Programming: a romance

by M. Arbon

"Did you just hack me?" Cam asked.

"Yes. Sorry."

"Hmm. Thought so." His expression was mild. "Successfully, too. It's been a long time since that's happened."


Introverted Lewis needs to increase his Social score for a shot at his dream job with his favorite serialized space opera. So he hires human-machine hybrid Cam to pose his boyfriend. But Lewis isn't interested in a real relationship, and he takes steps to ensure that the liaison remains purely for show.

Cam dates people for a living. He enjoys his job, and he's good at it. He's not allowed to touch Lewis. But there's nothing that prevents him from talking...


Contents include: space opera fandom, sexy talk, and a fake boyfriend who isn't going to take this sort of thing lying down. So to speak.

This 6,500-word story was previously published in Shousetsu Bang*Bang.

Genres: M M Romance, Science Fiction, Romance, LGBT, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

25 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2018

About the author

I write stories, mostly queer, often sexy, featuring people who try hard not to be jerks. My stories have appeared in His Seed: An Arboretum of Erotica and Best Gay Stories 2017, and as stand-alone volumes.

Reviews

[Daniel]

Uh, I mean, it's fine I guess? But this just really didn't click with me. The technobabble made me twinge a bit, but I can get past that, though exploring the ethical/moral ramifications of the setup would have been more interesting than what the author delivered. But of course that wasn't the point. Presumably we're supposed to care about, be charmed, and enchanted by the relationship. But I wasn't. I couldn't understand the characters' behavior. Motivational black boxes. This complete and utter lack of any interiority probably has something to do with that.

[Shelba]

I generally don’t care for sci-fi type stuff, and I can’t stand fake bf tropes…. But I do love M. Arbon’s writing and this story was no exception. It’s quite impressive the level of character depth is put into 30 pages.

[monika]

3,5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

the cute one :)

[Skye Kilaen]

Fun little sci-fi M/M short story that pairs an ambitious television writer with a human-machine hybrid sex worker in a battle of wills. Lewis is an introvert in a future society where your social score is important in landing jobs. Lewis hires Cam to pose as his boyfriend, but hacks Cam's code to keep anything physical from happening, because fake relationship. Cam's curious to see if he can change Lewis's mind, though... and the ensuing verbal struggle during their faux dates is amusingly clever and sexy, with a growing affection between the two. So charming, and so much story in such a short work! I liked it even better when I read it a second time.

[Maygirl7]

The blurb gives no clue that this story is not a contemporary one. Once I realized that this is set in the future I felt a lot more oriented. There are good aspects to this story but it wasn’t completely fleshed out. This was originally published in Shousetsu Bang Bang. I am curious to read more by this author even though this story wasn’t completely successful for me.

[Antonella]

3.5
Above average. I liked this story set in the future. The fact that Lewis hacks Cam to _avoid_ having sex with him is quite original ;-). Great worldbuilding, it gives you the general idea without long explanations.

I plan to check other stuff by M. Arbon in Shousetsu Bang*Bang: http://s2b2.livejournal.com/tag/hyaku...

[Pam]

This was awesome. I would love a full-length novel in this world. So clever, and slow burns are my absolute favorite. Maybe not exactly the ending I wanted, but I'll take it. I feel exactly like I did when I read my first Shukyou -- give me MOOORRREEE!!!!

[Doujia2]

3.25

Cute premise - an introverted programmer hired a half-human half-robot hybrid as his (fake) romantic companion to elevate his social rating and pass his job interview. The hybrid talked like he’d been trained on m/m erotica.

I’d like this more if it were full-length.

[Meep]

Read the free S2B2 story - not sure if the published version is in anyway different.

Cam is interesting, shows a lot of character for a short story.

[Terri]

A unique and entertaining sf m/m-hybrid short story that kept me reading and left me smiling. Low heat, and sweet. Definitely worth a dollar. :)

[Alison]

A fun quick read. Well written and engaging.

[prag ♻]

11/15