It was a cold morning in the Brooklyn neighborhood. The snow decided to take a break that day, making way for a more open, less overcast sky.
Perfect for a quick morning walk... And of course... a good coffee.
At their usual brisk pace, people were starting to head to work.
Some faced the long New York traffic, while others tried their luck on the overcrowded subways of Grand Central Terminal – subways that made even São Paulo's look like child's play when it came to crowds.
In normal conditions, it would be like this... Unfortunately, we hadn't been in favorable conditions, at least not for the past few years.
The city I was in, the popular and bustling New York, was experiencing a moment of calm and little activity, which was unusual for the beloved city that never sleeps.
And there I went, through the deserted streets, seeing closed establishments, mostly empty tourist spots, and few cars parked here and there.
Even with the snow from previous days, this lack of movement was unsettling, strange, and made it clear that something was wrong.
Even the bustling subways... Once synonymous with slowness, now they were just references to places to avoid. Moreover, they had become no man's lands.
Arriving at one of the city's most popular spots, usually the corner with the heaviest traffic at these hours, the situation was evidently strange. After all, even Times Square itself, a landmark for large gatherings of people, was like all of us had been these past few years:
Isolated.
We were trapped by the invisible chains of a global pandemic that had recently entered its fifth year of declared emergency. The marks of these chains were evident on the city's crumbling walls, as well as the graffiti on the ground and buildings.
Looking to my right, the long avenue stretching out before me had several burned vehicles, destroyed furniture, and a lot of glass on the ground. Looking up, it was easy to discover the origin of so much glass: two buildings with their facades entirely destroyed.
The world felt trapped and in a fragile state. This destruction was a sign that the chains were about to break, even with governments constantly trying to find measures to control the outbreaks of that drug's contamination.
At the same time, they fought not to break the already fragile economy, weakened by the small wars occurring under the surface, or rather... under the chains.
Entering an alleyway next to the building I was heading to, one of the graffiti markings on the walls, in characteristic purple, the color of the drug's infection, caught my attention.
It said: "Death to the traitors in blue! All hail the new ERA! HAIL TT!"
That was the characteristic motto of one of the insurgent groups... they called themselves the Neo-Illuminati. Several small militias like this had emerged in recent months, financed by groups supporting the legalization of the TT drug, the cause of the pandemic.
'Many decided to take up arms, or rather... books, to attack the government's infrastructure'
They wanted to hinder the development of a vaccine as much as possible. To their misfortune, it wasn't in my interest for them to do that.
After all, it was kind of my job to prevent those governmental buildings from falling. At the same time, I had to keep an eye out for any traces of drug smuggling.
That's exactly why I was walking through the devastated alleys and backstreets from yesterday's attacks. Various groups had teamed up and tried to attack the main NYC Health building, wanting to steal the drug samples used for vaccine testing.
'This kind of coordination... coming from these guys is suspicious; they were rivals until recently...'
Speaking of the drug... I noticed that next to that sequence of purple graffiti, there were some destroyed boxes from yesterday's mess.
They were black boxes with reinforced lids, supposedly for military supplies. But they were wide open, a sign that some doses had been stolen.
Approaching the box, I saw a small vial with a tiny umbrella symbol on the side. It had alternating blue and red colors. It was the packaging of a stolen TT dose.
'Tsk... Now there's more of the drug circulating in the city'
That wasn't good. After all, recently, the drug's symptoms were proving to be worse than initial research predicted. It was the cherry on top of the pile of problems we had to deal with in that situation.
Looking at the packaging more carefully, I noticed a paper that I accidentally dropped into the wide-open box in front of me, next to a trash can full of rotten garbage bags.
The paper itself was the leaflet listing the benefits the drug supposedly offered its user. Part of the leaflet was wrong, part correct.
In small print it said: "Increased magical energy of the user many times over".
'The problem was... increasing magical energy was one thing, but having to consume three times more than the original dosage was a much bigger problem...'
Picking up the paper and putting it in my bag, I turned and headed further down the alley to access the side door of the facility. I got near a dirty pipe that served as an indication of the base's entrance.
I touched it, activating the mechanism with energy.
A section of the wall receded, revealing a false door. I pushed it lightly and entered the small room. It was simple, but it contained a circular table with several chairs; that's where we would have the day's meeting.
But I had arrived quite early....
'Well, let's use the time to finish that rookie report...'
I sighed. Besides, I had to finish the report explaining the infection test for the new SFR members. I opened my bag, quickly pulled out my notebook, and placed it on the table. I settled into the chair at the end.
I looked at the report I had started a few days ago.
It was basically just one page that quickly elaborated on the test. The passage stated the following:
The common behavior of a TT user followed this pattern:
An individual who ingests the magical elixir TT is required to maintain consumption for at least two hours daily to avoid any possible sequelae, which can vary from problems or difficulties in concentrating, attention lapses, and anxiety, to more severe cases such as addiction to high dosages of QP and dopamine in a short period of time. This can lead the user to desire to consume even more of the substance. As well as it can cause inhibition of the endocrine system, responsible for regulating crucial hormones for human body development and regulation, especially in young people. One of the fastest and most practical ways to assess whether an individual exhibits symptoms that may indicate some stage of contamination is by exposure to reading long texts or by observing their ability to follow complex lines of reasoning for a prolonged period of time.
For example, for the reader of this report, did you find it difficult to read the last paragraph?.
If so, due to the length of the paragraph, it is recommended that you seek medical attention immediately, as this is one of the first indications that you have had contact with the drug.
Difficulty with concentrated reading is the first symptom presented by the young people at João Batista's school, one of the first cases experienced by our Field Agent: Sunflower, months before the start of the global pandemic.
Signed: Agent Helena Ivyra, Codename: Clover.
That simple document served as a way to test the initial signs of infection.
The false belief that they were becoming more powerful fueled the addiction. This was our biggest problem in these recent skirmishes with insurgent groups. When our agents came into contact with drug users, there were many reports that their magical energy was growing uncontrollably.
Slightly diverting my gaze from the computer screen, I noticed that a newspaper had been left on the shelf in the corner of the room. I picked it up lightly and glanced at it just to pass the time.
It contained reports of last night's attacks by users. The images spoke for themselves; it was clear who the users were because their bodies and faces showed signs of extreme fatigue, such as dark circles under their eyes, muscle fatigue, and the characteristic problem of their eyes never staying in one place.
One of the main headlines showed the confirmed existence of a Level Two user.
'Damn... Fighting these pests always causes problems; how can someone lose their mind so much?'
Turning the page of recent events, there was an internal section showing summaries of the global pandemic scenario. It was like a briefing of the main occurrences.
A passage caught my attention....
(...) national and international organizations are trying to collaborate and looking to find a way to control this crisis. However, so far without success.
'Apparently, Chatness was prepared for this conflict long before we were... Bastard'
Scanning the other passages, I noticed various assorted reports.... New signs of infection in previously safe areas here, new migrations from regions to new quarantine zones there.... The usual mess... The routine of the last five years had been like this.
'I hope this meeting today clarifies things on the other fronts...'
The fight was happening in several parts of the world simultaneously. I felt like Sunny during the war to maintain the Earth's quadrants.
It's complicated. The problem was that there was a complicated tension brewing in this city.
And it was my job to prevent that bomb from exploding....
Hmph....
"Time to revisit high school..." I said to myself, as I closed the laptop.
"I need to dig up some memories".