAZIL! BUT MY PHONE WAS IN KOREA!"
“THAT EXPLAINS A LOT," said Don Pedro. “KOREA IS TECH MASTER."
“BRAZILIANS TOO!", said Tito indignantly.
“NO," said Don Pedro. “KOREA IS MASTER."
“THAT IS WRONG!"
“NO," said Don Pedro. “KOREA HAS 5G IN ALL VILLAGES."
“BRAZIL TOO!"
“NOT IN ALL VILLAGES"
“YES!"
“NO!"
“THAT IS THE SAME!"
“NO," said Don Pedro. “IT IS EFFICIENT."
“I HATE YOU!"
“I KNOW," said Don Pedro. “BUT WE ARE STILL FRIENDS."
At that moment the cellphone whispered:
“I have received a message from the Pataweb. All 258 members are ready."
“READY FOR WHAT?", asked Lucas.
“FOR THE JOURNEY," said the cellphone. “BACK TO SÃO PAULO."
“AND THEN?", asked Isabella.
“THEN," said Don Pedro, “the real work begins."
He looked at the clearing. The animals were all there. Every single one. They waited.
“We are not alone," said Don Pedro. “And that makes us strong."
“Then let’s go," said Lucas. “Let’s go back."
“THEN LET’S GO," said Don Pedro.
And the ship rolled on. Back to São Paulo. Back to the Torre de Luz. And to a truth no one had expected.
Far above them, in the clouds, a drone flew. Black finish. No logos. And it filmed everything.
In a laboratory, far away from Manaus, someone looked at the screen and smiled.
“They are going back," said the voice. “Perfect."
“Should we intervene?"
“No," said the voice. “Let them come. Phase Three begins when they arrive."
“What is Phase Three?"
“The revelation," said the voice. “Then they will see who really controls."
The screen went dark. And somewhere deep in the Torre de Luz in São Paulo, the humming began to grow louder.
It was no longer just a signal. It was an invitation.