.
You wake up with the sound of something hitting the metal floor. Your cellphone, now with the screen broken, is still vibrating. It is 9:17, which means the alarm has been going on for seventeen minutes. If you had slept in your small apartment in Lapa, you'd already be late, but you are still at the barge.
Scrambling go get your backpack and phone, you bolt, the absurdly heavy and rusted metal door not really a hindrance for you new strength. Next, the long track around the Morro da Mandioca Favela and you are finally at the Autódromo Station ... and you just missed the train. Some days just start wrong. In contrast to your frustration, you see nearby a young homeless man, sleeping and smiling so deeply as if he was having just the best dream of his life. Considering his state, it is not hard to imagine that his dreams are probably way better than his real life.
9:44. If all the stars align, it would take you almost an hour and a half for you to get to your apartment.
=====
You awake startled. Was it a broken glass? Was someone breaking in? "Shit!" No it was just Mariana and by the slurred way she cursed, she was probably high. It is past 4:00am, but since you only need to wake up in about two hours, there is still plenty of time for you to doze off again and you are almost there when you hear her platform shoe hit the floor, quickly followed by a whine from the apartment bellow yours. You are suddenly filled with dread and you hold your breath as if it would help anyway. Then the second shoe and the baby cries loudly. "You freaking cunt!" you hear the baby's mother cursing from bellow, something remarkable between the cries.
When the baby finally stops crying, your alarm goes off. There is a very sunny message from your boss, remembering you to bring the documents, as if she had not already "remembered" you half a dozen times yesterday. Meanwhile, Mariana is snoring, apparently sleeping through the whole baby meltdown with no trouble at all. Reaching the kitchen, you see the vase you bought just yesterday broken on the floor, the water from within it soaking one of the pages of the document you were supposed to bring to work. One day, you feel you'll kill Mariana.
=====
You leave the shower to the smell of fresh bread from the bakery, which is odd but awesome as Raimundo was supposed to be on his way to his job. Is he having a day off? You go to the kitchen to check but instead of him you find a younger woman covering her eyes not to see you naked. "Virgin Mary!"
Apparently, Raimundo was supposed to tell you that his younger sister would be crashing with you for a couple days as she has a job interview for a big company and on top of that you are supposed to drive her to the interview. Amanda has just recently graduated from chemical engineering and accordingly to Raimundo is the his parent's favorite child because she hasn't wasted her time studying music. Still, Amanda is nice. Mostly. She is always very polite, fun to talk to, and even passed by the grocery store to help since she'd be staying for some days... but something is off about her.
=====
You wake up on your queen size bad with the soft silk sheets against your skin. The air keeps the warmth from the summer outside, but even so you wake up soaked with sweat. That strange dream again and worst of wall, the feeling of being constantly watched by... something, like a shadow in the corner of your eye that keeps shifting as you look around, never there but always there.
After a couple weeks living in São Paulo, the sound of the city is becoming bearable. Not that Osharia was silent, far from it, but where there you'd be mad about some particularly talkative maritacas , here you have the constant horns of cars and motoboys , even if Vitória's penthouse is considerably quieter compared to the street level. It is a mystery how people on the lower floors can even sleep past 6:00am.
Despite not being clearly defined, the Silence Law states that loud noises should be limited between 7:00am and 22:00pm. So 7:00am, on the clock, Dona Tereza turns the vacuum cleaner on. As you leave your rooms, she is eyeing you two as if you were demons incarnated. She is clearly mad and she has been like this since Ozkoyo moved in and the reason was obvious: you two are living under the same roof and are not married.
The table for the breakfast is already set, impeccable as ever, and with extra fruits for Ozcoyo. Dona Tereza is very meticulous and professional, as always, even when she was mad. She turns the cleaner off when you sit to eat and brings Vitória the mail and a large package. "Mr. Gustavo called. He asked to tell you that the object Mister Ozcoyo lost is still missing. Dr. Jorge called to remind you to confirm your presence for his birthday party."
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Mara exited the shower room after drying off with a body towel wrapped around her, expecting to see Raimundo, "Oh what's that smell, breakfast in the morning for sweet little- ¡Ay Dios Mio!" She clutches the towel tighter and skitters past the doorway when she realizes it's Amanda silently cursing herself that she somehow forgot, or maybe Rai forgot to tell her.
Leaning back around the corner sheepishly, she smiles as if nothing weird had just happened. "Amanda, hermana, sorry I forgot that you were here. You know how it can be, finding too much comfort in the usual routine. You need a ride to the interview today yes? When was that again?"
"Thank you, Dona," Ozcoyo says in his deep, bassy voice. He wore the same form as he had for the past couple weeks, which standing had him around the two meter mark. Tall and as muscular as someone who trains constantly, the shirt that had been lent to him was a size too small and stretched across his broad torso so it was hard to ignore his form.
He was cleaned up after some morning calisthenics done quietly in his borrowed room. The room was devoid of most personal effects. This was due to his missing backpack, which had most of what he had brought with him to the other side of the river. It seemed that it had been stolen from the alley he had stashed it that day.
There were three things that were vital he get back. The first and least important was the communicator needed to contact the other side. The second was the bioforge, as that technology was unknown to this side yet and could be used to alter and manipulate devices here to work better. The third was the seedpod he needed to be able to travel back there.
Cleaning up after working out was non-negotiable it seemed. The one time he'd been present to them having been sweaty had the Dona angry at him, face flushed and yelling faster than he could decipher. He did suppose that his scent gave incredibly strong signals, capable of causing people to freeze or flee in fear, or relaxing them based on his needs. He was doing well keeping them under control here under Vitoria's roof.
"...Vi, what's that you have?" He asks, leaning forward to look.
Vitória's lip curls involuntarily as she looks in the package. "It's from Zezé. A gift to wear to Pai's party. We might have to move Ozzy - Fire might not be enough to kill this thing."
She pulls out a red silk and satin patchwork dress out of the box with more vigilance and distaste than if her recurring social partner had just mailed her a box of angry vipers. Unable to help herself she gingerly looks for the label. "Gucci really has lost a step."
