Mental-Emotional Restraint Control Regulator

"I keep getting stuck on Contentment. I just... can't bring myself to turn that dial, you know? Some days I turn it to Ennui and just watch the rain out of the window..." ~Irene Decker

What is It?

The MERCR comes in two varieties. One is a little box with a series of dials. The other is a cybernetic implant that responds to an external input, either another implant or to an accessible computer. Some even simply have a remote controller that allows you to interface with the device seamlessly.

Control Your Emotions

The MERCR allows you to 'dial in' your feelings. The implant can detect your emotional state and send the information to the control device, while the box version 'reads the room.' The operator can turn the dials or input the desired moods or emotions. The cybernetic only effects the one in which it is implanted, while the box is less potent, but turns the mood in the room by 'pumping out' overwriting brain waves. The separate box isn't mind control per se, but it does very much change the environment and people become hard pressed to resist its pull.

Recreation, Torture, Trust

MERCR boxes have been used on Venus especially but also elsewhere. Criminals use them for interrogation (dialing the box to 'fear' or 'sorrow' and leaving someone in a dark room with it is a favorite tactic), hosts will use them to set the vibe of a party (dialing to joy, gregariousness, or arousal depending on what kind of party it's meant to be), and businesses and ambassadors will dial the mark to earnestness (just to keep things fair.)