Oh, I quite enjoyed the lore drop of Barbara Sheridan and how she's shaped the current world and protagonists. I liked all the positive support Natalie received at the mall but for a tad bit of realism and impact some of that support should have occurred after a negative encounter. She IS outside of the designated nudist zone so that should have warranted some negativity which could then have been followed up by all the positivity she received and would have made the later more impactful.

I agree with the other guys comment and a meat girl that actually reneges on her promise to become meat is something I don't recall seeing before and would make for a very interesting story.

I think I can add that Chloe talks about how every day she registers dozens of girls to become meat but Natalie seemed to happen to come on an off day. What I mean is that the characters are describing a world but we're not really seeing it. I forget what the term is in literature, something about show don't tell or something like that. There was one line about Bridget helping out another mother/daughter duo but not much else to impress upon the reader that in this world girl meat is common place. There should perhaps have been a few other naked girls around in the mall that Natalie might have seen but not necessarily interacted with to show the reader that this is normal-ish. There might even have been some advertisements she noticed about girl leather, or specials in the food court. Just something to show that objectification of their bodies is normal behavior in that world. It would also help to keep the story sexy even when no sex is currently occurring.

The girl Bridget was registering could also have served as a plot device if Natalie noticed similarities between the girl and herself and used the other girl to fuel her imagination on what she might look like cooked or, since the girl is older, how Natalie might look like if she wasn't planning on getting consumed in a few months, and it might give her second thoughts.

I'm really looking forward to what happens next. It would be a shame to just go to the mall for one thing then leave. They should probably grab a bite at the food court and do a bit more sexy fun shopping. And now that Natalie is branded, perhaps some folks will try to buy her off of her mom as food, parts, or a toy? Some might even be pushy about it and completely disrespectful of Natalie's autonomy since her brand means she has none, and mother, allows it so Natalie gets the full experience.

I'm kinda imagining a pushy lady trying to buy Natalie but balking at the astronomical price the mother quotes for fun so she tries to haggle down and just buy the pussy instead and tries to bring the price down by talking about imaginary defects in it, to Natalie's embarrassment.