Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

XXII: something chaotic (part II)

Ch. 22: Something Chaotic (Part Two)

There were only two things in Mara's mind as the elevator doors opened.

One, São Paulo was really noisy compared to the Sents' HQ. Two, the Pinheiros river stunk.

No, wait. Actually, the entire city of São Paulo stunk, and the river—that long, wide, disgusting open sewer—was just one of the very worst parts of it. A lengthy, fetid worst part that crossed the very heart of the west zone in the city. And yet, she loved this zone and this city with every fiber of her being.

Maybe that's why she noticed it. In the clothes worn around the platform, in the choking quality of the air, in the strange devices in people's hands—everywhere around her, in every little detail, lay one truth. This wasn't her São Paulo.

"Our time containment field will break in exactly six minutes," Tai said. "We need to be on that riverbank before the timer runs out cause this area is completely deserted in our time. We can't risk the drivers in Marginal seeing us popping into the present." They pressed a button in their wristwatch. "Timer started."

Shit. She remembered reading something about the Hebraica-Rebouças station in a newspaper somewhere.

It would only be inaugurated in 2000. Ten years in the future.

"Goddess," Mara whispered. She looked from the naked cement in the walls to the dark waters in the river and tried to ignore the queasiness stirring her breakfast. The fetid smell coming from the river didn't help. A pipe nearby vomited more sewage into the river, and Mara almost did the same. "Ugh. First, did we really just"—she lowered her voice to a whisper—"time traveled? And second, please tell me we won't have to dive in there."

"Oh, honey," Mirtes said with a chuckle, patting her arm.

"Believe me, Mara, this is not even the worst place he'd have to dive into," Godo added. "It's in the top five for sure—but not the first."

"I don't think I wanna hear that story, Godo." Mara schooled her grimace.

"And to answer your first question, yes," Bernardo said. He slowed down to walk beside Mara and completed in a whisper, "But we can only stay there for a few minutes before we're sent back to our own time, so we better run."

Mara nodded. "At least we can be sure we're in the right place this time." She spent a minute in silence and forced her brain to stop trying to guess what was that big thing floating on the river. "Is it weird that I missed it?" She tried to raise a hand and cover her mouth and nose, but the platform was so crowded, she hit an old lady's behind instead. "Oh Goddess, I'm so sorry!"

The lady looked at her with fury, but the feeling disappeared when they locked eyes. She shook her head and smiled. The lady said something, but her words came off crackly like a radio between stations. Then, she winked at Mara.

Okay.

"We can't understand each other," Mirtes explained. "It's for everyone's protection. She probably heard whatever she wanted to hear."

"What now, Beh?" Godo asked. "Do we have the right location for the mermaid?"

"Yeah. It's not far from where we are."

The group rushed through the throngs of people waiting for the 18:20 train, but Mara looked this way and that as if trying to register every detail around her. So this was the future. Cold, burnt cement, heavy pollution, and the power of money, which built and destroyed beautiful things. She loved this place. She hated it. She missed it with the desperation of a starving hawk.