OBSOLETE Ep. 10: SANTA MUERTE

In 2025, drug mules pilot Irregular Entry Exoframes through Mexico and approach the U.S. border in Arizona. An armed coyote in the rear calls all of them trash and threatens to kill anyone who abandons their Exoframe. A young woman wonders why they have to do this, and a pilot explains that they’re carrying coca that will be worth a lot of money across the border. He says they have no choice but to smuggle drugs if they want to be able to cross the border into the U.S. The woman wonders if it’s even worth trying to reach the U.S., and the man answers that there’s at least a chance for something better than their lives here. The man hands her a small necklace of Santa Muerte, the patron saint of the poor.  Everyone stops when they hear the noise of approaching drones, and the coyote tells everyone to split up and run. The woman and man run away as the drones start dropping bombs on the other mules. They escape from the drones and run into the coyote, who asks them to help him if they don’t want to die. He notes nearby Exoframes impaled on poles and hands the man a rifle. The man and the coyote take position and open fire on approaching Exoframes. The man says that he can hold back the Exoframes for five minutes and tells the woman to run away. The woman escapes with the coyote and looks back as the man fights alone and takes a hit in the arm. The coyote asks the woman if the man was her boyfriend, but she answers that she just met him today. The coyote welcomes the woman to the “land of the free” as they reach the dilapidated and incomplete border wall. The woman asks if this is America, and the coyote explains that the real hell is the journey from here to Tucson. The woman asks what that means, and the coyote explains that if America is Heaven, why was the border wall abandoned mid-construction. The coyote believes that the arrival of the Peddlers has put the gringo world on the verge of collapse. The coyote offers to let the woman work with him, and she asks if going with him will give her a chance to find a new life. The woman decides to march on into America, and the coyote tells her she’ll regret it. The two continue northward until encountering gringo militiamen in technicals. The woman asks what they should do, and the coyote pulls out his machete to stay behind and fight. He tells her there was always a chance, but it just wasn’t meant for him. The technicals open fire on the coyote, who gets in close to fight with the machete. After taking care of the militiamen, he prays for Santa Muerte to guide the woman. The woman dismounts from her Exoframes when she sees the nighttime lights of Tucson in the distance and continues the journey on foot.