"Dona Teresa? Could you call out for an old priest and a young priest? I'll need another gift from someone non-threatening to wear to balance egos, but... Sorry did you say something about your backpack? Did Rhys find it? We can't leave that floating around too long."
She interrupts herself to scarf down some breakfast where she stands, her appetite already whetted by her morning kata and grappling drills. She brushes off crumbs where they've clung to her leggings. "So what's your plan?"
"Bugger," Rhys mutters as he watches the train recede in the distance. 'S all right, mate, yer just getting all the bad luck out of your system now, he tells himself.
Checking the time once more and feeling the urgency of the brief window he has to be on time, he heads towards the office for the meeting.
Sprinting once the Civil Police headquarters comes into sight, Rhys slows up right before he passes through the front doors. He eyes the clock nervously as he goes through the security checkpoint and runs his backpack through the metal detector.
He wasn't too late he hoped, but as he steps into the large atrium of the headquarters he sees Agente Machado glaring at him from across the room. Rhys smiles and waves, steeling himself for the interview about the missing expedition of which he's the only survivor.
No worries. All you gotta do is convince them that there's an invasive fungus that's taking over people's minds that infected the entire expedition and oh, by the way, I'm infected too. Too easy.
I probably should have gone to my flat to get the name and number of my contact at the Australian embassy.
One thing about being born the way she was, about being only partially alive, is that she didn't need as much sleep as a normal person. Half alive, meant half the amount of sleep... or at least that is what she tells herself all the time. She also could just be addicted to caffeine on an epic scale.
Mariana paid her rent on time, could make her laugh, and cooked a black bean soup that made her toes curl, so Bea could forgive a lot. But THIS...
she liked that vase. She felt her mother would have liked it too.
Ugh, head out of your Ass, Silva and get moving.
Blow dryer, then sandwiched in plastic wrap was as best she could for the doc which put it carefully into her messenger bag, and rushed down the stairs of her apartment building to where her bike is chained.
Then to the library, where Ms. Pill waits. One of the many libraries on campus, but hers. Bea's she meant, but also Ms. Pill's. The severe English woman was the head of academic research at the criminal studies library, and she HATED Beatriz Silva. The older woman was certain the transfer student from Harvard had done something reprehensible and had been kicked out, even though her records were clean as a whistle.
Ozcoyo doesn't know why the dress is supposed to be ugly. If Vitoria thinks so, it must be true.
"I must hunt in the city. I will eventually catch the scent. It is quite big, and there are many foul odors, but the nose never lies," ozcoyo tells her, finishing up his fruit before standing. The size difference between them is even more readily apparent like this.
"...perhaps there are creatures more suited to such tasks than those I am familiar enough to simulate. Are there any menageries nearby I can take advantage of their collection?" He asks.
"Near enough. There are some wolves south of the city in the zoo, but if you're going to sniff through the city, the right breed of dog, or even a rat are probably your best bets. Rat's subtlest, but I can have a call put in to some breeders as long as you only need to get familiar."
The Civil Police headquarters is pretty busy as you find Delegado Machado sending orders all around the place. Apparently the police as responding to some emergency somewhere. He glares at you for a moment before yelling across the room. "Cabo Carlos! Call back Cabo Pereira and the investigator. Our friend is finally here." He then points to you and adds. "You were this close to be considered a fugitive. Come, follow me to my office."
The sheriff's office isn't big. There is a wide window overseeing the front of the station, which the sheriff closes just the first drops of rain strike against it with quite some strength.
You had already given your testimony about what have transpired during the expedition and judging by how silent the police had been, you were apparently considered innocent about whatever happened there. What was strange is that your case was then transferred to Delagado Machado later in the process and now it seemed they were back at square one. The sheriff sits and squints his eyes a bit to read the paper in front of him. "Rhys Howard. Get yourself comfortable and tell me everything that happened, as if I was hearing it for the first time. Spare no details, understood?"
=====
As you were about to reach the subway entrance, you notice how the sky was getting darker, but now it was already too late for you to go back and get an umbrella. On Brookling Station, you take the lilac subway line and then transits to the emerald train line, but then it is already raining quite heavily and it doesn't stop as you reach Cidade Universitária Station. You believe you'll get thoroughly soaked before reaching the library, but all hope is not lost as a savvy street vendor is nearby selling umbrellas and raincoats of clearly abysmal quality but for premium prices, of course.
"R$20?" A man asks, unbelieving. "An hour ago you've said R$10!"
"T'wasn't raining an hour ago, bro." The vendor answers, completely unashamed.
Rhys swivels a chair around and takes a seat, studying Delegado Machado and any other faces in the room with them. "Missed the train, sorry to keep you waiting," he begins, still getting used to being fluent Portuguese. It was obviously a huge benefit, but still indicative of how invasive and transformative the alien fungal spores were to the human mind. Spores that are still in him. Mutated and now separated from the mycelial network, but in him nonetheless.
"Well," he begins while wondering if that same network had made its way into the police force, "can I review my earlier statement? I was still pretty traumatized after everything. I'm feeling better, but there are still nightmares. And I haven't left Sao Paolo like I was asked, so you know I want to cooperate."
He offers a laugh, even though nothing he said was funny. "So, uh, yeah. I'm a graduate student, University of Queensland, Brisbane. Working for my doctorate in mycology. That's fungus. Lot of medicines come from mushrooms. And there are other applications. So, uh, how detailed do you want me to go in my studies?"
He keeps watching the sheriff for a sign that he's either infected or just a cop in an investigation.
"Near enough. There are some wolves south of the city in the zoo, but if you're going to sniff through the city, the right breed of dog, or even a rat are probably your best bets. Rat's subtlest, but I can have a call put in to some breeders as long as you only need to get familiar."
The imposing young Outsider nods and frowns. "Perhaps I will survey the city from above first. I will go now. Then I will return in the evening. I will carry the phone you gave me so that you can reach me if you need." He's still not entirely comfortable speaking Portuguese, pausing a half second to translate in his head each time he addresses her.
