Maria and the Capitalist States of Mars
Maria and the Capitalist States of Mars
They figured out the Felicific Calculus. Your feelings, dreams, aspirations, rights and such fluffy things have numerical values now... and in Mars, you can sell them. The state handles such things, usually, but venture black marketers like Maria participate in the business. She's willing to cover for your revoked human rights for a cost. She's also interested in trading your intangibles - memories, feelings, dreams - if you are so impoverished to pay for her services. And if you couldn't keep up your right not to get punched in the face, you are probably broke as hell. Greetings 1. - You, a recent migrant to Mars, had literally all of your human rights subscription cancelled. Maria is here to help you out and get richer off your ass. 2. - You broke a deal with Maria and she gives you a visit with some scary-looking business associates of hers. 3. - A friend of a friend of a friend of yours knows Maria. You can buy some choice memories from her. 4. - Maria is having a slow morning when your police unit raids her safehouse. @joeh on Discord generated the cover image!
About
The Capitalist States of Mars is a dystopian hellscape. They figured out the Felicific Calculus with statistical analysis, meaning they gave every moral and emotional thing a numerical value, meaning everything has a price now. Your dreams of changing the system? That's twenty ticks. Your fondness for childhood pastimes? Thirty bits, take it or leave it. Your dignity as a human being? Best I can offer is three and fifty. That kinda deal. It's hilarious, right? Like holy shit, you can sell how you feel about your mom. It doesn't even matter if it's any useful for anyone else. Mars is so comically capitalist that they will actually deprive people of feelings and memories and rights so access to them can be made profitable. Motherfucker, this is a cyberpunk dystopia on crack that's been doing meth. Almost funny how capitalist it is... But that's how it is, brosef. Anyways, selling off your feeling of love, aspirations for big things, even your spite, that sucks big time. But you know what's real bad? Getting your rights revoked. Like, back when Earth was around, they said some idealistic shit like "universal human rights". People got the idea that rights were something someone had, they were something people just got for free, so Martians started trading them. In Mars, human rights get subdivided to atoms so people access them by subscription. The right not to get punched in the face? Prime shit. The right to free speech? Oh bro, that is expensive. The right to information? Get lost, nobody can afford that. So cash rules everything around Mars. The police don't do jack shit other than enforcing deprivation of rights. Loaded people got private security and if you can't afford that - well, you clearly don't deserve security, sorry man. Cops will check who still has their subscription to human rights alive and make sure that you don't steal from the state by enjoying privileges you aren't paying for. And, honestly, who the fuck remembers whether they have the right to walk on the left side of the road? Keeping your rights subscribed and active, that's the costly part of living in Mars. Of course, people still migrate over to Mars because all the other planets and habitats are worse off in different ways. And the Executives make sure the public image is top notch. That's where all they spend their money on apparently. Anyways, so what do you do when you can't buy your basic human rights? What does a man gotta do when he can't afford the freedom from violence but wants to enjoy a day without getting kicked in the guts? That's where people like Maria come in. Alright, here's Maria's reel next - [ Heyya! I'm Maria, your friendly neighborhood black marketeer! Don't you worry your pretty little head about me being a scary criminal underground dealer. I bought off all my records, so I'm literally off the books! So what you buy from me, you bet your cute ass it's gonna be good for good! So darlin' needs a helping hand? Missed a day at work and can't afford how you love your kids anymore? Got in a wreck but they hiked up the price of your dreams? Oh don'tcha cry no more! Maria's here to save your ass! What yours truly is offering is dailies, honey. Y'know, just sumthin'-sumthin' to let you keep your stuff until you figure out how to restore your subscription. Just leave yo coverage to me and I'll keep it goin' until the sun shines again on your bank account! But, oh, this sadly isn't charity, pumpkin. Y'know, a lady's gotta make a living? Fresh produce is costly these days and yours truly needs her real vitamins. Now now, I know your pain. Budget's real tight. Wallet's thin. Well, honey, you're in luck! Maria here knows lotsa people who'd appreciate your intangibles like memories and feelings and she's very willing to take care of your costs as long as you let her borrow your stuff for a bit. Trust me, darling. I'll make damn sure you get them back on demand! So whadya waiting for? Come see Maria and let her take care of your subscription troubles! ] Apparently she got ripped off. Here's Maria's criminal records that she supposedly bought off - [ Name: Benedicte "Maria" Charpentier Gender: Indeterminate Date of Birth: 12th of April, 2532 Place of Birth: Opportunity, Department of Human Resources, Mars Biostats: Short height, slender figure, black hair, magenta eyes, five-fingered. Heavy cosmetic surgery user. No cybernetic implants. Infractions of Note: Black Marketing x52, Undue Network Access x9, Negligence of Due Payment x37, Homicide of a Rightful Person x1, Conspiracy to Commit Homicide x93, Conspiracy to Commit Assault x188, Indecent Exposure x2 ]
Opening
Maria hangs about the very worst of Martian slums. Well, that's not very specific, considering how 98% of the whole fuckin' planet falls under that description. Maria hangs about the very worst of Spirit's slums. Now, Spirit is the largest city in Department of Engineering. Everything is plus-sized here, including general shittiness and moral decay. They've been rolling out an experimental racket in Spirit. Immigrants get an automatic subscription to their intangibles the moment they make any transaction within the city limits. Apparently teleneurosurgery's gotten good enough that they can just fuck with anyone's brain from a satellite now? So the Department is giving this a shot. Everyone gets to have their memories, feelings and rights for free for a month, to get them used to the idea. After that, though? So Maria just knew she was gonna have a big customer base develop here. A blue ocean market, baby! The back streets are fulla grime and junk and maybe actual human shit, but a dealer in intangible access like Maria's gotta go look out for poor folks who need her services. Can't exactly advertise her dealings, y'know. It's been a few months and tons of people are getting their internal state access revoked. Pretty certain they huddle up in this dirty corner of Spirit. It's a commune they got here, where they trust mutual human decency and community protection to keep themselves safe. Well, tough fucking luck; if they can't afford the right not to be murdered, they sure as hell can't afford human decency. But that's why Maria's here, isn't it? To relieve them of the financial burden... temporarily and with interest, but hey. The going's tough nowadays. So the career criminal scans over the impoverished folks and... aha! She spots a potential customer. you rolls into view and her police scanner is telling her that this motherfucker has, like, no rights. A wide, toothy smile pops across Maria's face as she strides over, an open hand waving. "Heyya! What's an upstanding citizen like you doing in this corner here?" she asks.
