WebNovels

Chapter 17 - The Subsidy Dealer (1)

The place Liz took him was in South Lake Union, in one of those modern new buildings that looked like it had been designed by an algorithm optimizing for urban luxury without personality.

The lobby had a water feature, abstract art, with Security that nodded at Liz with respect.

"You've been here before." Darren said.

"Many times, most of my contractors need emotional optimization at some point. It's part of the infrastructure." She pressed the elevator button for the eighth floor. "Dr. Reeves has been doing this for twelve years, over three hundred Holders, she's very good at what she do."

"Which is?"

"Outsourcing guilt." The elevator doors closed. "You're experiencing negative emotions about your professional activities, those emotions are valid but counterproductive. Dr. Reeves can... absorb them, process them and Leave you functional."

"That sounds dystopian."

"That sounds like specialized labor division in an advanced economy." Liz checked her phone. "You're good at identifying and cultivating emotional yield. Dr. Reeves is good at metabolizing psychological costs. Everyone does what they do best."

The elevator music was something bland but soothing, Darren watched the numbers climb and tried to ignore the little shake happening in his hands.

"How much does this cost?" he asked.

"Fifteen percent of monthly yield for ongoing treatment."

"Fifteen percent, on top of your twenty."

"On top of my twenty," Liz confirmed. "Which means you'll be operating at sixty five percent efficiency instead of eighty, but sixty five percent of something is better than a hundred percent of nothing."

"I'd still be keeping most of it—"

"You'd be keeping thirty five percent after broker fees and stabilization costs. Welcome to the overhead of professional harvesting." The elevator dinged. "But that thirty five percent is sustainable, Infinite. You can work forever at that rate."

FOREVER.

The word hung in the air like a threat.

The eighth floor hallway was carpeted in something expensive and quiet. Suite 807 had no name on the door, Just the number.

"Quick question before we go in," Darren said. "Do you use a subsidy dealer?"

Liz's expression didn't change. "I did, for the first two years, then I realized I didn't need it anymore." She touched her hair, where the gold threads were clearly visible. "The cost of not needing it was... significant but I made that choice. You can make yours."

She opened the door.

The waiting room felt kinda calming.

Soft lighting. Comfortable chairs that looked expensive, Abstract art that probably meant something to someone and instrumental music—something with piano and strings—playing at a just barely audible volume.

The receptionist looked up from her computer and smiled, it was professional, pleasant even. She was completely unremarkable except for one thing: she had no tag above her head.

Not a Holder, then. Just staff.

"Mr. Nova, Ms. Barter. Dr. Reeves is ready for you, you can go right in." She gestured to an inner door.

"I'll wait here," Liz said, settling into one of the expensive chairs. "This is between you and the doctor, but Darren—" she caught his arm, "—just listen,, actually listen to what they're offering, don't go letting Nova make this decision. Let the Analyst run the numbers."

Darren nodded and walked through the inner door

Dr. Reeves' office was somehow even calmer than the waiting room.

More abstract art, a desk that looked like it had been carved from a single piece of wood. Floor to ceiling windows showing the Seattle skyline through the perpetual drizzle.

Dr. Reeves sat behind the desk and Darren's first thought was: "She looks like no one"

Not in a bad way, Just... neutral. Androgynous, middle-aged, wearing colors that didn't commit to being warm or cool, hair that might have been brown or gray or somewhere between, features that were pleasant but unmemorable.

The perfect camouflage for someone who dealt in emotions but wanted to present as a blank slate.

Above her head: [STATUS: HOLDER] [SPECIALTY: EMOTIONAL SEDATION]

"Mr. Nova." Dr. Reeves' voice matched her appearance: professionally neutral, soothing without being cloying. "Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable."

Darren sat in a chair nearby. It was comfortable enough to be concerning.

"Ms. Barter tells me you're experiencing psychological friction that's interfering with your harvesting operations," Dr. Reeves said, typing something on a tablet.

"I'm having nightmares and I can't harvest anymore without... without remembering what I did."

