The alarm I set went off. What was that dream about? Or could I call it a vision? I had no time to think it over. The interview was at 9:30am. I got into my orange dress, my sandals and brushed my hair to make it straight. I hoped this would be acceptable attire. Even if I could access my wardrobe back at home, it wouldn't do me much good. I grabbed an energy bar, a bottle of water, a small purse to carry everything in, and left the building. Much to my surprise, I quickly got a taxi. Usually it took half an eternity. I stepped in, getting some bills to hand to the driver. He was an old man with shaggy hair and filthy clothes. His breath smelled terrible too.
"Take me to 3106 Old Privet Drive." I requested.
"That's on the outskirts of Brooklyn, pretty far and deserted. Are you sure?" he asked.
"Uh huh." I handed him $15.
I got a taxi ride to the place. I tried not to let my thoughts torment me, but I was so nervous. I had never done an interview before. I passed by several skyscrapers and all different kinds of businesses, from restaurants to shops, banks and everything else.
Suddenly the car stopped nearby a graveyard. "You got any more money?"
I looked up and saw All Rolled Up ahead in the distance. "It's fine. I think I can walk from here."
"So why are you even here anyway? Not many people ask for a ride to this place. Old Privet Drive hasn't had a successful business in years."
"I have a job interview at a place called All Rolled Up."
"Hmm... So you've never heard of the curse of Old Privet Drive?" I nodded negatively. "No business ever established on this land has ever succeeded being fully in operation for a complete year. No one has even tried to set up a business here in the last 150 years. Good luck, young lady. You're gonna need it."
The taxi drove off, leaving me in this near ghost town. That story seemed too crazy to be true. Complete hogwash. I dismissed it and walked into the place, breathing in to calm down myself. The floor space had a total 6000 square feet, with it being divided evenly for the work space and where the customers would be. The floor was blue to resemble the ocean. The walls were painted a sky blue. In the dining area, I saw various tables, some square, some rectangular, a few circled and even one triangle shaped towards the middle of the room. I also noticed four different white vertical banners, one on each wall, each with different Japanese symbols in various colors. The first had two symbols in blue font. The second had two in green front. The third had three in purple font. And the last one had three in black font. Each table had a tablet with it to place orders, pay and call for a server. I looked at the counter and saw a big laid out wooden board with a beach painting on it separating the counter from the kitchen.
Next to the board was an open wooden archway with purple beads covering it. I assumed that door led to the kitchen, although there was another entrance that couldn't be seen from this angle. I walked forward into the hallway. A wall separated the counter from the hallway. The hallway had darker blue walls and a few undersea plants and a few animals, resembling an underwater cave. In this hallway were the restrooms to my right, the other entrance to the kitchen on my left (marked with an Employees Only sign), and straight ahead was the office of my future employer; James Dean Anderson. I walked up to the door and knocked on it thrice.
"Hello? Mr. Anderson?" I asked.
I waited a few moments, then I slowly creaked the door open. I looked around the room; the walls had the same color as the dining area. In the upper left corner, there was a large plant. It was some sort of cactus. Japan didn't even have cacti. Why was that even there? There was a desk with a name tag that read, James D. Anderson and a computer, keyboard and a mug that said World's Best Boss.
"Looking for moi?" a deep masculine voice asked.
"Yes, you wanted to interview me." I answered.
He examined me by looking down at my feet before taking his head back up. "So you're Marina Yamada, who also calls herself Mechanica in the ring?"
"That's me. I know what you're thinking; you probably think I'm crazy."
"I do, but who am I to judge? Now sit. I will ask you some questions."
I sat down in front of the desk while he sat behind his desk.
"So tell me, Ms. Yamada, why did you apply for this job?"
"Well, I am searching for a job so I can continue to pay the rent on my room while competing in the ARMS Tournament. It is an unfortunate occurrence that Yens are low in value compared to American dollars."
"So, you're from Japan. You must be very cooking at making sushi and cooking Japanese food."
"I can say that I'm good. I'm not a professional, but I know how to cook."
"Alright then. So where else have you applied to?"
"I have applied for four other positions."
"Any luck?"
I hesitated. "Not really, no."
"What is your usual role in a team effort?"