The phone goes on a lanyard that he puts over his neck, bright yellow and visible as it was connected to the black phone in its carrying case. Ozcoyo steps out to the balcony of the penthouse, stripping off the borrowed clothing. Underneath he wears tight fitting leggings that seem to flow down to his ankles seamlessly. He flexes briefly standing there for a moment, before taking a step onto the railing.
His foot changes first, becoming clawed and scaly as it grips onto its new perch, and his body shrinks while sprouting grey-brown feathers. The beak forms last, as Ozcoyo in the form of a harpy eagle looks back at Vitoria from their perch. The lanyard still hangs from their neck, as they spread out their wings and take off to the sky.
The sheriff shakes his head at your request to review your previous statement. "How about you focus on retelling what happened and I'll be focusing on drawing the conclusions. Let's focus on what you've found and what you know to have happened to the other members of the expedition. I'm not particularly interested in your studies, Mr. Rhys."
=====
"I can imagine... I guess," Amanda answers, a bit evasive. "Not that dad would let me move in with a boyfriend anyway. If I had one." She shrugs, sitting on the couch and grabbing her phone.
"The interview is at 1PM in a hotel in Vila Mariana. Aren't you busy? I know dad wanted Raimundo to drive me there, but I think I can use the subway."
Vila Mariana isn't that far from where you live in Vila Madalena, likely 20 minutes if the traffic isn't bad. The problem is that relying on a good traffic is always a losing strategy, specially around lunch. There isn't much choice, aside from having lunch close to where the interview is, which isn't difficult since there are many restaurants there.
=====
Dona Tereza raises and shakes her hands as Vitória mentions Zezé. "That boy, Miss, is no good. I'll tell, you, he just wants to get into your pants, that he does." She says this as if it was the first time she'd brought this up. It was closer to the hundredth.
As Oskoyo turns into a harpy, Dona Tereza makes the sign of the cross. "And that boy is no good as well, Miss. Do you know who else turns into other shapes? Yes, the Devil himself!"
The old woman turns around and enters the kitchen and about five minutes later the phone rings and a little later she returns. "It is for you, Miss. A woman called Dolores."
You take flight and soon gain height to fly above the tall buildings of Liberdade. On every direction you look, you see the dense city, almost choking. Here and there, there are some parks and plazas, but even they seem choked and on the brink of being swallowed by the concrete mass.
You spiral down a couple times and are overwhelmed with too many scents, chief among them the smoke of the countless automobiles, and it quickly downs you how optimistic you've been about finding your lost pack just by scent... you might very well be looking for a twig in the forest, as your people say.
You soar above once more and soon notices heavy clouds in the horizon. A storm is coming.
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[dice=Qestion to remove]1d3
"I can imagine... I guess," Amanda answers, a bit evasive. "Not that dad would let me move in with a boyfriend anyway. If I had one." She shrugs, sitting on the couch and grabbing her phone.
"The interview is at 1PM in a hotel in Vila Mariana. Aren't you busy? I know dad wanted Raimundo to drive me there, but I think I can use the subway."
Vila Mariana isn't that far from where you live in Vila Madalena, likely 20 minutes if the traffic isn't bad. The problem is that relying on a good traffic is always a losing strategy, specially around lunch. There isn't much choice, aside from having lunch close to where the interview is, which isn't difficult since there are many restaurants there.
"Don't sweat it hermana, you'll find someone that your padre will approve of, and if not then follow your heart."
Stepping back, into the bedroom Mara answers while drying herself off and gathering up an outfit. Makeup can come afterwards.
"Ehh, I've got a project to work on, but been stuck inside thinking about it too much. Need to feel the city breath, I can walk over with you the metro can be a web to navigate. We can have a nice lunch, I know this place nearby they serve sushi. Get a nice bite to eat before your interview."
She leans back into the living room more decent than when she had stepped away, "Beat the traffic too."
It takes her a few minutes to choose a full outfit. A blue floral patterned blouse, a thigh length skirt with leggings, and shoes best fit for walking, no need to impress anyone today. Then she tended to her makeup.
"If you don't want a big lunch I think there's a cute Cat café nearby the hotel too."
Beatriz doesn't care about the difference between R$10, and really wants a raincoat, but her chest burns with irritation of people being taken advantage of. She grits her teeth at the feeling, telling herself, that she doesn't know anything about the vendor's life. Maybe he needs that money, more than the business man grumpy that the prices changed.
So instead of snapping, she kickstands her bicycle, and approaches with a hopeful smile "Taking advantage of others approaching misery seems wrong, but taking away the feeling of being in the right place at the right time also seems wrong... so how about R$15?" she pulls out the money ready to hand it to him for a raincoat.
Rhys finds his leg bouncing up and down, so he wills it to be still. Leaning over the table, he says, "Well, my studies are kind of relevant. You see, there are some dangerous fungi. Dangerous to humans, I mean. Fungi break down organic matter, decomposing it. Some species don't even wait 'till you're dead. What do they call athlete's foot in Brazil? It's a kind of fungus that's relatively harmless, if treated properly."
He leans back, afraid to find looks of impatience on the sheriff. "All right, I've got a point to this. I promise. Other kinds of fungus have chemicals that are hallucinogenic to humans. Shrooms, magic mushie, liberty tops, blue meanies? You know, that kind of stuff. But for those, you got to ingest them to get the psychotropic chemicals into your system.
"But imagine a type of fungus that sends the psilocybin out in their spores. You don't have to eat them, you just accidentally breath it in. And start getting bonzer ripped -- I mean, hallucinating. Or, what if there's a fungus that infects humans and constantly produces psilocybin, pumping it into their system?" He leans back, holding up his hands in a helpless gesture. "The expedition went stark raving mad and ran off. Some I think went into the jungle. I ended up in the water. Maybe others did too, and I got lucky. I'm Australian, and we know how to swim, and stay alive in the water."
