Waking up in a dark room, not being able to perceive anything but the constant drops of water from a leaky pipe echoing throughout the place. They couldn’t move or see anywhere, realizing they were all tied amongst themselves, laying on the cold cement floor. Heavy boot steps can be heard approaching them in perfect rhythm. A large thunderous step indicated they stopped in front of their holding cell, followed by a loud metal clang as the door heavily slid open, making them quiver, twisting and turning without knowing where the first blow would strike from first.
They were lifted by a pair of soldiers that took off their blinds, revealing a squad of robotic police combined with special operation military men, they all sported a similar uniform. Shiny oval shaped helmets that hung from behind their heads strapped with thick dark leather covers under their jaws as if were a full-face mask, with a small horizontal red stripe in the middle that seemed to indicate where their visors were. Their body armor appeared to be a thick strengthened chromed alloy, indicating their rank and service body they belonged to. The robots had an omni-directional wheel that helped them to roll around smoothly, their head being entirely made of that same bulky helmet as their human counterpart. Their arms sported a small arms caliber submachine gun on one side, and a multi-purpose hand on the other, also having a compact anti-personnel missile launcher hidden in each of their large shoulder pads.
An ominous scanning sound seemed to come from the terrifyingly tall man standing still behind the squadron. A affirmative grunt from the man caused all the soldiers to stand firm as they proceeded to untie them, giving them precise behavioral instructions:
“Do not speak unless spoken to, do not comment on anything you see or hear here, do not try to call for help, follow all of these instructions and you will be fine. Welcome to The Cordón.”
Walking down the dungeons dim hallways following the military squad, they come up to see that they were inside of the old Argentine government palace: Casa Rosada. Its old architecture still holds up to be the authentic mixture of late XIX century italic, Parisian, and romantic design along its structure. Its preserved hallways were still filled with the remnants of history, flaunting all of Argentina’s great achievements throughout history, from San Martin’s Revolution that led to their freedom, to the alliance with Simón Bolívar up North to liberate the entire South American continent from Spanish rule. The busts of important men, while slightly decayed, were still impressively well-kept in the famous Salón de Bustos. They passed through Patio de Las Palmeras, seeing that the boy that held a flower in his embrace symbolizing peace and the rebirth of a country with a future, that once rested in the middle of the inner patio atop a fountain was no longer there. Finally heading down the dilapidated reception hall of that presidential house, they walked the now red carpet that used to welcome so many locals, tourists and leaders of the world to its historical corridors, now fallen into decadence, ripped and rotting away beneath their feet.
Feeling the cold gust of wind rushing through the reconstructed Plaza de Mayo, as they walked down Rivadavia Avenue, they saw men, women, children, and old people working with their hands and precarious tools around the rubble. The muck from the debris stuck to their skin only allowed Cornelia to see more closely the malnourished state that most of the workers were in, especially the children and veterans that were being whipped by both soldiers and robots alike for stopping their labor in order to catch their breath.
“I-it can’t be…” Cornelia whispered, trembling in disbelief.
Witnessing such unjust conditions, everyone tried to look elsewhere in an attempt to hide their uncomfortable feelings, seeing common houses turned into crammed conventillos for the less fortunate. Adriana and Cornelia’s eyes betrayed them as tears started to pour out as they kept a serious expression with their escort, though nothing could hide Lindbergh’s wrathful gaze upon the man with the bionic eye that was among them.
Further down the partially restored avenue, they come to the Obelisco de Buenos Aires, an imposing monument in the heart of the Microcentro downtown area of the city, standing in an impressive 60+ meters despite it now was a mere hallowed husk of itself, it barely managed to rise above the heavily guarded Cordón as they walked toward a small podium placed atop a wooden platform overlooking Corrientes Avenue and 9 de Julio just below the Obelisco.
To everyone’s surprise, a large number of people began hastily congregating around the somewhat elaborate stage. People were even cheering the terrifying man for his speech, the sunlight bouncing off the chromed metal plate that covered his eye and a quarter of his head.
