Rosa describes El Patrón as a bandit. How has El Patrón stolen the lives of all those living on his estate? Which characters are his partners in evil? Do they support him for the sake of their own survival?

El Patrón is the ruler of Opium, a country between the US and Mexico (now called Aztlán). He is 140 years old and has survived that long by using clones of himself for body parts. He rules Opium with an iron fist and has complete control of everyone in the country by virtue of his wealth. Though most clones have their brains destroyed at birth, El Patrón's keeps his unharmed out of vanity. He is a bandit: he literally takes human tissue from others.