10 You're just like them

Should have done this earlier, but I forgot. Anyway.

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'Consciousness' – When you argue with yourself

[System]

Good chapter

Chap. 7 – You're just like them

Carlos opened his eyes with some difficulty, his vision still blurred and he felt a strong headache. It was as if screws were piercing his brain and being twisted with every moment. The pain was sharp and made every part of his body tremble; he wanted to scream, thrash, plead for help, but in the end, he couldn't do anything, and when it seemed like he was about to give up, he blacked out. This went on for three whole days, and after several ups and downs, Carlos finally regained consciousness.

Looking around, he found himself lying in a hospital bed, with an intravenous catheter in his left arm through which he was receiving saline solution. Still confused and with some effort, he looked to the other side where he could see his mother.

"Mom..."

In a whisper, Carlos tried to call her, but she didn't move. She was lying, or rather, leaning on a chair that looked quite uncomfortable. Her face showed tiredness and worry, as if she had aged 10 years. Seeing her appearance, he remembered the appearance of his ex-wife and daughter who had come to visit him once after he was seriously injured on duty.

His daughter must have been about 6 years old at the time; it hurt when he saw her cry at the sight of him lying in an old hospital bed, where he was receiving treatment. At that time, his daughter cried and begged him to go home with them; she wanted to be close to him. His wife also cried, asking him to leave; she said she didn't want their daughter to grow up without her father.

Carlos wouldn't lie; that got to him, at that moment all he thought about was leaving there with his daughter and going home, but in the end he didn't. He could, he should have, left the force, retired, claimed disability due to the injuries, anything to leave everything behind and go live a quiet life elsewhere with his family.

However, he wanted to do more for the people, and instead of going with them, he decided to try a political career. He imagined that maybe that was the solution to his problems; he believed that by being in politics, he could do much more for people, while being out of daily confrontations, which could end his wife's worries.

He believed she would understand him, understand how important it was for him to help people. In the end, he was right; by entering politics, he really managed to help many people, however, one day when he came home, all he found was loneliness. His wife had left with their daughter, leaving him alone.

'Choices have consequences' was the only thing he could think of when he found himself alone. He was selfish, in his relentless pursuit to improve the world, he put aside those who really mattered.

Humans are selfish, even the good ones do what they do because they seek something for themselves, be it a sense of accomplishment, belonging, gratitude, redemption...

That's what happened to Carlos, in his relentless journey wanting to feel he had done something significant in life, he chose to leave them behind. Although he knew everything he did was to help people, not a day went by when he didn't rethink his attitudes and actions. Whenever he asked himself if it was worth it, the answer was simple and short: no. He had sworn never to do something like that again, and now, here he was, thinking about the future again, leaving the present behind. He was so focused on the well-being of others that he forgot about himself and his family again.

"Mom- Cough, cough, cough"

As he coughed, Carlos saw his mother waking up; her eyes were swollen from crying, something that made him feel even worse.

"Carlos?"

Before he could say anything else, he saw her throw herself on him and give him a strong hug as if trying to keep him as close as possible.

"CARLOS!!! Thank God, Thank God. Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord, for not taking my son, thank you, thank you, thank you..."

"Mom... water..."

Although he tried to speak, she seemed not to hear anything and just stayed there hugging and crying. Shortly after, a nurse entered the room, probably to change the saline bag that was running out; however, when she saw Carlos awake, she just turned around and left. Shortly after, a young doctor, around 30, entered and began asking some questions to Carlos and his mother.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you, Mrs. Eliane, but we need to check on your son"

"Of course, Doctor"

The doctor smiled slightly and approached Carlos before starting to speak to him.

"Carlos. My name is Paulo, I'm the neurologist responsible for your case. I know you must be tired and a little disoriented, but if you're feeling okay, I'd like to ask you some questions."

"If I could have a little water first..."

"Sure, Ana, could you please?" The nurse stepped out of the room and brought some water for Carlos; it was just a glass, but it was enough for now.

