THE SWEET TASTE OF NECTAR: A DEATH NOTE/HAZE STORY
Author's Note: Here's a darker parallel to The Promise of the Hand. Haze had such potential as a video game and I'm enjoying extracting as much of that potential as I possibly can in story form.
1 - A Black Book In The CEO's Office
Andrew Duran, CEO of the Mantel Corporation, mixed a screwdriver for his visitor and quickly handed it to "her".
"Thank you," the demon, who called herself "Rem", replied as she took a sip. "Alcohol is rare in the shinigami realm."
"My pleasure," Andrew replied. "If this book does what you says it does, it will be the best thing to ever happen to Mantel!"
"Tell me about the Mantel Corporation," she prompted.
"The Mantel Corporation is the single largest corporation on Earth." He beamed with pride as he said it. "Our best-selling product is Nectar, the best drug ever discovered."
Rem's eyes narrowed. "Nectar has severe delusionary side effects."
"So it does! That's why none of the higher-ups like me use it."
"Then you have created a planet of addicts?"
The CEO laughed. "You catch on quick, don't you? Yes, we have, and that's why our stock price ALWAYS goes up!"
"So what will you do now?"
The CEO's expression suddenly became darker. "What do you think?"
Taking out a pen, he quickly wrote the following into the Death Note:
Gabriel Merino
"That takes care of that rebel shithead," he muttered.
-tston-
"Remember, friends," Gabriel began, "the Mantel Corporation is not invincible. One day we will defeat them. One-"
Gabriel was felled by an instant and fatal brain aneurysm, and Mantel's consolidation of power began.
2 - The Subjugation Of Boa
"GET BACK TO WORK!" Morgan Duvall bellowed. "NEXT ONE OF YOU THAT STARTS SLACKING OFF LOSES A FUCKING FINGER!"
The slaves of the Boa region quickly did as they were told, lest they wanted to be killed.
Hope was dead. More than dead; it was fucking cremated. Gabriel Merino, leader of the Promised Hand, had died in the middle of a speech. And they knew Mantel was responsible for it, since everyone in Mantel's propaganda died within a week of Merino.
It hadn't taken long for Mantel to move in. They were already there in force, so it was a simple matter of consolidating their gains. And now all the people who lived here suffered for it.
They worked in 12 hour days, and were forced to consume small modified doses of their own product. It kept them addicted while also keeping them sane enough to work the fields. None of them believed in a higher power anymore, but plenty believed Hell was real and they somehow had found their way to it.
And Morgan Duvall was a hell of a good candidate for the Devil.
-tston-
NATIONS ACCEPT WISDOM OF MANTEL CORPORATION!
Mantel News Network - In a move that is widely seen as long overdue, all remaining nations on Earth have rewritten their business laws to benefit the Mantel Corporation. Our wise CEO has declined to comment about the sudden deaths of those politicians who expressed ignorant opposition to the way of the future, but their demises likely motivated the prudent decision-making of the remaining politicians…
-tston-
REM: May I ask you a question?
CEO: Of course, Rem! I'm all ears.
REM: What happens when you win?
CEO: I'm not sure what you mean.
REM: If the entire planet is subjugated under the Mantel Corporation, then your stock price becomes meaningless.
[laughter.]
CEO: Why then we become the GOVERNMENT, of course!
REM: And if the entire planet is too addicted to Nectar to function?
CEO: Our scientists will figure something out to sober people up! They always do.
REM: If you say so.
[suspicion.]
CEO: Say…you can see my lifespan, right?
REM: Correct.
CEO: How long have I got left?
REM: I cannot ever tell you that. It is against the rules.
CEO: Fine…can you give me a hint?
REM: Nectar is poison.
CEO: What?
REM: That was your hint.
3 - Instilling Discipline
CANNIBALS INCITE REBELLION IN AFRICA!
Mantel News Network - It appears the legacy of Skin Coat has found new life with a group of cannibals in the East African Consolidated Region. Our fine soldiers are already being sent in to quash the threat in the territory of the former Tanzania…
-tston-
"Resistance is futile" was meant to be a phrase that inspired fear and hopelessness when uttered by the fictional Borg. Yet the self-proclaimed Free Humans of East Africa - smeared as cannibals by Mantel propaganda - had adopted it as a motto out of stubborn pride.
