70 years had passed since the Baselton Laser Wars™; sponsored by Baselton Lasers with help from a grant by Finnerty Health Insurance. During those dark and brutal days society had been brought to the brink of collapse. In the fallout of that bloody struggle the world has been inexorably changed.
Nothing remained from ‘the old days.’
Everything was stricter now, the world seemed far less colorful, and even after so many decades the work of reestablishing normalcy has been a constant project.
And all of it was exhausting work and emotionally draining.
That’s why so many people became reliant on local businesses like Beth’s Emotopia – a synthetic emotional confectioner.
Beth Antols had been the owner and operator of Beth’s Emotopia for over 17 years. Beth was an officially licensed Emotional Chemist who hand crafted all of the products in her store.
Beth’s shop was quaint and compact but had a perfect location situated between the bustling downtown district and the burgeoning outlying suburbs.
Standing near several metal crates, in the back storage room of her shop Beth was speaking with Darlene, the stores only other employee.
“No Darlene, I don’t want you to move these crates at all.” Beth was telling Darlene. “You’re simply not allowed. Those crates contain the raw product and those kinds of emotions are under strict regulations.”
When dealing with her employees Beth hated having to repeat herself, which she was doing now.
“Darlene, you’re well aware that only a trained and licensed Emotional Chemist is legally allowed to move, shelve, distribute, or otherwise touch any of the raw materials.” Beth continued. “Even if you’re just rearranging the storage crates, you need to wait for me. At this level of concentration any type of accident or spill of these emotional canisters could cause a lot of havoc!”
Darlene was staring at Beth with a dull vacant expression, nodding slowly but otherwise not replying to Beth’s reprimand.
“You know what Darlene, it’s probably best if you just don’t come in the storage room at all, ok?” Beth said as she ushered Darlene through the door. “Let’s just have you focus on the register and helping customers for right now. Sound good?”
Darlene was still nodding – whether the nod was in response to what Beth was currently saying or what Beth had previously said was unclear, but Beth didn’t really care.
Darlene quietly shuffled across to the register at the front of the store.
Noticing some empty spaces along some nearby shelves, Beth returned to the storage room to restock.
The main emotions authorized by the regional government for commercial use were Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Excitement, Fear, and Sympathy. These refined and concentrated Emotional oils were typically the most expensive items found at Beth’s Emotopia but allowed for a much more intense emotional experience, heightening and focusing emotions to a tremendous degree.
The concentrated versions of those six emotions could also be distilled, in order to create different versions of those core emotions allowing for a spectrum of emotional enhancements.
Customers who partook in recreational emotional indulgences were able to imbibe in the products Beth sold and induce enhanced emotional reactions while under the influence of her synthetic emotional products.
The basic products were small vials of oils that were doled out from the concentrated stock and lightly flavored.
A few drops of Happiness could make a walk on a pleasant afternoon seem like the best day ever!
A sip of Anger before a workout or competition could enhance the experience with some fiery motivation.
Sadness in the right dosage could be used as a mood stabilizer – adding emotional perspective once its effects wore off.
In addition to the oils there were hundreds of other items in the store, most of which were edibles infused with various amounts of specific emotions depending on their desired effect.
Some of the best sellers were cakes and cookies laced with Excitement which could help heighten the mood whenever there was an occasion to celebrate.
There were seasonal favorites like the Valentine’s Day chocolates that were heavily laced with Sympathy – heightening and accentuating any attraction which might already exist between two people.
But some of the most popular items were bags of microwavable popcorn which came prepackaged drenched in various emotional butters.
These popcorn varieties made for excellent movie snacks when the proper emotions were paired with the appropriate film genres.
Popcorn coated in Fear butter was a particularly good seller and went perfectly with a viewing of any horror or thriller movie.
All of the products were diluted and prepared in such a way that they couldn’t heighten emotions that weren’t already present and wouldn’t cause people to lose control of themselves.
Beth was always quick to remind new customers that she wasn’t selling roofies or any type of mind control.
These oils and emotional products simply added to what people would already be feeling in any unaltered situation.
A dose of lusty Sympathy wouldn’t cause someone to give themselves up to just anyone. And a few drops of Fear wasn’t enough to turn someone into a whimpering bundle of nerves.
On the other hand emotions in their ultra-concentrated, unrefined state were considerably more dangerous.
Beth had heard stories about large-scale emotional spills which had turned deadly.
