The sun broke through the windows of the Torre de Luz like an uninvited guest who stayed anyway. Lucas lay on the floor of level 47, next to a sleeping capybara and a jaguar using his sombrero as a pillow.
“WHAT...,” Lucas mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “WHERE AM I?”
“ON LEVEL 47,” said his phone helpfully. “YOU SLEPT HERE. ON THE FLOOR. VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.”
“THANKS FOR THE INFO!”
“EFFICIENT,” said the phone.
“PLEASE NOT!”
Lucas sat up and looked around. The room looked different than at night. Without the humming of the machines, it was... empty. The pipes hung from the ceiling like switched-off lamps. The screens were dark. And the animals...
The capybara sat in a corner eating a banana Tito had brought him. The toucan sat on a perch preening his feathers. The sloth was sleeping – but that was normal. And the opossum...
“WHERE IS THE OPOSSUM?” Lucas asked alarmed.
“HERE,” said a quiet voice from the ceiling. The opossum hung upside down from a pipe. “I’VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE.”
“WHY ARE YOU HANGING FROM THE CEILING?”
“BECAUSE I AM AN OPOSSUM,” said the opossum. “THAT’S WHAT WE DO.”
“THAT IS...”
“EFFICIENT?” asked the opossum hopefully.
“NO! THAT IS CRAZY!”
“THAT’S THE SAME,” said the opossum, smiling.
Don Pedro woke up and adjusted his sombrero. “GOOD MORNING,” he said. “DID YOU SLEEP WELL?”
“ON THE FLOOR IN A SECRET LAB? NO!”
“NEITHER DID I,” said Don Pedro. “THE FLOOR IS TOO HARD.”
“YOU ARE A JAGUAR! YOU SLEEP ON THE JUNGLE FLOOR!”
“THAT’S DIFFERENT,” said Don Pedro. “JUNGLE EARTH IS SOFT. CONCRETE IS HARD.”
“THAT IS—”
“CHANGE TECHNIQUE,” said Don Pedro.
“I HATE YOU!”
“I KNOW.”
Isabella came down the stairs, followed by Chico and Tito. She carried three cups of coffee and a banana.
“GOOD MORNING,” she said. “I FOUND COFFEE. IN A ROOM THREE FLOORS UP.”
“THREE FLOORS UP?” asked Lucas. “YOU WERE THREE FLOORS UP?”
“YES,” said Isabella. “AND I FOUND SOMETHING.”
“WHAT?”
Isabella held up a folder. It was black, unmarked, but thick – full of paper.
“I FOUND THIS IN AN OFFICE,” she said. “IT DOESN’T STOP AT LEVEL 47.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
“THE TOWER HAS MORE SECRET LEVELS,” said Isabella. “AND THERE ARE... PLANS.”
Don Pedro took the folder and opened it. His face grew longer – which was impressive for a jaguar.
“WHAT IS IT?” asked Lucas.
“THEY ARE BLUEPRINTS,” said Don Pedro slowly. “FOR... EVEN MORE TOWERS.”
“EVEN MORE?”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “FIVE. IN FIVE CITIES. SÃO PAULO. BUENOS AIRES. LIMA. BOGOTÁ. AND...”
“AND?”
“MEXICO CITY,” said Don Pedro.
Silence.
“FIVE TOWERS?” whispered Isabella.
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “THE TORRE DE LUZ WAS JUST THE BEGINNING.”
“THE MAN SAID HE GIVES UP!” shouted Lucas. “HE DESTROYED EVERYTHING!”
“HE DESTROYED LEVEL 47,” corrected Don Pedro. “NOT THE PLANS.”
“WHERE IS THE MAN ANYWAY?”
Everyone looked around. The man in the white suit was gone.
“HE’S GONE?” shouted Lucas. “HOW CAN HE BE GONE?”
“I DIDN’T SEE HIM,” said Dr. Camila, who was just coming down the stairs. “I TOOK CARE OF THE ANIMALS ALL NIGHT.”
“HE JUST DISAPPEARED?”
“IT SEEMS SO,” said Dr. Camila. “BUT...”
“BUT WHAT?”
Dr. Camila held up a small piece of paper. “HE LEFT SOMETHING BEHIND.”
Lucas took the paper. It said in neat handwriting:
“I am not leaving. I am moving forward. See the plans. Understand them. And then decide: Do you want to follow me or stop me? – R.”
“R?” asked Lucas. “WHO IS R?”
“I DON’T KNOW,” said Dr. Camila. “BUT IT’S HIS NAME. OR HIS INITIAL.”
“AND HE WANTS US TO STOP HIM?”
“HE WANTS US TO DECIDE,” said Don Pedro.
