Night 7: Eunectes, Mystery Cake
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
"Boss –!"a panicked scream broke the serenity of the Late Night Diner.
The Chef rushed out from the kitchen. He didn't even have the time to take off his apron before running to the table. He had seen the short-haired girl before. Her name is Zumama, and she was only recently kidnapped from Sargon by Gavial.
Or maybe "kidnapped" was not exactly the right word...
"Dish's not of your taste? Or there's a worm in it?" The Chef leaned in closer to inspect the content of the plate. The canteen should have been thoroughly sanitized. In fact it had just passed an inspection yesterday. As for taste, it's even less plausible for being the cause of the panic – there were lots of customers tonight. Everyone had cleared their plate.
Could it be allergies? The Chef looked at Zumama with concern.
"W-W-What is this?! Can you even eat it?!" Zumama pointed to the plate with trembling hand, "There must be a mistake!"
"Of course you can. It's tonight's midnight special. Only a few servings left." the Chef gestured towards the bustling dining area, "Would you look at that, everyone's enjoying their food."
Zumama's gaze followed the Chef's hand. She saw the operator next table took a spoonful of the stuff and ate it with blissful enjoyment on his face. She was instantly perplexed, even more so than the time she met a talking medical robot. Well, almost as perplexed. Talking robot still ranked on top of the things that had left her in astonishment.
"Impossible! It's impossible!" Zumama frowned deeply and took out her tablet, "How could such thing be...where is it, hmm...ah, here it is –" She propped the tablet up on the table, and aimed its camera at her weird snack., "Please pick up! Quickly! Who in their right mind would eat something like this ... " After an anxious half-minute, the video call interface lit up on screen.
"Zumama?"
"Mister Elliot!" the lights in Zumama's eyes beamed, as if finally caught a lifesaver, "Take a look! What kind of thing is this?! The Diner must've made a mistake!"
"You mean the Hot-Pot-Soup-Base-Brick Cake?" Elliot, or Operator Passenger of the Engineering Department, examined what he saw and answered, "If I remember correctly, it's tonight's midnight special."
"This. Is. Cake?!" Zumama felt her world crumbling down around her. "This is a brick of spicy soup base for Yan-style hot pot! Exactly the same as the one in the book! It –"
"Why don't you smell it to check if it's spicy?" Passenger appeared rather calm.
"It must be! How can I have no clue about..." Zumama said. Still, she bent down and took a whiff of that "hot soup base". There was no scent of spice whatsoever, nor was there the supposed buttery aroma that the book described. Instead, she caught the sweet scent of mango fruit.
"It's...sweet? But there's dried pepper on it!" She pointed at the hot pepper on the brick.
"It's made with squeezing chocolate sauce into specially made mould." the Chef clarified, "Added a bit food colouring into the mix. Then it'd take on the dark red of hot peppers."
"What about the peppercorn?!" Zumama was not convinced.
"They are chocolate beads. Take a closer look and you will find out."
"The leaves then...I mean the bay leaves...?"
"Matcha-flavoured chocolate wafer."
"The chunks of solid hot oil in the butter...?" He voice died down.
"Cookies crumbs. Chocolate."
Zumama held her cheeks in her hands. Her eyes darted between the sweet-smelling cake, the Chef who folded his arms and waiting for her to take a bite, and the straight-faced Passenger on the screen. She felt her face burning up, as if countless eyes from all directions were casting their judgement down on the silly girl who was shouting at a piece of cake. Frowning, she hesitantly dipped her finger in the "butter" and sent into her mouth.
There was no perceived greasy sensation or spicy taste that ought to belong to hot pot soup base. Her mouth was filled instead with the taste of sweet mango – smooth like silk and carrying a hint of sour aftertaste. The frowning knot between her brows untied itself, and she looked towards the Chef with disbelief "How...How did you do it?"
"Pureed mango. Some pumpkin sauce for colour and toning down the sweetness. Then add light whipped cream for texture. Finally a tad of melted gelatine and done." the Chef patiently explained, "Try some, it is really soft."
"I..." blushing, Zumama cut a small piece. Just like the Chef had described, beneath the orange-yellow mango cream was the tender base of chiffon cake, dotted full of tiny pores. She bit down on the whole piece. The sweet-and-sour cream melted into the spongy softness, and when the scent of the fruity aroma had gone down her throat, lingering behind was the sweetness of the cake body, with crunchy texture brought by the cookie crumbs and chocolate beads. Zumama took another bite, and another, till the entire square of "hot soup base" turned into a small wedge.
"I thought you called me to discuss the matter about the machinery," Passenger had put on his usual cold and distant expression, yet at the corner of his mouth remained a faint smile. "I'm going back to work if there's nothing else." He said, then hang up the call.
"Does it suit your taste?" The Chef bowed slightly, "Your suggestion would be of great help for my improvement."
"...Ah...It was great." Zumama said in a barely audible voice. Now she just wanted to rush back to Engineering and invent a machine that could induce amnesia, "Thank you for the treat."
Just as the Chef was heading back to the kitchen, she returned.
"Hey boss...do you have more? I would like one for Mister Elliot..."
If that was the last one, she thought, I'd have to leave him with the left over wedge.
Or maybe just have a little more for herself.