Renewal of Gods and Blood [Part 2]

“A lot is going on, Izel, so just be patient with me.” He then mentioned Izel nodding with understanding. “To start, you were kidnapped yesterday. But instead of taking any biotech, they installed something. Something very powerful.” He began. “Carmen’s Team and myself are pretty sure it's a new type of Nanotech.” He announced with a ominous tone, as Izel took a deep breath in mild shock.

“We have no idea who, or what they were trying to do… All we know is that they’re a Caballero, and they were going to take you again, but if it wasn’t for Nevaeh’s quick thinking and Espectro’s amazing rescue, the Caballero most definitely would have.” He explained, as Izel glanced at Espectro with faint gratitude.

‘Caballero’ is a Nuevo Eztli term used to describe citizens with substantial spending habits, and are individuals that are often involved in high tech related crimes. Typically, having political influence as well as difficult to challenge if not on a similar status.

“They came here and we operated on you.” Tlacaelel mentioned.

“Yeah, your pop’s was on the verge of tears the entire time. Most of it was Carmen calming him down.” Seemingly out of nowhere, Yollohtli spoke up, as Tlacaelel cringed, somewhat embarrassed. Speaking in such a casual manner, with a voice matching their body: Concise, monotone all in accurate pronunciations.

“So, we, uh, operated on you.” Tlacaelel continued. “We couldn’t remove the main components that have control over the Nanobots, so all we could do was reprogram the software and some of the hardware.” Tlacaelel completed with a shaken sigh.

“Don’t worry about the cut—cuz now you got a sick ass fade.” Tenoch unnecessarily announced with a grin. For Izel to then touch the sides of his head that are shaved, only keeping the top portion of his once thick, shaggy hair.

“I know it's all a lot, so do you have any questions?” He then asked.

Izel took a long breath. “Yeah, I have some questions…” Izel said slowly. “Who’s the Caballero? Why didn’t I go Digital Delirious? What about the Constable?” He then shot out several questions of confusion.

Some of the Team laughed lightly at Izel’s last question.

“Because Constables have been known to be easily discouraged to investigate something, or often just fall short in evidence, for a number of reasons.” Chimalpahin, or Chima was the first to explain the reason for their laughter. Announcing in not nearly as deep as anticipated voice; much more reserved and focused, but still capable of extreme volumes. “Besides, the only people they want to deal with are the Unhoused, in other words, easy work.” He then added.

Constables are the Law Enforcement of Nuevo Eztli City. Fortunately, this Law Enforcement is not nearly as corrupt as other nations, as the early laws set in place regard a extreme risk if a Constable were to abuse the system in any capacity. Creating an environment of trust for the citizens, yet a mild sense of unreliability. However, since a majority of illegal activity is operated within the endless realms of cyberspace like unregulated virtual markets, or MicroNets. Many Constables aren’t very inexperienced with physical criminal activity and said crimes are often ignored.

“And to be honest, I’d be ten times more worried about the people that installed that tech.” Carmen followed with a harsh statement, and still sounding relaxed.

“Not only that, moments before you were forced to go crazy, all of the security cameras went dark. So the only footage on the web is shaky from the panicking bystanders. Meaning, the Constables have little evidence to go off of.” Yollohtli mentioned.

“Whoever made this, clearly had some type of agenda. They had some form of regulator configurations with Nanobots, but removed the limiters, which is why it just destroyed everything.” Tlacaelel mentioned.

“My guess is that they wanted to study the side effects of volatile Nanobots, and what it does to the body if not kept in check.” Yollohtli hypothesized. “Go into your settings, real quick.” They then asked Izel, as he did as instructed. “You see that Mod? Don’t ever disable that. If you didn’t go DD before, you’ll definitely go into full blown Digitized Delusion the next time. There’s already a huge risk every time you use it.” They then remarked.

“Use it?” Izel questioned. “Are you saying I can use the Nanobots?” He then asked.

“In theory, yes, but nowhere near to the extent from before. And I wouldn’t recommend it until we have a better grasp on what it is, exactly.” Yollohtli warned gently.

“Hum…” Izel pondered the potential of this forced power.

“Izel—You better not have any stupid ideas.” Izel’s father stated sternly.

“I’m not, I’m not.” Izel smirked, trying to rid his guilty expression.

“Now that’s out of the way. I have a proposal for you, Izel.” Carmen announced.

“Wait a minute.” Nevaeh spoke up and walked to Carmen. “Sorry Carmen, but before you tell him your idea, I have some concerns I want to say.” She quickly followed.

“Please.” Carmen waved to Nevaeh to continue.

“How do we know that he isn’t with any Conqui?” Nevaeh explained.

Conqui, short for Conquistador. Another slang term for any individual or group that actively harms or disrupts any community of people in Nuevo Eztli. Often a term used in Vigilante groups to describe someone that is in opposition and/or an aggressor to such Vigilante groups. Typically individuals that are not natives of Nuevo Eztli or the southern portions of North America, regarded as invaders as well.

“The fact he seems totally normal is crazy suspicious. He shouldn’t have come out of that psychosis. All I did was stop the Nanobots from its rampage, his brain should be damn near fried.” Nevaeh claimed.

“Fair point…” Carmen agreed. “Funny hearing that from you. Since you technically saved him.” She then mentioned, with a small smile. As the others in the team snickered at the comment, causing Nevaeh to blush slightly. “Why did you save him? You could have just left him, basically everyone fled right before you stepped in.” She then asked Nevaeh.

“Because—because… He was crying.” Nevaeh slowly answered.

No one commented on Nevaeh’s answer. As if everyone found some form of solace in her reasoning to show empathy to a stranger. Understanding that it is a natural urge to help someone that is shedding tears of anguish or sorrow. One of the few remaining aspects of humanity that many will hold onto tightly for kindness and love will be a bright light of hope in every human’s life.