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Schoop's Shop
Merchie hauled his finds and dumped them in the car he had rented. As a young inexperienced Space merchant, Merchie had found quite a big haul. He had traveled all across the solar system– visited Mars, Venus, and Triton. In a daring feat, he had also made a pit stop to the lawless Pluto.
He drove his car through the winding, twisting lanes of Titan. There was a time, he had read in books when Earth had many many cities. But that was a long time ago. Now each planet was one big city.
In several thousand years the world had changed a lot. From being a tiny civilization on Earth, humanity had gone on to terraform all the planets of the Solar System. Humans evolved to be incredibly agile, rational, and emotionless creatures.
Merchie calmly stopped his car in front of a small building, sequestered between three gigantic skyscrapers. I hope I get a good price. Merchie thought as he pulled his items from the trunk of the car and carried it into the building.
“Welcome to Schoop’s Shop.” the shopkeeper greeted Merchie with a pleasant smile.
“Hello, Schoop!” Merchie dragged the items behind him, “I’m a space merchant and I’ve some items to sell.”
“Oh my my!” Schoop smiled, “It’s been a long time since a space merchant stumbled across Titan.” Titan had once been the junction to connect the inner system with the Kuiper belt. The streets along with the spaceport had bustled with activity. But now… He’s a newbie. Schoop thought to himself.
“Well, I thought you guys could use some of these items.”
“Yes,” Schoop rubbed his hand, “We’ve been trying to get our hands on some rare artifacts from the inner system. But with the war and increased piracy…”
“Ah,” Merchie said, “It is rough out there. I lost my arm trying to find a very special artifact on Pluto.”
“Oh we specialize in special artifacts,” Schoop said with glistening eyes, “Can I take a look?”
“I’m sorry Mister Schoop.” Merchie said, shaking his head, “I sold it when I stopped at Ganymede.”
“Let’s see what we have here.” Schoop began shuffling through Merchie’s haul.
One by one Schoop examined each product Merchie had brought into the shop, Impressive. Very Impressive. Merchie wandered around the shop to take a look at the items Schoop sold.
“My dear boy,” Schoop took off the device he had worn and flung it back in his pocket, “This is a decent haul, I’m willing to give you a hundred thousand Imperial Credits.”
Merchie chuckled, “Hey Schoop,” he quickly realized Schoop wasn’t joking, “That is far too low. That won’t even cover the cost of the fuel.”
“How much do you want for this?” Schoop waved in the direction of Merchie’s items.
“At least, at least five hundred thousand Imperial Credits and a few thousand Republic Coins.”
“Oh my dear boy,” Schoop laughed throatily, “That is insane, this is Titan, we can’t sell these items on a premium.” he lied. Titan may not be the center of trade and commerce like it once was, but it still commanded a premium on exotic items. He doesn’t know black from white.
“I’ll try my luck somewhere else,” one by one Merchie began to pack the items back into his back.
“My dear boy,” Schoop said nonchalantly, “You won’t get this price anywhere on Titan, you’ll have to come back to Schoop’s.” Although Schoop was trying to rip off Merchie, he could bet his life, no merchant would give as much as he was.
Something small crossed the corner of his eyes as Merchie picked it up and placed it in his back, “Can you show that thing again?” Schoop said curiously.
Merchie handed a small vial of liquid into Schoop’s hand and continued to place other items into the bag.
Holy Fuck. Schoop wore the device back on and examined the vial closely, No doubt about it. he thought to himself. This small vial is at least 30 Mils.
Calmly, without letting Merchie on, Schoop handed the vial back to him and aimlessly picked up another product that Merchie hadn’t packed, “Come now, my dear boy. Do you want to steal from an old man like me?”
“Schoop,” Merchie’s eyes twinkled, “I’m not going to settle for anything less than five hundred thousand Imperial Credits and thousand Republic Coins.”
Schoop pretended to think for a moment, “Fine.” he shook his head, “You are ripping me off.” Merchie entered something on his hand-held and let Schoop examine it. They shook hands and a transaction was recorded by the tiny transceiver implanted in their skin.
Schoop showed Merchie to the door, and waved him goodbye, “It was a pleasure doing business with you, son.” He waited for Merchie to round the corner before he returned to his shop and closed the door behind him.
With utmost care, he shuffled through the content and pulled the vial out. The label on it was old and written in a language that hadn’t been spoken in a thousand years.
A few thousand years ago, humanity had created and bottled emotions to usher in the next phase of human evolution and this tiny vial contained Love– the rarest and purest of emotions.
Schoop carefully took the vial to his back room and opened a nondescript locker that contained his collection of rare, invaluable artifacts. He placed the tiny vial inside it before sealing the locker shut. It has been a great day, maybe I should turn it in for the day.