La carrera

La carrera

📅 Martes, 4 de mayo de 2021 | 🕘 05:58 | 📍 Circuito exterior, Campus USIC - Odenton, Maryland

Alex sigue sonriendo todavía por la conversación anterior, aunque ahora te mira con una mezcla de curiosidad y diversión.

A) “You really don’t have a very high opinion of the Hill, huh?”

Tú haces una pequeña mueca pensativa mientras dobláis otra esquina del circuito.

Y) “Alex…”

La miras de lado.

Y) “Think about it. What kind of classmates did you have that would’ve absolutely stabbed each other for a congressional internship?”

Alex abre la boca automáticamente para responder.

Y se detiene.

Porque sabe exactamente a qué te refieres.

A) “…Okay, that’s fair.”

Y) “Not metaphorically either.”

A) “No, no, emotionally and professionally. Absolutely.”

Asientes.

Y) “Exactly.”

El amanecer ya ilumina bastante el campus. A lo lejos empiezan a verse pequeños grupos PT formándose cerca de las pistas y algún UH-60 inmóvil sobre la plataforma todavía cubierta de rocío.

Y) “The Hill attracts a lot of genuinely brilliant people.”

Haces una pausa breve.

Y) “It also attracts ambitious narcissists at industrial scale.”

Alex resopla una pequeña risa.

A) “That is the most terrifyingly accurate sentence I’ve heard this month.”

Y) “There are good people there. Some genuinely extraordinary public servants.”

Te encoges apenas de hombros.

Y) “But DC has a structural problem. Eventually people stop asking ‘what’s correct?’ and start asking ‘what keeps me inside the room?’”

Alex asiente lentamente.

A) “Yeah…”

A) “That actually tracks with Georgetown way too well.”

La miras con curiosidad.

Y) “How bad?”

Alex pone cara de agotamiento existencial inmediato.

A) “Okay so imagine twenty-year-olds networking like minor Roman senators.”

Eso te hace reír.

A) “I’m serious. People keeping spreadsheets of professors, internships, donor families, future firms…”

Y) “Jesus Christ.”

A) “No, wait, it gets worse.”

Señala hacia delante dramáticamente mientras sigue trotando.

A) “There were literally people choosing relationships based on future clerkship probability.”

Tú frunces el ceño con incredulidad genuina.

Y) “That sounds clinically exhausting.”

A) “It WAS clinically exhausting.”

Ella niega con la cabeza.

A) “And honestly? That’s part of why I stayed with John for so long.”

Eso hace que vuelvas a mirarla.

A) “Not because I loved him that much by the end… but because Georgetown can make you feel like losing status is the same thing as losing your future.”

La frase queda flotando unos segundos entre ambos.

Y) “USIC’s going to feel weirdly peaceful for you then.”

Alex suelta una pequeña risa cansada.

A) “You mean the militarized federal organization with armed FPS agents, hardened data bunkers and Black Hawks?”

Y) “Yes.”

Ella vuelve a reírse.

Y) “Because at least here people are usually honest about why they’re stressed.”

A) “That is… disturbingly true.”

Y) “Besides, our interns mostly just fear Mara.”

A) “That’s because Mara can look at someone once and know they formatted a spreadsheet wrong three weeks ago.”

Y) “Correct.”

A) “And Sam?”

Y) “Sam just silently judges your cardio.”

Alex pone cara de terror teatral.

A) “Honestly worse.”

📅 Martes, 4 de mayo de 2021 | 🕘 06:09 | 📍 Circuito exterior, Campus USIC - Odenton, Maryland

Alex ya corre con mucha más soltura ahora. El cansancio sigue ahí, claro, pero la conversación ha terminado convirtiendo la carrera en algo mucho más ligero de lo que esperaba cuando salió de barracks con veinticinco pounds de sopa de combate emocional.

A) “Those kinds of girls? Honestly… I know them very well.”

Su tono cambia un poco. Menos burlón. Más analítico.

A) “There’s a reason every senator looks like a US Army recruitment poster during their first term.”

Eso te hace soltar una risa corta.

A) “There are no secret societies at Georgetown. No satanic rituals or conspiracy nonsense like people online seem to think.”

Hace un gesto con la mano.

A) “They operate completely in the open.”

Te mira de lado.

A) “We used to jokingly call it ‘senator candidate dating.’”

Y arqueas una ceja.

A) “Pretty girls. Pretty guys. Usually very smart too. Always ambitious.”

La palabra always sale casi automática.

A) “The whole ‘trophy wife’ concept evolved.”

Suspira ligeramente.

A) “Now the expectation isn’t being beautiful and superficial.”

Hace una pequeña pausa.

A) “It’s looking superficial while actually being capable enough to infiltrate whatever room matters.”

Durante unos segundos no respondes inmediatamente.

No porque te sorprenda demasiado.

Más bien porque encaja incómodamente bien con demasiadas cosas que ya has visto en DC.

Y) “That’s… depressingly accurate.”

Alex asiente.

A) “Right?”

Y) “You’re basically describing human networking malware.”

Eso le arranca una carcajada.

A) “Oh my God.”