The man activates the microphone, clearing his throat as he puffed out his chest and saluted everyone in a deep short-spoken tone:
“Good morning, Argentina! Today, I come to you so that you may remember this reality, our reality: We’re all that’s left of our great nation. That is why it’s our responsibility to rebuild and make this country better than it ever was! Look at how far we’ve come since the decadence and disgrace of weak leaders led us into ruin with the promise of prosperity. Look at where we are! Look at where your children and loved ones are! All that pain and suffering from the Old World has to be the fuel that burns passionately within us all, in order to illuminate a future that is stronger and shines brighter than everything in this New World! We thank you for your tireless efforts and sacrifice in these troubled yet promising times!” the man pressed a button on the podium as he lifted up his fist into the air exclaiming: “Argentina United! Argentina Superior!”
Immediately a loud metal click was heard throughout the entire congregation as large wooden crates were suddenly dropped onto the euphoric crowd. Some crates crash landed onto entire families, killing them instantly whilst the rest of the people turned into vicious hordes, looting and scavenging food, clothes, supplies and tools from the bloodied wrecks. People trampled each other in an intense battle for resources, without regard for the crushed bones of children and babies that were dropped just to gain extra rations for the day or the week.
Stepping off the stage, the man wipes his sweat off with a handkerchief one of his assistants held out for him, scoffing at the wild crowd:
“Filthy rats, you’d think they wouldn’t be so eager to kill each other for food that’s about to rot…” he expressed with a clear disgust across his face, turning toward the man that closely followed him around as he ordered. “Colonel, tell the workers that as of this moment their shifts have been doubled, if there are any protests or agitators cut their wages in half. No exceptions, whomever complains after that, send him to the firing squad. Dismissed.”
Sheepishly appearing from his shadow, a slender man popped out, his head almost entirely shaved off with the exception of a small combed back blonde crest combining with his vanilla skin. His handlebar mustache coupled with his clear eyes behind small circular thin-framed glasses, made his nervous demeanor stand out even more as he stammered to reply:
“G-general, isn’t it a bit much to overwork people after so many continuous projects have been finalized? Perhaps if we allow the workers some time off they could--”
All of a sudden the huge man sunk his fist in the mouth of the Colonel’s stomach, nearly knocking him onto the floor as he gasped for air in pain.
“Don’t forget your place around here, Colonel.” the man leaned into his ear as he whispered. “I call the shots here, now that they know that as well. Take them back to their cell. Tomorrow we’ll see if they’ll be useful members of our society or just another meal for those beasts out there.”
“Y-yes, G-general Lint… P-permission to proceed.”
“Permission granted. Dismissed, Colonel.”
Horrified by the ruthlessness of the General, Cornelia yelled out to him with a choleric indignation as he walked away:
“You’re despicable! How can you sentence entire families to death, then leave the rest to fight over scraps? Look at the bodies of those kids! They aren’t guilty of what’s happen--”
“Quiet, you insolent brat!” Lint furiously replied, silencing her with a slap across the face. “Mommy and Daddy aren’t around to defend them or you anymore. You need to be thankful for being in here rather than mutant chowder out there, be thankful to us, your superiors… Colonel, get them out of my sight.”
“You can’t keep doing this!” Cornelia continued even more outraged. “When I lived here, in these streets there wasn’t so much injustice! Don’t you think in the future of all those broken families? Are those speeches just empty words to inflate your ego?”
Turning toward her with a hateful gaze, General Lint stares intently into Cornelia’s eyes, as she felt his cold, expressionless face peering into her soul as he said:
“You weren’t here when everything fell. You didn’t see the worst in humanity when society collapsed and the first shots were fired during the riots. You didn’t see how savage people were ripping each other apart, even trying to sell or barter off their own families for extra rations or a spot in the shelters. You didn’t see shit here.” Lint took a step back to look around the now empty streets. “You expect me to feel bad for you for not having gone through that Hell? No one other than me had the strength to step up and do what needed to be done to achieve this! Those spineless bastards didn’t even want to sully their boots, much less take action so that people wouldn’t fall into prehistoric barbarism! I took that weak society filled with broken, useless and pathetic people and turned them into a powerhouse of progress in this New World! So spare me the soft-hearted sympathy and just go, before I decide to add a few more bodies to the pits…”
“You’re a monster…” Cornelia muttered, gritting her teeth.