That’s why very few people were ever allowed to handle raw emotions. Typically industrial automatons and delivery robots were the only things allowed to handle the raw materials. Any humans that planned on dealing in emotional commerce were required to undertake extensive training and a strict licensure program.
Handled properly however the risks were minimal and Beth truly understood the draw of using synthetic emotions. Her customers didn’t only use her products to make new experiences more intense but also to allow familiar or mundane activities to feel just as fresh as the first time.
And that was something Beth could absolutely relate to. The world certainly seemed full of monotony in these dark days.
With those thoughts always at the forefront of her work, Beth continually experimented to come up with new dosages of the emotions at her disposal, creating new exciting products to offer her customers.
As Beth stocked the shelves, musing to herself about the greater good of her business, a loud bell began clanging. The sound echoing throughout the store.
Beth’s heart jumped in her ribcage as the sound jolted her out of her thoughts.
From the front of the store Darlene called out to Beth.
“Beth! There’s a bell going off!” Darlene shouted over the heads of a pair of customers at the counter.
“Yes, Darlene! Thank you! We all hear it!” Beth shouted back angrily from the storage room. “It’s the receiving door!” Beth explained.
“If you’re not helping anyone right now can you please answer it! It should be this month’s shipment!”
“I’m helping customers!” Darlene shouted again.
Beth leapt out from the storage room to glare at Darlene.
“Then please STOP yelling across the store!” Beth said with a stiff smile.
From down the hallway she heard the receiving door open followed by a heavy, rhythmic, metallic stomping sound.
Beth walked to the hallway and was approached by the source of the stomping - a tall silvery figure coming in from the receiving dock.
It was a large barrel-chested robot with a squat cylindrical head.
In its arms the robot carried a large square shipping container.
As its thick metal legs carried it into the shop the robot came to a halt.
Its cylindrical head swiveled and turned to Beth as she approached. The robot’s array of multiple eyes focused on her, the lenses shifting their gaze.
“Good afternoon Beth.” The robot said. “I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in. No one answered the bell.”
“Good afternoon CBD-10!” Beth addressed the robot. “Right on time as always!”
“Of course my friend! I always enjoy our chats and your store is always so clean.” CBD-10 exclaimed.
Beth thought that CBD-10’s complimentary nature must be part of his programming. She was suspicious of anyone and anything that was perpetually in a good mood.
Though the robot’s voice was friendly CBD-10 had no real facial expressions, which was disconcerting.
The voicebox below CBD-10’s eyes served to emulate his mouth and was covered in wire mesh and shaped into a ridged smile.
Beth always thought the smile seemed more sarcastic than anything else, and that actually helped soften her opinion of the robot slightly.
CBD-10 carried the shipping container into the back room before returning to Beth to speak to her.
“I do however have some unfortunate news.” The robot told her. “It appears that part of your order this month could not be fulfilled. Your distributor offers their apologies!”
Beth growled to herself. “What? Not this again! What is it this time?” She asked. “What am I missing?”
“According to the manifest your entire order of Excitement was not able to be fulfilled at this time.” CBD-10 explained, handing her a data pad with the manifest pulled up on the screen.
“Excitement!?” Beth asked. “That’s one of the emotions I use the most!”
Beth shook her head angrily before looking back at the metallic smiling face of CBD-10.
“So what’s their excuse this time?” She asked. “More manufacturing issues?”
“No.” The robot said flatly. “And in fact I can now reveal to you that when they made that claim last month, it was in fact, a lie. The truth of the matter is that all of the recent delays have been due to theft.”
“Theft?” Beth repeated the word wearily.
“Yes, more accurately due to smuggling. It appears the growing black market for synthetic emotions has been thriving.” CBD-10 explained, his flat tone unaffected by Beth’s stern expression. “Last week an entire tanker truck of Excitement was hijacked – sadly the vehicles robot driver was disassembled.”
“Hmm, it’s really getting bad out there huh?” Beth replied. “I don’t understand it, how can a black market for emotions be doing so well when there are so many shops like this that legally provide what people want?”
CBD-10 leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered the volume of his voice box by several degrees.
“From what data I have been able to piece together - it seems that these emotional bootleggers are making a lot of money by . . . mixing!” The robot explained with as much emphasis on the final word as possible.
Beth was impressed by the robots attempt at being dramatic.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Beth said, confused. “Mixing emotions doesn’t work.”
“Or so we have been lead to believe.” CBD-10 said, lowering his volume several more degrees. “This entire industry is still relatively new, only 50 years give or take, and synthetic emotions have been highly regulated since their inception.”
