A Totally Normal Museum Outing

It was a sunny day in lush Rio. The statue of Christ the Redeemer stood atop the Corcovado mountain, looking over the city and its coast. Sugarloaf Mountain and Pedra da Gavea in the distance, great columns of rock surrounded by bright green forest and bright blue water. A seamless merging of natural wonders and manmade accomplishments, Rio de Janeiro was a melting pot of culture and history.

It was only fitting that the National Museum of Brazil was here, located in the Quinta da Boa Vista park. The Quinta also held the Zoological Gardens, a zoo in the midst of greenery that held over 2000 animals. The Museum originally served as the Imperial Palace, a large beige mansion at the centre of the park. It has functioned as a tourist attraction and place of education, offering many courses to study on campus.

Understandably, it would come across to some as a shame for it to have burnt down in 2018 from faulty wiring. The loss to historical relics was devastating, and despite attempts to make perfect copies of everything there was a great erosion of trust in the museum’s ability (and responsibility) to protect these artifacts ever again. Ironically the site had been declared an archaeological site, with excavations dedicated to the recovery and reparations of everything buried in the fire.

Today was the culmination of years of work: the Grand re-opening of the National Museum of Brazil. A diverse crowd had amassed outside the museum, behind a podium and velvet fence. The curator was going over the first exhibition for the re-opening, a Mayan excavation of multiple artifacts and pieces never before seen by anyone.

Amongst the colourful crowd was one Demetri Thales, a human silhouette unaffected by the sun’s light. While this led to him sticking out like a sore thumb, the anomaly of his appearance drew the attention of surprisingly few. The existence of all sorts of superhuman made his everyday life much easier. Still, gawkers and bigots seemed to be an inevitability.

“Shouldn’t you be on exhibition, bud?” Someone said.

“I dunno,” Demetri said, “Pretty ancient opinion, though. Hah.”

Demetri moved through to the left side of the crowd, near the front. Geared up in his light combat suit, (not that anyone would be able to tell) he was keeping an eye out for anyone who might cause a disturbance. He had eyes on the crowd, with the full museum in view. The building had burnt down once before, and despite security today would paint a big red target on the building for anyone wanting to make a statement.

Demetri’d left his camera at home, a decision to go light on his feet but one he regretted very much. The Quinta was beautiful, just as his mother described. A few birds-of-paradise from the zoo had made their way out and perched on nearby trees in the park. The framing was idyllic, the symmetry of the Museum’s entrance lined with palm trees and flowerbeds. He looked up at the clear sky, to the statue of Pedro II and then to the back of the crowd where it thinned out onto the paths that led back into the city streets. A man who’d forgotten Mardi Gras had passed by his application of face paint and floral apparel. A family leaving their car were bickering about an unfulfilled promise for ice cream or some such nonsense.

A female superhero, clad in a gold/black slimline suit heading toward the crowd. While it was difficult to properly hold eye contact with Demetri, the human silhouette was certain she was heading toward him. He didn’t recognise her, not that Demetri kept track of all the various super-people that occupied his world. She might just be in cosplay. She could be one of those supervillains, a level of threat Demmy had not yet faced.

Okay, okay… No need to rush to conclusions. She’s just walking… Straight toward me- it’s time to move Demmy!

The daylight would make it difficult to hide with trees providing the most shade he could attempt to blend into. Before he could properly determine a plan of action, as if on cue, the old curator said from behind his podium:

“And with that, I’d like to welcome you all once more to the National Museum of Brazil! Enjoy the exhibition!”

Security opened the velvet rope, and the crowd started to funnel down the paths and into the Museum’s reception area where they would soon disperse amongst the sprawling mansion. Demetri slipped into the crowd, the blot appearing to thin itself before disappearing into the herd. The increased anxiety brought out Demetri’s slowly building headache. Not great. He’d have to find a bathroom in the Museum to eclipse for a few minutes, get his cool back. Here’s hoping he was overthinking the threat the costumed stranger presented, and that he wasn’t luring trouble into the Museum. On the bright side he could hide much easier amongst the corridors and fancy displays.

The interior was lit with warm golden light and lined with beige temple columns. Statue busts, butterfly cabinet displays and artifacts held in glass pedestals filled out the Museum floor. The Mayan exhibition would consist of the entire second floor, while the third floor was closed off to the public for study facilities. A basement underneath the Museum would be filled with a labyrinth of racks holding documents and artifacts within crates not currently on display.

He should have looked at a floor plan beforehand. Demetri found himself winding around corners, looking behind his shoulder to make sure that golden supergirl wasn’t still tailing him. This was one situation he and his trainer hadn’t planned for, although now it seemed painfully obvious that something like this was surely inevitable. Each room ended up looking the same and blurred together as his head started to spin. The pain in his head was blinding, a piercing whiteness that overwhelmed his thoughts.

Still, he couldn’t help but notice a couple of kids in black hoodies screwing around with one of the displays. This could serve a double purpose.

“Security!” he shouted, pulling himself to a wall. It would be difficult for anyone to know it was him who said anything, although the cluster of people in his immediate vicinity looked around for the source of activity. It didn’t take long for two large security officers to escort those kids outside.

Feeling his way around the walls, Demetri finally found the bathrooms-
But there was a queue.
A queue? Why don’t people go before they get here?

Heartbeat racing, Demetri headed down a corridor that led to another set of stairs to the second floor. He slipped, using the wall to his right as a support. That wall turned out to be a door labeled ‘JANITORIAL CLOSET NO ENTRY’. Cliche, but it would do. By some miracle it had been left unlocked, which probably meant that someone had taken out some supplies they planned to return shortly. It would be worth the risk.

He shut the door behind him. The room was surprisingly spacious and well maintained, cleaning supplies neatly sorted on racks and an electrical mains box on the opposite wall. The floor was concrete, but would prove suitable for Demetri as he moved into a cross legged position and held his hands together in his lap. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. White light started to seep out from the space between his closed eyelids, connected to a feeling of anxiety directly traveling from his brain and out of his body. He started to whisper something, repeating it. “You’re no different. They’re no different. It’s alright.” It was something his trainer had said that had now become a mantra of sorts.

Demetri’s skin started to release a white light, and although he remained a silhouette he was now encased by a border of light that seemed to pulsate with his heartbeat. He looked into his source of anxiety, and realised his fear came from the unknown. This was a similar feeling to when it had first been suggested he play the vigilante role. He had to abandon what his standard for normalcy back then was, and that loss hurt. Demetri feared the world of superhumans and their iconic costumes and catchy names. The mere sight of a costumed individual had sent him into this closet because once more, his world was threatened. It didn’t matter what their intentions were.

Demetri opened his eyes. Whoever was trying to follow him, Demetri now had the courage to face them. He would go to open the door, and head back out into the corridor to resume his patrol as per the plan.

Of course, whilst Demetri was having his minor meditative breakthrough in the supply closet, the light he expelled shone through the cracks of the door visible to anyone on the other side. For some, it might look like something supernaturally suspicious was happening. Especially those on the lookout for the peculiar bilingual shadow persons.