Oh dear. I was afraid he was going to ask that question. I breathed in and tried to answer honestly. "Well... I haven't really been involved in a team effort. I have been homeschooled for the last five years and got my diploma at the age of 15."
"Do you remember the last school project you did?"
"Oi vey... Hmmm..." That would have been in fourth grade, sometime before my tenth birthday. "I think it was a science project where me and three other students, none of which I really knew very well, had to pick a certain type of climate, show what looks like, tell the audience where it is located in the world, describe its flora and fauna, and how hard it would be to survive there under certain situations. I think it was trifold poster board, and I think we all did a good job. We all contributed equally and got good results."
"Alright. What would you say is your biggest weakness?"
"My biggest weakness?" I paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase the answer. "I have two big weaknesses. The first one is a lack of self-confidence. Sometimes I'm worried I'm not up for the challenge, yet I dive in anyway. It doesn't help that several of my neighbors think I'm a lunatic. The second weakness is.. well... I have been told that... I have a really bad temper..."
"A bad temper? What is it that makes you very angry very quickly?"
"Being insulted, ridiculed and people trying to belittle my efforts. It's really hurtful and they don't seem to see the genius that I always thought of myself as."
"You think your a genius?"
"Considering that I built a functioning ARMS mecha suit to compete in the Grand Prix before reaching the age of adulthood, which is 20 in Japan, yes I do."
"I can understand why you say that. So what is your greatest strength?"
"My ambition. I am a very ambitious young woman, and went I want something done, I stick to it."
"Alright. You're hired! Your first shift begins on our opening day, June 20th. Training is June 17th-June 19th from 9am-2pm with a group lunch breaks, payed for by myself." He handed me a piece of paper. "Here is a menu. Try to memorize it before training begins if you can."
Once I got back to my hotel room, I decided to try and memorize the menu and see what I knew how to make.
Appeztizers
Gyoza- Japanese pan-fried dumplings stuffed with pork, cabbage and onion.
Shumai- Dim Sum with pork, onions, mushrooms and cabbage in a steamed bun.
Agedashi Tofu- Deep-fried tofu soaked in a sweet and savory sauce.
Hiyayakko- Chilled tofu topped with katsuobushi, onions, grated ginger and soy sauce.
Yakitori- Grilled chicken skewer with onions, glazed with a ginger soy sauce.
Tempura Shrimp and Vegetables- Breaded shrimp and vegetables deep-fried in coconut oil served with a tentsuyu dipping sauce.
Harumaki- Japanese spring rolls served with teriyaki dipping sauce.
I knew how to make some of these, but not all. I also realized that most of the chefs probably don't know either, hence reason for the training program. Also, some of the items were more expensive then I had previously thought. I then looked at the hot pot section. Hot pots are basically these small pots where the meat and vegetables come to your table and you cook them right in front of you. Delicious yet also briefly tantalizing on your nostrils. Donburi is basically a Japanese rice bowl consisting of fish, meat, vegetables and/or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice.
Hot Pot
Vegetable
Chicken
Beef
Pork
Shrimp
Combination
Donburi
Teriyaki- Served with beef, pork, chicken, shrimp or tofu. Sauteed onions, carrots and broccoli in our house made pineapple teriyaki sauce with your choice of meat served over rice.
Spring Garden- Napa cabbage with green onion, carrots, snow peas, water chestnuts, bamboo shots and celerey sauteed in ginger sauce served over rice. Add Tofu for $1.00. Add Beef, Pork, Chicken or Shrimp for $2.00.
Oyako- Chicken, eggs, green onion, shiitake, and carrots sauteed in chicken broth served over rice.
Chirashi- A colorful dish consisting of shrimp, crab, pork, Sakura Denbu, unagi, bamboo shots, onions, kinome, pea pods and nori served with rice and stir fried noodles.
Yakisoba
Yakisoba with pork and cabbage- Egg noodles with pork, carrots, celery, onions and napa cabbage.
Yakisoba Chicken- Egg noodles with chicken, onions, carrots and celery.
Kata-yakisoba- Also called Sara Udon, this dish consists of egg noodles with fried cabbage, bean sprouts, white shallots, pork, squid, and kamaboko.
