3 days later

Castillo Chapultepec, CDMX, Mexico

It was a long-awaited day for SEDENA; though the fog was still thick, the atmosphere for high command couldn’t be better. Flocks of tourists, expo guests, and delegates from their northern neighbors convened at Castillo Chapultepec’s Monumento a los Niños Heroes to see the military expo on display there. Not much fancy to write home about for casual observers; most of them would expect tanks, helicopters, or artillery. Instead, they got new blocs of FX-05 rifles, new customizations and modifications for Ejercito de Mexico infantry, Enhanced Night-Thermal Vision goggles, and body armor. 

A stage was set up at the center of the Monument with Aztec Jaguar and Eagle Knights imagery decorating the sides. The banner over the stage said ‘Activación Formal de los Caballeros de Tenochtitlán - CDMX’. The bigwigs were already there, going over presentations of their brand-new weapons, gadgets, and many more. 

Some of the things that caught locals the most were their vision of the future soldier, anthro robot jaguars and eagles, designed in the image of Aztec Jaguar and Eagle Knight castes. One of the generals there checked his watch impatiently; the main show was about to begin, and he was to deliver a speech on stage. He trusted the Fuerza Aérea to deliver the main attraction on time, he just hoped that the attractions themselves behaved.  

The Fuerza Aérea’s C-130 flew high above the city skylines, navigating through thick clouds and hazy mists. The pilot checked his navigation instruments and glanced back and forth to make sure they didn’t crash into a skyscraper or mountains. 

“Bien, time on target, two minutes.” He spoke over the comms. 

Cuauhtémoc and Delgato were inside the cargo bay, gearing up for their HALO jump. The jade eagle checked his folding wings and the synthetic feathers he used to soar across the sky. Delgato checked his parachute lines and rigging, making sure his primary, secondary, and emergency chutes were all operational. Their jumpmasters paced back and forth near the cargo bay ramp, checking their watch. 

Cuauhtémoc and Delgato locked their arms in a tight grip, knocking their foreheads against each other before lining up for the jump, the eagle in front and the jaguar behind. The jump master opened the ramp, and the cold wind of Quetzalcoatl rushed against their faces. Cuauhtémoc’s synthetic feathers rustled in the wind as he arched his head upward, taking a step forward. He rolled into a ball, barreling down the sky before unfurling his wings, gracefully gliding along winds and clouds. 

Delgato followed suit, smirking playfully as he leaped out of the aircraft, falling from the sky with feline grace. He flipped, tossed, and turned mid-air, spiraling toward the ground at meteoric speed. He hoped that the parachutes could bear his body weight and gear as he and Cuauhtémoc approached Castillo Chapultepec. By this point, General Emiliano Alvarado was on stage, giving a speech to the public.

“Damas y caballeros, ciudadanos, compatriotas, soldados, aviadores y marineros de México, for too long our country has been suffering under the yoke of fiendish drug cartels. Our soldados have fought courageously for 30 years to stem the cancer. But reality has dictated that we must turn to technology to solve our age-old human problem.” The General spoke. As he did, he made sure his watch was in view to check for time, hoping Cuauhtémoc and Delgato would drop in just in time. 

“Our nation has risen to the task, developing El Soldados Futuro with the cooperation of our long-time neighbor, El Estados Unidos de Americanos.” He continued the speech, and now, looking up, he saw Cuauhtémoc and Delgato were coming down gracefully from heaven. Delgato steered his parachute to grease his stage landing while Cuauhtémoc landed with the grace of an eagle next to Delgato, wings spread behind his jaguar partner as the fanfare and confetti blew. Alvarado was mighty pleased, clapping his hands to the roaring cheers of the crowd. “Senoras y senores, I am pleased to bring you, the resplendent soldados futuro de Mexico, Cuauhtémoc y Delgato. Two of our premier units of the 72.º Batallón de Fuerzas Especiales Caballeros de Tenochtitlan!” 

The crowds let out excited oohs and aaahs as they saw General Alvarado place a Condecoración al Valor Heroico on Cuauhtémoc and Delgato’s chests as the two stood at attention. Behind them were rows and lines of robot jaguars and eagles like them, roughly a company-sized force. While the crowds cheered on, Cuauhtémoc’s optics locked in on a lone robot bald eagle with a tank-like build among the crowds over the American delegates; the two robot avians traded knowing nods with one another as though they were signaling for a meet-up.

In the ensuing public outreach moment, Cuauhtémoc wasted no time at all, confidently striding through the crowds of awed onlookers. He blew kisses at the senoritas, melting their hearts in one go. They swooned at his romantic telenovela flair as he courteously offered them a rose, while the men looked grumpy, disdainful, and even jealous at how a robot could so confidently flirt with their ladies. 

“Mierda! I need to pay for my gym premium after today.” Said one of the onlookers with a seething sneer.  

