The return trip to São Paulo was worse than the journey there. Not because of the traffic jams. Not because of the engine that sounded like an asthmatic donkey. But because Don Pedro had decided to ride on the roof of the ship – constantly giving advice.
“LEFT!", shouted Don Pedro from above. “THERE IS A CONSTRUCTION SITE!”
“I SEE IT!”, yelled Lucas at the wheel.
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “YOU DON’T SEE IT. YOU’RE DRIVING INTO IT!”
“I AM NOT DRIVING INTO IT!”
“YOU ARE DRIVING INTO IT!”
Lucas jerked the steering wheel to the right. The ship swayed sideways and missed the construction site by centimeters. A construction worker jumped startled into a ditch.
“SEE?”, said Don Pedro. “YOU DIDN’T SEE IT.”
“I SAW IT! I JUST TURNED LATE!”
“THAT’S THE SAME THING,” said Don Pedro.
“NO!”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “EFFICIENT.”
“I HATE—”
“I KNOW,” said Don Pedro. “BUT I’M STILL HERE.”
Tito sat on the dashboard studying the map on his mini tablet. “WE ARE STILL THREE HOURS FROM SÃO PAULO. IF WE DON’T TAKE A BREAK.”
“WE ARE NOT TAKING A BREAK!”, shouted Lucas.
“THEN WE WILL ARRIVE EARLIER,” said Tito. “BUT I HAVE TO—”
He paused. Everyone looked at him.
“YOU HAVE TO WHAT?”, asked Isabella.
“I WANT TO BUY BANANAS,” said Tito quietly.
“BANANAS?!”, shouted Lucas. “WE ARE ON A LIFE-CRUCIAL MISSION AND YOU WANT BANANAS?!”
“BANANAS ARE LIFE-CRUCIAL,” said Tito seriously. “POTASSIUM. MAGNESIUM. VITAMIN B6.”
“THAT IS—”
“SCIENCE,” said Tito and Chico simultaneously.
“I HATE SCIENCE!”
“THAT’S A SHAME,” said Don Pedro from the roof. “SCIENCE CREATED YOU.”
“SCIENCE DID NOT CREATE ME!”
“YES IT DID,” said Don Pedro. “WITHOUT SCIENCE YOU WOULD BE A BABY.”
“THAT MAKES NO SENSE!”
“YES IT DOES,” said Don Pedro. “CHANGE TECHNIQUE.”
“PLEEEEASE!”
At that moment Lucas’s phone beeped excitedly. “ATTENTION. MESSAGE ON THE PATAWEB.”
“FROM WHOM?”, asked Chico.
“FROM A MEMBER WHO WAS NO LONGER ACTIVE,” said the phone. “A CAPYBARA. FROM PARAGUAY.”
“THE CAPYBARA WHO DISAPPEARED?!”, shouted Don Pedro and jumped off the roof. The ship swayed. Isabella screamed. Tito fell off the dashboard. Chico laughed.
“YES,” said the phone. “HE SENT A MESSAGE. BUT IT IS... STRANGE.”
“WHAT DOES IT SAY?”
The phone displayed the message on the screen:
“Help. I cannot cry. The machine takes my tears. Torre de Luz, Level 47. I am not alone. The others are here. But they are... silent. Very silent. Please come. And bring bananas.”
Silence in the ship.
“He can’t cry?”, repeated Isabella softly.
“THE MACHINE TAKES HIS TEARS?”, said Chico alarmed.
“LEVEL 47,” said Don Pedro and grew serious. “THE TOWER HAS 46 LEVELS.”
“HOW CAN LEVEL 47 EXIST?”, asked Lucas.
“IT SHOULD NOT,” said Don Pedro. “IF IT EXISTS... THEN IT IS HIDDEN.”
“HIDDEN HOW?”
“UNDERGROUND,” said Don Pedro. “LEVEL 47 IS A BASEMENT.”
“A BASEMENT IN A TOWER?”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “A SECRET BASEMENT.”
“AND WHAT DO YOU DO IN A SECRET BASEMENT?”
“YOU TAKE ANIMALS’ TEARS,” said Don Pedro quietly.
Everyone was silent. Even the phone was quiet. Even Princess said nothing.
“WHY TEARS?”, asked Isabella finally.
Don Pedro sat down on the floor. His sombrero slipped over his eyes. He pushed it back and said slowly:
“Tears are emotion. Emotion is energy. Energy is data.”
“THAT MAKES NO—”
“YES IT DOES,” said Don Pedro. “IT MAKES SENSE. IF YOU HAVE A CHIP THAT CONVERTS EMOTIONS INTO DATA... THEN TEARS ARE THE KEY.”
“THE KEY TO WHAT?”
“To us,” said Don Pedro. “To the Pataweb. To control.”
Lucas felt a chill. “Someone collects the emotions of the tech animals to... control them?”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “AND THE CAPYBARA IS NOT THE ONLY VICTIM.”
“HOW MANY ARE THERE?”
“WE DON’T KNOW,” said Don Pedro. “BUT THE MESSAGE SAYS: ‘THE OTHERS ARE HERE.’”
“THE FOUR MISSING ONES?”
“Maybe,” said Don Pedro. “OR MORE.”
Chico flew up and landed on Lucas’s shoulder. “WE HAVE TO HELP THEM.”
“I KNOW,” said Lucas. “BUT HOW?”
“WE GO IN,” said Don Pedro.
“INTO A TOWER THAT HAS A HIDDEN LEVEL 47 WHERE ANIMALS’ TEARS ARE TAKEN?!”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “EXACTLY THAT.”