“Colonel!” Lint called out in a stern tone. “Ready a firing squad for tomorrow. Prepare a pit enough for 4 bodies and throw in their little pet as well. Then recycle the robot.”
The Colonel nodded as he saluted him. Leading them back down Rivadavia Avenue to the presidential palace, Cornelia’s wrist loudly beeped as it projected a screen showing Cornelia’s old UID information, revealing her family registry along with the fact that she lived there before the catastrophe.
Lint quickly browsed her details and with an almost exasperated grunt he walked away without saying a word.
“I think your N.A.S.A.O just saved you.” the Colonel whispered to them. “I’m Ignacio by the way, Colonel Ignacio.”
“You seem like a decent enough man to be working for such a horrible man.” Adriana commented.
“I-it’s not that I can’t tell he’s doing some bad stuff… It’s just that… No one can really think up a better solution for our situation, he did pull off putting up the Cordón and starting up the economy again. It’s hard to beat that just on good wishes.”
“Yeah? Was it worth killing people with oversized expired cereal boxes on a regular basis?” Lindbergh snarkily asked.
“It’s not like that. If it weren’t for him, The Cordón wouldn’t be standing as a beacon of hope and a promise to return to normality. We would still be fighting amongst ourselves and against the horrors of the wastes.”
“Speak for yourself, you whipped dog.” Maxi scoffed at the Colonel’s words. “Lint wanted us all to repress and execute those that stepped out of line for the pettiest of things, just because it went against his law and order authoritarian regime. We made a choice: leave or be executed like all those before us, even after we left he still wanted us dead.”
“I-it wasn’t like that… There just wasn’t another way to restore a semblance of order in that situation. You served your nation, you should know that sacrifices have to be made.”
“Sacrifices were to ration food, work longer hours with no benefits, crammed sleeping quarters. Lint executed his own officials and civilians just because they didn’t agree to do his bidding or didn’t do it in time. Would you be willing to follow an order that told you to strip a friend or loved one’s clothes, valuables, and anything else that may be useful just because he told you to? Fuck you, seriously.” Maxi angrily remarked.
“H-he never gave that order…” Ignacio stammered.
“Is that right? So he never gave the order to take an entire’s week worth of food from the child workforce just to hand it over to his higher ups, practically free of charge?”
The Colonel opened his mouth in an attempt to muster an answer, but an overwhelming guilt silenced him. The return to the palace was quiet, giving everyone the opportunity to appreciate their surroundings in further detail. They saw people working normally in various businesses like cafés, restaurants, pharmacies, groceries, and retail stores of almost anything you could find before the war. People traded their caps for various services and products, seeing the shopping boulevards on the various side streets down the avenue bustling with people rushing to their homes and businesses made it almost feel normal again.
“Believe it or not, people have gotten used to living like this, it’s better than all they had to do after the bombs fell. After seeing what’s out there…” the Colonel spoke up. “Everyone values their life within The Cordón, it’s even gotten to a point where we’ve even had attempted break-ins from outside survivors begging to enter. You’re lucky you got this far.”
Glaring at him in disbelief, Lindbergh rebutted:
“Right, all those horrible mutant people out there begging for food and shelter, they just got a 2x1 coupon on lasers to the head.”
“N-no, everyone is welcome here… We just have a proper protocol to follow around here. We may be the last place in the Federation where there’s still a rule of law. We can’t allow ourselves to become an improvised attempt at civilization like the people out there.” Ignacio explained.
“Yeah… It became pretty clear to us that killing our transport, companion and most importantly, our friend out there was part of your so-called laws, right?” Lindbergh questioned with frustration.
“You mean the giant roach? We don’t allow mutated creatures within the perimeter of The Cordón. It was nothing personal.”
“Nothing personal, huh?!” Lindbergh wrathfully exclaimed. “Then it won’t be personal when I crush you with my boot, it’s just part of the rule of not being an asshole within my perimeter.”
