El Patrón's Opium: A Tale of Control and Power

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==Plot== The story is set in the country of Opium, a narrow strip of land between Aztlán (now called[[Mexico]]), and the [[United States]]. Opium is ruled by Matteo Alacrán, also known as El Patrón, an incredibly powerful drug lord who is 146 years old. The country consists of several [[recreational drug use|drug]]-producing Farms, of which the Alacrán estate (which produces [[opium]] poppies) is the largest. El Patrón's work-force consists of "eejits", humans with computer chips implanted in their brains that render them unable to complete more than simple tasks. These "eejits" act, or cease to act, only when ordered to do so. Depending on the nature of the task, an eejit will continue performing this task until they die, unless told to stop …show more content…

For the first six years of his life, he lives in a small house on the edge of the poppy fields with Celia, a cook working in El Patrón's mansion. One day, he is discovered by two children (Emilia and Steven). Matt is so overcome by longing for other children his age that he smashes the window and jumps out. Never having experienced pain before, he was unaware of the danger in jumping barefoot onto smashed glass. The children carry him to El Patrón's mansion to be treated for his injuries. The people there treat Matt kindly until Mr. Alacrán, El Patrón's great-grandson, recognizes him as a clone. For the next few months, he is treated as an animal by most of the Alacráns, and is locked into a room filled with sawdust for his "litter". One of the children discovers where he is being kept and informs Celia. El Patrón immediately punishes the maid, Rosa, who was in charge of Matt, gives Matt clothes and his own room, and commands everyone to treat him with respect. Matt is also given a bodyguard, named Tam Lin, a reformed terrorist who becomes a father figure to him. Still, everyone but Celia, María, and Tam Lin look upon Matt with ill-disguised revulsion, only hiding it when El Patrón is …show more content…

Matt and María, who have by this time realized they love each other, attempt to flee in the ensuing chaos but are betrayed by Steven and Emilia. María is taken back to the convent where she studies, and Matt is taken to the Big House's hospital, where El Patrón at last confirms that Matt was created only for the purpose of organ donation to keep El Patrón alive. At that moment, Celia reveals that she has been giving Matt carefully measured doses of [[arsenic]], which, though not large enough to kill Matt, would certainly be fatal to one as frail as El Patrón; El Patrón becomes so enraged that he has another heart attack that is fatal at last. Mr. Alacrán orders Tam Lin to dispose of Matt; Tam Lin pretends to comply, and ties him to a horse and rides away apparently to dispose of him. But instead, he gives Matt supplies and sets him on a path to Aztlán. Arriving in Aztlán, Matt comes across a kind of penal colony for orphans. These orphans are called the "Lost Boys", and Matt is sent to live with them by a group of men known as the "Keepers," who are fervent followers of [[Marxism]]. The Keepers operate plankton farms, forcing the orphans to do manual labor and subsist on plankton. The Keepers enjoy luxurious quarters and delectable food, claiming that this is fair because they "earned" the right to do so by working hard during their

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