"Thank you," he said, taking the glass and drinking it all at once. After wetting his throat, he turned to the doctor and then to his mother and asked,

"Mom, what hospital is this?"

"UFG Hospital Clinics"

"Are we in Goiânia?"

"Yes, you were transferred here urgently after you didn't wake up," the doctor replied as Carlos just nodded slightly. He fell silent for a moment before looking at the doctor.

"Sorry, can you ask the questions"

"Well, if you want to rest a little longer, I can come back in 10 minutes"

"No need, you can ask"

"Well, in that case. Carlos, did you eat anything you don't normally eat before passing out?"

"No."

"Did you suffer any injury, fall or take a blow to the head?"

"No"

"Did you feel anything in the days before, a slightly stronger headache, weakness, dizziness, or anything like that?"

"No"

"Mrs. Eliana, you said your son doesn't use any medication or that your family has any similar cases, right?" Paulo asked his mother, to which she replied,

"Yes, Doctor. As far as I know, this has never happened to any relative on my mother's or father's side, as for Carlos's father's relatives, well, we don't have the best of relationships, but after calling them, the answer was the same."

"Hm... Carlos, have you been doing anything out of the ordinary lately? Anything, like walking in a new place, accidentally taking any medication?"

"No"

"Any stress? Something that has been bothering you strongly?"

Carlos was about to say no again, but he stopped for a moment and nodded a little. "Well, with everything happening in the country, I've really been worried... maybe a little too much?"

"Who isn't, right? Luckily I have my reserves abroad..."

He nodded and wrote something down on the clipboard he had in his hands, before turning to Carlos's mother.

"Mrs. Eliana, for now he'll have to stay under observation; it might have been just a stress spike, but we need to run some tests for a while. Carlos can make himself at home; soon nurse Ana will bring you something to eat."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"You can rest now." Carlos saw the doctor and the nurse leaving the room before turning to his mother, who was looking at him with a look full of concern, but also relief.

"Mom..."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Could you get me some more water? I'm thirsty"

"Sure. I'll be right back"

Seeing his mother leave, Carlos was alone in the room looking at nothing and started to think about what he would do next, and frankly, it disgusted him. Lying to his mother was undoubtedly something Carlos hated, especially after everything that happened. And although a part of him told himself that it was better to just leave everything and live a common life. Another part of him screamed for action.

Now that he had the necessary tool to finally bring about change, would he simply leave everything behind? Wasn't that what he had always sought? A chance to change his country? To give hope and dignity to his people? Would he just give it all up and live a mediocre life while the country sank? Not to mention the superhuman threats that threatened the planet. Was he really willing to give up all of this for a common life?

'You've made this mistake before. It's not worth it.'

'I can bring about changes now, every effort is worth it.'

'You'll only hurt those close to you again.'

'Now it's different. I have a chance.'

And if it goes wrong? Are you willing to take that risk again? Lose everything once more?

'If it's for a greater good-'

'Look at her, look into her eyes. Do you really want her to suffer again?'

Carlos looked towards the door, where his mother entered with a glass of water and a gentle smile on her face.

'She raised me for great deeds, she would support me.'

'If that's true, why lie? Just tell the truth.'

"..."

'TELL HER THE TRUTH.'

'This is the last time.'

'It won't be the last time, you know that. You'll condemn her, yet again you-'

'This country needs help, there must be something I can do. I need-'

'Don't justify. It's your choice. Live with it.'

Carlos ended the dialogue he had with himself in his mind before receiving the glass and taking a sip. His mother ran her hand over his head, and he couldn't help but close his eyes.

"That's good..."

After a while in silence, enjoying the head rub his mother gave him, he looked at her and spoke

"I need to tell you something."

"Not now, Carlos, you need to rest."

"It's important."

Seeing her son looking at her with a strange and serious look, Eliane just nodded slightly and pulled a chair closer to him. Carlos looked at the woman in front of him and felt his chest ache before speaking in a slightly lower voice.

"Do you remember when I said... that grandpa appeared in my dream? That he told me to take everything from the savings?"

"Yes, mom told me what happened?"

