Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

Rob or drop?

Rain remembered the old Hollywood flicks where robbers pointed their archaic guns at store owners. It always looked like a movie shtick, some lazy plotting device which could never happen in real life.

But now it did.

The young guy behind her dropped his bottles and paled.

"C'mon, buddy," the masked guy said, directing his gun at the owner with his right hand while throwing an old sack over the desk. "Fill it up."

Rain swallowed. Her body froze.

The store owner hesitated and stuttered. "What do you want?"

"Don't fuck around man, fill it up. Your sign outside says 'we accept cash', well, so do I."

The owner exchanged a scared glance with Rain and the curly-haired guy before opening the old registrar and tossing the coins and bills inside the bag.

"Hurry up, man," the masked guy said with force.

Rain closed her eyes and focused on his voice. The man tried to sound authoritative but his intonation waved. He hesitated, which meant he lacked experience in robbing convenience stores. No surprise, since he was still a kid. Sixteen, seventeen maybe.

A crazy idea strived Rain's mind.

She craned her head toward the masked guy and noticed his lack of ranking. "Too bad you're not on Crowd."

It took the soon-to-be robber two seconds to react. "What?"

"I'm scanning your body but you're not logged into Crowd."

"What the fuck?"

He tried to focus on the owner filling up his bag but flicked a glance at Rain. She was surprised about her own calmness. The passion spoke through her and pushed fear away. "I know you have different things on your mind, but theft is not sustainable. Of course I don't know you, but if you're desperate enough to rob convenience stores you must face some tough challenges."

The robber hesitated. "None of your biz."

Rain carefully pointed her right hand at the camera in the ceiling's corner. "You see this cam? It records you right now and analyzes your identity."

"Yeah right. I'm wearing a hood and mask. Not even my mother would recognize me."

"Facial recognition software is more advanced today. It tracks your eyes, movement and records your voice for a match in the national database."

He hesitated. The barrel of his gun lowered by an inch.

"You're just bullshitting me."

"Why would you waste your future for one foolish stunt when you could reap so many benefits? You're young, courageous, maybe even brash. Imagine what you could do with that attitude." She finished her assessment. "If you sign up for Crowd, which is free by the way, you could get a lot of discounts regardless of your financial background. Look at me."

He actually did, well, partly.

"I come from a poor working class background and managed to finish college without debt." She demanded the eye contact of everyone present, including the owner, the young curly-guy and the masked robber himself.

"Can you believe it? Finishing college without debt in today's America? Well, it's possible, all thanks to Crowd."

She threw a confident glance at the masked guy. "And you can do it, too."

"Yeah right."

He lowered his gun toward the ground when the owner jumped over the desk and grabbed the firearm. He yanked it from the robber and pointed it back at him. "Get the fuck outta my store."

The robber backed off. He raised his hands and shivered. Rain could hear his heavy breath. His furious eyes beamed at her. "You lied to me, bitch."

"No, I—"

He ducked and ran away. Almost slammed into the nearby aisle. He blasted outside and disappeared around the corner while holding onto his oversized jeans.

Rain lowered her hands and faced the owner storing the gun below his desk and returning the coins and bills back into the cash register.

The other young customer had faded into the background but spoke first. "That was sick."

For the first time, the owner smiled at Rain. "That was a smart move, miss. You saved my life. And my business."

"He was just a confused kid. The gun's fake by the way."

Both guys looked at her dumbfounded.

Rain told the owner to put the pistol back on the desk. She touched the grip and showed the closed bottom where the magazine was supposed to be inserted. "See? I can't even change the mag. There's no serial number either. Probably a movie prop."

She grabbed the fake pistol and pointed it at the ground. "It also weighs slightly less than its real counterpart."

The owner asked her, "How did you know?"

"Long story and definitely not worth your time."

"I see."

She grabbed the bag filled with her goodies and wanted to pay when the owner shook his egg-shaped head. "My treat. Please."

Rain hated to accept gifts for free but the owner seemed so pleased.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's the least I could do."

She walked out the store and approached a new auto-cab when a young voice caught her attention.

"Hey, wait."