Ramen
Shoyu- Beef soy broth, chasu pork, water chesnuts, bamboo shots, green onion and nori.
Shiitake Shoyu- Mushroom soy broth, shiitake, enoki, bamboo shots, green onion and nori.
Miso- Miso shiitake broth, chasu pork, baby corn, water chesnuts, soft boiled egg, green onion and nori.
Sushi Rolls
I'm not going to tell you all of the sushi rolls on there. There's over 50 and it would take too long to describe them all. I will tell you that many of them looked delicious though.
Drinks and Desserts
Fountain Soda- Coke and Pepsi Products
Teas;
Green
Black
Jasmine
Rose
Lavender
Ginger
Ginseng
Bubble Teas;
Strawberry
Cherry
Coconut
Pineapple
Mixed berry
Rose Milk
Alcoholic beverages;
Organic Agave Margarita
Blushing Geisha
Organic Agave Margarita
Asian Pear Mojito
Cabernet Wine
Red Sangria
White Sangria
Honjozo-Sake
Junmai-Shu Sake
Ginjo-Sake
Gekkeikan Sake
Desserts;
Cherry Spring Rolls- Six warm, crispy bites of cherry filled pastry with chocolate drizzle and and cherry chocolate chip ice cream.
Ice Cream flavors;
Vanilla
Chocolate
Strawberry
Neapolitan
Green Tea
Tempura
Cheesecake- Served with your choice of caramel, chocolate or strawberry drizzle.
Mount Fuji Cake- Designed to be shared with six people, this huge cake is made up of four layers of chocolate with fudge ganache in between each layer, and top is frosted in vanilla buttercream.
Mini Mount Fuji- A smaller version of the Mount Fuji cake designed for one person.
Now in terms of the drinks, the only thing we chefs actually had to make were the teas. Everything else came out the tap or from a bottle. That responsibility was up to the waiters.
After rereading the menu for an hour, my brain felt fried. I went to bed and passed out almost immediately.
After a dreamless sleep, I got up and got ready for training. Man that was a long list. I hadn't memorized even half of it. I tried to memorize what I could. I walked into the building and saw a group of people waiting in the dining area. The boys and girls were either chatting amongst themselves or playing with electronic devices. Some of them were late teenagers, some were early adults, and a few were in their early 20's.
"Sorry I'm late." I apologized. "Everyone's waiting on me..."
"You're actually early. It's only 8:50 in the morning." one of the girls in early adulthood responded.
"That doesn't sound early to me." another girl, in her 20's, responded.
A boy appearing to be about my age looked up from his tablet. "Oh, Marina's here."
I looked at him strangely. "How do you know my name?"
"Byrson has a very good memory." the woman in her 20's responded. "He's already memorized the names of all of the employees here."
"How many of us are here total?"
"There's ten employees. Four chefs, five waitresses, and one buser/cleaner." he answered.
"Attention, all employees!" a familiar voice shouted.
Everyone who was playing with an electronic device pocketed it and stood in line.
"Alright. It's 9am, and everyone should be here. Let's see, Austin, Bryson, Casey, Eli, Hannah, Marina, Noah, Stella, Tony... Wait, where's Andrea?"
"Right here, boss." a voice answered in a deadpan tone.
Andrea was not dressed like her co-workers. She was dressed in black dress pants with shoes to match, a white collar blouse with a white undershirt and white dress gloves. Her black hair was knotted into a large top bun. She had sky blue eyes and a pretty face without makeup. However, there was one feature that made her stood out a sore thumb even more; a large horizontal scar on the center of her forehead.
"I see you're already in uniform." Mr. Anderson noted. "Although, with your gloves and long sleeves are you sure you won't sweat to death working in the kitchen?"
"I'll be fine. Besides, I get cold easily, and if I get hot, I'll just drink some water and get right back to what I'm doing."
"Alright then. First order of business, knowing where your station is. Noah, report to my office and await further instruction." He then walked to the office. The boss turned to face us. "Austin, Andrea, Marina and Stella, get to the kitchen. The rest of you, wait here for further instructions."
The four of us went to the kitchen. We each found out stations quickly. Then again, it also helped that there were name cards at our stations. After getting our hairnets, or hair tied back such as in my case, we got to our stations.
