The Kiosks

The hiss of air releasing momentarily filled the air as I stepped through the open doorway. Once through, the door quickly re-sealed behind me. There were nine kiosks, eight already occupied, so I made my way towards the open one. They were made up of a neon orange transparent material, that way you could see the inner workings of the machine, finished with a giant screen in the center. I tapped the “Begin” button.

This was how you paid what you owed, no human interaction, no emotions, just insert your credits and you’ve made it another month. Food, rent, water, oxygen intake, electricity, all of it one place. The options on the screen were as follows: “Pay. Withdrawal. Extension.”

Withdrawal was a bad idea, you paid hefty fees, but if you wanted to pay for anything outside of necessities it had to be done. This kept you in line, kept you from wanting more, kept anything else from thriving. Control the masses. I clicked “Pay.” and continued on, it was better to be safe and survive. 

As I was inserting my credits into the slot, I heard a robotic voice emit from one of the other occupied kiosks. “Extension denied. One extension allowed per year, maximum extensions reached.” 

“P-please. I just need a little more time!” The man at that kiosk said, panic in his voice. It was futile. The machines don’t listen, the machines don’t care. 

“Extension denied. Pay now.”

“I don’t have enough!” His voice grew wilder. 

“Pay now.”

The man began feverishly pounding the withdrawal button instead. “Withdrawal denied. Pay now.”

The man’s eye darted back and forth, sweat dripping down his face. There was no where to go, only the one door out and in, and you could only leave once the machines deemed it so. 

“Pay now.” the robotic voice persisted.

“I can’t! I have nothing!” The man started sobbing, and backed away from the machine towards the door. It wouldn’t open. 

“Deletion in progress.” 

Behind the orange material a robotic arm-type mechanism began moving, then a slot on the side of the kiosk opened and the arm poked out. It took aim at the man’s head, he lifted his arms in natural defense, but a beam shot straight through his hands into his forehead. His lifeless body thumped to the ground. 

“Deletion complete.” 

The doors hissed open and a crew of three people in full body suits stomped in unison to collect the body. Everyone else in the room had watched the momentary chaos, but once the suits arrived we went back to our own struggles. I finished inserting my credits. “Payment complete. Next payment: 30 days.”

…

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–Clever&WTF