1 Stevan Ciracio (Part 1)

March 2nd, 2032:

I could feel the heat of the sun on me as I swept the floors of the deck. I had gotten used to it by now, already having resigned to my fate.

It was not like I could escape; even if I managed to escape the ship, the only thing waiting for me would be miles and miles of the ocean far beyond what the eye could see.

Looking back on it, I couldn't help but laugh as I remembered my days of naivety when I believed that the world would come to an end because of a supernatural apocalypse. Or that natural disasters would become so prevalent that countries would collapse under the economic strain of constant reconstruction.

I would never have guessed that humanity would end up destroying itself over water reserves. But then again, the writing on the wall was clear for all willing to see.

I just never thought that the world would descend into war so quickly, at least not before attempts for peace were made.

There was nothing to be done now, blood had already been shed, and it was evident that neither side was willing to back down, whether it be because of insurmountable pride or because the cards were stacked in their favor. Knowing that didn't mean that I was willing to give up hope, though.

As soon as I finished cleaning, I reported back to my superior and went over to the side of the ship, staring blankly into the water while reminiscing.

Although it wasn't pleasant, it was a lot better than watching the news channels; It was almost a given that they would be heavily biased and would not give almost any facts.

I had gotten lucky as a child, being born into a relatively wealthy family thanks to my father being the mayor of our district.

I enjoyed that wealth and preferential treatment at the time, not knowing that it came from the suffering of those around me.

Like other South American countries, Peru was no different, and corruption was widespread. So widespread that people running to be elected for political positions no longer even needed to try and hide what they were trying to do, as everyone else running against them was trying to do something worse or just as bad as them.

Peru was going downhill rather quickly, with no signs of any recovery. The people lost their fight long ago and had accepted that they no longer had any control over who won the elections, even the minor ones.

At the time, much like the rest of the children, I was 'protected' from the truth.

I had a happy childhood; I had a loving family.

Although they had always shown an apparent dislike for my father, I had never taken it seriously as I thought it was because of their differing political views. As for school, I received a lot of preferential treatment and didn't even have to try to get an A.

I used to have a favorable view of my father, and at some point, even wanted to be just like him when I grew up. However, much like other politicians, it was only a matter of time until the media uncovered a scandal related to him.

I was only 8 when I received the news, almost unable to believe what I saw despite the unequivocal evidence laid right before my eyes.

The media uncovered that my father had a daughter with his secretary, who allegedly 'seduced' him.

While my father had already had two children with another woman and gotten divorced, that had been before he met my mother, so I had assumed that it was just a one-time thing. It seemed that I had given him too much credit. This time, there was no excuse for what he had done.

I was left in a state of confusion, lost, not knowing what to do.

Unknown to me back then, a chain of events had started at that moment, one that would cause my life to begin spiraling down. Starting with what the lack of a relationship with my mother allowed my father to do.

After learning the news, I knew that my mother would file for divorce; even as a child, it was evident that their marriage had not been stable.

While I had started to lose my mind slowly, my best-fired Josue took me to see a therapist hoping that I might get better if I talked to one.

A week passed quietly, and I had finally begun to calm down and accept what had happened and what I thought was to come.

Despite my father being a scumbag, he would at the very least be able to resolve the matter of divorce reasonably, right?

Wrong; although the divorce filing went through without a hitch thanks to my parents' prenup, my father took all of the money in my college fund and ran off to the US with his new family. How he did it? It wasn't too hard for him as he still had close connections, and even if he didn't use them, bribing was an almost guaranteed success.