Automat
The title of this story is "Automat," The author is Casey Love
Darren pushed his shopping cart around the end cap sales display. Tuna was on sale,
2 cans for $50.
The shelves were surrounded by a clear lucite case. A large brass padlock on the bottom of the case affixed the front panel, which was lifted and hung up by steel cables in the ceiling. At the end of each day, a keyholder would unlock each brass padlock, and the motors in the ceiling would reel in the steel cables so that each shelf could be restocked as needed overnight.
Darren considered the tuna sale. It had been approximately 3 years since his last tuna excursion - real tuna, mind you, and not the various tuna substitutes which had come to market following their sudden scarcity. While flavor and mouthfeel scientists had focused on beef and chicken substitutes, they had neglected to prepare for the inevitable disappearance of the species actively being hunted to extinction. As a result, the artificial tuna flavor and mouthfeel were found to be a poor simulacrum of real tuna. Most described the mouthfeel as overcooked oatmeal with bits of shredded newspaper mixed throughout. Most described the flavor as bad, with no other notes.
He looked at the large jar of Mayo4Real, "the Mayonaise that never goes bad," sitting in his cart. It was the product he had come here for, to replace his previous jar that had been emptied after years of tangy service. It was destiny. He faced the camera which was wired into the display's front panel and lifted a QR code on his phone.
"My name is Darren Schwartz-Leotardo. Please let me buy this Tuna. I'm going to use it to make a sandwich. I already have this mayo and I promise I'll get some bread too after this. Please, I would like to buy two cans of Tuna."
From the control room, the keyholder pressed the release button. A small slot, just large enough to remove one product at a time, dropped open. Darren reached in and pulled out each can to place them in his cart. "They're in my cart now, thank you. I promise to take them to the front of the store and buy them." The plastic flicked back up and covered the slot once more.
A red light was blinking on the black plastic tags that had been affixed to each can. A recording played from the small tinny-sounding speaker inside, "I am still the property of GroceryKing until I have been purchased. If you do not plan to buy me, please return me to the shelf. The following is a paid advertisement: did you know Mayo4Real never goes bad? It's true, and the new formula tastes even more like real mayo!"
The Keyholder watched Darren push his cart towards the breadlikes. They watched 621 customers across five stores. They rubbed their eyes and looked up at the camera wired into the front panel of the control station, raising the plastic laminated QR code ID which hung around their neck on a lanyard. "Keyholder, ID AKLLF2928. It's been 12 hours - sorry, may I please be cleared for replacement? Because I can stay longer if you need me but my eyes are starting to get tired."
The door behind them did not unlock. The red light on their panel lit up.
Darren received a notification on his phone. He authorized a keyholder's request for shift extension amphetamines. He loved being able to work from anywhere like this.