"Alright chefs. Since we're running out of time to train, I have no choice but to cram it all in three days. You will be expected to be able to create everything on the menu over this three day training period." He pointed to a small area nearby the grills of each station. "At your station, there are four recipe books- one for each you. When you take your book, write your name in it to claim it as your own. Now then, you will be expected to create one third of the menu for each day. Ingredients can be found in the refrigerator, freezer or pantry. Depending on how long training takes, these cooking sessions may go into overtime. Now, some things already have some the prep work done, but when it comes to actually doing work ahead of time, you'll be responsible for it getting done before the restaurant opens each day.
"Wait for further instruction."
We were left to our own devices. Many of us examined our stations and read the directions in the recipe book.
"Alright, your first task. All of you will be getting some orders from the servers."
"Oh gods..." I grumbled.
Before I could finish reading three pages of the book, I got a ticket that read,
Gyoza
Shumai
Agedashi Tofu
Hiyayakko
Yakitori
Tempura Shrimp and Vegetables
Harumaki
I assumed that my coworkers had identical tickets. So I was pan frying dumplings, folding up the ingredients of dim sum, trying to find chilled tofu...
"It's over here!" Stella said, pointing to the nearby fridge.
Frying up shrimp and vegetables in tempura batter, grilling skewers of chicken and onion and then I finished the chilled tofu by pouring the sauce and grating some ginger over it. And doing a lot of other stuff. It felt really fast-paced. Or was it just me? I didn't think about it too long; I had a job to do!
Time flew by, and pretty soon it time for our lunch break. In addition to the catered food, we were allowed to taste the chef's creations. After getting my plate of food, I sat at a table all by myself.
"You okay?" a masculine voice asked.
It was Bryson. I poked at my dumpling with my fork. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He sat across from me. "You look lonely."
I sighed. "Yeah, some of my co-workers are giving me strange looks so I assumed they didn't want me near them."
"That's probably because you're the youngest employee here." he responded. "You are how many years old... Fourteen?"
"Fifteen actually."
"Yeah, that would do it." He looked across the room, before awkwardly asking me, "So... I know it's not really any of my business, but... why are you looking for work at such a young age?"
"You promise not to call me a lunatic or tease me in any way?"
"I won't judge."
I breathed in and told him about how I entered the Grand Prix with my ARMS Mecha suit and my desire to prove to the world I didn't need extendable ARMS to win the tournament. He never once laughed at me, teased me, or said it was impossible.
"It seems like the odds are stacked against you, but I'm sure you can do it if you work hard enough and believe in yourself."
I looked at him all bug-eyed. "You really think so?"
"Yeah, I do."
I smiled. After finishing lunch, we got back to work. The next order involved us to properly set up a hot pot. It could be any of the hot pot options on the menu, as long as we did everything correctly. So I went for the combination, Austin and Stella both did pork, and Andrea went for shrimp. The hot pots themselves were not hard to set up. It was really a matter of preparing the ingredients, chopping up vegetables and meat, throwing it into a pot set on top of a mini burner. The hard part was carrying it without spilling it. The mini burners weren't the heaviest thing I had ever lifted, but they certainly weren't lightweight either. I managed to bring it to the server without a hitch.
Maybe this won't be so bad. I thought.
Our third and final task to make all of the teas. It was a pretty easy task, albeit there were so many of them that had to be made all at once.
Damn, the first day was more tiring than I thought. By the time I got back to the Buster Beach resort, it was around dinnertime. I hoped there would be some good news to lighten up the end of the day, but there was none. I saw Lola Pop sitting on a lone cushion, looking at the ground in shame. Her hair was loose and not in her peppermint shaped bun. Ribbon Girl was there, her hand on Lola's shoulder. She wasn't crying, but her puffy red eyes caused me to believe that she was earlier.
I approached her cautiously. "Lola? What's wrong?"
"She got beaten in battle today." Ribbon Girl said. "One's first failure always stings the most. At least, that's how I see it."
"It's not only the fact that I lost the battle," she said in between sobs. "I was mocked afterwards."
"Who was your opponent?" I inquired.
"Dr. Coyle."
