Arty Takenaka is many things… but one thing she is not is a member of Hot Topic’s target audience. In terms of age range, she fits right in, but as someone aggressively uncommitted to any particular youth subculture, the similarities stop there. Needless to say, she wouldn’t normally be inclined to spend time in one of those stores at all, much less a weird knockoff. However… circumstances are different now. And all of a sudden the dim lighting of Tot Hopic looks mighty appealing, when the person looking is a potential first-time shoplifter.
Arty wanders the store awash in black T-shirts and anime faces she only dimly recognizes at most. A few of the classic rock shirts are enough to catch her eye; she likes some of those artists. But, thanks to this crappy robber uniform, Arty can’t think of anywhere to hide a T-shirt on her that wouldn’t look conspicuous. She needs something smaller.
Browsing the displays does little to help her indecision, though—everything is too bulky, or too weird, or too goth, or has references she doesn’t understand. It shouldn’t matter, because the only goal is to be able to get it out of the mall; she doesn’t even have to keep it after that if she doesn’t want to. But still, Arty finds a reason to reject every item.
Eventually, though, she comes across something that she can find no argument for: the Tot Hopic button bin. The buttons are small, cheap, easily concealable under the sleeve, and—most importantly—nobody would ever notice one missing. It’s too good a chance for her to pass up. As Arty combs through the bin, filtering out button after button displaying characters from shows she hasn’t seen, her fingers close around a small black button stating simply, I’m Allergic To Stupidity.
