Evan sat slumped deep in the armchair in the dorm, letting out a heavy sigh. Aiko walked past him, looking slightly worried.
"Is something wrong?"
"Those conversations…"
Just from the tone of his voice, it was clear Evan was visibly exhausted. He sighed loudly again. Aiko knelt in front of him, removed his socks, and began massaging his feet. He breathed out in relief.
All those conversations… Even the awareness of being meat hadn't been as exhausting as this.
"What did they do to you?"
Frida laughed as she poured beer for them.
"Don't tell me someone cooked you again. That's our job."
She said, handing him a beer.
"Frida! Evan is tired."
Aiko scolded her, and Frida laughed one more time. Evan could only sigh and started telling them what had happened.
Callisa rubbed her chin while he spoke about the factory.
When he described being taken through the entire production hall, the girls were in shock. Just like that — running someone through the whole meat production line? Supposedly as a lesson? A lesson in what?! Frida was seriously pissed off about it. She cursed her father and was ready to call him right away. But when Evan mentioned the photo of her mother, she completely deflated and limited herself to sending one SMS.
When he mentioned the visit to Lady Onyx's film set, the girls were confused. Not so much by the filming itself, but by the idea of Evan acting in porn.
After he finished the story, Evan said he was tired and went to bed.
The girls were far from sleepy. Especially since it was still relatively early. They settled comfortably in the living room and opened another round of beers.
"Tell me, fox, is the director really that scary?"
Callisa sighed at Frida's question.
"You have to understand. The culinary world isn't something you can just mess around with, as a certain hooligan would say."
The wolf girl in question cleared her throat.
"It's an elite circle. Newcomers are subjected to harsh selection. They don't just teach them recipes. They put them through various challenges."
She looked them in the eyes.
"I was faced with planted nasty customers. I remember one."
She clenched her fist.
"Damn, I wanted to punch him so badly, but I had to keep smiling."
She took a breath.
"And that's not the only challenge. In the end, it all decides where you end up — as a head chef or just a kitchen grunt."
She took a sip of beer. Aiko looked at her in surprise.
"Besides, you don't just walk in there. You need to find a mentor who will train you and bring you in."
Morona spoke in her usual monotone voice.
"School."
Callisa chuckled lightly.
"That only counts as a recommendation for the mentor, not a free pass into the circle."
She looked at them.
"I'll be direct. Regular cooks — like those working in bars — aren't taken seriously in the environment. It's exactly like hardcore football fans looking at people who only show up to a match once in a blue moon."
Frida gave her a threatening look.
"The contracts and agreements between mentor and student are individual matters, but it happens that a student who disappoints their master ends up as one of the master's dishes."
She nervously glanced around and whispered.
"Our director is exactly one of those."
The girls fell silent for a moment. Their image of what a chef was had just shifted. Eventually Aiko spoke.
"So it's like Food Battle in real life?"
Callisa looked a bit confused by that, but finally answered.
"Yeah… something like that."
"When what we celebrate, worship, and consider truth turns out to be nothing but an illusion as thin as our delusions, the truth reveals its dominant form — the one we don't want to think about or see, even though we all benefit from it."
Callisa and Aiko looked at Morona with their usual lack of understanding. Frida grabbed another can of beer.
"Not bad, goth girl. You hit the nail on the head with those factories."
Before she could open the can, a look of shock appeared on her face and the can slipped from her hand onto the floor.
"There's something wrong with me… I'm starting to understand what she's saying…"
Aiko spoke up.
"Is it about the factory thing?"
Frida and Morona nodded.
"I didn't think it was that much…"
"And how much do you hunt, kitty?"
"Pretty much never. I just go to the store."
"Exactly."
Callisa sighed.
"It's a challenge for restaurateurs. You never know what you'll get. That's why the meat menu can change from day to day."
Aiko fell into a light thought.
"Frida, what actually happened with your…"
She didn't manage to finish before she immediately fell silent. Frida's look made it very clear she shouldn't pursue that topic.
"Okay! Okay! I'm not saying anything."
Aiko waved her hands in front of herself in panic. She didn't have to worry about Frida, though — she had Callisa on her case now.
"Your sister works as a makeup artist on porn sets… how did that happen?"
Aiko sighed heavily.
"Lady Valentine doesn't just have her own studio. She runs an entire conglomerate: films, magazines, webcams, escort, toys, books, magazines… including the publishing house that belongs to my parents."
She slumped onto the couch.
"My sister has always had a talent for makeup. After school she went into makeup artistry and found work in the conglomerate."
Frida gave her a meaningful look and rolled her eyes.
"Connections."
Aiko tucked her legs under herself.
"I'll probably start working in the conglomerate too. I'm just wondering whether I'll manage to get into art school first, or just do some one-year course."
"You could become an actress like that little lamb."
Aiko shot Frida a threatening glare. Callisa leaned back in her armchair.
"After school I'll work with my parents. It'll be years before they let me run a restaurant. What about you, Morona?"
"The paths of the mind and its ways, just like the one who conceived me, or the path of the word."
The girls sighed. Morona pointed with her pincer at the spot where Evan had been sitting.
None of the girls knew what to say. They could say that Evan was incredibly delicious, that he was interested in cooking, and that he was great in bed… but what else?
They knew how to describe the present, but none of them knew what came next.
An uneasy silence fell for a moment.
Callisa broke it by clapping her hands.
"Alright, Evan needs to rest, and then worry about the patronage. Only then will we know what happens next."
Aiko stretched.
"A dozen or so weeks is enough time to think about it."
The girls breathed out in relief. Yes, there was still some time left.
The girls raised a toast to the future.