It's a freezing winter day, a light wintry mix coming down, you quickly find shelter in a familiar looking convenience store. Warming up your hands you approach a vending machine looking for something to drink, however this machine doesn't look like any one you've seen before. You see a note next to it saying "please bring VR code to cashier to open the machine. Confused but still thirsty you reluctantly pick up the plastic VR cube and walk towards the cash register. The cashier looked slightly amused "first time?" he mouthed off. Silently you place the VR cube on the counter. The cashier scans the code and points towards a machine on the side, "continue the process over there please." Even more confused and slightly pissed you stand there wondering what this is all for. Regardless you march towards the mysterious machine, fueled by a desire to quench your dry mouth. The screen showed off different options for drinks, "alright, finally" you say to yourself. Choosing a regular coke it then shows an option to pay. You insert a quarter and a receipt shows up from below the machine. However there wasn't a spot in this machine to dispense a drink! "What's the deal," you say to the cashier, he laughs and guides you to the first vending machine you encountered early on. "Oh, you're going to need this too" the cashier says with a grin on his face handing me a card with a Coca-Cola label on it. At this point you're too invested to give up now, you insert the Coca-Cola card inside the vending machine. Looking down you see lights turn on and something drop to the bottom. "Ah must be the drink, thank god that took forev-" Sadly this was only the beginning, what dropped down below was an empty bottle. Out of pure shock you drop to your knees. Realizing that your thirst won't be solved wallowing in defeat you rise once more. You must finish your soda-filled destiny. With determination you walk with haste towards the cashier, "I demand an explanation, why is the bottle empty?!" The cashier trying his best to hold back his laughter says "I need to fill up the bottle, sorry this is all for security purposes." He hands you a second card and leads you towards another separate machine near the back of the store. The card this time was blank but you didn't question anything at this point you inserted the blank card into the inconspicuous machine. You start to hear the sounds of locks and mechanisms going off behind the wall and all of a sudden a trap door opens beside you. Logical reasoning be damned and curiosity peaking you go through the trap door. The space itself was the size of a vending machine, you could barely fit in there. Feeling around the walls you feel a button and press it, the small compartment lights up bright enough for you to see what's going on. There was a compartment sized perfectly like a coke bottle so you place it in. With a quiet humming sound the sugary brown liquid fills the bottle in no time flat. The humming stops and the coke is filled! However as you try to grab the drink you notice it's locked behind a plastic barrier. "Are you kidding me?!" you yell. The convenience store intercom comes online to tell you just the dumbest information you've ever heard: "Hello, please come to the counter to pick up your bottle cap." At this point nothing surprises you, crawling out the small trap door you walk back to the counter. The cashier at this point is wheezing, unable to hide any fact of how gullible you are. "pfft, hahaha... yeah... please download our app to unlock your drink and to get a bottle cap." You open your phone like the sheep you are, download the app and opening it. Putting in your email and making an account to their subscription, the cashier then hands you a Coca-Cola bottle cap and says "Don't forget to get your drink while you're at it." Grabbing the cap from his hand you walk in shame to get your drink that was still in the trap door area. Wanting to leave this whole experience in the past you swiftly charge through the exit... But you hear an unexpected beeping sound. "Sir! Sir! You forgot to add the paid sticker on the bottle, otherwise it'll think you've stolen it! I told you this was all for security purposes right?" smarts off the smug cashier. "Y-yeah... Don't want people stealing now do we..." you whimper out. "Alright that should do it, thanks for shopping at 8/11, please come again."
I insert a dictionary. |