“THEN I DECIDE: WE STOP HIM!”
“NOT SO FAST,” said Don Pedro. “HE BUILT FIVE TOWERS. OR IS PLANNING THEM. WE CAN’T BE EVERYWHERE.”
“THEN WE NEED HELP!”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “FROM THE PATAWEB.”
The phone vibrated. “I CONTACTED THE PATAWEB. 258 MEMBERS. ALL READY.”
“ALL?” asked Lucas.
“ALL,” said the phone. “INCLUDING THE FOUR RESCUED ONES.”
The capybara looked up from his banana. “I AM READY,” he said. “BUT I WANT TO FINISH EATING FIRST.”
“THAT IS—” Lucas paused. “CHANGE TECHNIQUE?”
“NO,” said the capybara. “THAT IS HUNGER.”
“FINALLY SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS NORMALLY!”
“I AM NORMAL,” said the capybara offended. “I AM JUST A CAPYBARA.”
“WITHOUT TECH?”
“WITH TECH,” said the capybara. “BUT TECH DOESN’T DRIVE ME CRAZY.”
“THAT IS A MIRACLE!” shouted Lucas.
“NO,” said the capybara. “THAT IS EFFE—” He stopped. “THAT IS PERSONALITY.”
“THAT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD I’VE HEARD TODAY!”
Dr. Camila spread the plans on the floor. Five towers. Five cities. And each building had a level 47.
“EVERY TOWER HAS A LEVEL 47?” asked Isabella.
“YES,” said Dr. Camila. “AND EACH COLLECTS SOMETHING DIFFERENT.”
“WHAT?”
Dr. Camila read the labels on the plans:
“SÃO PAULO: TEARS. BUENOS AIRES: LAUGHTER. LIMA: SCREAMS. BOGOTÁ: DREAMS. MEXICO CITY: SILENCE.”
“TEARS, LAUGHTER, SCREAMS, DREAMS, AND SILENCE?” repeated Lucas.
“YES,” said Dr. Camila. “FIVE EMOTIONS. FIVE TOWERS. ONE SYSTEM.”
“WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL FIVE ARE COMPLETE?”
Dr. Camila hesitated. Then she said: “THEN HE HAS ALL THE EMOTIONS. FROM ALL THE ANIMALS. THROUGHOUT SOUTH AMERICA.”
“AND THEN?”
“AND THEN,” said Don Pedro quietly, “HE CAN DO ANYTHING.”
Silence.
The capybara put down his banana. “THAT IS BAD.”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “THAT IS BAD.”
“NO ‘EFFICIENT’?” asked Lucas surprised.
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “SOME THINGS ARE NOT EFFICIENT. SOME THINGS ARE JUST BAD.”
“THAT...” Lucas swallowed. “THAT IS THE FIRST TIME YOU MEAN SOMETHING SERIOUSLY.”
“I ALWAYS MEAN SERIOUSLY,” said Don Pedro. “I JUST WEAR A SOMBRERO.”
Chico flew up and circled over the group. “WE HAVE TO SPLIT UP.”
“SPLIT UP?” asked Isabella. “WE ARE ONLY—” She counted. “SIX. PLUS ANIMALS.”
“YES,” said Chico. “ONE GROUP PER CITY.”
“THAT IS TOO DANGEROUS!”
“NOT TOO DANGEROUS,” said Don Pedro. “BUT TOO IMPORTANT.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
“WE DON’T HAVE INFINITE TIME,” said Don Pedro. “R IS BUILDING. AND WHILE HE BUILDS, HE COLLECTS.”
“HOW MUCH TIME DO WE HAVE?”
The phone calculated. “ACCORDING TO THE PLANS: 14 DAYS UNTIL ALL FIVE TOWERS ARE OPERATIONAL.”
“FOURTEEN DAYS?!” shouted Lucas.
“YES,” said the phone. “ASSUMING R DOESN’T BUILD FASTER.”
“AND IF HE BUILDS FASTER?”
“THEN LESS,” said the phone. “EFFICIENT.”
“PLEASE NOT!”
Dr. Camila took over. “Okay. Here is the plan.”
She drew a map of South America on the back of the plans.
“SÃO PAULO: Lucas, Chico, and Tito stay here. The tower is already partly destroyed, but the plans show it will be repaired.”
“REPAIRED?” shouted Lucas. “WHO WILL REPAIR IT?”
“R,” said Dr. Camila. “HE HAS PEOPLE.”
“BUENOS AIRES: Isabella and Princess. You travel tomorrow. The tower there collects laughter.”
“LAUGHTER?” said Isabella. “WHO COLLECTS LAUGHTER?”