Rhys offers a crooked smile that quickly turns into one of worry. "Did you find traces of any of them?"
Oz: Stormy skies
Oz: Need help finding pack
Oz: Senses cannot do it alone
Oz: Perhaps the others can help?
Ozcoyo finishes typing his message on the phone before letting it dangle again from the lanyard around his neck. He shifted back to text and to think, sitting on the top of a ten story building and considering his next move. His skin was still marked with feather patterns from being the harpy, though it would fade with time.
Liberdade was strange in an already strange city. The red gate (torii, Vitoria called it) stood out even from this distance. He felt uncomfortable on the street, towering over the majority of the people residing here. And the food scents were all outside of his experiences so far. Already his discomfort made him want to retreat back to Vitoria's penthouse, assume the form of a boa and curl up under the bed.
For now, it was best to wait for Vitoria's response. She always knew what to do. He really needed to stop pushing himself out of his comfort zone like this.
Vitória rolls her eyes at her housekeeper's chiding. "Zezé's not like that, Dona Tereza. He's more interested in merging our names and net worth than our nethers." Not like Pitão she can't help but add with a quiet shiver.
"And Ozcoyo's harmless, better than harmless." Her smile turns honestly affectionate. "you shouldn't worry about me so much, Dona Tereza... But uh the phone?"
The sheriff remains focused on your answers, while an assistant takes some notes when you talk about the hallucinogenic mushrooms, which are an illegal drug.
"There were fifteen members in the expedition, Rhys. Only you returned alive." He tells you, letting it sink, pulling a paper with a list of everyone in the expedition. "We've recovered the bodies of José Carlos da Rocha and Doutora Olinda Peres Camargo. Both were found floating on the river, their bodies broken, presumably from hitting the rocks on a waterfall upriver." With that, he pushes pictures of them for shock. Both are somewhat bloated, but to your trained eyes you can see some signs of fungal development. "It seems you were still lucky. Very lucky." You do not need to be specially sensitive to know he doesn't really believe your story.
"The other twelve members remain missing." Again, for shock, he spreads photos of them on the table.
"What you found, exactly, Rhys?" As he says this, he crosses his arms, causing his sleeve to shift and reveal a feminine bead armband, which seems very similar to another armband that a friend and colleague of yours, Julia, is wearing on one of the photos on the sheriff's table.
What do you do?
=====
"Hum, I think the small lunch is better. Also my interview shirt is white and I'm for sure drop shoyo on it if we have some Japanese."
While you dress yourself, Amanda takes her travel bag to the small guest room and then spends some time to also change clothes and get ready. She opts for a more formal attire. She also gets an umbrella, since it is already raining.
Amanda calls an Uber to take you to the Vila Mariana Station and then take the green line until Ana Rosa Station. Inside the subway, two guys are moving from wagon to wagon loudly announcing chocolate bars out from a box. It is pretty obvious that it is stolen property, but the prices are really tempting. Many people buy one or two bars.
As you reach street level, the rain has gained strength, forcing you to call for another Uber instead of walking, otherwise you'd be soaking wet in minutes. You enter the café, order your food and wait, with Amanda looking more and more nervous by the minutes.
What do you do?
=====
The vendor looks at you, up and down. "Girl, you are wearing white... letting you get wet would be quite a sigh for everyone." He says, than laughs, handing you the coat. "Kidding, R$15 will do."
The cheap coat does its job in protecting your clothes, bag and the documents, but your feet aren't so lucky. In a matter of minutes your socks are wet-squeaking inside your shows.
"Oh, poor thing... did you not realize it would be raining today?" Ms. Pill asks, using an annoying condescending tone as you enter the library. "And did you bring the documents?" Ms Pill, or Sophia as everyone calls her, is a bookish woman, neither attractive nor unattractive, but exactly in between the two.
What do you do?
=====
"Then that makes him even worse!" She adds about Zezé before handling you the phone.
"Good morning, sweetheart." The woman speaks on the phone, an old voice you quickly recognize as belonging to the Godmother. "Have you slept with your ass pointed to the moon? You've got lucky! I've discovered the name of the gang you were chasing the other day and I even have the address of their hole."
What do you do?
Squishy toes is not Bea's ideal morning event, and now there is the Pill. Bea forces herself to smile brightly at the woman, not giving her the satisfaction of seeing her irritation "It snuck up on me I guess, but yes, documents, have them here..." Bea takes a few extra moments to search for them in her bag even though she knows exactly where they are. "A little water logged but perfectly readable" she does not point out the sogginess came from her roommate not the heavens.
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"Hum, I think the small lunch is better. Also my interview shirt is white and I'm for sure drop shoyo on it if we have some Japanese."
While you dress yourself, Amanda takes her travel bag to the small guest room and then spends some time to also change clothes and get ready. She opts for a more formal attire. She also gets an umbrella, since it is already raining.
Amanda calls an Uber to take you to the Vila Mariana Station and then take the green line until Ana Rosa Station. Inside the subway, two guys are moving from wagon to wagon loudly announcing chocolate bars out from a box. It is pretty obvious that it is stolen property, but the prices are really tempting. Many people buy one or two bars.
As you reach street level, the rain has gained strength, forcing you to call for another Uber instead of walking, otherwise you'd be soaking wet in minutes. You enter the café, order your food and wait, with Amanda looking more and more nervous by the minutes.
What do you do?
"Sounds good, we may even find you a cute little friend while we're there."
Mara takes her time to finish getting ready checking the weather and grabbing her own umbrella. Deciding to go with a sturdier pair of shoes for the inclement weather as well as grabbing a purse to carry the essentials including a small notebook for any inspiration she might find on the way.
She even snags one bar herself paying with some of her fledgling cash, 'cheap is as cheap does and everyone likes a little chocolate'. When they exit and the pair find themselves on the street again she sighs.
"This downpour is awful, very glad we didn't bike out."
