The Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, or UMSA, is the most prestigious institution of higher learning in Bolivia. None of the American supers speak any Spanish, so a third-party translator hired by the Quill Foundation is on the call between them and the Bolivian authorities, who have gathered in a conference room at UMSA. Their Peruvian counterparts have joined the call as well, but the translator is already overwhelmed enough and so Alloy misses whatever their deal is.
Lake Titicaca is a freshwater lake in the Andes, on the border of Bolivia and Peru. Big Bill is to fly directly there. Three brothers, named “Los Impulsores” or “the Drivers”, have some kind of kinetic power and are on site, busy keeping the stuff under control. They can’t keep their powers going forever, though. Some other hero, named “La Deleite”, is busy dealing with the Peruvian guy who did this.
A senior scientist at UMSA has a long and complex term for what the stuff is, and the translator gives up. Alloy hears the scientist come on the call herself, and in crisp English say, “it is the Devil Molecule. It must not touch the water. You understand. It would be a great disaster.”
The Devil Molecule? Catchy!
“We understand,” Alloy says.
Big Bill descends through the cloud layer and Alloy gasps. The lake is amazing! She can see little specks, which on closer inspection are floating islands. There’s people down there, living on the lake. That would be so fun.
Those people won’t have a good time if the Devil Molecule hurts them.
“There!” she shouts, pointing. She isn’t sure in the moment if Big Bill can even see her pointing, but the plane banks again.
“The Revel has reported back. She interrogated the maker of this thing.” The UMSA scientist’s voice is level, but Alloy can hear the tension she’s holding onto. “There is a device at the center. Los Impulsores cannot get to it without losing control of the mass. It is a liquid. American team, can you get to the device safely?”
Alloy isn’t sure. She’s able to mimic a lot of stuff. But something called the “Devil Molecule”…?
She stares down at the artificial islands, passing by at high speed. She catches sight of the faces of the people there, all staring at the purplish blob in the distance being held aloft by the Drivers.
“Yeah. I can do it,” she says.