Guilty pleasure

Teagan looked right and left, pausing a moment to make sure she was alone. The corridor to the outer part of the station was dark and deserted. Only when she was sure no one was there did she reach into her personal pouch and pull out a tiny foil-wrapped square. She held it to her face and inhaled deeply. Savoring the smell, she silently peeled back the silvery paper and saw the rich dark brown substance within. She put it to her mouth and took the tiniest nibble from a corner. As the speck of dark richness began to melt in her mouth, she closed her eyes and blocked everything from her mind but the rich taste of the chocolate.

After a few minutes of this revelry, Teagan's bliss was broken by the sound of an airlock engaging. She quickly but carefully shoved the remaining chocolate back into her pouch and began walking toward the main part of the station.

When she saw it was agent Wilson, she relaxed. They had casually dated a few months back, and she thought he'd probably let her slide on a suspected infraction. She hoped so anyway, because if she got busted one more time, she'd be deported. Besides he was human like her.

It was really the non-humans who were all geared up about the food thing. Not that she was biased against non-humans, or extraterrs as they preferred to be called. In fact, she had dated several extraterrs and had even gotten pretty serious with one.

It seemed strange that it was the extraterrs who had pushed the whole transfood agenda. You'd think it would more likely be the androids who would be against the consumption of old-style food. You could understand that. But the extraterrs actually needed food...or at least nutrition. They had taken on the transfood movement almost like a matter of religious fanaticism. Not only did they abstain from eating conventional food themselves, but they used the political process to make sure that everyone had to do the same. Consuming traditional food was now a criminal offense. There were a raft of rationales they cited, including energy conservation, cultural considerations, and environmental concerns, but the bottom line was that they found food consumption revolting.

Fortunately, Wilson hadn't seen what she was doing in the corridor.

"Hey, Teagan. What's up? Missed you lately."

"Yeah, well, you know."

"Actually, I do know," he said as though he just might.

Teagan paused and looked him straight in the eye, not betraying anything.

He looked straight back at her and then left and right before holding up an index finger and beckoning her to follow him. Certain that they weren't thinking about the same thing, but intrigued nonetheless, Teagan followed. She thought that whatever he had in mind might be able to be traded for what she wanted.

So many things had changed for people since they had left Earth. To some, the daily interactions with extraterrs and androids were the most unsettling. For others, using neuroprosthetics to enhance sensory experiences was disturbing. Still others were protesting the omnipresent nanites.

For Teagan, the most unacceptable change was being expected, mandated now, to take in nutrition through nanofeeds. Sure there were some advantages. The feeds measured out the perfect amount of every nutrient that each person needed. And there was no concern of eating too much fat, sugar, or salt. Obesity and diet-related diseases were viewed as past offenses of crude ignorance. And of course, eating no longer required any time at all. It was fast food taken to an extreme.

But there were also disadvantages. For some, the sensual pleasure of eating was on par with good sex (something else enjoyed uniquely by humans). The silky consistency of melting butter on the tongue, the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread, the wet sweetness of a perfectly ripe berry. A direct neural interface piping in sensations just wasn't the same.

Teagan took enormous risks to enjoy treats like a scrap of chocolate or a spoonful of peanut butter. More than once, she'd traded other elicit goods or services for food. Recently, she'd stolen some data from her employers' digital stores to get credits to pay a bootlegger the exorbitant amount demanded for food. Last year, she'd been caught eating and was arrested and put in a therapeutic rehabilitation pod for two weeks. Even though it was sickeningly painful and hugely embarrassing, it still wasn't long before she went back to food. The bonds that food created in her pleasure centers were too strong to be "fixed" by two weeks of rehab.

After Wilson submitted to the bioscanner, they walked down the corridor to a place that was off limits to non-personnel. Turning a corner, he quickly motioned Teagan into a dark supply closet. When they got inside, she couldn't see much. Thinking she knew what was coming next, she inhaled slowly.

It couldn't be. And yet, she was sure she smelled the familiar bittersweet burntness. Espresso.

In the darkness, she felt Wilson's hand move close to her face. Her lips opened as he slipped a tiny bean into her mouth. The slick chocolate coating gave way as she bit down on the crunchy espresso bean inside. The taste surged through her like a bolt of pure energy.

She didn't know how Wilson knew. Or what it might cost her. But at this moment, she didn't care.

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902 words