“THAT’S CRAZY!”
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “THAT IS NECESSARY.”
“THAT’S THE SAME THING!”
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “CRAZY IS IRRATIONAL. NECESSARY IS LOGICAL.”
“I DON’T CARE ABOUT LOGIC!”
“THEN CARE ABOUT THE CAPYBARA,” said Don Pedro quietly. “HE CAN’T CRY. IMAGINE YOU COULDN’T CRY.”
Lucas swallowed. He thought of all the moments he had cried – out of anger, frustration, happiness. Imagine someone taking that away from him.
“Okay,” he said softly. “We go in.”
“GOOD,” said Don Pedro. “BUT WE NEED A PLAN.”
“I HAVE A PLAN,” said Tito raising his hand.
“YOU HAVE A SMALL HAND,” said Don Pedro.
“THAT’S INSULTING!”
“THAT’S A FACT,” said Don Pedro. “BUT TELL US YOUR PLAN.”
Tito cleared his throat. “I KNOW THE TORRE DE LUZ. I KNOW EVERY PIPE. EVERY SHAFT. EVERY TOILET.”
“WHY DO YOU KNOW THE TOILETS?”, asked Isabella.
“BECAUSE I SLEPT THERE,” said Tito. “TOILETS ARE WARM.”
“THAT IS...,” began Lucas.
“EFFICIENT,” said Chico.
“PLEASE NO!”
Tito pointed to his tablet. “THERE IS A MAINTENANCE SHAFT. IT LEADS FROM THE UNDERGROUND GARAGE TO THE CORE OF THE TOWER. FROM THERE I CAN REACH EVERY ROOM.”
“EVEN LEVEL 47?”
“IF IT EXISTS,” said Tito, “THEN I WILL FIND IT.”
“GOOD,” said Don Pedro. “THEN THE PLAN IS SIMPLE. TITO LEADS US IN. WE FIND THE ANIMALS. WE FREE THEM.”
“AND THE SIGNAL?”
“THE SIGNAL WILL COME FROM LEVEL 47,” said Don Pedro. “IF WE FREE THE ANIMALS, THE SIGNAL STOPS.”
“AND IF NOT?”
“THEN,” said Don Pedro slowly, “WE HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM.”
“HOW BIG?”
“SO BIG,” said Don Pedro, “THAT CHIPS WON’T HELP ANYMORE.”
The phone vibrated. “I HAVE ANALYZED THE STRUCTURE OF THE TORRE DE LUZ.”
“AND?”
“THE TOWER HAS 46 LEVELS ABOVE GROUND. AND...”
“AND?”
“ONE LEVEL BELOW GROUND. LEVEL 47.”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?”
“I FOUND THE BLUEPRINTS,” said the phone. “THEY WERE NOT HIDDEN.”
“NOT HIDDEN?”
“NO,” said the phone. “THEY WERE IN A FOLDER NAMED ‘NOT SECRET.’”
“THAT IS SECRET!”
“NO,” said the phone. “THE FOLDER SAYS ‘NOT SECRET.’”
“THAT’S THE SAME THING!”
“NO,” said the phone. “IT IS EFFICIENT.”
“I HATE EVERYTHING!”
Isabella, who had been silent so far, stepped forward. “I have a question.”
“WHICH ONE?”, asked Don Pedro.
“Why does someone take tears from animals? What can you do with animal emotions?”
Don Pedro looked at her for a long time. Then he said:
“Everything.”
“Everything?”
“Emotions are the most powerful energy in the world,” said Don Pedro. “Stronger than electricity. Stronger than data. Stronger than weapons. If you can control emotions... you can control everything.”
“THAT IS...,” began Lucas.
“SCARY,” said Princess softly. “LIKE BAD LIGHTING ON A FIRST DATE.”
“THAT IS NOT THE SAME!”
“YES IT IS,” said Princess. “BOTH ARE SCARY.”
“THAT IS—”
“TRUE,” said Don Pedro. “PRINCESS IS RIGHT. FEAR IS FEAR. NO MATTER WHERE IT COMES FROM.”
Chico ruffled his feathers. “THEN WE MUST NOT BE AFRAID.”
“YES WE MUST,” said Don Pedro. “FEAR IS GOOD. FEAR SHOWS THAT SOMETHING IS IMPORTANT TO US.”
“THEN FEAR IS GOOD?”
“FEAR IS LIKE AN ALARM,” said Don Pedro. “IT SAYS: WATCH OUT! BUT IT MUST NOT DECIDE WHAT YOU DO.”
“WHO SAID THAT?”
“I DID,” said Don Pedro. “AND I WEAR A SOMBRERO.”
“THAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU A PHILOSOPHER!”
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “THE SOMBRERO MAKES ME A JAGUAR WITH STYLE.”
“I HATE—”
“I KNOW,” said Don Pedro. “BUT WE HAVE NO TIME TO HATE.”
He turned to the window. The lights of São Paulo appeared on the horizon.
“We’re here,” said Don Pedro quietly. “Ready?”
“NO,” said Lucas.
“GOOD,” said Don Pedro. “NO ONE IS EVER READY. BUT WE DO IT ANYWAY.”
The ship rattled into the night. Behind them lay the Amazon. Ahead lay the Torre de Luz. And deep underground waited a capybara who could not cry.
And at the moment São Paulo’s lights illuminated the ship, the signal hummed again. This time not quietly. This time not hidden.
This time it was a scream.
And 258 animals across South America heard it.