In 2048, AI specialist Tomo is about to lose his job in Silicon Valley, as U.S. unemployment soars past thirty percent. He’s a terrible team player, and his ass-kissing skills are sub-par. While Tomo’s got talents for making computers act more human, the job makes him feel more like a machine.When his hometown in Japan is destroyed by a tsunami, Tomo has the reason he needs to take a break.But in Tokyo, Tomo overhears something impossible to ignore: a care-giving bot is pressuring his grandmother to sell her condo and move into an old folks’ home. Elderly neighbors complain their bots sing the same tune.Tomo breaches the veil of customer service at the care-giving company, revealing a yakuza scheme that amounts to genocide. Tomo now has an opportunity to put his talents to better use—with help from an upbeat slacker and a rogue AI. TOKYO GREEN is a stand-alone SF novel that explores not only the dangers of technology, but also the ability of technology to thrust humanity deeper into nature, making the future a worthwhile destination for all.
Insightful, sharply-written, and often hilarious, WERK reflects optimism for the future, while bringing to light cultural and economic growing pains that are sure to come. Despite their brevity, these thirty flash fiction stories cut deep into modern themes: creativity, leisure, agency, the attention economy, commercialism, mortality, and debt. In English, the word werk is an obsolete form of “work,” making it an ideal title to describe the increasingly outdated ways in which many of us choose to pay the bills. If you’re a fan of flash fiction, then you’ll love these thought-provoking tales.