Chapter 4: Children of the Past

University City – Central Esplanade

August 14, 2022 – 12:30 p.m.

The sun beat down on the hot asphalt. People were beginning to fill the esplanades and hallways at that hour when students were leaving class, going for coffee, or gathering in the gardens to socialize. The benches in front of the Engineering annex were packed, and it felt like a Friday afternoon at UNAM: relaxed, noisy, full of life.

And there, walking as if every step were part of a well-studied choreography, appeared Rodrigo Velázquez.

He was dressed in ordinary clothes: a tight gray T-shirt, dark jeans, and a black backpack over his shoulder. But what was unusual was his appearance. Those who saw him for the first time that day couldn't help but frown or raise their eyebrows.

"Is that... Rodrigo?" someone murmured near the Philosophy parking lot.

"No way... he looks like a cover model. Wasn't that the one who always had dark circles under his eyes and was skinny?"

Rodrigo paid no attention to the glances. He walked calmly, his eyes fixed on the Central Library, as if searching for an invisible line that would lead him straight to his destination. His body was the same, yes... but it wasn't. His gait was firm, his posture perfect, his muscles defined without exaggeration, his face clear, as if the stress of modern life simply didn't touch him.

And yet... he wasn't prepared for what was coming.

"Rodrigo Velázquez!"

The voice struck him from his left, amid the noise and distant music of a group rehearsing with drums.

He turned. And there she was.

Valeria Echeverri Luján.

Tall, light-skinned, green eyes of foreign heritage, and a designer dress. Her presence stood out anywhere, even in the middle of the most diverse campus in the country. And that presence was now accompanied by a double stroller.

Rodrigo felt the air change density.

"Valeria..."

She walked with suppressed fury, heels clicking on the concrete, and stopped in front of him, staring at him with a mixture of rage, exhaustion, and, deep down, a trace of something else: disappointment.

"Look who deigned to show up! The missing, irresponsible, biggest idiot to ever pass through this faculty. Do you have any idea what you did?!"

Rodrigo blinked. He didn't understand. Literally, he didn't understand.

"What are you saying...?"

"What am I saying?" he repeated, letting out a bitter laugh. "You slept with me at the Law School winter party, ten months ago! Do you remember that? Or did you erase that part of your brilliant brain too?"

Rodrigo felt the blood rush to his feet. Yes, she remembered. It had been a confusing, drunken night, one that hadn't mattered in her other life. But now... the present was throwing consequences at her for decisions she didn't even have time to process.

Valeria forcefully pushed the stroller toward her. Inside, two babies barely a month old—a boy and a girl—slept silently, oblivious to the unfolding drama.

"Here are your children, Rodrigo. Your twins. I left them with you. Because I can't handle myself anymore. What kind of man are you to disappear like this after getting me pregnant?"

Valeria's voice broke at the end, and although she tried to stay upright, her eyes filled with tears.

A general murmur rose around him. Students stopped to stare. Some filmed with their cell phones. Others simply stared, mouths agape.

Rodrigo said nothing at first. He looked down at the babies. He felt an immense emptiness expanding inside him. Not from the scandal. Not from the humiliation. But from the weight of that revelation. They were real. They were his.

"Rodrigo… you are experiencing intense human emotional dissonance," Eidolon said in his mind.

"Your physiology can handle it. Accept and respond. Breathe."

Rodrigo inhaled deeply. And looked up.

"I didn't know, Valeria. I didn't find out. I left… and I had no idea this had happened."

She looked at him in disbelief.

"So what? Do you think it takes away your guilt?" Do you think you can leave me alone with the load and come back whenever you want with that perfect body and that enlightened face?!

The eyes of everyone around them moved from Valeria to Rodrigo, and then back to Valeria. Many of them knew Rodrigo. They knew he used to be a skinny, distracted student who was always late. Not the guy who looked like an actor from a science fiction movie.

A girl from the science class approached her friend and whispered:

"That Rodrigo? No way! Did you see how he looks now? What did he do? Surgery?"

Valeria took a deep breath. She was trying to compose herself.

"I'm not asking for them. I'm leaving. Do with them whatever you want. I've already hired a babysitter and I'll leave her money. But I'm... leaving."

"Where to?"

"That's none of your business anymore." Just remember one thing, Rodrigo… your new face doesn't cleanse your soul.

She left the stroller in front of the Library and left. Without looking back.

Rodrigo stood there, in the middle of the campus, surrounded by stares, rumors, speculation… and two tiny beings who, unknowingly, had just become his new reason to change everything.

He bent down slowly and looked closely at his children.

One had a slightly aquiline nose like his. The other had thin lips that pursed when she slept. Her eyes closed. Pure peace.

"Rodrigo," Eidolon said, "these humans share 47% of your genetic material. Confirmed: direct descent."

Rodrigo let out a soft, incredulous laugh. Then he ran a hand over the stroller, making sure they were all wrapped up.

"Well… this wasn't in my master plan."

He straightened. The people were beginning to dissolve, resuming their paths. Some still looked at him with bewilderment, others with morbid curiosity, others with respect.

But Rodrigo was no longer the same. He wouldn't run away.

Not this time.

He took the stroller by the handlebar, turned it carefully, and began walking toward the Engineering building.

With each step, an idea began to form in his mind. If he could build a base in a forgotten laboratory... he could also build a home. A true future.

And not just for him.

But for them.