“SOMEONE WHO THINKS LAUGHTER IS A WEAPON,” said Don Pedro.
“THAT IS—”
“TRUE,” said Don Pedro. “LAUGHTER CAN BREAK WEAPONS.”
“LIMA: Don Pedro and the capybara. The tower collects screams.”
“SCREAMS?” said the capybara. “I NEVER SCREAM.”
“THAT’S WHY YOU ARE THE RIGHT ONE,” said Dr. Camila. “WHO DOESN’T SCREAM CAN SHOW OTHERS THERE IS ANOTHER WAY.”
“THAT IS...” The capybara thought. “THAT IS SMART.”
“BOGOTÁ: The toucan and the sloth. The tower collects dreams.”
“DREAMS?” asked the toucan. “I DREAM OF FLYING.”
“YOU CAN FLY,” said Tito.
“BUT NOT IN THE DREAM,” said the toucan sadly. “IN THE DREAM I AM HEAVY.”
“THAT IS POETIC,” said Don Pedro.
“AND MEXICO CITY?” asked Lucas.
Dr. Camila became quiet. “Mexico City is... special.”
“WHY?”
“THE TOWER COLLECTS SILENCE,” said Dr. Camila. “AND SILENCE IS... THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYTHING.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”
“SILENCE IS NOT JUST QUIET,” said Dr. Camila. “SILENCE IS ABSENCE. NO LAUGHTER. NO TEARS. NO SCREAMS. NO DREAMS. NOTHING.”
“AND WHO GOES THERE?”
“I DO,” said Dr. Camila. “AND THE OPOSSUM.”
“WHY THE OPOSSUM?” asked Lucas.
“BECAUSE I KNOW SILENCE,” said the opossum from the ceiling. “I SPENT MONTHS ON LEVEL 47. I KNOW WHAT SILENCE CAN FEEL LIKE.”
“AND IS THAT GOOD?”
“NO,” said the opossum. “BUT IT IS NECESSARY.”
Lucas looked at the map. Five cities. Five groups. Five missions. Fourteen days.
“THAT IS CRAZY,” he said quietly.
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “BUT WE ARE CRAZY TOO.”
“SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!”
“I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE,” said Don Pedro, spreading his paws. “WE ARE A TEAM. BUT WE ARE ALSO CRAZY.”
“EFFICIENTLY CRAZY?” asked Tito.
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “JUST CRAZY.”
“FINALLY!” shouted Lucas. “FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE ‘EFFICIENT’!”
“ENJOY IT,” said Don Pedro. “IT WON’T LAST LONG.”
The phone vibrated. “I HAVE BOOKED FLIGHTS.”
“WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?!”
“YES,” said the phone. “EFFICIENT.”
“AND I JUST HAD A MOMENT OF HAPPINESS!”
“HAPPINESS IS TEMPORARY,” said the phone. “FLIGHTS ARE PERMANENT.”
“THAT MAKES NO—”
“YES,” said the phone. “CHANGE TECHNIQUE.”
“I HATE EVERYTHING!”
“WE KNOW,” said everyone at once – including the capybara, the toucan, the sloth (who was actually sleeping), and the opossum (who fell from the ceiling).
Dr. Camila smiled. “Then it’s decided. Five teams. Five cities. Fourteen days.”
“AND IF WE FAIL?” asked Isabella quietly.
“THEN WE FAIL TOGETHER,” said Don Pedro. “AND THAT IS BETTER THAN WINNING ALONE.”
“THAT IS—” Lucas smiled. “THAT IS BEAUTIFUL.”
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “THAT IS NECESSARY.”
“THAT IS THE SAME!”
“NO,” said Don Pedro. “BEAUTIFUL IS OPTIONAL. NECESSARY IS UNAVOIDABLE.”
“I HATE PHILOSOPHY!”
“I KNOW,” said Don Pedro. “BUT PHILOSOPHY KNOWS YOU.”
“THAT MAKES NO SENSE!”
“YES,” said Don Pedro. “CHANGE TECHNIQUE.”
And somewhere – far away from São Paulo, far away from everywhere – a man in a white suit sat in front of a screen and looked at five glowing dots on a map.
“They found the plans,” he said. “Good.”
“IS THAT GOOD?” asked a voice from the speaker.
“YES,” said the man. “BECAUSE NOW THE GAME REALLY BEGINS.”
“AND IF THEY WIN?”
The man smiled. “Then they have won what I wanted to give them.”
“AND WHAT IS THAT?”
“RESPONSIBILITY,” said the man. “AND THAT IS THE HEAVIEST BURDEN IN THE WORLD.”
The screen went dark. And in five cities five towers began to hum.
Quietly. Almost inaudibly. But there.