1x KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, Aqua Sky
1x Sifter/Scale Attachment
1x Fresh Prep Slicer/Shredder Attachment
1x Five Piece Pasta Roller
1x Metal Meat Grinder Attachment
1x Spiralizer Peel, Core, And Slice Attachment
1x 7 Blade Spiralizer Plus Peel, Core, and Slice Attachment
Adi’s finger stopped at that line. The dull throb of his hangover forced him to re-read several times, just to be certain he was not missing something. Satisfied with the accuracy of his dissatisfaction,his eyes raised from the page to peek over the half-ovals of his glasses. “This pair, this I am not understanding. Are these not the same item?”
The man across the table gave away nothing. Tan, wrinkled skin denoting he was even Adi’s elder, eyes like dulled emeralds squinting with what could be read as the mildest incredulity, broad mouth hanging agape enough to show crooked teeth going yellow in contrast to his stark, shining white comb-over. His first response was to tilt his head to the left and blink, as if waiting for realization to sink in. When it did not he leaned forward, the creak of his chair making Adi wince. “Nope,” his finger tapping the page, “One’s seven blades. Says so right there, sir.”
It was Adi’s turn to stare and wait. He did not know much of Franklin Libby beyond his place of respect in the kitchen, but that alone made the situation...delicate. The man held no official authority of him, the other way around as it were given the nature of this meeting, but there are universal rules to consider. There were people you did not irritate no matter how much power you held over them, and one of the foremost groups in Adi’s opinion were those that made your meals. Adi tapped the page in return and nodded. “I see now. Thank you. But...educate me, please. Is the first, how do you say, Spiralizer? Is it necessary? They are, as I understand it, single blades with different functions, so the seven would encompass their functions as well, yes?”
Eyebrows knitted together and drifted apart with a shake of his head. Signs that he might have been caught in something began to appear, a twitch at the corner of his mouth, eyes downcast...no, after last night Adi was not so confident he could read a poker face. “Ayuh, I’ll check but that sounds right.”
“A moment then.” Adi returned to the text below the cross-out. An array of extra attachments blurred together between other appliances. Something called a turbo blender, sous vide this and wood fire that, pans and pots and dishes of dozens of specification. Stress pounded below his temples. He had not put himself together well enough to have explored every item, it seemed unimportant beside his typical workload. So here he was, a few sheets of paper and a humble chef forming the most intimidating experience he had been through since an unassuming black Acura pulled into his parking garage.
He sighed. Set the papers down, pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. The specifics could be damned. They were here to discuss the bottom line, he could not be faulted for that. “Mr. Libby,” he began cautiously, “I am not so experienced in all of this as you are, but even I can see there is certain...mmm, fat to be trimmed from these requests. Is this the most conservative list the kitchen staff can manage?”
Frank was smiling before he finished. “Now sir, I do understand that. I’ll confess I’m not so, like you say, experienced with what goes on outside myself. Seeing what all goes into keeping the ship right, hoo,” he punctuated with raised fists to his temples, fading out with splayed fingers in what Adi imagined was meant to mimic an explosion. “Beyond me, ayuh. We do watch though, down in the kitchen. Don’t know much about big money. Maybe we know our way around a gun or two, most of us, but nailing a sticker price on what you hand out to them kids? Not a clue, not a clue.” Frank went silent, his tongue bulging in his cheek with his eyes cast side-ways. “But you don’t need no expertise to see you folks strapped some gal with a thousand dollars for God knows what reason, and if you’re ready to throw away that kinda money, well, we figure might as well try to get some thrown at us.”
He laughed, and Adi found himself joining in. Low, restrained, but laughter all the same. Too surreal to avoid. “Your point is clear, Mr. Libby.” Their hands meet half-way across the desk. “I cannot say how sympathetic other ears will be but you have mine. I will put in a good word.”
Tracen was pleased as he sat down. All the ingredients they looked for to push everyone into a paranoid fight for survival were starting to fall into place. They had a handful of kids who were killing consistently while new ones were joining their ranks at a good pace. The idea of announcing exactly what meal the winner of the best kill award would receive had been an inspired move to try and spur some more jealously and action. He was confident the paranoia would truly start setting in now. If you heard footsteps in the night would you be able to trust them? It could have been one of the killers with large body count or someone who intended to kill you as soon as you dropped your guard. They were already observing groups fall apart or suffer from in-fighting. The fractures were beginning to show on everyone and everything was moving along nicely.