Y) “No seriously. Attractive. Socially adaptive. High-functioning. Extremely ambitious. Designed to spread horizontally through institutional ecosystems.”

Alex ya está riéndose otra vez.

A) “You really are a cyber officer.”

Y) “Unfortunately.”

Luego tu expresión se suaviza un poco.

Y) “The sad part is that some of them probably started out genuinely idealistic.”

Alex tarda un segundo antes de asentir.

A) “Yeah…”

Mira al frente mientras sigue corriendo.

A) “I think that’s true.”

A) “A lot of Georgetown students arrive wanting to change the world.”

Se encoge ligeramente de hombros.

A) “Then somewhere along the line the system quietly changes the objective from ‘improve the country’ to ‘stay close to power.’”

La frase queda suspendida un instante entre los dos.

Y) “That’s the part that scares me most about DC.”

Alex te mira con cierta curiosidad.

Y) “Not corruption. Corruption’s obvious.”

Niega suavemente con la cabeza.

Y) “It’s when people stop noticing they’ve been morally reformatted.”

Alex permanece callada unos segundos.

A) “…That sounded terrifying.”

Y) “It was meant to.”

Ella sonríe un poco.

A) “You know what’s funny?”

Y) “What?”

A) “You’re probably one of the most powerful people in DC right now…”

Te señala ligeramente mientras seguís trotando.

A) “…and somehow you still sound like someone mildly annoyed he got dragged into student government by accident.”

Eso te hace reír por la nariz.

Y) “That’s because I basically did.”

Alex niega con la cabeza sonriendo.

A) “No wonder Hale looks permanently exhausted.”

📅 Martes, 4 de mayo de 2021 | 🕘 06:21 | 📍 Circuito exterior, Campus USIC - Odenton, Maryland

El sol ya empieza a asomar entre los edificios bajos del campus y el circuito tiene bastante más vida ahora. Algunos recruits os adelantan, otros disminuyen un poco el ritmo al reconocer quién corre a su lado. Aun así, nadie interrumpe. Ya existe una especie de regla no escrita en el USIC: si alguien está teniendo una conversación importante mientras corre, se le deja espacio.

Alex vuelve a hablar después de varios segundos pensativa.

A) “But you know the worst part?”

Te mira con una mezcla rara de resignación y fascinación antropológica.

A) “Informally? We’re probably like… ten years away from Georgetown openly teaching workshops on how to psychologically destroy political rivals.”

Eso te hace soltar una pequeña risa incrédula.

A) “No, I’m serious.”

Hace un gesto amplio con la mano mientras sigue corriendo.

A) “How to weaponize social clubs. How to infiltrate donor circles. How to socially engineer your way into any room.”

Niega con la cabeza.

A) “Girls willing to date officials decades older for access while secretly planning how to leverage that access to climb higher through someone else prettier or more useful?”

Suspira.

A) “You’d be shocked.”

Te mira de lado.

A) “And they tell you this stuff proudly.”

Tú mantienes la vista al frente, procesándolo.

Y) “…Jesus.”

A) “There was this couple…”

Sonríe con incredulidad.

A) “Kind of legendary.”

Ya sabes por el tono que la historia va a ser absurda.

A) “The girl was with a congressman. The guy with a senator.”

Levantas las cejas ligeramente.

A) “Both of them had enough contacts in their phones to probably get legislation pushed through if they actually coordinated seriously.”

Y entonces remata:

A) “Meanwhile the two of them were secretly preparing the first presidential campaign legally possible before thirty-five.”

Eso ya directamente te hace reír.

A) “No, wait, it gets worse.”

Te señala con un dedo.

A) “They’d already started building residency records. Paying a mortgage since nineteen. CAP involvement. Volunteer trails. State-level networking.”

Niega con la cabeza todavía medio fascinada por la locura del asunto.

A) “Everything arranged so nobody could ever claim they’d moved somewhere for political convenience before running.”

Tú exhalas lentamente por la nariz.

Y) “Very House of Cards.”

Alex gira la cabeza hacia ti inmediatamente.

A) “Oh, Frank Underwood was an amateur.”

Eso te hace reír otra vez.

A) “Ironically there actually was a journalism student involved too.”

Y) “Of course there was.”

Alex asiente.

A) “And then there were the access brokers.”

Tu expresión cambia un poco.

Eso sí te interesa.

A) “Those honestly scared me more.”

Y) “Meaning?”

A) “Students renting access.”

Hace una pequeña pausa.

A) “‘You want to meet someone? Get between one and ten thousand dollars. Explain why. If it’s worth it, you’re having dinner with them tomorrow.’”

La miras ahora directamente.

Y) “…No way.”

Alex asiente despacio.

A) “Yep.”

Y niegas suavemente con incredulidad real.

Y) “Not even K Street works that openly. No way.”

A) “Because K Street at least pretends to be professional.”

Eso te arranca una risa breve.

A) “Georgetown kids?”

Se encoge ligeramente de hombros.

A) “Some of them act like they’re already living in season six of a political drama.”

Durante unos segundos os quedáis en silencio.

Luego tú vuelves a hablar, más tranquilo.

