I would be lying if I said that Rogelio's request did not arouse my interest, but making my intrigue transparent is not appropriate, so I just walk towards him, I approach his ear— Let's talk on the balcony.
Gracefully I take him by the arm, and we walk together towards the stairs that lead to the second floor hall, behind the wooden railings we observe the guests as we walk towards our place of conversation.
— Miss Carolina. Do you think that this event will smooth the rough edges between the pro-animanos and their opponents?
— A few beautiful words accompanied by a beautiful ceremony are not enough to unify us, it is enough to see the guests.
From above, you can see that conversation groups have been formed, all have met with people they recognize as supporters of their line of thought, if we really had wanted to create an instance to make them change their minds, we would have prepared a more proactive event.
— I will be honest, I do not think that this meeting has the purpose of calming the tensions between both positions.
I reserve my surprise— Then why would my father do this meeting?
— He wants to meet my brother, to know what kind of person he is.
It's not too far from planned— Don't you think it would be a stretch to organize an entire event to meet him?
— We are talking about meeting the candidate to sit at the government table —we reached the balcony, Rogelio rests his arms on the stone railing— and it is also about my brother, the best thing would be to take him to a lie detector.
From the balcony you can see Erasmo Escala Street, which is empty due to the perimeters built by the Animate army. Do you have something we should know about your brother?
He does not respond instantly, he tilts his head to look at his hands— My brother is not a saint, his support for the previous government led him to commit horrible crimes that remain unpunished.
— Then you should take his place.
— Me? No, what they must do is remove my family from the government, my entire family circle is not trustworthy, even —he pauses to make sure no one is spying on them— perhaps one of them murdered my father.
— How come they would get sarin gas?
— I don't know, I suppose someone will have sold them to them, or they will have hired someone to do the work, they are not very satisfied with this from the Animate government either.
What was missing, more opponents— Does your brother also oppose our government?
— I can't answer that question, we don't talk much.
So I have nothing more to talk about— Thanks for the information, now I will return to the party.
— Miss Iustitia —Rogelio tells me before I leave the balcony, I stop without turning, waiting for what must be a warning— be careful with my brother's affairs.
As I thought, without answering his comment, I return to the second floor corridor, I look down again, people are still chatting excitedly and at the beginning of the stairs that lead to the first floor is Roberto Vindicta, the person we were talking about.
— Good evening Roberto —I stay a few steps from him— Are you coming to get some fresh air?
He gives a little cynical laugh— I only saw that the heiress of the Iustitia family went up to speak with my brother and as the new leader of the Vindicta family, consider that there was no problem if I inquired that you spoke with him.
— Nothing in particular —I shrug my shoulders— I just wanted to know your brother's opinion about you, it's not the best.
— My brother is not like your father and me —My eyebrow raises in interest when I see him mention my father. "What does my father have to do with you?
— We are both clear that the changes require drastic decisions, I am very excited to be able to work with him and the rest of the government table —he says it as if he enjoys this— I also hope to work with you in the future.
— I didn't know that the table already chose you.
— There is no other family like ours, mine owns 17% of the wealth of this country and the four of you share 76% of fortune and property, they are all poor before us, we are untouchable.
— But even so, Mr. Octavio is dead.
The confidence on his face fades, he puts his hands in his pockets— And I swear to you, those responsible for that are going to pay for the rest of their lives, even if it means sanctioning your sister.
As if that were to worry me— I hope to have the first row in your trial, before the law there are no kinship ties or friendships.
The conversation is interrupted by a sound that comes from the street, it is wood hitting metal, the people in the corridor on the second floor also notice the noise, we both walk towards the balcony where Rogelio is still standing.
The soldiers begin to move through the streets, the flying animanos position themselves on the roofs pointing their weapons towards the streets that connect with Erasmo Escala, the roars begin to be accompanied by chants.
"Chile is not for sale, the people defend themselves, the people do not sleep with the monster still present"
"Animano listen, go fuck yourself"
When they enter Calle Erasmo Escala we can see that they come with wooden pans and spoons, men and women, youth and adults with hooded faces march protesting towards the building where we are meeting.
— They had taken a long time —Roberto comments as if he expected that to happen.
— We cannot allow the military to open fire —Rogelio warns— they are still civilian lives.
There is no doubt that there are more than a hundred people, reinforcements continue to arrive from heaven, inside the music continues to be played, even louder, we cannot ignore what is happening, I go down to the first floor to find my dad, I find him talking to some government supporters.
— People are coming out to protest, we have to calm the crowd.
— The military have the situation under control —he tells me relaxed, then looks at the guests who look at me puzzled - forgive her concern, she still does not understand the great negotiating capacity that the Animanos troops have.
I understand that you don't want to create panic within the event— It would be nice if one of the family leaders showed up to calm the crowd.
— Veronica is taking care of it, if you want you can go with her, she just went to the entrance.
Without hesitation, I move among the people to reach Verónica who is at the exit of the building receiving instructions from an Animate military man who has quail wings on his back, his head is shaped like the animal along with his plumage, while the rest look like human.
— Veronica, I'm going with you.
They both look at each other as if deciding which of the two will answer me.
— The leader of the Iustitia family ordered me to accompany you.
— Did Eusebio authorize it?
— That's right —I say without hesitation— he said that some support in the negotiation would not displease you.
She sighs unconvinced— We don't have time to discuss the matter —she turns to the officer— make sure you equip her with a bulletproof vest, helmet and all possible security measures, this could end in a civil confrontation.