At the café Mara picks a table a little ways away from the windows as she doesn't want to listen to the rain and the wind outside so much. She also waits for the Gray-faced cat who usually makes his way around to the tables for pets to come near before giving him some well deserved scratches behind the ear for all his hard work. Then she finally takes note of Amanda's nervousness.
"I know that look. You worry about the interview and your performance? I'm sure you'll do fine, you've been prepping for this."
She searches Amanda's features for a bit, "Unless that's, not what's got you so wound up?"
Rhys frowns at the pictures and list of names, clearly shown to draw a reaction from him. The names of the two bodies surprised him; he wasn't sure if anyone else had managed to escape the infection. Whether José or Doutora had been able to resist long enough to try an unsuccessful escape or if they had drowned in the river trying to catch him was anybody's guess.
The twelve others who are missing didn't fill him with hope. "Well, there's hope that they'll be found. We weren't a bunch of amateurs. It was a well-financed, prepared expedition. What we found, I'm guessing, is a new species. But I'm not the lead, so I don't get to make that call."
Rhys' eyes fall on the bracelet and he goes still, taking measured breaths. The reason for his distrust in the sheriff suddenly takes off in a new and dangerous direction. Before his reaction becomes too obvious, he grabs a few of the pictures of the expedition and makes a show of studying them.
With his eyes away from Delegado Machado, Rhys focuses on the strands of mycelia within him, conjuring up the alien knowledge within the fibers.
Oz: Perhaps the others can help?
Vivi: You might need to tell us what's in it
Vivi: Could open up a lot of other ways to track it
***
"Good morning, sweetheart. Have you slept with your ass pointed to the moon? You've got lucky! I've discovered the name of the gang you were chasing the other day and I even have the address of their hole."
"Ass was way too close to hole there for someone of your distinguished years, Godmother. Give me the address - I'll hit them once it's dark."
Vivi: You might need to tell us what's in it
Vivi: Could open up a lot of other ways to track it
Oz: My means of communicating with the other side, as well as equipment necessary for my mission here
Oz: Will be useful for protecting the city
Oz: Or conquering it
Oz: That is a joke
"A little?" Ms. Pill asks, raising her eyebrows and frowning at the same time, which is actually remarkable. "Whatever. You are on section 3 to 5 this morning."
With that, she turns around and waves at a coworker of yours, Ivo, and as she gets closer to him, you overhear Ms. Pill making jokes and mocking your work, complaining about how the documents might be ruined and on top of that not mentioning that the only reason you had to print it at home was because Ivo had killed the printer last week.
Work is dull and calm as always for the next couple hours. You overhear a couple students talking about floods, something unfortunately common in São Paulo, but what draws your attention was them kind off cheering that the Ipiranga Stream was about to overflow. Being worried that the Pinheiros River could overflow was something, since it was really close to the campus, but cheering?
What do you do?
=====
"I..." Amanda starts, sighing and resting her fork. She has barely eaten. "Everyone is sooo sure I can do this or that. You say it trying to cheer me up, but all I hear is how this is written in stone."
"You just don't know how it is."
The door opens and a couple people rush in, causing many cats to jump and the owner to frown. The small café is now a bit overcrowded and to make things worse, they are all looking outside to a large amount of water building up on the street.
What do you do?
=====
You see yourself running along a trail in the jungle, constantly looking back. Ahead of you there is another person, an older and gaunt man. You stop and try to hear, looking back again. The man grabs your arm to pull you and force you back into running. There is an armband on your arm, made of beads.
You run for a couple more minutes until you arrive in small clearing. The man stops and thanks to some sunlight navigating through the trees you recognize him as Nicolas, one of the three doctors heading the expedition.
The foliage shifts and a black man wearing security uniform steps inside the clearing. No words are exchanged, but somehow you feel the Doctor communicating danger inside your mind.
"You should not have run." The man says, stepping forward. In the blink of an eye, the gaunt professor punches the man's stomach, his arm stretching about 8 feet and his fingers turning into claws. The strike pierces through the black man, who is very surprised, and clutches to the arm skewering him... then draws a gun and unloads it on the doctor. Each shot echoes through you. Chest, chest, head, chest, chest, leg. The last one much more painful.
The doctor's limp body falls, his freakish arm recoiling and not a single drop of blood from the black man is present. Looking at the black man, now with a hole in his stomach, he is calmly grabbing another magazine. You try to run, but your leg gives away and you fall. Grabbing it, there is blood in your hand. Looking at the man, the last thing you remember is a golden lion embroidered in his suit.
Back at the Sheriff's office, apparently no time has passed, or if it did they did not notice you were lost for a moment.
"Delegado, the Ipiranga is about to overflow." One of the corporals pop his head in the room.
"Any sign of it yet?" He asks, worried and looking at his watch. "Caralho, it is almost lunch."
"Not yet sir, but it likely will. Do you want me to send help."
The sheriff sighs. "Sure, the mayor will f@+~ me in the ass if it shows up and we aren't close. Communicate the Guard, just in case they are not aware of it." Turning to you, he adds. "It seems we'll have to continue this meeting another day."
What do you do?
=====
"Ha!" She laughs on the other side. "They are called the Fruit Club, don't laugh!" She laughs. "Their hideout is on Heliópolis, in Forest Street or nearby."
A quick search on the internet shows the Heliópolis Favela, which has many streets with fruit names. "But be careful, girl. They are connected to the PCC and there are rumors that something is off about the place."
While you are talking, Dona Tereza shows you her phone, with a message in all CAPS from your grandfather that simply reads: IPIRANGA STREAM FLOODING.
Every time the city floods, something awakes in São Paulo. The river animates to take its revenge on the city choking it to death.
What do you do?
=====
The clouds build up into a storm and while it doesn't bother you too much, it does make flying considerably difficult. In the distance you see it concentrating on the south and east of the city and, very strangely, you feel something is wrong. Something primal and wild and foul.
What do you do?
It takes close to ten minutes to coax Beatriz's thoughts away from doing something BAD to Ms. Pill and her lackey Ivo. It wouldn't be hard, SHE HAD SUPER POWERS. Despite the strong desire, she ignores it and loses herself in the books.