“I-I never saw one of those things, personally. I’ve just read the reports, I do consider that if we want to conserve the quality of living that our society used to have before all this, we can’t afford to corrupt it by including aberrations of this New World.”
“Why do you allow robots to roam around then? They’re just as unpredictable as humans or those mutants that you so adamantly despise.” Maxi bluntly inquired.
“We’ve done a full comprehensive scan of your HelpinHans android, he’s no different than the standard models before the war, with the exception that he seems to have slight latency issues in his processing capabilities, probably due to him being an older discontinued model.” Ignacio explained looking to Hans’s staggered pace as they walked. “Besides, we are supported by the last updated Argento-CT8’s, the best police robots in the continent before the disaster. We couldn’t ask for better defenders.”
“Don’t be so sure about Hans, dumbass…” Cornelia quietly whispered.
Standing in the front gate of the Casa Rosada government palace once more, Hans froze in place, staring blankly at the background. He began vibrating violently, with an increasingly high-pitched hum that made everyone cover their ears from the sharp noise. When they recovered, they saw Hans dismantled parts spread all over the ground.
“Seems like your robot was in worse conditions than we thought. Don’t worry, his parts will be put to good use, nothing goes to waste around here.” Ignacio reassured them with a dry chuckle.
With a small grin staring at Hans’s remains, Cornelia replies:
“No worries, I hope he’s more useful to you than he was to us.”
Heading back into the dungeons beneath the palace, this time they are guided into a larger, more comfortable cell being stacked with a couple of beds and mattresses to lay onto the floor.
The Colonel returns after a while with some food, placing into a foldable coffee table in the corner of the room as he says:
“I’m sorry for the lousy spread. Considering the circumstances, this is the best I could do.”
“Fried eggs, toast, with crackers and jam? I haven’t had this in the longest time! It almost makes me feel normal after eating everything from a can.” Lindbergh remarked.
“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but the General’s usually an impulsive man. I think that after you showed him your old papers, he’ll probably pardon you all tomorrow and assign you somewhere, let’s just hope that’s the case tomorrow, yeah? Enjoy.”
After a while, Adriana comments as she’s finishing her meal:
“I do wonder what they did with all our supplies and food. It was a lot of stuff, our stuff. I mean, this isn’t like before, we almost always found a way to get our things back from those loonies that we got caught up with, they never even knew what to do with us.”
“Or they never got the chance to do it…” Titus added.
“Dios knows that our purpose doesn’t lie here. In spite of that, this is much more complicated than anything we’ve faced before. These guys are organized, well-trained military men, assisted by a working sleepless robotic police force. How will we be able to get out of here?”
“Well something always does come and save us, right Cornelia? We always end up in situations like this for following you head first into reckless places, sure, we get out of them but tell me: who’s gonna save us now?” Titus exclaimed in a resentful tone.
“Titus! Don’t be mean!” Adriana immediately replied, scolding him. “She had no way of knowing things would turn out this way, none of us could.”
“It’s true, not even I could imagine Lint pulling off a place like this, it works great, but at what cost?” Maxi affirmed.
“Seems to me like furball here had all that pent up inside for a while now. I can’t say I blame him.” Lindbergh sincerely stated. “But I can’t say I blame chicuela either. The true monsters are those that we’ve faced out there, we had no way of knowing what hellish nightmares awaited us for trying to help or holding on to some form of hope. People always hide their best and worst qualities until it’s too late, we just found out the hard way.”
Cornelia remained quiet sitting on her mattress holding her legs, her face buried in between them. Her contemplation on Titus’s words soon became faint sniffles as she tried to repress her sobbing and sniffles, mustering enough strength to speak in a hushed tone:
“I-I never wanted any of this to happen… I never wanted any of you to suffer because of me. I just felt I could’ve done something to help them, sometimes I think I still can… If we ever get out of here, I want you all to find something better than me, someone who doesn’t put your life on the line for her selfish needs, following ghosts of a past that I don’t even know if they’re still there anymore.”