"Welcome to hump day kids! How are we all doing on this fine damp morning? I'm happy to report that you're continuing to keep the pace up. If anything you all only needed a small push. It's remarkable how quickly it's all happened if I'm honest with you."
Tracen clapped his hands together.
"But anyway let's get a move on, I'm sure you're all itching to hear what happened yesterday after all."
"We begin with a classic danger zone kill as Clayton Barber took a tumble in the stables and got put down by his collar."
"After that Reuben Walters had a disagreement with Teresa Rojas that was resolved when he got a knife in the gut, which is a perfect example of the dangers of modern life. You never know who's carrying a weapon."
"That was followed up by a teamkill of a fashion as Quinn Abert showed Rhonda Lawson the dangers of her mistake."
Tracen grimaced. That one was a particularly poor effort.
"Camila Cañizares was the next to go when Michael Froese shot her. In our opinion, it was simple and effective work."
"The next kill is interesting, and I'll need to consult with our stats team, but I think this means we have a new record for poisoning kills. As you may have guessed, Blake Davis died after being poisoned by Erika Stieglitz."
Tracen made a show of turning a piece of paper so that the sound could be picked up on the speakers.
"If you thought things were good before it really picks up here."
"Firstly Quinn Abert made her fourth kill when she sniped Ned Jackson."
"This was followed by Dolores Upton getting her skull shot open by Blaise d'Aramitz, who didn't stop there. Not long after killing Dolores, Blaise came across Alexander Brooke and suffice to say he didn't see it coming."
"The chaos in the village continued when Cheridene Williams took a tumble down the well. Unfortunately, Lassie was not around to go and get her help."
"Things didn't slow down any when Layla DeBerg had her brains scattered over a wide radius by Violet Schmidt's bullet as she reappears on our announcements."
"Emil Van Zandt III was the next person to meet his end as Lorenzo Tavares bashed his head, not once, not twice, but thrice and some extra hits for good measure."
"In a very elaborate piece of work, Marco Volker pushed Arjen Kramer off the cliffs, causing him to drown."
"Quinn Abert makes yet another appearance on our morning broadcast today as this time it was Stepney Cruz and his organs who were the unlucky victims of her run of form."
"In a bit of an emotional drama, Tristan O'Hara was stabbed by Adonis Cohen. Great performance from all involved, very touching."
"And finally, Claudeson Bademosi and Bryan Merryweather had a philosophical discussion, and it seems that Claudeson talked Bryan to death. The bullet to the head probably helped too, though."
"We finish things up today with an important danger zone announcement. To prevent any accidents we're going to make The Cliffs off-limits for the day. It's very windy out there and we don't want anyone taking an unnecessary tumble."
"The only people who get to risk it are our Best Kill Award winners - that's right, winners plural. We just couldn't decide between Erika Stieglitz and Michael Froese's work yesterday. There will be a plate of pork and vegetable dumplings, fried rice, and a Coke for both of you in The Temple, but you'll have to decide between yourselves who gets the weapon."
"That's all for today, kids. Take care of yourselves and each other out there; you know what I mean. See you tomorrow."
Weather: The rainfall that started on day three continues into day four, although it will taper off into a light drizzle by noon and stop completely by evening. The winds have picked up dramatically. The temperature has risen slightly and highs of around 86 degrees F, 30 degrees C, are expected. The humidity across the island has remained. There is a new moon in the sky. The fourth announcement will come at 9 AM on June 14.
Since this is an announcement that does mean that there are rolls and these can be found below:
Summary:
1. Max Rudolph (CrossBowPig) Liberty "Bert" Wren (MethodicalSlacker, Swap Card used)
2. Joanne Coleman (Maraoone)
3. Aditi Sharma (Brackie) Jessica Rennes (Brackie, Swap Card used)
4. Oliver Lacroix (Skraal) William "Bill" Dover (Skraal, Swap Card used)
5. Mackenzie Baker (blastinus)
6. Caitlyn “Katie” Agustien (Pippi)
7. Princess McQuillan (Cicada) Ramsey Cortez (Jilly, Hero Card used)
Three days for cards and regular Danger Zone posts, a further seven for deaths and DZ exits, as per usual.
And lastly, congratulations to dmboogie for winning this month's BDA for the death of Alexander Brooke! A quote nomination thread will be up soon.