Sacrifices for Progress [Part 1]

A modulating darkness surrounds this boy. Fear inducing madness, with the screams of the horrified, and the unavoidable sense of helplessness inside the heart. Bright flashes of burning vermillion blind this boy—impossible for them to escape. They simply allow the darkness to consume them. With the continuous dark brightness, striking their vision each and every second with colors of a fading mind.

The boy is now drenched in freezing water. It is their own sweat that creates an unbearable pressure on their body, like an arctic blanket. The boy’s eyes are now open, ever slowly realizing that they are no longer in that darkness. The boy places their hand upon their forehead, recognizing that they are on the proper side of reality.

“Oh, I wasn't having a dream… It was a nightmare.” Izel muttered under his breath, covering his mouth in an almost annoyed fashion.

“Not important right now.” He then said.

Izel then readied himself for the day. Preparing his school bag and uniform. Rolling his eyes every few minutes, remembering that he has missed an entire day of schoolwork and needs to come up with a plan to not only catch up on work. Along with the challenge of balancing his new ‘job’ that was suddenly thrusted upon him.

Thankfully returning to his weekly routine: After finishing preparing his school supplies, he makes his way to the kitchen where his father will often have breakfast at the ready, and they share the morning together before they leave the house with their daily activities. However, this is one of the mornings that there isn’t any breakfast in the works. On top of that, there are two very new acquaintances sleeping in the living room, more than making themselves comfortable. Yollohtli and Tenoch are both blissfully resting on the separate couches in their living room. Both also exhausted from installing the clever array for security sensors and firewall for the home.

“Morning Izzy.” Tlacaelel yawned, clutching his warm cup of coffee as he walked away from the coffee maker.

“Morning.” Izel greeted him with a small smile.

“Sorry, I don’t have breakfast made up today… I, uh, didn’t sleep that well.” Tlacaelel mentioned as he stretched, to then sit at the dinner table.

“No prob, my sleep wasn’t that great either.” Izel remarked. “I’ll just pick up a snack on the way to school.” He mentioned.

“Yeah, me too…” Tlacaelel agreed. “Looks like they had a rough night too.” He grinned.

A forceful knock on the front door, quickly waking Yollohtli and Tenoch, and causing them to shift their bodies in small jerks. Izel then rushed to the door with some caution. He then noticed the new monitor next to the door; clearly something that Yollohtli and Tenoch installed last night. Izel tapped the monitor, turning it on. Within seconds, the monitor loaded a screen showing two recognizable figures, standing in a casual posture.

“Hey, uh. What are you doing here?” Izel opens the door to see Chima and Cash waiting.

“Hey Elli!” Cash quickly announced with glee at the first sight of Tlacaelel.

“Have you already forgot?” Chima smiled with a hint of mischievousness.

“Um, right… But… My dad, is anyone going to…?” Izel slowly mentioned, worried for the safety of his family.

“Right here.” Tenoch placed his hand on Izel’s shoulder.

“We have everything figured out, kid.” Chima then remarked with clear confidence. “So, is everything set up?” He then asked.

“Yup, we’ll be the first to know about the slightest attempt in any harmful activity related to this house, and there doesn’t appear to be any prior attempts on the property or neighborhood.” Yollohtli explained, slightly boasting about the new set up they installed. “I think the fact they have different last names was a good enough misdirection for anyone that would want to get information about Izel.” They then mentioned.

“Don’t forget about the fact this kid is part of Cali institute. Everyone on that campus has military grade immunity and protection from cyber attacks. Even their family and close friends.” Tenoch smirked, strangely impressed.

“Damn, I was told that you’re in higher Ed, but I didn’t know it was that high.” Chima remarked, equally impressed.

“Anyway, hey El, before you head out, I’m going to get some snacks for the day.” Tenoch announced to Tlacaelel, then walked out the door.

“Um, come in, I guess… I’ll be ready in a minute.” Izel then invited Chima and Cash into his home. “Hey, pops, you got a minute?” He then walked to his father, drinking some coffee.

The two soon got up and moved to their home office. Shutting the door, indicating that what Izel wants to discuss is private.

“What is it, son?” Tlacaelel soon asked Izel, recognizing that he has a somewhat unnerved expression.

“I didn’t want to ask yesterday, but… How do you know those guys?”

“Heh, I’m actually surprised you waited this long.” Tlacaelel giggled slightly, and released a long sigh as he sat down. “I guess the shortest answer is… They hired me too.” He mentioned.

“Right after you were born… I was pretty lost, to say the least.” Tlacaelel revealed, with an exhausted smile. “The plan was that I was going to work, while your mother watched you, but my work only allowed Paternity Leave for Artificial Wombs, and as you know, your mother wanted a Natural birth, just as her mom, and her grandma all gave birth naturally.” He opened.

“She was convinced that her reasoning was correct: ‘We’ve been doing it this way for thousands of years, why change now?’ She’d always justify.” As his eyes started to water, Tlacaelel paused after remembering his loving wife.

“So then. I was pretty worried for the first few weeks, because your grandparents couldn't move out here right away, and we still had bills to pay.” Tlacaelel explained. “I worked with you, right by my side for a few days, haha. You were like my little sidekick.” He smiled. “But that wasn’t practical, obviously… Then that’s when I ran into Carmen.” He revealed. “Even 20 years ago, she was a very clever woman… She just told me that she’ll pay for my bills and I’ll pay her back with free Cooling fix ups for her Team, which has gotten much bigger over the years.” He finished.

“So she pitied you?” Izel smirked.

“Well when you say it like that!” Tlacaelel whined.

“Alright, I guess she’s cool.” Izel smiled, as Tlacaelel reflected with the same smile.

“In the time I’ve been working with her, she told me about her new ambitions and wanted me to get involved, but I always said I’ll help, but nothing dangerous… I have a small family to take care of.” He mentioned.

“Got it… I guess I can trust them. This is going to be interesting to say the least.” Izel announced, with a smile of pride towards his father.

“Some of them can be a little scary, but you can trust them—Definitely.” Tlacaelel reassures him. “Just do what you can and we’ll figure out something, together.” He smiled, hopeful for the future.