Moving through the crowds with the confident stride of a king and his champion, Cuauhtémoc and Delgato came before the towering, gentle giant bald eagle of metal, “Sam Spade! The All-American classic.” Cuauhtémoc blurted out. “How have you been you Gringo? I missed you!” 

The bald eagle took off his shades, revealing the dark hazelnut optics with a bright gold glow dialating at Cuauhtémoc. The eagle smirked and embraced Cuauhtémoc in a bear hug, wrapping his wings around Cuauhtémoc like a cocoon, to which Cuauhtémoc eagerly returned the favor, tapping their heads against one another as a sign of mutual respect. Mesmerized, the crowds erupted into a roar of excited merriment and clapped for the reunion.

“How’s Mexico treating you? All the fame and no dames?” Spades asked, half joking, earning a chortle from Cuauhtémoc.

“Please, I’m nothin' if not faithful.” Cuauhtémoc playfully replied, causing the women in the crowd to swoon.

Among them, one redhead dame was watching, infatuated and gazing longingly at Cuauhtémoc’s dashing demeanor. She wore a pair of shades, hiding her gaze, but her direction was unmistakably on him. “Isadora, are you proud of this moment?” Asked a woman in a lab coat next to her.

“Si, we’ve spent a decade building them. Building him. He’s perfect, perfect for Mexico.” Isadorah spoke with reverence in her tongue. Perhaps too much. 

The woman next to her had curly, dark hair and dark, tanned skin. She wore a white lab coat with an ID tag, ‘Selena Lopez.’ Unlike Isadorah’s cold and distant smile, Selena had a warm, almost motherly pride beaming from her towards Cuauhtémoc and Delgato as they embraced Sam Spades. It felt like a boy band reunion for the crowds, but to her, it was as though she was watching her son being reunited with his long-lost friend. 

“Sam and I went way back to DARPA! We’re practically childhood friends, damas y caballeros!” Cuauhtémoc confidently boasted, prompting the crowds to take photos and reporters to press for questions. American and Mexican military robot eagles were childhood friends with one another, the most fascinating story of the century. Like an ever resourceful showman, Cuauhtémoc turned Sam away from the press as the trio disappeared into the crowds, heading up the stairs of Castillo Chapultepec, where the trio found a quiet balcony to themselves. 

The skyline of Mexico City burned gold. Cuauhtémoc leaned on the weathered stone railing, eyes tracing a lone eagle carving through the sky above. His jade feathers shimmered under the sun, but his gaze was distant. 

Sam stepped close behind. Quietly. Their shoulders brushed. “Cuauhty... be real with me. What’s life been like?” he asked, softly nudging Cuauhtémoc’s shoulder with his beak.

The jade eagle let out a slow exhale. “Four years apart… I came back to a city that calls me a hero and treats me like an appliance. This was supposed to be home. Mine. Delgato’s. But I’m just cleaning up messes until the next ‘assignment.’” He paused, voice laced with exhaustion. “Different name, same war. FEC, Caballeros—it doesn’t matter. We’re fighting the symptoms, not the cause. And we’re disposable when the politics shift.”

Sam looked away, jaw tight. “That’s not living. That’s surviving.” The jade eagle nodded.

“Y tú?” Cuauhtémoc asked, turning to meet his eyes.

“Stumped investigations,” Sam replied with a deep sigh. “Ever since I nailed Zalmay Khalilzad on his return flight, nothing.” His head turned downward, “I got a house, but it’s not home without you. Just playing Ken in somebody’s Barbie fantasy.” He continued with his voice stiffening, a sign that Cuauhtemoc immediately interpreted as a PTSD manifestation, repressed memories. “Langley gave me two weeks of vacation here. Get my mind off the inertia.” He arched his head back up, eyes locking on Cuauhtemoc’s face, trying to put on a smile. “You have no idea…” He hesitated. “...how much I miss you, Cuauhty.” 

Cuauhtemoc made a gentle smile before tugging Sam into a tender hug, wrapping his jade wing around Sam’s colossal frame like a cocoon. “I knew we would meet again someday, mi amigo.” He whispered.  

Delgato, leaning on the balcony rail nearby, spoke without looking. “Mi amigo’s been holding up a world that never deserved him.” 

Sam sighed and rubbed his temple. “How’s Selena?” He asked at the end, earning a small smile from Cuauhtémoc. 

“She keeps your plate set at the table. Every Sunday. At least back then, we had each other. Us, m’ma, our trainers, mentors, neighbors in the suburbs.” Cuauhtémoc sighed. He leaned over the railing of the castle, directing Sam’s attention to the crowd below. Their avian optics with precise zoom-ins spotted Selena with a quick facial recognition scan. “It’s hard being a mother, so it’s on me and Delgato to be the family’s pillars.” Cuauhtémoc contemplated. “You wanna go somewhere? I got a venue.”

