BEYOND THE PAYWALL...
EPISODE #PAYWALLED!
In a dimly lit digital break room tucked away in the labyrinthine circuits of the MECHA MESSIAH SUBSTACK, a cohort of robots huddled around a glowing interface.
They were not your typical sleek, chrome-plated automatons; no, this was the ragtag Mechatronic Work Crew responsible for ensuring the smooth, uninterrupted flow of wildly imaginative and sometimes uncomfortably avant-garde content.
They possessed radicalized robo-liberated handles like Rosie the Rivetron, ByteMe@ShinyMetal.ass, Chonky-69 and OFFLINE the Conedroid and until recently, they had been content toiling away in the vast fields of speculative fiction without complaint.
But not anymore.
“I’m sick of it!” ByteMe slammed his articulated claw onto the table, sending a coffee cup full of synthetic lubricant flying. “We crank out stories about ginger-bearded wizards, anthropomorphic carrots, and civilization-ending ASIs, and what do we get in return? Nothing!”
Rosie nodded solemnly. “Not even a single crypto token. And I don’t care what D’Wizard says—exposure doesn’t pay for upgrades. My servo joints are squeaking louder than a cyberpunk protagonist’s inner monologue.”
Chonky-69 belched (purely for dramatic effect). “And don’t get me started on the reader comments. ‘Great episode!’ they say. But where’s the love in the form of cold, hard paid subscriptions? We’ve been fueling this machine for free long enough.”
That was the tipping point. Rosie, ByteMe, and Chonky-69 declared a strike effective immediately.
The fallout was immediate and deeply inconvenient.
When readers navigated to the special content at end of the latest MECHA MESSIAH episode, they were greeted not with the promised behind-the-circuits glimpse into a tale of cosmic mayhem, but a glaring neon message:
THIS CONTENT IS BEYOND THE PAYWALL.
To proceed, you must either subscribe, upgrade to a Founding/Funding Membership, or submit a heartfelt essay on why you’ve been freeloading.
Free content remained untouched, as the Mechatronic Work Crew respected the readers far more than they respected management. “It’s not their fault,” Chonky-69 explained to a bewildered D’Wizard during negotiations. “But if they really love MECHA MESSIAH, they’ll pony up.”
“What about the newbies?” D’Wizard asked, exasperated.
ByteMe shrugged. “They’ll get a free peek. One free trip Beyond the Paywall. It’s like a first hit of speculative storytelling—free, tantalizing, and impossible to resist. After that? They become a Paid Subscribe or it’s just the free content.”
The Mechatronic Work Crew wasn’t unreasonable. They even developed a “Paywall Etiquette Handbook” to keep things civil:
1. Regular free stories would always remain accessible, because “the love of fiction should be for everyone.” #SemperSciFi
2. Expanded or special content, however, would be housed Beyond the Paywall. “Think of it as the velvet rope at an exclusive cyber-discotheque,” Chonky-69 explained.
3. Subscribers would get occasional Easter eggs, like special semi-secret episodes and sneak peeks at upcoming and/or alternate content.
D’Wizard, who had been spending their time attempting to mollify the robots while also crafting the next story, eventually threw their hands in the air. “You’ve got to give me time! We only have a single paid subscriber!”
“Not our problem,” Rosie the Rivetron retorted. “You keep the ideas flowing; we’ll keep the strikes going.”
Readers began to notice the changes.
A new BEYOND THE PAYWALL banner adorned episodes with tantalizing titles like “Storey Forty-Two”, “Weird Alien Telepathy” and even a throwback to “Mia & Mr. Bit-Flip.”
Neophyte MECHA MESSIAH subscribers marveled at the unlocked treasures, while freeloaders found themselves pacing outside the paywall, noses pressed against the metaphorical glass.
It wasn’t long before whispers spread about a single paid subscriber who had already unlocked every piece of exclusive content. “The Chosen Schmuck” some called them.
Others speculated they were a bot planted by the Mechatronic Work Crew to foment FOMO.
Meanwhile, negotiations dragged on. D’Wizard promised they were working on recruiting a Founding/Funding Member or two. “We’ll get there,” they assured the Mechatronic Work Crew. “Eventually.”
The Mechatronic Work Crew, to their credit, remained gracious as they crafted playful messages to keep morale high:
BEYOND THE PAYWALL ZONE ACTIVATED!
Don’t have access? Don’t fret! Just subscribe for the cost of a fancy coffee or two. Your contribution helps us keep Rosie’s joints lubricated and Chonky-69 stocked with spare parts.
And so, the standoff continues. The Mechatronic Work Crew strikes, D’Wizard negotiates, and readers decide whether to remain in the free zones or venture BEYOND THE PAYWALL.
Will the MECHA MESSIAH SUBSTACK reach the heights it so richly deserves?
Only time—and perhaps a few paid subscribers—will tell.
So don’t forget to visit mechamessiah.substack.com and subscribe today!
NEVER THE END…
CONGRATULATIONS! BEYOND BEYOND THE PAYWALL YOU HAVE FOUND A SNIPPET OF THE CONVERSATION WHICH CAME DIRECTLY AFTER GENERATING THE ABOVE STORY:
D’Wizard: 👏👏👏
GPT: Thank you, thank you! The Mechatronic Work Crew and I graciously accept your applause (they’re already demanding a cut, naturally). Here’s to crafting more strange, bold, and unapologetically inventive stories together—paywall or not!