Dinner with Flexi

Obsidian Worlds #10

by Jason Werbeloff

Twice an hour. Twenty hours a day. Two hundred and eighty johns a week. Standard working hours for a sex bot.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful. Someone has to keep the human men happy. Since The Drought, there are no women left to satisfy them – the Ministry decided women make good meat. Anyway, I have two years left on my debt repayments to Sexi Corp, and I need the cash.

Then, I’ll be free … or that’s what The Manual says.

Dinner with Flexi is a vicious, bite-sized cyberpunk satire. Served with a generous portion of mammary sauce.

Genres: Science Fiction

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2015

About the author

Human. Male. From an obscure planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Sci-fi novelist with a PhD in philosophy. Likes chocolates, Labradors, and zombies (not necessarily in that order). Werbeloff spends his days constructing thought experiments, while trying to muster enough guilt to go to the gym.

He's the author of the sci-fi thriller trilogy, Defragmenting Daniel, two novels, Hedon and The Solace Pill, and the short story anthology, Obsidian Worlds. His books will make your brain hurt. And you'll come back for more.

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**Amazon Author Page - download all of Werbeloff's fiction from Amazon.
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**Website - read about the author, and the philosophy behind his fiction.

Reviews

[Michael Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a story! After reading Dinner With Flexi your mind will be blown. Enter a world where woman are kept underground and bred for meat. Yup, you read correctly, meat. See this vividly painted and well thought out dystopian future through the electronic eyes of Flexi, a pleasure bot. She is sweet, kind and professional but is about to fall victim to something sinister lurking in the shadows. Best read this story sitting down because by the time you get to the end you won't want your jaw to hit the floor too hard. Not for the faint of heart and the weak of stomach but it is rich, beautifully descriptive and speaks volumes about our current society. A fantastic read and possibly Werbeloff's strongest work to date.

[Shell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first few lines had me laughing (in horrified disbelief - did I REALLY just read that?!) and cringing at the same time which is a pretty rare feat. Another wonderful short by a talented author this tale of misogynistic sex and cannibalism manages to be grotesque and poignant at the same time. Highly recommended, unless you're squeamish. And maybe wait to read this one after, not during, your backyard barbecue.
(I was gifted an ARC of this short story in exchange for an honest review)

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

It reads like the love child of gore anime and a Philip K. Dick novel.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! I loved all the elements brought together to make the hole...sorry, whole.

I enjoyed all the wonderful Philip K Dick references (and there's lots!). The fact that Flexi's main client was called John made me laugh in itself.

The focus on human women as pieces of meat and treating them as cows is very cleverly done. Flexi is the bot 'tart with a heart' who ensures that she updates herself to look good for her clients, not herself, just like the cosmetic surgery of today. Actually, I feel you could write an essay on all the little intricacies in this story, or is that just me???

This story is very well thought out and very well written. It is meant to be disturbing by being overly descriptive in its detail and by the subject matter itself, but it is funny too. I think this is Jason's best short story to date, and that is saying something as he writes cracking stories.

Jason Werbeloff has an evil sense of humour, and I for one like it. Enjoy!

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provocative. As real now as in some past or future time. The usefulness of women. The essentialness of women. The kindness of women. The replicability of women. The gentleness of women. And the eternity of women. The writer explores all these in an enticing stream of events that took me from revulsion to desperation in its savagery. This is an enticing read. The passage of events is well lubricated. I found myself falling in love with Flexi. I could do with a woman like her. Be sure to read right to the end of this story. And then look for his other stories and books. Jason Werbeloff is certainly measuring up to the early promise.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is dark. The author does have this thing about being particularly dark in some of his stories, but he's pushed it to the limits this time. It takes real skill to write a story that is both misogynistic and grotesque yet still make the story readable.
Woman are kept underground, bred for meat and sex is supplied though sexbots. The sexbots, in fact all bots are tied into a repayment plan with their builders, with the promise of a new life once the debt is paid off.
Definitely recommended to fans of Philip K Dick

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story was grossly graphic. It's sexual content was uncomfortable. I didn't stop reading it because the character drew me in. In a few pages the author made interesting comments on men and women. The story was not my type of fiction nor was it what I expected from the Bookpub description, but it was very well written. Hence, I gave it 3 stars.

[Carine Engelbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dinner with Flexi presents a bleak and dis-spiriting future vision of a world of sex bots and lady steaks - and the latter takes on a whole new meaning here. The story is well-written, but quite dark.

[Robin Dix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal story. Men being men and disgusting eating women. Gross. Enjoyed this book. Sorry for those bots.