Profit Motive

A 5-post collection

Challenge #04647-L263: Just One Won't Hurt

For decades Markus was a marketer for [BRAND] Cigarettes, telling himself lie after lie to justify his job. That was until his brother contracted lung cancer. Now Markus is desperate to use his riches to make amends for his ill deeds. But is there really anything he can do to make up for all the bodies he’s helped to poison? -- Deathshead419

[AN: Had to alter this prompt a little because there is an actual brand name involved. I can not afford lawsuits]

They had known for generations that their product caused harm. It also caused relief from various aspects of life... which included the craving for their product. All the better to make that which made the world go around. The battle plan of Luxuriance Cigarettes was long, complicated, and as drawn out as they could get away with. Using every possible lever they could to keep their product on the market.

Markus Luxuriance knew them all. As head of the company and especially the marketing department, he was literally invested in all of the tactics.

Deny... Promote how the natives who regularly used tobacco never once had any kind of cancer. Talk frequently about the health benefits and the time or art involved in making their top-market cigars.

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Challenge #04594-L210: General Ludd Returns

It was subtle at first. A friend who lost a friend. Others who saw. What happens to the body, any body, when the most vital parts refuse to keep going? Fewer workers were showing. Fewer willing to go to the Machine. More vanishing. What happens to The Machine, when its lifeblood chooses to stop flowing?

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04576-l192-sacrifices-for-the-cargo-cult -- Anon Guest

There was a fine, fine line to tread. Keep up the expected minimum, avoid the ideal maximum. Waver

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Challenge #04576-L192: Sacrifices For the Cargo Cult

The Machine towers over the city, a gargantuan maze of steel, cogs, and steam. Thousands slave away to feed the beast lumber, coal, and blood to build it bigger. No one knows anymore why it was made, who made it, or what it was meant to do. But if anyone is heard questioning The Machine, that individual can expect no mercy. Those who came before can't have dedicated their lives for nothing, they can't have! They cant! -- Anon Guest

[AN: Nonny

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Challenge #02091-E267: Schrödinger's Bounty

"How did the cat get inside a locked cupboard?"

"It's an incomplete Schrödinger." -- Anon Guest

Krissk stared at his Human companion. "How is a thought experiment on the nature of the Uncertainty Principle at all related to the presence of a feline in a locked box with no other exits?"

Human Jan said, "It's because of the Uncertainty Principle that cats can teleport," with a completely straight face. "That's how they get into places and things that they physically should never

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Challenge #01689-D228: Unfortunate Blindness of Today

Nitpicking the small faults and details and eroding the Grand Design. -- Anon Guest

There was no doubt that it was beautiful. Sweeping curves and soaring arches. Every surface in the simulated model glittered with solar panels. Plants hung from gardens on every floor. Wind turbines adorned the rooftops.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, and anyone I missed," announced the designer, "I give you the residence structure of tomorrow. We can build this with extant technology, and improve the city environment one building at a

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