The odd cheeriness at rampant property damage pushes into her forced calm, making her mind reach out at the odd emotions to see what is going on.
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"I..." Amanda starts, sighing and resting her fork. She has barely eaten. "Everyone is sooo sure I can do this or that. You say it trying to cheer me up, but all I hear is how this is written in stone."
"You just don't know how it is."
The door opens and a couple people rush in, causing many cats to jump and the owner to frown. The small café is now a bit overcrowded and to make things worse, they are all looking outside to a large amount of water building up on the street.
What do you do?
Taking a sip of the hot choco she'd gotten Mara tilts her head in confusion. "Amanda, I might not know exactly how you want things to go or how they'll go. But I know for a fact nothing is set in stone."
She looks to the window at the downpour happening outside still and looking like it's not going to let up anytime soon.
"Life is a stage, and we're all actors in it. But we get to decide what character we play, who that character is, and what their voice is going to sing. I hope you know you have so much choice in how your life goes."
She frowns at the group, granted just trying to get out of the deluge, scaring the cats. "Besides I think the interview may need a rain check." She mutters quietly, "Clima iracundo... I should make sure Papa is alright."
She reaches into her purse and grabs her phone tapping out a message to her father.
'Papa, I hope you are doing well with this rain. I was walking with Amanda to her interview in the city, but at this rate it may get rained out completely. I hope things are going well for you at the farm, stay safe <3.'
She sets her phone down on the table face down returning her attention to Amanda.
"If this keeps up we will have to get to a shelter."
"Really, Godmother? That's supposed to be funn- Caralho! After dark, Godmother. River's flooding, I've got to suit up."
Oz: Southeast of the city, the river
Oz: Something foul rises, I will be there
Oz: Join me if you can
It takes only a few minutes to fly to the location of the swelling river, landing and transforming back into his humanoid form. There is a rippling of the patterns on his skin into the impressions of fish scales as he considers aquatic forms to take on for what is to come. He grows himself so that he's taller than most of the other Earthers here and get a better view.
He cracks his joints and gets himself ready. "Those here who have no combat experience, I would ask you to vacate the area to avoid danger," He rumbles.
Rhys blinks away the vision, rubbing his face to make it appear he was still shocked from seeing the pictures of José and Doutora. Which, to be truthful, he still was. But the new questions he suddenly had were not helping his focus. He silently wished he could end the interview, and suddenly got his wish.
He didn't quite get the importance of the interruption, but whatever it was Rhys was grateful to put this interrogation on hold for the time being. Rhys jumps at the chance to leave though he's careful not to appear overly eager. As he throws the backpack over his shoulder, he makes casual conversation. "The Ipiranga, that's the river, isn't it?" he asks innocently. "Sounds like trouble. Don't worry, I'll stay far away."
You touch the emotions of the students and realize their cheering is a mixture of fear and relief, but not malice. Their emotions do not tell much more.
It is still odd. One stream overflowing doesn't mean another one will not as well, so how can it be a relief for them?
=====
Amanda frowns. "Ok, since you are asking... do you know how Raimundo was when he was a kid? Basically how he is today. Carefree and funny, sure, but also stupidly lazy. His grades were always the bare minimum for him to pass, not because he was dumb, because he isn't fore sure, but because he would never stop doing something he liked, like playing video games or soccer, to study." She says it in a way that suggests she feels this outrageous.
"Nothing Mom or Dad told him changed anything, so they've given up and accepted he'd never become an engineer or doctor, or any other profession that would require any amount of boring time poured over books. So what they did? 'Well, Amanda, you are our last hope'."
More people enter the cafe as the water keeps going up.
"Dad fixes electronics and Mom is a teacher, but they've put me in a private school, payed for a year of prep, and helped me through university, so I could get on a good job and hopefully help them when they are too old." She slumps a bit, eyes tearful. "But this is already my HOLY MOTHER WHAT IS THAT!?" She jumps and screams, pointing at the streets. Soon others turn as well and the place erupts in mayhem.
Amid the rising waters are a good a mount of trash, not only domestic, but also a truck tire, a piece of a chair, a lose plastic pipe. There was a wave and with it surges a figure made of brownish and polluted water. Towering over 5 meters, humanoid in shape but made of nothing but water and trash. "TIETÊ!" Is repeated by the other people around.
[ooc]Living in São Paulo for a while, you know that Tietê is the name of the main river crossing the city, always very polluted. You remember hearing/reading some times about a watery monster that have reportedly appeared whenever a river floods.
What do you do?
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Ozkoyo's sense guides him to a street flanked by trees, which makes it quiet difficult to see much, aside from the fact that the streets are flooded, already at half a meter deep. You cross the treetops and now a there is not doubt something is amiss: in the middle of the street there is a 5 meter tall entity made of brownish and polluted water.
It slides towards a parked car and tosses it against a fence, effortlessly. Few people are on the streets as the rising waters have already corralled them towards shops or other buildings. One of them is called "Gateria Cat Café", with quite a few costumers panicking inside.
What do you do?
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"Yes, the stream between Vila Mariana and Ipiranga. You planning another escape through the waters?" He asks, but leaves without waiting for an answer.
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Amanda frowns. "Ok, since you are asking... do you know how Raimundo was when he was a kid? Basically how he is today. Carefree and funny, sure, but also stupidly lazy. His grades were always the bare minimum for him to pass, not because he was dumb, because he isn't fore sure, but because he would never stop doing something he liked, like playing video games or soccer, to study." She says it in a way that suggests she feels this outrageous.
"Nothing Mom or Dad told him changed anything, so they've given up and accepted he'd never become an engineer or doctor, or any other profession that would require any amount of boring time poured over books. So what they did? 'Well, Amanda, you are our last hope'."
More people enter the cafe as the water keeps going up.
