Thinking about ideas and a short in progress, I began thinking of currency, the means of exchange. 

Does every relationship have its own currency? I think it does. Currency is about have the means of exchange to acquire what you need. Goods, services...emotions...validation...love...sex....

We share the currency of fun and good times with some people. "I don't know, we always have such a great time. He just gets me." Family is a highly regarded currency. "We have to do something, she's our mother." "You're my sister. We're family. Family takes care of itself first." The currency of love has touches, gazes, understanding and compromise, by one or both. Trust is another popular currency, and sex, along  with good old paper and coin. We put a high value on the last. It's moved into first place into most people's currency needs. It's easier to define, easier to handle, easiest to replace. Overspend trust or family and the bank will collapse. I think all of us play with our currencies, believing one can replace another, mis-understanding the currency's use and value.

For some, time is money, which you would think fits into a future world model but time as money and the currency of exchange is so overdone and passe, unless I can find a new bend to it, like having too much time and trying to get rid of it because you start living in the future, which can be a bit nerve wracking. That itself is not new but a spin off an old idea.  It might have been Biggle's idea or it may have been Knight or someone else, but there was a story where people in America needed to spend money. The IRS role was to ensure you kept your spending up or there would be repercussions. 

Of course, I'm always attracted to reality, knowledge, memory and truth as currency but they've also been done quite a bit. Using any of them would need a new attack angle. Perhaps something like a con man coming to town and convincing people that the knowledge to solve all the world's problem was right there in that little town but it's separated by people. But if they could transfer their knowledge to someone else, maybe him, he can save the world. How can they transfer the knowledge? Well, he has a machine.... Where did he get it? Well, that's part of the story but as backstory, he claims the government had a consortium of corporations develop it. He thinks more people will accept him if the government and corporations created it, otherwise, he's just another nut. In reality, though, he did create it. We might need a love angle. Perhaps he's a bi-sexual and part of a love triangle. Of course, he claims the government is after him so there's some urgency....

I don't know. Just thinking.