Lindbergh approaches her, placing his hand on her shoulder telling her wholeheartedly:
“Look, I already told you, chicuela… I’ve got nowhere else to be in this world, you’re my only friend, and I’m always going to be faithful to my friends. No one is left behind on my watch.”
“It’s true, Cornie… I lost my family too, I managed to find a blessing with you giving me a new kind of family, and I’m not going to throw that away just because we’ve gone through some tough times. This is worth much more than all I’ve had to do to survive so far.” Adriana confessed with hopeful tears in her eyes.
“I haven’t known you all that long, but I’ve seen how far you’re willing to go for each other, you’ve also never left me out of the group, made me feel a part of you. You’ve given me a goal to fight for, hope that this life is worth living. That’s more than I could’ve hoped for, and something I can’t ever repay entirely. So you can count on me now and always.” Maxi assured her with a smile.
Everyone turned to look at Titus, still looking fed up for being locked up, returning their glare, he replied:
“What? D’you really think that I’ll apologize for what I said? I can’t, because even if I had somewhere else to go, I couldn’t due to the fact that there’s nothing out there for me, no one else like me. I don’t have a place in this world, I shouldn’t even exist, and I’m just another failed science project… A bad joke against nature.”
“Whatever you think you are, you’ll always be a part of us…” Lindbergh cheerfully added. “Be it through good, bad, ugly or happy times, we’re gonna have to stick together, and hey, if we get through this thing… There’ll even be candy and cake for everybody! So relax, you grumpy cotton ball. We’ll find you a sexy ferret lass that can stand your insufferable sandy-brown ass.”
A great laughter breaks out from everyone in the room, making Cornelia feel a bit more at ease she asks:
“Guys… What do you think Hans is up to out there?”
“I haven’t the foggiest… Whatever it is, it’s probably gonna make these soldier boys wet themselves when they see his exclusive freak show.” Lindbergh chuckled.
“Common ‘droid, C’mon Ignacio, Por Dios!” Adriana snickered.
“I still think we shouldn’t talk about this so openly around here. There could be people listening.” Cornelia warned in a hushed tone.
After a few more giggles at the expense of Ignacio and Lint’s cronies, having finished dinner everyone decided to turn in for the night. Nobody could shake the nerve-wrecking sensation of the General’s verdict tomorrow as they tried to sleep, yet no one dared speak a word.
Laying on her bed, Cornelia hears a faint, distorted voice calling to her:
“Cornelia, are you going to Martu’s today?”
“Yes, mami…” Cornelia mumbled.
“Don’t eat all the cheese, what will your dad think if he catches you?”
“No, mami… I’m not eating all the cheese...” she sleepily replied.
“If you didn’t eat it all, then what’s that there on your mouth?”
“It’s just a small bite… I swear…”
“Who are these people around you?”
“M-my family, I think…” she stammered.
Cornelia opened her eyes and saw her mother surrounded by glistening warm light, slowly returning to her normal appearance as she walked toward a park bench surrounded by beautiful lush tall trees, the birds chirping in joy all around them, colorful flowers blooming in the gardens all around them. Camila sat down and invited Cornelia to accompany her, before she could say anything, Camila asked:
“They’re your family then?”
“Y-yes…” Cornelia shyly replied.
“Have you forgotten about us?”
“Never, mami… I think about you guys every day, I still wish you were here with me… Though I feel that this world wouldn’t be the best for us.”
“It isn’t?”
“No, I don’t think so… I’ve seen and done things I never imagined… I’ve suffered a lot, but I met them. They’ve saved me so many times from dangers I never would’ve imagined before, I think they even saved me from myself…”
“I see… So, are you happy there, mi amor?”
“Y-yeah, I think so…”
“You have an angel at your side, preciosa. You’ll never be alone…”
“Papi? What do you mean by that?”
“We’ll always be with you, mi amor…”
“We love you, Cornelia. Never forget that…”
“No, never… I love you too...”
Cornelia wakes up as if her body was suddenly dropped to the ground. She looks around agitated, trying to process that it was just a dream. Seeing her now sleeping friends put her at ease, she slammed her head back against the pillow trying to make sense of her parent’s words, all of a sudden the lock on their cell’s door opened, waking everyone up.
