Free SFS2 - Science Fiction Short Stories: 10 Science Fiction Short Stories by Krishna kumar Mani Page A

demand for food products, only rich people have been able to afford grains and vegetables. Fortunately, scientists have created artificial meat for the rest of the people to eat. This invention has saved the world from war and has kept the people eating. If not for this invention, surely there would have been a third world war. The whole world consumes artificial meat now. Even vegetarians who used to be against meat for cruelty reasons have started to eat it. Since no animal is killed, they believe this artificial meat is ethical.
    To limit poverty, the government has instituted a price ceiling on meat prices at $5 per pound. It may be mutton, beef, chicken, pork or another type of meat. Five dollars per pound is the highest it can be sold for.
    Soft drinks have long been dominated by Coke and Pepsi. The artificial meat market is dominated now by Fleshd and Meatu. Food is no longer a problem since anyone can get a pound of meat for $5.
    First, Fleshd introduced ten new varieties of meat including rabbit, camel, horse and others. And then Meatu answered Fleshd by introducing wild animals such as deer, tiger, elephant and more.
    Australia banned kangaroo meat and India banned tiger because they were the national animals. Meatu has added even more animals to engage buyers. Fleshd has concentrated on new bird meat as of late. Both brands have more than a hundred varieties of meat so far.
    No one eats chicken or beef any longer. Those are boring tastes compared to tiger and emu. The World Health Organization has noted a rise in obesity and has urged both brands to do research on their meat before they market it, but little research has occurred for dieting. As both companies try to add rarer and rarer animals to their product lines, the fatter people become as they rush out to try the new types of meat. And both companies love this because they make extensive profits.
    Fleshd just announced that they will soon release some types of dinosaur meat. Research has been completed and it's under testing. They've started accepting pre-orders.
    Their television ads have run. “Dinosaur meat: it's a million years old, but it's still hot.”
    Meatu's Board Meeting.
    “In the last few months we've been simply copying Fleshd's ideas,” began the CEO. “We need to introduce new products. Our revenue was lower than their's last year. I want fresh ideas. Now they are going to add dinosaur meat to their product line. How can we answer them?”
    “We will also add dinosaur meat,” said a senior board member.
    “Excellent answer,” said the CEO
    “Not dinosaurs, but some other ancient animal, perhaps?” said another  board member.
    “Alright, can you tell me the name of this ancient animal?”
    “Let me google it and I will come back to you.”
    “Let me ask you. Why are people pre-ordering dinosaur meats? It's because they know what a dinosaur is. If you go and Google some ancient animal that no one has heard of, it will be a mere oddity. Some might try it, but if they have no idea what it is, it's not going to cause a commotion like dinosaur meat has. Another issue is where would you get the meat from this animal? Fleshd got their dinosaur eggs in the Southern part of India and worked a miracle to get the meat from them.”
    “What if we introduced flavored meat? Perhaps with different seasonings?”
    “Once again, I have to teach the basics. The price of the meat is fixed by the government. We cannot go above $5 per lb. If we add flavors, that will increase our production cost. We want the highest profit margin possible. How can we add good flavor at a cheap price?”
    For a long time no one spoke.
    “I have an idea. We can introduce a new variety of meat.”
    “Yes?”
    “Human meat.”
    “What?!” yelled nearly all of the board members.
    “Sure. Why not?” said the young board member who stood up and started to walk around. “Listen, we're not killing anyone . No one's dying like they would be if you were a cannibal.