Miranda State. Palo Verde Station. Location: the 23 de Abril apartment block unit.
The great Rafael Napoleón Baute University, a massive thirty-story behemoth of bare materials and brutalist tendencies, whose hard reinforced concrete angles you can glimpse from the second-floor windows of the atomic train. Who would have thought you'd attend the largest educational center in all of South America?
The green freshness of home is far behind you.
"Look, the industrial zone," Isaac, your brother, says, leaning from his seat to point at the swarm of smokestacks vomiting nuclear smoke into the gray sky. "I'll work there for the rest of the year to pay tuition. What's wrong? You have nothing to worry about. You got a scholarship."
You know it bothers him, that he tries to measure up to you, even surpass you. But you always had it easier, perhaps because making decisions is as simple for you as pointing out a path and turning the page toward it. Isaac, in comparison, was tense with doubts, nerves, and retraced steps.
"We'll study together. Just like mom wanted..." And just as he didn't want—though that remains unspoken. He takes off his glasses and polishes the lenses with a white handkerchief he pulls from his jacket pocket. He remains meditative, as if the act of cleaning relaxes him.
An attendant passes between the seats pushing a three-tiered cart: the top loaded with drinks, the middle with snacks, and the third with touch-screen tablets, meant to be used and returned. Isaac asks for one. The attendant offers a cute, flirtatious smile. Your brother soon realizes it's directed at you; he brings a fist to his mouth and coughs. The attendant, as if realizing her improper behavior, withdraws with a red face. Isaac scans the tablet and reads aloud the main headlines and trends of the week.
The treaty to change the world is signed.
Hatred vanishes and justice spreads.
A pact never seen before.It is the alliance treaty to end all war.
There are no dissenting editorial agendas. Every piece of news about the creation of the Earth Nations Alliance (written in fanfare and capital letters) is accompanied by photos and videos of smiling men and women, chests puffed with pride, and eyes sparkling with earthen fervor, carrying carbines, shotguns, or rifles. There are parades, dances, joy, pennants, and children forming circles, holding hands, and running while singing about the new heroes.
"Japanese and Chinese. Germans and Jews. Mexicans and Yankees. Dogs and cats. All under the same flag," he says mockingly, but without smiling. You can't remember the last time you saw him happy. "Who would have guessed that colored kings just had to fall from the sky to turn us into one big happy family?"
A harmonious chime marks the arrival at the stop.
The train opens its doors. Passengers stand, gather their luggage, and head for the exits, where those who requested tablets return them. Isaac walks ahead of you. You pass by a man in a thick trench coat and a low hat, possibly a National Security agent, one of Estrada's ghosts. The state gargoyle's eyes pass over your face…
Your chest stops hammering as soon as he moves past toward the other cars.
"Snap out of it. I don't want to be late because of you," Isaac urges. You reach the folding stairs descending to the plaza. The exit is flanked by two attendants; one of them is the one who smiled at you earlier, and once again, she flashes her dimples. Isaac hands her the tablet and heads down. You, on the other hand...
Continue to the university (Scene 2)
Turn back and reconsider your life choices (Scene 3)