Apocalyptic Shopping

Apocalyptic Shopping

A Story by Lillian Blackwood
"

A cyberpunk story, set in the world of the film Casimir Effect.

"

Apocalyptic Shopping


The new Multi-Megastore was opening on Main Street and just at the right time. As the crippling production crisis was in full swing; the unthinkable happening �" supplies of the latest gadget had dried up, causing mass panic in the population. MaxiCom’s new store had somehow secured a whole batch of the InfraFlux 12.2, which were now to be available in seventeen different colours and with a multitude of new accessories!

Queuing started some two weeks in advance, as no pre-orders or net based sales were being allowed. Demand was at an all time high, adverts for the new gadgets were now been shown every ten minutes on all networks, emails had been sent to all unhacked recipients in a hundred miles radius of the store. So when the police put out an all points bulletin, which required all units to be fully mobilised some thirty-six hours before the stores opening, MaxiCom knew their new Dynamic Quantum Advertising System (DQAS) had worked perfectly and they planned to test it again before the opening.

 

Sunday 29th 14:00

The Jackson Cromwell Syndicate, as the new owners of MaxiCom were delighted, as their share price was at a record high and as the sole manufacturers of the new InfraFlux 12.2 they were bound to have a good week profit. Jackson Cromwell himself had a prefect view from the top of his seventy-five storey head quarters, he could watch the events unfold as they happen; which was a rare thing in this time of Ultra Multi-Media overload. 

 

Friday 3rd 17:00

With a little over 30 hours until store opening, the first death was detected. The resulting electronic media frenzy was quickly dispersed; as the man in question had died of a power failure that resulted in his heart shutting down.     

Despite that slight disappointment, the reporter drones stayed in place, their controllers twitching merrily away at a suitably safe distance. They didn’t have to wait for long for chaos to break out once again.

The media and advertising guys set loose their new campaign, across every media network and net connection simultaneously, by cunningly hijacking the signals of the other two Hyper Corporations using the DQAS. 

MaxiCom had announced their opening offer!

 

The First Two Thousand Customers at the New MaxiCom store will get all accessorises at Half Price!

 

MaxiCom ©

-Jackson Cromwell Syndicate

 

The already manic crowd queuing outside the stores was swiftly joined by thousands more; all desperately trying to be the first to get the opening offer.

As the now hysterical masses surged forward, the body count on the news channels ticked into life. Within half an hour it stood at 23 dead and 78 injured. The ratings were booming!

 

Saturday 4th 14:00

With two hours to go the death toll stood at 193 and the police and the military units controlled by the Jackson Cromwell Syndicate were getting slightly nervous, as bunch of Anarchists from over the divide, had made an almost successful attempt at breaking down the security barriers around the new store with the help of a bunch of rogue Technophiles.

      Reports of the attempted hack job had leaked in CyberSpace, along the rumour that it had been partially successful and that a thousand of the InfraFlux 12.2 had been stolen.

      The waiting crowds were furious and the resulting riots exploded in a sea of high yield Plasma and Quantomic rounds. The blast was quickly contained by the cities defences, but the hole it left behind would take days to fix.

MaxiCom’s representatives quickly played down the rumour of the robbery, but it was definitely an award chink in Jackson Cromwell’s success vectors for the day.

 

Saturday 4th 15:30

The death count had now hit 1565 and climbed by the minute, but still more hopeful shoppers arrived.

Then with less than thirty minutes to go, the police had to take action, as it had been decided that a large proportion of the crowd had to be incapacitated for their own safety. The action got the crowds down to a more stable number.

With ten minutes remaining, the staff in the store could stand the pressure no longer and the security field was disengaged, which in turn resulted in those at the front of the queue been swashed up against the shop front, much to the delight of the watching audiences around the world. The counter made it to a nice round 1700; but not for very long.

Loud music by the latest TechMix programme pumped out into the streets and with very little ceremony the new MaxiCom Multi-Megastore finally opened. The scream of joy and relief could be felt throughout the whole of the city.

   

The following day the Jackson Cromwell Syndicate announced a new daily record. While the new InfraFlux 12.2 wasn’t quite up to some people expectations, but any bad reviews were quickly suppressed. The advertising campaign had been prefect and the media coverage had been unparalleled. The final body count at the community recycling centre was 1742, not quite as high as the mainframe server crash last year, but then that would have taken some doing.         

 

The news reports that day said everything that MaxiCom could have hoped for:

 

MaxiCom - Products so good they’ll Kill You!

© 2012 Lillian Blackwood


My Review

Would you like to review this Story?
Login | Register




Reviews

This was a fun little piece to edit, I recommend reading some of the other pieces set in this world.

Posted 11 Years Ago



Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Request Read Request
Add to Library My Library
Subscribe Subscribe


Stats

419 Views
1 Review
Added on August 27, 2012
Last Updated on August 27, 2012

Author

Lillian Blackwood
Lillian Blackwood

Cardiff, United Kingdom



About
Christina Lydia Wood I am a screenwriter, filmmaker and media junkie. I watch far too much television and love all kinds of movies. After recently leaving university, I am looking to further my career.. more..

Writing