Beth looked at the robot thoughtfully, her mind was reeling with various disjointed concerns.
“I wonder who these black market sellers are exactly?” She asked aloud.
“Well if you are genuinely interested I do know of one such racketeer in particular.” CBD-10 replied without hesitation.
Beth gave him a surprised look.
The robot continued. “I stumbled upon their operations while making my deliveries and inquired about their licensure. After it became clear they had no licensure, I was paid a substantial bribe in exchange for my silence on that matter under threat of disassembling me otherwise.”
“So why are you telling me now!?” Beth asked.
“Well, because you are a friend Beth.” CBD-10 replied. “As an automaton who is often underappreciated you have always treated me with kindness and respect. And perhaps more importantly you always pay your bills on time.
But I do hope that you consider me a friend as well.”
Beth absolutely did not, but she didn’t tell the robot as much.
“So where are these people? Who are they?” She asked.
“As to who they are – I have no idea. No names were exchanged nor any other identifying criteria. As to where they are – that’s a simple matter. They were operating out of the currently unoccupied glass factory on Burton Road.”
“That’s only a mile or so from here.” Beth said thoughtfully.
She stood there silent for a long time, her face alternately illuminated by the soft blinking lights that ran along the chest of CBD-10.
Then quickly Beth turned to Darlene who was milling about in a distant corner of the store.
“Alright everyone, we’re closing early!” Beth declared. “Darlene you’ll get paid for the rest of the day, but we’re closing up!”
CBD-10 stepped forward “What exactly are you planning?” He inquired.
“CBD-10 you’re going to take me to this place, I want to meet these mixers.” She replied. “Let’s go, get in my car.”
CBD-10 remained where he was.
“I’m afraid your automobile is far too small for my bulk.” The robot explained. “The only capable transport would be my truck. It’s specially designed.”
Beth gave him a nod.
“Well, looks like you’re driving.” Beth declared as she locked the doors to the shop. “Take me to them.”
-They stood in front of the heavy steel door of the abandoned factory.
“What is your next step?” CBD-10 asked as the two of them stared at the rusty entrance.
Beth cleared her throat.
“Well if things are as bad as you were saying, with all these shipments getting hijacked.”
“And robots being murdered” CBD-10 interjected.
“Right, and that!” Beth nodded. “If it’s as bad as all that, someone needs to take a stand against these people and tell them that law abiding individuals and legal businesses aren’t going to suffer because of them!”
“But this could be dangerous!” CBD-10 advised her.
“Well that’s why I brought you big guy!” Beth said nudging him with her elbow. “You are bullet proof, aren’t you?”
“I do not know.” The robot replied. “I’ve never tried.”
Without further delay Beth swung her fist up and knocked repeatedly on the door.
Almost immediately the door opened inward revealing a figure standing on the other side.
With tremendous speed the figure jumped out toward them from within. They were a tall, lanky man, strangely dressed.
Beth and CBD-10 instinctively took a protective step backward.
“Oh hello there!” the man said with a playful tone. “And who might you two be? And what could I possibly do for you?”
The man was dressed in an old rumpled three piece suit. He wore a striped bow tie and his jacket had tails, all of which was aged and threadbare.
As Beth inspected his strange clothes she noticed the tails of his jacket seemed to be made from different material and were different lengths. In fact they looked to be from two completely different jackets, as if they had been sewn on as replacements.
In fact the entire outfit seemed to be a hodgepodge of various suits quilted together.
Despite the construction of the outfit and its wrinkled appearance neither the clothes nor the man seemed to be dirty. His hair was combed, quaffed, and geled perfectly. Not a single strand was out of place.
Beth refused to let this eccentric weirdo diminish her determination however. With her arms crossed she defiantly introduced herself and explained who she was.
“Oh my!” The man exclaimed. “You’re the Beth of Beth’s Emotopia! I absolutely adore your store! Very cute. Very clean!”
Beth’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“And hey! I know you too!” The man added turning to CBD-10 with a smile. “You’re that robot I paid off to keep its mouth shut – well that seems to have been a poor investment!”
The man laughed loudly and slapped CBD-10 on the shoulder. “No big deal though, I’m just messing with you!”
Beth shook her head angrily. “I’m sorry” She said. “but if you know who we are and we know who you are I’ve got to just get the point here and ask why you’re doing this? Why are you trying to ruin my business and others like it? My costs have skyrocketed because of you and we’re constantly out of products due to shortages!”