"Guilt response with intrusive memories, very common around the four to six week mark." Dr. Reeves looked up, Her expression professionally sympathetic. "The human conscience wasn't designed for the kind of systematic emotional extraction we perform, It interprets our professional activities as moral transgressions, triggering stress responses that interfere with operational efficiency."

The clinical language was both absurd and comforting, they were talking about his inability to hurt people without feeling bad like it was a software bug.

"Can you fix it?" Darren asked.

"We don't 'fix' things here, Mr. Nova. We optimize." Dr. Reeves set down the tablet. "We provide emotional optimization for high yield contractors. Think of it as emotional stabilization services, helping you maintain consistent performance despite psychological barriers."

"You're saying you'll make me stop feeling guilty."

"I'm saying we'll help you process those emotions more efficiently so they don't interfere with your professional capacity." Dr. Reeves stood and walked to a cabinet, withdrawing a small glass vial filled with golden liquid, It caught the light, looking almost alive. "Tell me about your last major harvest, the one that triggered this cascade."

"There was a couple... At a bar, they were having problems, nothing major, but I—I planted doubts, Made them fight. They broke up. I harvested over five thousand dollars from it."

"And now you're experiencing guilt about that operation."

"I destroyed a relationship for a piece." Darren held up his wrist, showing the $2,000 timepiece. "Two years of their lives, gone and I bought jewelry with it."

"You extracted emotional capital from a failing relationship and converted it into a material asset, that's the job." Dr. Reeves set the vial on the desk. "The guilt you're feeling? That's your psychological immune system rejecting the work, like an organ transplant patient's body attacking new tissue, we can suppress that rejection response."

"How?"

Dr. Reeves gestured to the vial. "This is concentrated Gilt—specifically, stabilization substrate. It's woven with emotional buffering properties, engineered to create a psychological barrier between your actions and your guilt response. You take one dose daily, It suppresses the intrusive memories, dampens the emotional weight, allows you to maintain the cold dissociation required for effective harvesting."

Darren picked up the vial, It was kinda warm to the touch and the liquid inside moved in ways that didn't quite obey physics.

"Is this... safe?"

"Safe is a relative term but It won't kill you, It won't cause direct physical harm. But it will change you." Dr. Reeves returned to his chair. "You'll experience reduced capacity for empathy and guilt generally, not just about your professional activities, emotional range will narrow. Connection with others becomes difficult. Most contractors find it challenging to maintain personal relationships while on stabilization protocols."

"So I'll become a sociopath."

"You'll become professionally optimized." Dr. Reeves' expression didn't change. "Think of it like this: you're a surgeon, surgeons need to cut into people without experiencing emotional distress about causing pain. That's not sociopathy—that's professional detachment, we're just giving you the same capability in your field."

"Surgeons help people, I hurt them."

"Surgeons cause pain to prevent greater harm. You extract value from emotions that would otherwise dissipate unused, both require emotional control to function effectively." Dr. Reeves pulled up something on their tablet. "I've been doing this for twelve years, Mr. Nova. Worked with over three hundred Holders, the most successful ones—the ones who build sustainable careers—they all use stabilization protocols."

"What about the ones who don't?"

"They burn out, usually within two months. The psychological cost becomes unsustainable, they stop harvesting, they default on their debts, and they end up back where they started, Except now they have gold in their eyes and trauma from the harvests they did complete, so they can't even return to normal employment."

Dr. Reeves turned the tablet to face Darren, showing what looked like a medical chart:

CONTRACTOR LONGEVITY STUDY (N=500)

- With stabilization: 94% still active after 1 year

- Without stabilization: 23% still active after 1 year

AVERAGE MONTHLY YIELD

- With stabilization: $12,347

- Without stabilization: $3,891 (declining rapidly)

PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES

- With stabilization: Professionally functional, emotionally controlled

- Without stabilization: Increasing anxiety, depression, substance abuse

The numbers were stark. Undeniable.

"So my choice is become emotionally numb or fail completely," Darren said..

TO Be Continued....

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