I've been researching colonial Spanish history for almost twenty years now, and there's one case I keep coming back to. One that nobody can explain. This happened in October of 1593, and I need to tell you about it because the documentation is there. The records exist. A soldier named Miguel Torres was stationed in Manila, in the Philippines. Spanish colony at the time. He was a palace guard at the Palacio del Gobernador, the Governor's Palace. Nothing special about him. Just a regular soldier doing his duty. Now, the night before this happened, October 23rd, the Governor, Rodrigo Valdez, was killed. Chinese rowers on his ship mutinied while he was sailing to the Maluku Islands. Killed him and most of his guards. The whole colony was thrown into chaos. But the palace guards, they kept their posts. They were waiting for the announcement of who the new governor would be. That's what soldiers do. They follow orders.
So it's October 24th, 1593. Miguel Torres is standing guard outside the palace. It's late. He's exhausted. The colony is in disarray from the assassination, everyone's on edge, and he's been standing watch for hours. He starts feeling dizzy. Lightheaded. He leans against the palace wall just to steady himself, closes his eyes for a moment. When he opens them, he's not in Manila anymore. He's standing in the Plaza Mayor. In Mexico City. Over nine thousand miles away. miles is impossible to travel that fast - Carlos' He doesn't know where he is at first. The architecture is different. The people are different. He's still wearing his Manila palace guard uniform, which looks nothing like what the Mexican guards wear. He's confused, disoriented. When he asks someone where he is, they tell him he's in New Spain. Mexico. He can't believe it. He insists he was just in the Philippines moments ago.
The authorities arrest him almost immediately. His uniform is wrong. His story is impossible. They think he's a deserter, or worse, a servant of the devil. They bring him before the Viceroy himself for questioning. And here's the thing, here's what makes this case so compelling. Torres tells them that the Governor of the Philippines was just assassinated the night before. Killed by mutineers on his ship. Nobody in Mexico knew this yet. No ships had arrived. There was no way for this information to travel across the Pacific that quickly. It took months for galleons to make that voyage. The Viceroy thinks he's lying or mad. They throw him in prison for being a deserter and for suspected dealings with Satan. He sat in that cell for two months, just waiting. Insisting his story was true.
[ Story continues in the full game... ]