Yawning rubbing the sleep off her eyes, Adriana asks:
“W-what happened? Is everything alright, Cornie?”
The Colonel abruptly bursts into the cell as he cheerfully announced:
“Good day, muchachos! Sorry to wake you this early, but the General wants this to be done as quickly and unceremoniously as possible.”
“So they are going to execute us today? Awesome…” Cornelia sighed, hanging her head.
“Execute? Oh no! Not at all! General Lint wants to incorporate you all into the workforce. He checked your file, and everything was in order, you all just have to sign these forms and we’ll release you.” Ignacio happily assured them as he turned to Cornelia. “Since they are being released with a current resident, which means you are in charge of them and their proper conduct within The Cordón. So I officially welcome you, Miss Cornelia. Hope you have a productive day, your shifts begin tomorrow.
Looking over the documents Ignacio handed to her, Cornelia sees that it set her various duties and privileges as a legitimate citizen of The Cordón, including her friends and pet.
“Wait a second, this paper doesn’t say I’m the owner of a robot. What did you do with Hans?” she asked.
“Hans? Oh yes! The pile of scrap that fell right outside the palace, correct? We recycled him, though most of his components didn’t appear to work even before he was scrapped. I don’t know why you’d want something like that back, Miss Cornelia. Anyways, here’s the keys to your old apartment, and don’t worry: they’re the last copies down at city hall.”
Staring at her old magnetic keys, Cornelia asked in disbelief:
“Are you completely sure I can go back home?”
“Why else would I be giving you the keys with all the proper paperwork? It’s not like it was a lottery or anything. Now, go. Remember to be on time to your designated work areas tomorrow. Both your salaries and respective duties have been issued in the rest of the documents I’ve left with you. You will have to acquire your own tools, clothes, supplies, food from the various shops around town, and conduct any pertinent repairs to your property at your own expense. Other than that, you’re as of now free to go. Good day to you all.”
The Colonel bid them farewell with a small bow, they were escorted to the gates of the government palace by a designated guard. They were then accompanied all the way to Cornelia’s apartment by one of the units from the robot police.
The Argento CT8 was designed to serve as an all-purpose reinforcement unit for both police and firefighter squads around the Southern Region of the Federation. Due to its highly customizable components, it was later exported to other regions of the Federation and the world, modified to suit the needs of the client. Its omni-directional sphere wheel allows it to have versatile movement around most terrain and climate conditions, thick plates of plasteel were made to resist medium close-quarter blasts, lasers and medium caliber firearms. Despite its head having a small horizontal red sensor light, which was mainly done to contribute to a more aesthetic design, as it truly can detect movements and monitor its surroundings for potential threats in 360° and up to a 500 meter radius. Specialized sniper units had a focalized telescopic sight that could safely hit a target up to 3 kilometers away. It’s submachine gun arms allow it to fire a wide assortment of bullets and calibers: firing incendiary, acid, zero-g enforcement fields, ionizing, cryogenic, explosive and dematerializing rounds in 9mm, .45 and 5.56 caliber respectively. For non-lethal takedowns, they are also able to equip smoke, knockout gas, tranquilizer darts, and differential intensity lasers. They used to patrol the streets and control high-density events, managing to reduce human casualties and accomplishing multiple arrests of high-profile criminals and terrorists.
“Now we’re gonna be escorted around town by this junker?” Lindbergh half-heartedly scoffed.
The robot came to an abrupt stop, analyzing him intently only for it to continue its route without saying a word.
“I still remember when I walked around here with my bike on my way to school…” Cornelia commented with nostalgia in her voice. “All those smiles, laughter, and warm feelings… Gone. At least they have cleaned up around here, it used to be impossible to walk around here when everything collapsed.” she said, observing the partially restored plazas, parks, and playgrounds all over the 9 de Julio Avenue.
“Are you saying that before you left this place was actually worse?” Maxi curiously inquired. “I don’t remember people talking about it that way… Though it was impossible to access certain parts of Microcentro when everything was falling