Y) “And this is exactly why I don’t want USIC becoming culturally ‘DC.’”

Alex asiente inmediatamente.

A) “Yeah…”

Y) “Ambition itself isn’t the problem.”

La señalas ligeramente.

Y) “You’re ambitious. Mara is ambitious. Sam is ambitious.”

Te encoges apenas de hombros.

Y) “Hell, Emily decided at like twelve years old she was going to become Doctor Pindado and apparently treated that as a strategic inevitability.”

Eso hace que Alex se ría otra vez.

Y) “The problem is when ambition stops being connected to service.”

El tono baja un poco.

Y) “Once people start treating human relationships as infrastructure instead of relationships… things rot very fast.”

Alex permanece callada unos segundos antes de asentir lentamente.

A) “…I think that’s why this place feels so weird.”

Y) “USIC?”

A) “Yeah.”

Mira alrededor mientras siguen corriendo.

A) “People here still seem to actually like each other.”

📅 Martes, 4 de mayo de 2021 | 🕘 06:34 | 📍 Circuito exterior, Campus USIC - Odenton, Maryland

La conversación ya ha abandonado completamente el tono universitario ligero. No porque se vuelva oscura exactamente… sino porque Alex está describiendo un ecosistema que tú intuías desde fuera, pero que ella ha visto desde dentro.

Y) “The journalism girl?”

Alex asiente enseguida.

A) “Yeah. You got it immediately.”

Señala ligeramente con una mano mientras sigue trotando.

A) “She’s the key.”

Su tono cambia a algo casi admirativo, aunque claramente inquieto.

A) “The other two are brilliant… but they’re the pretty faces.”

Eso hace que frunzas ligeramente el ceño.

A) “She’s scarier than the political science people.”

Y) “Why?”

A) “Because she actually knows how to investigate.”

La respuesta sale inmediata.

A) “And she learned on purpose.”

Toma aire antes de seguir.

A) “Minor in psychology. Major in journalism.”

Luego niega ligeramente con la cabeza.

A) “And she’s… honestly? A mercenary.”

La palabra queda suspendida un instante.

A) “She attached herself to those two because she knows she can get them to the White House.”

Te mira de lado.

A) “And the funny thing is? She doesn’t even want to be Press Secretary.”

Y) “No?”

A) “No.”

Ahora sí hay una pequeña sombra de inquietud real en su voz.

A) “She wants to control the communications architecture from the shadows.”

Eso te hace permanecer callado varios segundos.

No por dramatismo.

Porque entiendes perfectamente lo peligroso que puede ser alguien así.

Y) “…How does anyone even discover something like that?”

Alex suelta una pequeña risa sin humor.

A) “Oh, easy.”

A) “When you date someone like John - who’s basically House of Cards lite - eventually you meet the actual A-players.”

Eso te hace negar lentamente con incredulidad.

A) “And honestly? That’s the funny part.”

Te mira directamente ahora.

A) “The caring, polished, socially perfect mask disappears the second they recognize ambition in someone else.”

La frase te resulta incómodamente familiar a ciertos entornos de Washington.

A) “Then they start talking honestly.”

Suspira suavemente.

A) “Every year Georgetown basically produces the equivalent of… maybe five full campaign teams.”

Y arqueas una ceja.

A) “Not candidates. Teams.”

Hace énfasis claro en la palabra.

A) “People already working together in the shadows from graduation onward with the explicit goal of getting the attractive candidate into office.”

Niega con la cabeza.

A) “And every year the candidates get more competitive.”

El sol termina ya de iluminar el campus completamente. A vuestro alrededor empiezan a aparecer pequeños grupos de PT del USIC, aunque nadie interrumpe la conversación.

A) “There’s every type imaginable.”

Cuenta con los dedos mientras corre.

A) “Some genuinely hate each other but cooperate anyway. Some are basically transactional alliances. Some are weirdly loyal.”

Su expresión se vuelve más seria.

A) “But most of them genuinely see politics as a power game where the objective is domination.”

La miras unos segundos antes de responder.

Y) “…That’s a terrible way to build a republic.”

Alex asiente inmediatamente.

A) “I know.”

Permanece callada unos segundos.

A) “And the scary thing?”

Y) “What?”

A) “We’re maybe two election cycles away from those people being old enough to run nationally.”

Eso hace que exhalas lentamente.

A) “Campaigns are going to change completely.”

Mira al frente mientras sigue trotando.

A) “I honestly think the next administrations are going to be terrifyingly young.”

La frase queda flotando un instante.

Y luego tú sonríes apenas, aunque con cansancio real detrás.

Y) “Well…”

Alex te mira.

Y) “That explains why half of Congress keeps looking at me like I accidentally skipped ten levels of the tutorial.”

Alex tarda dos segundos.

Y entonces rompe a reírse otra vez.

A) “OH MY GOD.”

Y) “I’m serious.”

A) “No, you absolutely did.”

Y) “Alex, I still occasionally feel like a lieutenant who got lost and wandered into a continuity-of-government briefing.”

A) “That is somehow the least reassuring thing you’ve ever said to me.”