Tender Is the Flesh

Krieg asks Tejo to interview two job applicants. He also informs him that the plant will be switching security companies after a security guard raped and killed a female FGP.

Krieg meets the applicants and leads them on a tour of the factory, starting in the unloading yard, where new shipments of head are unloaded and inspected. They proceed to the caging area, where the head are cleaned. The taller applicant begins to feel sick, while the shorter one appears excited.

Tejo leads the applicants to the desensitization room, where a stunner knocks out the head one by one to prepare them for slaughter. Sergio, the stunner on duty, is a friend of Tejo’s who once turned down a promotion, saying, “I prefer striking” (61). The applicants watch as Sergio restrains, soothes, and then clubs a female on the forehead, knocking her out. The shorter applicant appears eager to try stunning, but Sergio explains how difficult it is to knock the head out without killing them, which ruins the meat.

As they proceed to the slaughter sector, Tejo suspects that the shorter applicant only wants to witness the spectacle and isn’t seeking employment. They watch as a worker slits the throat of an unconscious head and allows it to bleed out.