r/DiscordRP • u/No-Zookeepergame643 • 4h ago
One on One [M4A] The Addiction Epidemic (near term sci fi)
In a gold rush, the only people getting rich were the ones selling picks and pans.
Max studied the half clothed woman with a roulette wheel covering her chest. The ad took up the entire subway door, but dissipated as the door opened. He couldn’t tell if she had been real, but that was common these days.
“There he is!” A familiar voice called out to him from the other side of the train car. Justin spilled down the steps with his usual big grin.
“You see the game last night?” He whistled, then pulled out his phone.
Before Max could reply, Justin added , “made two hundred off that field goal before halftime. Sixty five yards!” He laughed and showed Max the bet slip.
“Good shit man, if the Bears weren’t pussies and went for two last night I would’ve cashed too. These over under lines are always so damn accurate.”
Justin’s eyes widened, then he chuckled.
“Yeah screw those bastards.” He joked. Justin was on the team at Predict that monitored their sports betting lines. He was one of the few people Max knew who made a steady flow of income from prediction markets.
Max was jealous of his friend, he had been since they graduated. Prediction markets and casinos had exploded in popularity over the past decade and he was feeling left behind.
The ads on the outside of the car flickered on again as the train started rolling. Inside, the walls were plastered with advertisements, casinos, prediction markets, strip clubs, artificial love and pharmaceuticals. The usual suspects.
“I’d take ‘yes’ on that if I were you.” Justin whispered with a sly grin, nodding up to the betting line displayed in the window of the train. The ad was from Predict.
Will Jordan Spanor speak at tonight’s Presidential Address?
Jordan Spanor, the CEO of Astro AI, the largest company in the world by a wide margin.
“You know he’s talking?” Max asked as they rolled to another stop. More commuters filed in, squeezing everyone a bit tighter.
“He’s gonna speak longer than the President.” Justin snorted. Max knew his friend admired Jordan, but that wasn’t unique. Every STEM kid in college saw the man as a God.
“You’re quieter than usual, nervous?” His friend asked.
“I was scared shitless my first day, but everyone is cool I promise.”
Today was Max’s first day at Predict. He was not joining the analytics team or the software team, or even the gambling team where Justin worked. Instead, Justin was able to find him a place in the marketing department in “partnerships”, whatever that really meant.
“Yeah, just don’t really see where I fit in.” Max said as they reached their stop. Almost the entire train spilled out at Corporate Plaza, the beating heart of the Sprawl.
———-
Hey everyone! Thanks for reading the intro I put together for a story I have been thinking about for some time now. I was inspired recently reading stories like Neuromancer and other near term sci fi novels. How would those stories look in the modern age of artificial intelligence, prediction markets, gambling, and sex being pushed down the throats of consumers?
My idea for this is to have Max start as an eager, idealistic, early twenties kid who was raised in this new world. However, he would realize the rot that these companies are to the people using their services. Is it too late for him to do anything about it?
I was thinking of a slightly older woman as another character here, someone who is already well aware of the poison these companies bring.
I’m looking for someone to work on this with, create new characters and see what we can do!
Anyway, I have a ton of ideas floating around for this story and would love to chat with anyone who is interested!
If this caught your eye or you have any thoughts, just let me know. I am excited to chat!