"Well, that wasn't all... he also said where to find a chest full of gold."

"Carlos..."

"Wait, let me finish. I went to the location, and there really was a lot of gold there. I took some to check if it was real and managed to sell a bit, about 1 million cruzeiros."

"All of that?"

"Yes, and that's just a small, small part. Listen, mom, I know things are tough, but they're going to get worse, and they're going to get a lot worse. That's why I want your permission."

"For what?"

Carlos looked into her eyes deeply and spoke each word with a unique conviction.

"To create my own company, and help this country grow."

<><><><><>

Two days later, Carlos was discharged from the hospital, which meant he would finally be entitled to a decent home-cooked meal. As for the diagnosis, after more tests were done, he was diagnosed only with a high level of stress. Because of this, Dr. Paulo said he needed to do more exercises and prescribed a good chamomile tea, perfect for reducing stress, but Carlos knew that was unnecessary.

What made him pass out was actually the stress caused by all the information being deposited in his memory. Initially, he thought it would be something simple, but he was wrong. Now, until he could find a more practical way to absorb knowledge, Carlos wouldn't try something like that again. The good side was that at least he had the necessary knowledge and formulas to create at least 4 different types of fumigants completely free of toxins harmful to fauna and flora.

As for his mother, after some persuasion, she accepted the idea of ​​letting Carlos create a company, as long as he could complete his studies. The fact that he lied about seeing his grandfather was uncomfortable, but necessary. In a country where religion, mysticism, and different beliefs mingle, seeing souls of deceased relatives in dreams is more common than you might imagine.

Carlos didn't ask much of his mother, besides keeping the position of director for a while, at least until he turned 18 or found someone trustworthy to manage everything. She herself didn't have much confidence that things would work out, but seeing her son in that weak and vulnerable state made her agree.

As for the initial capital, they sold the other 9 pieces of gold directly to the bank and would use the funds to set up a simple laboratory and office where they could start working and create a good action plan before formally launching into the market. After getting into a taxi, they both started heading to the bus station to catch a bus back home. As he looked at the city, Carlos saw a tired, humiliated people in front of an agency to receive the misery that the government called a salary.

'I'm going to make this country a better place.'

Carlos then looked at his mother beside him.

'I'll protect her and make her proud. I'll show her a beautiful place, free from worries.'

Carlos held his mother's hands and squeezed them, to which she responded with a smile. Carlos knew that soon his life would change completely, a new power game would begin to surround his life, taking him completely out of any opportunity to lead a normal life. His mother, once an ordinary woman, would become a target to reach him. But that's okay, it was for a greater good, it was to ensure a future for this country, for the people who lived a life without dignity... right?

As they passed through the streets, he could see different posters from the last political campaign that were still in some places, most already worn out, but still present on some walls. Upon closer inspection, you could see that they were all the same. They all had images of the candidates with smiling faces and beautiful slogans.

'Lies and more lies. In the end... You're just like them.'

"..."

Carlos closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of his mother's hands, while the voice in his mind fell silent once again. The rest of the trip was calm, allowing him to appreciate this brief moment of peace.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

For those who believe that starting a company focused on the agricultural sector is not a good idea, understand that this is a sector that will always grow. Regardless of the time, whoever controls food controls the world.

Furthermore, my country, may God protect and guard it because things are ugly, is not exactly the country where people have the most favorable conditions to develop a technology company.

In fact, Brazil has a high level of "brain drain," highly qualified emigrants from various fields such as researchers and scientists, who leave the country due to low salaries or lack of employability.

Can a country that doesn't invest in these professionals grow? I doubt it. In Brazil, especially in the 90s, which is where the story is currently set, it would be almost impossible to create a technology company without strong support, in fact, it would be very easy if that company were created in another country. Well, let's leave that aside, for now, priority will be given to the creation of a company focused on the agronomic sector.

And if anyone still has doubts about the fungicide industry, take a look at these data - The revenue of the world's top 20 agrochemical companies increased by 18.68% to reach $72.56 billion in 2021.