"Maybe she was trying to give constructive criticism. What were her exact words?"
"Well before the match, Biff said the following; 'It's Dr. Coyle versus "the sucker puncher," Lola Pop! Are you kidding me?! Not even this sweet clown could escape the doc's critical eye! "Her experience as a street performer has given her some unique, unpredictable moves. But let's be serious, here. She's a clown." That was pretty dismissive, Doc! I doubt you'll be laughing after this fight.' After the match she said, 'Clowns don't scare me.' What did she mean by that? Does she not take me seriously?"
I shrugged. Ribbon Girl said, "That was harsh. No wonder you're so down."
Biff, the ARMS commentator, saw the candy clown in her sorry state. "Hey, Lola. I know you were beaten but that doesn't mean you're a bad fighter. You just need some practice." I then noticed he had a rectangular basket held by a black cord around his neck. "Here, want some cookies? I didn't sell as many as I usually do and I'd hate to see them go to waste."
"Sure. Thanks Biff." She took a handful of them, gave one to us and bit into one shaped like Max Brass's logo. "Wow, these are surprisingly good."
"Thanks." Biff beamed with happiness. "You've never had one before?"
"Never have." Lola answered.
I took a bite of a Toaster shaped cookie. "You're right, these are good!"
Ribbon Girl nodded in agreement. "Don't be so down on yourself, Lola Pop."
"Thanks, Ribbon Girl. On the downside, my return flight isn't for a long time. Since I was eliminated early than I anticipated, I have a lot of time on my hands. What will I do in the meantime?"
Ribbon Girl closed her eyes, trying to think. "Good question."
"I'm sure you'll find something." I said. My stomach growled. "I'm heading to find some food. Anyone wanna join me?"
Ribbon Girl and Lola Pop joined me for dinner. The rest of the evening was uneventful, and did not remember my dreams from that night.
The next day we had to make all of the Donburi, Yakisobas and Ramen dishes in the morning. In the afternoon, we had to make all of the desserts. This had surprised me, because I thought the desserts would be made last. My mind was in a thousand places at once. I had to slightly heat sweetened condensed milk to make the Mount Fuji cake, chop up the vegetables for various noodle dishes, and cook the chicken for the Oyako Donburi. While cutting up some shiitake mushrooms, I smelled something burned.
"Do you smell something burning?" I asked. Then I realized... "Oh man, I left the sweetened condensed milk on the burner too long!"
I turned off the burner and poured the burned milk down the drain. Andrea glared at me as I did all this.
"Smooth move, Marina."
"Can it, Andrea. You think this is easy?!"
"Girls, knock it off!" Stella scolded while carrying a tray of rice bowls.
I sighed and started over.
While it was slightly more difficult, it was not as difficult as the last day.
"Oh... That would explain why we made the desserts yesterday." Austin said.
On the last day, we had to make every single sushi roll on the menu. There were exactly 89 different sushi rolls on the menu. Oh gods, that took all day. Me getting into petty arguments with Andrea didn't help anything.
"Are you sure got the right ingredients in there?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure that's supposed to be cooked?"
"Yes.
"Yes!" I exclaimed angrily. "Why do you doubt me?"
After that Andrea got out of my hair for the remainder of the day. And as expected, I got each and every sushi roll right on the first try and got to go home before any of the other chefs did. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a taxi that day. It took forever to get back to the ARMS Gym. On top of that, it started to rain. It was pouring buckets, and I had no umbrella. I was being soaked head to toe. My phone and other electronic devices were safe in the plastic bag, but the rest of me was dripping wet. I sighed as I continued forth. I looked around me, and saw the city. Rain fell so hard that drivers on the road were forced to slow down. I tried to collect my thoughts. I thought of my dad, my deceased mom, my friends from my home, and my new friends who were fans of Kid Cobra.
I asked myself in my mind, Should I tell them? What if they know I'm Mechanica and they make fun of me? Do they already know?
I slowed down and stopped, trying to calm my thoughts. I smiled and reassured myself. "Well, Marina, look on the bright side. You've got a job, you're still in the ARMS Tournament, and everything's in your favor. Everything will be fine."
I told myself that all the way to the gym. I wanted to believe I was right, but I might have been wrong.