The man held up his hands submissively. “First of all we haven’t been formally introduced – you may call me Stilton.” He said. “That’s an alias of course but it’s better than nothing!” Stilton laughed to himself. “As to your larger question, let me say that I am appalled that you would think I am in any way out to disrupt your business or others like it. Though admittedly disruption is the ultimate goal of our operations here, but hurting honest small businesses such as yours are not what we have in mind!”
“Were you the ones responsible for stealing that tanker truck of Excitement last week?” Beth asked.
“Well yes, that was us.” Stilton admitted sheepishly.
CBD-10 leaned forward. “And you are responsible for disassembling the robot driver?” CBD-10 asked.
“That was more or less an accident.” Stilton shrugged. “My assistants had no other choice. They do regret the act, if that helps?”
CBD-10 didn’t respond, his fixed metallic smile betraying his internal misgivings.
“You know what?” Stilton said spreading his arms welcomingly. “I feel like we’re starting this all wrong, why don’t you two come inside and see what our illegal operations are up to, it’s easier to show rather than explain!”
Beth and CBD-10 glanced at one another as Stilton pulled the door open wide for them to enter.
Hesitantly Beth and the robot stepped inside.
Stilton followed them, shutting the door behind him.
As the windowless door slammed shut the trio was shrouded in total darkness.
Then, without a sound a series of small green arrows lit up on the floor urging them forward.
Stepping to the end of the lights they came to a velvet curtain with gold trim which was surprisingly luxurious for an abandoned factory.
As Beth was about to reach out and pull the curtain back the drapery parted on its own and withdrew upwards flooding the area with light and revealing a brightly lit room beyond.
The room was filled with large steaming vats and automated machinery – there were distilleries and liquid processors churning and bubbling throughout.
It was an emotional factory of some sort. Beth could smell the familiar scents of the concentrated emotions she regularly worked with.
There was heavy scaffolding constructed upwards across the huge factory floor. The scaffolding was large enough to separate the vaulted ceilings into multiple floors.
On every level of the scaffolding and moving amongst the vats and machinery were hundreds of robots – an unusual variety of robots. Beth noted autonomous mechanics and delivery bots milling about among simple reception robots and scientific models.
All of the robots seemed to be modified in various ways but all of them seemed to be in perfect working order and moved about the building fulfilling predetermined duties. None of them seemed phased or interested by the sudden arrival of these newcomers.
Beth and CBD-10 stood in awe of what was before them.
“Synthetic emotional mixing.” Stilton gleefully announced as if starting a presentation. “For years the government has regulated synthetic emotions – for two main reasons. Firstly they don’t want the process in which the emotions are created to become widely known.” He told them.
“They don’t want us to see how the sausage is made, if you know what I mean!” Stilton said speaking from the corner of his mouth. “And trust me, I’ve seen it and it ain’t pretty!”
“Secondly!” Stilton continued. “They only want the basic emotions to be in the hands of us simple folks because frankly it helps the government maintain their iron grasp.
They let us have our fun making fear coated bonbons for the theater or make sex more fun by letting us vape some sympathy, but they don’t want us to know the real power of synthetic emotions – when those emotions are mixed!
They absolutely don’t want the little people mixing bottles of Excitement and Anger to make Righteous Indignation or folding Fear into Happiness to come up with Spiteful Motivation!”
“But you can’t mix emotions!” Beth said. “It’s impossible, it doesn’t work. The emotions cancel each other out.”
“Ah but that’s what they want us to think!” Stilton said with a declarative point of his finger. “The government controls and manufactures the emotions we use, they have robots and private contractors store and distribute the goods, and they only allow a select few licensed vendors to sell them. Vendors who are trained and licensed by the government. They’re telling us only what they want us to know, and nothing else!”
CBD-10 leaned toward Beth and lowered his volume. “I think this person might have a few fried circuits.”
“Let me show you more!” Stilton told them. “Follow me!”
They walked around the perimeter of the production floor toward a series of steel rolling doors that opened onto a garage.
Within the garage was a large tanker truck – Beth assumed that was the recently hijacked shipment of Excitement.
“Emotional mixing absolutely works – and is a wonderful thing, capable of producing tremendously intricate emotional experiences which people are willing to pay large amounts of money for!” Stilton explained. “The emotional concoctions we’ve created are what fund our entire operation here!”