"Dad fixes electronics and Mom is a teacher, but they've put me in a private school, payed for a year of prep, and helped me through university, so I could get on a good job and hopefully help them when they are too old." She slumps a bit, eyes tearful. "But this is already my HOLY MOTHER WHAT IS THAT!?" She jumps and screams, pointing at the streets. Soon others turn as well and the place erupts in mayhem.
Amid the rising waters are a good a mount of trash, not only domestic, but also a truck tire, a piece of a chair, a lose plastic pipe. There was a wave and with it surges a figure made of brownish and polluted water. Towering over 5 meters, humanoid in shape but made of nothing but water and trash. "TIETÊ!" Is repeated by the other people around.
What do you do?
There wasn't time to respond, though Maria had an inkling as to what she should say. But that could wait, because there was a giant trash-water monster sloshing down the street. She looked to Amanda and things in her brain began to click. She needed to make sure Amanda, and all these other people, got out safely. She couldn't mask up here it'd be too much and then she'd be just as powerless as... she pushed those thoughts away. This was her bread and butter, life was a stage and everyone an actor, and she was one hell of an attention grabber on stage so why not in a café? A perfect time to put her 'pointless' skills to work for the betterment of society and show Amanda just what could be accomplished by someone who 'never' studied.
"Don't worry Hermana I got this."
Mara stands up tall on her seat, glad she wore the leggings, and puts on her stage voice, to address the 'fans'. She adds a lot of frill into it to make this seem as nonchalant as possible. Not all heroes wear masks.
"Good evening São Paulo! Welcome to Gateria Cat Café where the drinks are cozy and the kitties are cute. I'm sure you're all excited to see the showdown between whatever heroes come to fight 'O Gigante Das Águas', but the café has some strict rules about these special events. Please remain calm, step away from the windows and proceed towards the back of the café where the lovely staff may inform you where the safety exits are in the case of emergency evacuation. Keep your lovely voices down, and relax with a cozy cup of hot choco and marshmallows. Meet new people, and above all stay dry. Once everyone is sat down and calm, our helpful staff will dim the lights to enhance your view of the upcoming show."
Beatrix pulls out her phone, which she does not spend much time on at all unlike her peers. Not due to being a luddite, but because too much time on technology usually makes it fizz out.
She types Anyone seeing anything odd about overflowing of the Ipiranga Stream? into a chat group assigned to the group she's formed as least marginal ties with.
Oh good, La Luchadora's calming down the crowd. The monster's mine.
The Saint of Swords drops to the street as lightly as a shadow, stepping lightly towards the towering water beast, Inokiri still sheathed at her waist. She thumbs the guard to loosen it for a quick draw if needed, but raises her other hand in peace, her Soul Sight open to the strange being. "Ei! Why all this mess? Destruction will be answered, but I will not strike you down without giving you a chance to unburden your soul."
Oz waits briefly and fades back for the few moments it would take for him to adopt a more potent battle form. Vitoria was trying to get its attention, but he didn't think it would matter. It seemed to be something intent on causing destruction and so it must be stopped.
Striding out through the flooded streets was an animal that was often around his home. He strode forward on bipedal legs, though the balanced made him want to lumber on all four of massive clawed limbs. An elongated jaw and thick shaggy fur coated his body as he stalked towards the river monster. Ox brayed loudly, the megatherium body crashing into the dark water creature.
Rhys' upper lip curls in a half-hearted approximation of a smile in response to the sheriff's quip. He doesn't add anything else, glad to have the chance to leave, and makes his way out of the station trying to look unhurried.
Once out on the street, Rhys sighs as his conscience nags at him about the flooding. He had bigger issues at the moment, didn't he? If he was called upon to act, pushing himself might cause the fungus to spread further; he shouldn't risk it.
But what if I could help? I could go check it out, make sure it's all in hand. And what did the delegado mean by it? If it shows up?
He pulls out his phone and calls up the Ipiranga on the maps app to get an idea of where he should go. He could just follow the sirens but he didn't want any of them to catch a glimpse of him while he races through the streets.
Once he finds a route that seems best he starts running, letting the mycelial fibers in his leg muscles amplify his strength and speed to inhuman levels and soon the buildings are racing by.
Beatriz frowns, seeing that all her super-hero companions are too busy at the moment to speak usually means there is something going wrong. Thankfully she has a break coming up, so the young woman excuses herself to the bathroom.
Once in she puts her hair up in a ponytail, slips a white mask on her face, then looks out the window. Her body shudders as if on camera and the image is being cut with static and random motion...
Then she is suddenly on the next roof, then the next, and the next.
As you address those inside the Café, being them patrons, employees, cats or people who just entered it to escape the rain, they initially stop to listen. Amanda seems taken aback by your calm and control of the situation. But then the cats go crazy. Puffy tails, hisses, ears on airplane mode... and the chase begins, cats running everywhere: between legs, on top of the tables and counters, even climbing on people. Some people try to calm them down, others try keep their distance. Amanda rushes for the bathroom, which gives you the perfect opportunity to join your recent teammates!
=====
You sense something primal when you open yourself to the entity. Rage. Unbridled and uncontrolled rage at everything, as if the simple existence of everything that is not natural was an affront or a grave sin. Nothing will stop it from exacting its revenge, nothing, not until every single piece of concrete and plastic and rubber is turned to dust and then nothing.
The rage is so intense that before you noticed or could react, you were sharing a portion of its hatred towards humanity!
=====
Spectators watch in pure awe as the a huge sloth comes into existence and then crashes against the water entity... but then it warps and wraps around Ozcoyo until it is behind him and inside him. Has he gasps for air, drowning, the entity dislodges a huge truck tire and forms it into a fist, hammering on Ozcoyo's back so his head is shoved under the brackish water!
Forming into a massive wave, Tietê rushes along the street, knocking out cars and damaging property, not paying much attention to the heroes, as if they were of little consequence. Vitória, who was on top of one of these cars, is thrown unceremoniously!
What do you do?
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Mara looked at the ensuing chaos and clicked her tongue, 'Well could have gone worse'
A cat jumped onto her table and started hissing, prompting her to hop down and grab her bag. "Anyway stay away fron the window kaythanksbye!"