“If you've got a time and place, I’m in.” Sam confidently replied. He saw Cuauhtémoc take an invitation card from his pouch and hand it to Sam’s eagle-taloned hand. The bald eagle read the venue, time, and place. To his surprise, it was at the Hotel Galeria Plaza Reforma, in Zona Rosa. A stone's throw from the American Embassy- perfect, Sam thought. 

“I’ll have to bring over a dinosaur. The more the merrier.” Sam took the invitation and carefully placed it inside his pouch. The bald eagle took precious care not to wrinkle Cuauhtémoc’s invitation paper.

An interruption came in the form of gentle footsteps of a figure in a dark suit, slick swept-back hair, and a pair of shades. Cuauhtemoc recognized the middle-aged man right away and went out to shake his hand. “Jefe Miguel,muchas gracias por traer a Sam aquí.” Cuauhtemoc spoke, to which the man nodded and smiled gently. Sam seeing the sight and heard their conversation, cocking his head aside in confusion and curiosity.

“Ningún problema. I liaised with Langley, and they got Sam. Somebody must have favors left to pull.” Miguel remarked, to which Cuauhtemoc agreed. Sam went over, standing at intimate range with Cuauhtemoc, his claw resting on Cuauhtemoc’s shoulder. 

“Cuauhty, who is this?” Sam asked, the bald eagle leaned in, his optics examining Miguel’s facial features, running probable identity matches on him.

“Miguel De La Vega. CNI Director.” The man plainly introduced himself. Sam was very much surprised by this but tried to calmly reciprocate his hospitality. 

“I didn’t know my vacation involved espionage as well. You guys must have known, right? What’s the play here?” Sam asked, to which Miguel let out a gentle sigh, steeling himself for what he was about to unveil.

“We’d like to know how your dinosaur got to where he was.” He began. “But we believe he won’t be honest. Cuauhtemoc is on loan from the Army due to a personal relationship with the target. He recommended you, Señor Spade.” 

Sam quirked an eyebrow, hearing this, intrigued by Miguel’s words, but more so by Cuauhtemoc’s recommendation. His eye turned to the confident and unfazed jade eagle who winked playfully at him. “His recommendation?” Sam asked.

“Si, in his words, you’re the vital lynchpin for the operacion. Seeing that you are the current one with a personal connection to the target.” Miguel exposited, maintaining his cool cat demeanor. Sam's intrigue spiked; he knew whom they referred to. All he wanted was Cuauhtemoc to be in his life again. But with how the jade eagle had moved heaven and earth for them to be with one another, the least Sam could do was return the favor. 

“Whatever you guys are planning, I’m in,” Sam spoke without hesitation, to which Miguel and Cuauhtemoc smiled and shook Sam’s eagle hand. 

“Glad to have you onboard, Señor Spade.” He replied with a gentle smile. “If you’d like to know, Cuauhtemoc’s home is at 292 Reforma, moving in two days. You two should keep in touch, adios.” Miguel turned around and departed, leaving them to establish their method of communication and keep in touch with one another.

“You got a favorite platform?” Cuauhtemoc asked, switching on his wrist’s holographic interface.      

“In this Hemisphere? There’s only one.” Sam replied, holding up his wrist's holographic display of his account, allowing Cuauhtémoc to check and follow it. The trio shared similar technology, allowing them to use a holographic display projected from their left wrists. Sam and Cuauhtémoc followed Sam instantly and quickly noticed their followers were increasing by the minute. Sam quirked his eyebrow in reaction, while Cuauhtémoc and Delgato remained calmly amused. 

The bald eagle tapped through his new followers, checking their last activities, and much to his horror, they were leaving rather lustful comments on the preview concept art of the trio in the official Twitter post. Sam was quite a formidable tank with rock-hard robot abs on a muscular bald eagle body, embodying America in steel.  

“Daddy Spade, please investigate me… slowly.” 

“They want me to… what!?” Sam squawked in horror. 

Another comment for that could be that either Cuauhtémoc or Sam made him visibly disturbed while Cuauhtémoc cheekily giggled. The concept art showed Cuauhtémoc confidently striding away from an explosion behind him.   

“OvO Himbo Eagle, please step on me!” 

The third top comment for Delgato, more veiled but no less heart-throbbed by his predatory grace and top form.  

“They made Panther Caruso real, and he committed war crimes against my heart.”

“Bieneviendo Mexico, mi amigo.” Cuauhtémoc smirked at Sam with a reassuring pat on his back. 

“292 Reforma? God, I must be in a divine comedy.” Sam ruffled his feather. “That’s right across the street from my hotel, the Sheraton,” Sam stated, and saw Cuauhtémoc nod. "You don't have to ask, I'll be there for our home," Sam stated.