the news report and wandered back to his well-worn gaming chair to set- tle in for another session fighting against truculent pixels he was so fond of defeating, whether in sports, fantasy or military-themed games. He just didn’t care; after years of practice, his honed instincts made him particular- ly capable in most competitive gaming environments. Since it is the sum- mer before his senior year of high school, he spends most of his time gam- ing well through the night, then sleeping much of the day. His parents are far too busy for him given their very full schedules; therefore, Brody runs into them once in a while, as they flit about between business, friends and social calls. His father, Bruno, is a powerful defense attorney, and his moth- er, Delila, is a socialite, former model, and recent entrepreneur. After all, they viewed Brody’s overwhelming “hobby” as a clear path to a computer science degree or at least an esports scholarship, so hey, no real harm as they saw it. That is, when they bother to think about it and, frankly, they like the humble-bragging such a prodigy brings. Their long-time housekeeper, Mabel Estorgu, sits quite morose today at the immaculate table. As Brody mumbles a weak greeting to her, he has no idea why, nor did he ask, why she was downcast. He was too groggy
from another late-night gaming session and just wiped his bleary eyes. She felt a deep sadness for her country, which was the reason the news story did not get switched over to something lighter, and she had been mumbling to her- self in her native language, Bohwele. She grew up in Cordova, a beautiful, yet troubled topical paradise but came to America seeking a better life some twenty years ago. To hear it was tear- ing itself apart on the news was deeply upsetting to her. The ardent guerril- las of the Cordovan Armed Resistance (CAR) had been fighting the government forces for years over the iphonium
By Mike Gonzalez (TheCoffee) - English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons. wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5553663
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