Missed his game again. Sam’s going to kill me …

A gunshot of thunder echoes across the threatening south Florida sky. She quickens her pace. Screw this. Three events is enough. Not like I’m going to the Olympics …

Crossing the street, she cuts in front of a campus robobus, the twenty-four-hour-a day vehicle powered by the electromagnets of the induct-tracks embedded in the smart-way. Sheets of rain are pouring on her by the time she reaches the quadrangle of dorms located on the west side of campus. Wiping sweat and rainwater from her face, she holds up her hand, allowing the security camera’s scanner to ‘read’ the computer S.I.D. (security and identification) chip embedded in the flesh of her palm.

The sensor identifies her, simultaneously scanning her for weapons.

ENTER LAUREN BECKMEYER. HAVE A NICE DAY.

The front doors part, the familiar gust of cold air causing goose bumps as she enters the mezzanine. She walks past a group of students, some on body cushions, others hibernating inside sensory bags, as a movie displays on the giant smart-glass screen. By day, these multipurpose windows adjust the degree of tint to keep out the sun. By night, they opaque for privacy and convert into entertainment centers.

She waves to a friend, then locates an unoccupied turbolift and takes the high-speed transport up to the seventh floor. A holographic notice advertises a ‘Rave-Free Lunar Festival’ tonight in the dorm’s virtual-reality chamber. A federal ad displays: Immunize and say NO TO ADDICTION.

In early 2024, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, following in the footsteps of the European Union, began mandatory infant immunizations for cannabis, cocaine, and heroin. These ‘inhibitor shots’ were designed to prevent the human brain from experiencing a ‘high,’ eliminating any possibility for a future attraction to the narcotic.

Unfortunately, remove one illegal high and another is bound to come along. Immunization programs against fringe drugs like methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) were proving expensive, and the population was becoming tired of ‘Big Brother’s’ heavy-handedness.

Instead of continuing the battle, the federal government, in 2028, decided to join forces with the pharmaceutical industry, staking its own claim in the $500-billion-a-year trade of recreational agents. The aim of drug companies had always been to free the human condition from physical pain. Now they would turn their attention to eliminating psychological pain while enhancing happiness.

The first ‘heaven’ drug was BLISS, a genetically encoded cocktail designed to release serotonin and stimulate phenylethylamine, a chemical released by the human brain when one is ‘in love’ (or for some, while eating chocolate). A year later, a second line of BLISS was developed for senior citizens, this one designed to restore the dopaminergic neurons that gradually die off as we age, leading to a decline in sexual drive.

Happiness and a recharged libido—an old industry was reborn.