I guess it’s just a new advertisement trend, to blend the words of “psychedelics” and “AI” to please the new geeks and other’s kids. If it’s this, then we shouldn’t see the well-educated and informed investors rushing towards them like they were gold mines. Those guys don’t move their precious gains for a shifty trend.
That’s what I said to the stoned cashier. He replied, “You are the guy who asked to be contacted only by letters?”
“Yeah, is that a problem?”
“You showed up here, out of nowhere, by driving all the way from the capital, which is at least three hours…?”
“Five hours. I do avoid the highways.”
“Five hours? And then you filled the questionnaire with a pen, like you are living in a time bubble, then paid with cash like it’s the 90s. And now you think we are the weirdos?
“By the way, I swear, I never in my life have seen a 100 AMS bill before,” he said, holding the bill up to the light and turning it over and over.
“Really? But you’ve got a regular cash machine, on a regular counter, and a sign on top of that – in the middle of nowhere. Plus, I see no humbots serving me unless you are one, which I doubt,” I replied
He took a deep breath. “Renting is cheap here, and I’m a nature enthusiast, so that’s the reason for the location. As for the humbots, you are right. Do you think we should invest in them to serve only you, knowing that you are the only client who took the time to visit us? – Which is much appreciated, by the way. For the sign, the counter, the cash machine, and all the other classic looks that you mentioned, they are for the taxman. I presume he is living in your time bubble too,” he replied with irony. “He is still forcing every weed startup to be physically registered with an address and all the bullshit around that.”
“Who would come here to check that? It’s a long shot for an obese office worker to move that far for a small shop in the desert.”
“Consoft, buddy. The taxman is renting humbots from them so they can monitor everything, everywhere, all the time. I remember the day we opened here. It was around midnight, and I was having a joint with a beer on the porch. Out there, I saw a humbot in the form of a small ball, rolling down here. It was creepy. The next morning, I received a message from the Bureau of Some Bullshit Commercial Affairs, asking me to turn on the night sign. Unbelievable!”
“Very. In other words, you guys are paying the taxman who is paying Consoft with your own money to monitor you.”
“Tell me about it! Plus, there’s an extra for Consoft as they take a fat percentage of the profits since we use their MRI databases of brains to create a model for our AI – and they charge us like we were a partnership.”
“It’s probably a good idea to see if my cocktail is ready because I want to blow my mind right now,” I reminded him in an attempt to close out this conversation.
“You sound like a cool guy. I’m sorry for treating you like a lunatic. By the way, my name is Ardism; nice meeting you. I feel that I know you from somewhere. Are you famous or something?”
“I do look like the new head of the armies. You’ve probably seen him in the news lately.”
“Oh, that's right, I remember now, the youngest one in the history of the Empire, as they say…I think. But you are not him, right? Just to confirm, buddy.”
“Why do you want to confirm? Is there anything special you would like to chat about with him?”
“Yeah, if it’s you, for sure I would ask for a favour.”
“A favour from the chief of the armies of the biggest strike force in the world? I wonder what he might do for you?”
“My younger brother is a sergeant in the Land Force. Last month, they sent him to the Arctic front at the North Pole. Since then, my stepmother hasn’t stopped crying. She’s raised him ever since he was a baby. She watches the news all day long, and man, all those stories are coming out bad…”
“Yeah, it is happening, and there will be lot of casualties from every side, as we keep fighting for everything, even for snow!”
“So are you…,” the AI alarm cut off the conversation. Finally, my bottle was ready.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“I need to have you sign this additional paper,” he told me, hesitating.
“I see… Why would I sue you?”
“The thing is, there was a guy that did take the cocktail and… well, things went out of control in his case.”
“Really? Another crazy dude, I presume.”
“No, a normal dude… Well, it happened just once, so… you don’t have to worry about it. He probably had a very rare metabolism.”
“What happened to him? I’m taking it, no worries. Here is the signature. I’m a very average person in every aspect. I’m just curious about his case.”
“Alright… It seemed like our product matched his character perfectly to the point where he started thinking that he was a kind of messiah, running around trying to save the world, and things like that.”
“Really? I see, but he probably had a messianic complex that became amplified by the substance, don’t you think?”
“That’s exactly what the psychiatrists thought. How did you know that? Are you a doctor or something?”
“Not at all. Only a drug enthusiast who stumbles on articles sometimes.”
“Oh, okay. Anyway, the behavioural diagnosis came too late as he had already entered a coma. His family sued