They knew they would all be killed by the supernatural powers of the Mantel Corporation. But in their last days they were free, and in that freedom was honor. Honor and respect for not being part of the faceless horde of sociopathic Nectar addicts.
All who succumbed to it became consumed by evil. Mothers told stories of sons who had chopped their hands off with knives after they had withheld Nectar as punishment, and this was a mild anecdote compared to what people could do in the throngs of Nectar withdrawal. It was an atrocity, one that needed to be fought against.
And so they did fight. Knowing they could not win. Knowing that history would erase their legacy. And knowing that Mantel would painfully execute them and desecrate their bodies.
Because, hey, why the hell not? You might as well go down swinging.
-tsotn-
PRODUCTIVITY UP 200% FOLLOWING MANDATORY NECTAR LAWS!
Mantel News Network - In a sign of the infinite wisdom of our benevolent CEO, productivity is up among all sectors of the Worldwide Consolidated Mantel Corporation since the introduction of mandatory Nectar injection laws. A study by the Science Division of Mantel indicated that most sectors had seen a minimum of 200% increase in productivity, with some seeing efficiency improved by as much as 350%…
-tsotn-
REM: You are losing control.
CEO: No, we are NOT!
REM: You can deny it if you want, but the reality is plain for all to see.
CEO: Whose side are you on?!
REM: Nobody's, as I said to you on the first day we met. I am simply here to sate my curiosity.
CEO: So you don't care if all of humanity goes extinct?
REM: Would you, if it increased your stock price?
[pause.]
REM: I thought not.
4 - A Future Of Addiction
21 years later…
"It seems your authority matters little now."
"Would you just shut the fuck up?"
"Make me."
The former CEO of Mantel did his best to contain his rage as Rem followed that remark with her trademark dry chuckle. It was infuriating to see her act this way, but he couldn't deny she had reason to be smug.
The human race was doomed. The Mantel Corporation had dissolved into bickering factions over a decade ago and now all anyone cared about was producing more Nectar. But of course most people were too addicted to the stuff to even drive properly, let alone cultivate and manufacture the narcotic.
Every time he asked himself "where had it all gone wrong?" he found himself internally laughing at his own question moments later. It had ALWAYS gone wrong! Mantel had destroyed the human race for profit, and had very little to show for it. Everywhere he looked the streets were lined with the rotting bodies of those who had succumbed to Nectar withdrawal, the crumbling edifice of society too broken down to even collect their corpses.
"So, are you pleased with yourself?"
The CEO stopped walking, and finally snapped.
"You know what? Fuck this."
He took the Death Note out of his suit jacket (the latter now worn by years of overuse) and threw it into a nearby puddle of water.
"I'm done with you, Rem."
-tston-
RYUK: Well, what the hell did he EXPECT was gonna happen?
REM: I don't know, to be honest. It was clear that that was a bad idea.
RYUK: Humans are so interesting when it comes to money. Put some dollar signs in front of them, and they'll eradicate the whole species!
REM: It's certainly a more regrettable outcome for them than Merino's Death Note usage in that other reality.
[laughter.]
RYUK: You can say that again!
Epilogue: Fossilized Narcotics
6,000 years later…
Ner'Yet Dashar loved being an archaeologist. Every time he considered regretting his decision to go into the field - thereby missing out on Officer School and the opportunity, albeit slim, to have been the one to initiate First Contact - he found something that fascinated him enough to make him completely forget that lost opportunity.
"So, his veins were full of toxins?" His fellow archaeologist Del'Rap asked.
"Not just toxins," Ner'Yet replied. "If the analysis is to believed, narcotics. Potent narcotics."
The body was remarkably well-preserved. Thousands of years after this "humanity" had gone extinct, it was one of the few still intact enough to get a decent biological reading.
And what they'd found on that reading astonished them. Even more astonishing, though, was the thought that Ner'Yet just had.
"What if this was a typical case?" He asked Del'Rap. "What if…"
"What if their civilization was destroyed by addiction?" Del'Rap asked. "That seems far-fetched."
"It would explain all of the strange positions we find corpses in," Ner'Yet persisted.
"Hmm…you might be right. But either way, we've still got a lot of work to do."
Ner'Yet did the Aka'Ven equivalent of a nod, and went back to work on the archaeological dig excavating what had once been the Boa region of South America.