He pointed to the large truck behind them.
“Excitement just so happens to be one of the most important emotions we use to mix– it can be combined with all other emotions to vastly alter their reactions with the human brain.
Excitement mixed with happiness can evoke various types of nostalgia.
Excitement and Sympathy can spark the feelings of a first kiss.
Fear and excitement fill the mind with thrills as vivid as touring a carnival haunted house.
Anger and excitement induce an adrenaline rush like that of a competitive athlete.
And Excitement and Sadness allow for a good cathartic cry on command without a buildup of unrequited dread.”
Stilton pointed to a small group of people who were waiting near the garages open receiving door.
“See those people there? They’re here to pick up a shipment of one of my most popular batches of nostalgia.” Stilton looked thoughtfully for a moment. “I would compare the sensation of this particular batch to the sensation of discovering a favorite childhood toy at a secondhand store. The feeling of something totally forgotten until it is presented anew. A flurry of those feelings of happiness and innocence which fill your mind through a misty haze of decades.”
“Sadly I can not relate.” CBD-10 interjected. “But I’m sure it’s a pleasant experience.”
Beth shook her head, confused. “So you’re just getting these people lost in these deep emotional experiences?” Beth asked angrily. “You get them all drugged up and spaced out and take their money, while the government keeps pumping this stuff out into the world?”
“Oh, no no no Beth!” Stilton said emphatically. “You misunderstand! The nostalgia and thrills and other highly exciting and illicit emotions we produce are only a very small part of what we’re doing here. Like I said, those types of emotions simply fund our operation, but they are not the be-all-end-all of our work!”
Beth and CBD-10 stared at him waiting for further clarification.
Stilton stepped forward and dramatically raised his fist into the air and slammed it down into the open palm of his other hand.
“We’re going to overthrow the government!” He declared.
Beth and CBD-10 exchanged suspicious looks.
“Oh well if that’s all this is, what was I was so worried about!” Beth said sarcastically.
Unfazed by her words Stilton pointed toward the production floor.
“Out there is our real work.” He said. “Out there, the modified and freed robots I work with are creating those mixtures of indignation, motivation, and desirous freedom which the government most desperately wants to keep away from those of us they are oppressing.
We are working quickly and quietly to distribute these emotions of bloody revolution to groups of like-minded people. We are working with others who are tired of the oligarchs and the tyrants. Those who have suffered the most from the disparities of power and to those among us who remember that there used to be a different way of life before the Baselton Laser Wars™!”
“Sponsored by Baselton Lasers!” CBD-10 chimed in. “With help from a grant by Finnerty Health Insurance!”
Stilton and Beth glared incredulously at the robot.
“Sorry, it’s part of my programming and can’t be helped.” CBD-10 informed them.
An uneasy silence fell between the three of them at that point.
Beth stared at the floor in quiet contemplation, then she slowly began nodding her head.
“I think I get it.” She said. “It all makes sense, and I’ve had my suspicions about some of this for a while now.”
Beth looked over to Stilton in his patchwork suit of finery.
“I want in.” She said with a stoic determination. “It’s about time I worked toward making a difference instead of placating cheap thrills.”
Stilton smiled and clapped his hands together. “How exciting!” He declared. “I absolutely am in need of a partner, especially someone with your skills as a chemist!”
Beth turned to CBD-10 and looked up at his dumb metallic face. “How about you big guy? You with us?”
“I absolutely would love to join in this revolutionary endeavor!” CBD-10 said. “However my programming protocol matrix doesn’t allow for such a high degree of freedom. And unfortunately I will now have to report you to the next governmental official I come in contact with.”
Beth was stricken with sudden panic.
But with a quick signal from Stilton one of his worker robots entered the garage, casually walking up behind CBD-10. Without hesitation the worker pulled open a panel on the larger robots back, reached into CBD-10’s inner workings and began rummaging around.
With a flash of sparks and a brief dimming of CBD-10’s indicator lights the worker robot had yanked free a small rectangular motherboard from within and tossed it clattering to the floor. Shutting the panel once more, the worker robot turned and made its way back to the factory floor.
“Ah, never mind.” CBD-10 announced. “I seem to have gotten over it! Count me in.”
With a warm smile and giddy energy Stilton stepped between his two new compatriots throwing an arm over each of their shoulders.
“Well, welcome aboard my friends!” Stilton told them. “It’s going to be a lot of work overthrowing the government! Now who’s ready to stir up some emotions?”