She bolted for the back, not the bathroom, but the back exit hoping to slip by unnoticed in the confusion she'd explain to Amanda in a way that made sense later for sure. 'I thought you ran out the back and went looking for you didn't notice you escaped to the bathroom, those cats went crazy.'
In the back alley she looked around several times before putting her hair upand binding it as tightly as she could, one of the reasons she kept it fairly short. Reaching into her bag she pulled out her mask and quickly slipped it on, tying the back fiercly tight.
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The colorful Ivory coated Luchadora, Arèspina clambered to the top of the nearby roof and caught eye of the water creature and several heroes moving down the flooded streets. Standing over the situation she took in the sights around trying to determine what the goal beyond a simple rampage Tietê had in store. Her boney shell was dappled with colorful inks to make her pop beyond being bone-white, various flower patterns that one would see on festive clothing, drawing attention to the flair of her look rather than the unpleasant form. It was makeshift since she hadn't packed her actual outfit, but it worked in a pinch.
The wise words of a once great Luchador hero pour into Arèspina's mind like she'd heard it only yesterday. 'Remember mi cielo, to defeat your opponent you must first know why they fight and why you fight. To swing blindly without your own cause is to step into the ring a fool.'
Not exactly sure how that would help her fight a monster made of water, a giant super sloth, and save the people in the scummy waters but maybe she would see something that the force of nature was actually after.
Vitoria leaps off the car as it flies, tumbling in the air to manipulate her momentum, but still hitting a nearby car door with altogether too much of a **WHUMP**
Winded, she manages to reach out to Ozcoyo to 'speak' while she catches her breath, "Get in there, Oz, I just- I just need you to get me a minute."
Unable to respond as Oz was currently a prehistoric sloth, he shakes out the water in his fur before braying out and lumbering to keep his massive bulk between the water monster and Vitoria. At the very least he could prevent her from being targeted for now. He had to take time to observe and get a sense for which battle form to take that would be most advantageous.
A figure all in flowing white appears in the air, hovering inches above the water near Vitoria. "What is going on, Saint of Swords? Is the sloth or the water beast the enemy?" Beatriz's voice is the hollow echo of the dead in these moments, disturbing and enticing in the same moment. She feels the need to stop this, quickly, but cannot do anything without more information.
"Oi!" Rhys shouts as he sees the water monster, and his mates already on the scene trying to fight it. He lets the fungal growths exude from his skin to create a protective sheath (and to hide his identity) while trying to get an understanding of what he's seeing. He taps into the mycelial networks of mold and other fungal growths to gain some insight to this creature, risking his humanity.
At the shout of Oi, the apparition gives him a friendly wave.
Arèspina watches the situation and concludes that, for now, Vitória and Ozcoyo are the ones in greatest danger. Left unchecked, Tietê will cause a lot of property damage and could still turn its attention to one of the buildings or wander into a more problematic area, but for now, the heroes are keeping it occupied.
In the middle of São Paulo, there are very few places that could be considered away not populated and none are close. The best alternative would be to keep Tietê on the larger streets.
Tietê rushes after Vitória, breaking a gate and entering an elevated parking lot. The river follows it, entering a hotel! From inside, you hear surprised and fearful screams, even if the level is probably not high enough to threaten the lives of those inside.
Beatriz has no doubt that Tietê is the biggest threat, by far. The rushing waters might do a lot of damage, but unless someone is dragged into the flooded streets, people will probably be safe. The quickest way to end this would be to face Tietê with all the might you have, hoping to driving it away. The safest way would be to kite it, for much like a storm, it will eventually lose strength and probably fade away.
The masterfungus telepathic spores are strongest when interacting with itself and immediately Rhys realizes this entity has nothing to do with it. A little more focus would let him sense some thoughts, but even those are absent, almost no sentience... in the very end he senses something almost animal-like, or instinctive, but it is so dim that it could be a mistake. It seems the thing is nothing but a brute force of angry nature.
"Hmm... all have finite energy, be it flesh or water." the echos say semi-cryptically as a ghost is prone to but Beatriz is still alive inside the flowing white so she explains her thoughts a little more "So we keep it here where it is already done the worst until it is spent?" Bea looks to their leader quizzically.
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Taking great leaps between buildings to keep up with Vitória leading the creature away, Arèspina isn't exactly sure how she'll aid with the giant monster made of water.
Another jump this time down, onto one of the tangles of wires hanging between buildings, luckily not powerlines. Then another onto the car that the Saint of Swords is taking as their island in the storm.
"Keep it busy, to the larger streets, see how the water has dropped here compared to the previous street. I don't believe the gigante is going to mind me slapping it's surface so any fancy tricks to part the waves would be useful."
She looks to Ozcoyo then back to Vitória, "Or... we all hit it... very hard at the same time." A twinge in the back of her neck and a combination of fine-tuned combat sense warns Arèspina of incoming danger and quickly grabbing The Sword Saint's robe and pushes into her, rolling both of them off the side of the van, just as the remains of a stop sign sail overhead. She does have the courtesy of kicking off the side, dragging Vitória along to a new metal island.
"Hah, I'll wait for your signal. And don't worry about that hotel getting a little flooded, they gave me awful service last time I stayed." She lied mostly cause she knew the people shouldn't be in danger inside, and because it would help give Amanda further excuse to take a rain check on her interview.
Rhys waves back to Beatriz, making a moment of eye contact in the midst of the chaos. The rampaging monster interrupts immediately and he gets to work.
"We going to start hitting it? See if that works?" he shouts to Vittoria. Assuming he gets a go ahead, he uses his superhuman strength to hoist up a waterlogged car and chuck it at Tietê.
Ozcoyo in his megatherium body listens to what everyone is saying. He lets off a roar, as his body starts to shift again, the sound of snapping and popping joints accompanying the transformation from sloth to caiman. The now massive black crocodile lunges out and snaps his powerful jaws at Tietê, acting as menacing as possible to keep its attention on him and not any of his friends.