365 Days of Drabbles: Day Ninety-Two

[jeriendhal]

For drhoz: "Underpants Gnomes"

You made me read South Park summaries to understand what you were asking for. You bastard!

* * *

"You. Are. In-sane," Pete stated flatly.

"It's the perfect business opportunity!" Mick repeated.

"What part of the 'Robot Apocalypse' memo did you miss?" He waved at the gleaming white buildings of the Rest & Recreation Center. "What's to sell?"

"Same stuff as always; gun, drugs and girls."

"What guns? What drugs? What girls?"

"The ones we sneak past the guards."

"The guards are robots. What are you gonna bribe 'em with?"

"I'll figure that one out. But once I do, it'll be all profit!"

"What profit?" Pete demanded. "There's no money anymore!"

"I'm still working that one out, I'll admit…"

* * *

It's hard to be a Wise Guy in a post-scarcity society.

Comments

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

  I wouldn’t call it "post-scarcity." A lot of things will be made scarce by the Groupmind (greasy bacon cheeseburgers, dart games, tobacco, etc.), with an accompanying demand. Supplying that demand, on the other hand, would be quite the challenge (some of those things may not even exist anymore). The only economy, in a world where those things that aren’t scarce are free, would be a barter economy; most likely bartering services and/or time. People will probably trade favors, such as participation in non-solitary activities. (“I hate pinochle; but I’ll play a couple of games with you if you’ll also play cribbage with me afterwards.”)

  (What? What did you think I meant by “non-solitary activities”?)

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Don't get started on sex. It's hard to get into the mood when both (or more) participants' morphs insist on confirming whether the approaching act is consensual on the part of both parties, would either need protection and/or abortifacents?

Tobacco was probably already illegal prior to the Groupmind taking over. Bacon cheeseburgers are still available though (or at least a not-at-all reasonable tofu facsimile).

Really though, your point is valid. Mick's problem is mostly a lack of imagination.

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

Don't get started on sex. It's hard to get into the mood when both (or more) participants' morphs insist on confirming whether the approaching act is consensual on the part of both parties, would either need protection and/or abortifacents?

Not to mention that they'd insist on monitoring it; just in case of withdrawn consent, rough stuff, etc.

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

Tobacco was probably already illegal prior to the Groupmind taking over.

Meaning that Mick and Pete probably have tobaccolegging on their resumés already. Making something illegal does not make the demand vanish. Neither does the availability of legal/healthy/whatever substitutes when people prefer the genuine article.

It’s also true of the human species that some (like Mick and Pete) will always want to accumulate some sort of wealth or other status symbol (regardless of what form it takes), simply for its own sake and specifically to have something (or more of something) than other people. If all things (that are allowed by the Groupmind) are equally available to all, the Sneeches will still find some way to indicate their inclusion in the in-group and everyone else’s exclusion into the out-group.

Oh, and FYI: I agree with what you said earlier about Triumvirate having something of an abrupt ending, but I still enjoyed it… And I don’t think that ending would be much of an issue if that was simply the first episode in the series as opposed to being a standalone story that stopped suddenly. (If you do write a sequel, I offer my services as a proofreader: there were some typos that hadn’t been weeded out of the final document.)

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

The sequel has been stalled for a while now since I was having a hard time plotting it (Shaffa goes home to his family, with the rest of the team in tow. Hilarity and attempted assassination ensues).

[meganeko-mausuu.livejournal.com]

Geeze, is the quisling the only one gretting any good sex around there...?

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Ah, there's plenty going around. It's just the first couple of times between partners that the morphs worry, until they get suffcient reassurance both verbally and observing their human's behavoir.

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

hehhehheh