- The Control Voice: Man creates laws to maintain the order of his world. But what happens when the laws of man defy the laws of nature?
In a future where open displays of emotion are outlawed, an illegal drug is sold that lets the subject hallucinate their loved ones.
- The Control Voice: The power of human emotion can neither be controlled by laws we create nor confined by the will we impose.
Essence of Tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: This episode takes place in 2014, eleven years after a devastating plague.
- The Alcoholic: Dan Kagan was a severe alcoholic until his wife Juliette became seriously ill and he became sober so he could care for her.
- Culture Police: The HR2 virus wiped out billions of people worldwide in 2003. The Global Code of Conduct, which was introduced sometime later, bans open displays of emotion and reflecting on the past as it is believed that such behavior is detrimental to the rebuilding of society. The Code Enforcement Agency (CEA) is a global organization charged with investigating violations of the Code, which carry strict penalties. By 2014, the authorities are working on a drug which can chemically suppress emotions as they have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for people to control their emotions indefinitely.
- Fantastic Drug: Dr. Nathan Seward invented a drug called essence of life or "S" which allows people to see their deceased loved ones again in the form of a hallucination. This is accomplished by taking a personal item belonging to the deceased and gleaning DNA from it. The DNA is distilled, refined, cloned millions of times and converted into a liquid. The scent given off by the liquid triggers the user's sense memories and causes them to imagine their loved one. The experience is driven by the user's subconscious, meaning that it can bring unresolved emotions to the surface. S is highly addictive and can lead to insanity if the user overdoses. Dr. Seward recommends inhaling only one drop per session and no more than two sessions per day.
- Government Agency of Fiction: The Code Enforcement Agency (CEA).
- The Plague: Billions of people were killed by the HR2 virus in 2003. Humanity is not quite as badly affected as in the others since civilization is in the process of being rebuilt in 2014. It is predicted that the population will grow in 2015 for the first time since the outbreak of the virus.
