Pieter and his day.

(Pieters POV)

I get dressed in uniform. As I am setting up my work area my cutting boards, bowls, pans and knives. I get a message from Madelon asking my opinion on how to format an email. She does include that I am her brother and that she knows I work here. That will get me called in to my boss Jessica's office, but it should be a good hook. I reply: 'Don't forget to include the CV. But it looks okay as an email.' Was that too worrying idk... but I have been told that I am horrible at feedback and overly curt. Instead of worrying, I decide to just do the prep for the dishes. The rest drips in over the next 10 minutes, and starts their dishes prep, which takes the better part of 45 minutes to an hour. I check everyone else's prep. After I give the go-ahead, we start the actual cooking of several dishes. This takes 20-30 minutes before putting them in the transport/temperature maintenance bins. As the last one gets placed in, I get asked into Jessica's office.

"Pieter, I got a job application from Madelon Visser. She claims to be your sister."

"Seems like an option. I do have a sister called Madelon. Is she a serious candidate? It would be nice to see her again."

"Sure seems like it. She has enough experience in the service industry to help us. If she wants to work in the kitchen, she needs to pass the skill test, but that is definitely possible. From your reaction, I guess you guys are estranged? But you are fine with it."

"She picked my parents' side over me. She chooses not to see me. I have always had my arms open. You know me, I hold grudges; if I had any issue with her, you would have noticed. I have nothing against her personally, just my parents."

"So the question is more if she would be okay with working with you?"

"Yep, as well as being aware that if she is in a client-facing task, that she can't turn up with bruises and cuts, or at least that I will complain about it."

"Explain this more, Pieter, don't talk around it."

"My parents are abusive assholes. They are physically abusive. I have tried to convince my sister to leave their place and move into my place at various points in my life. If they are still abusive assholes now... She will come in one day with bruises and cuts."

"I get what you are saying. I will also tell her, and even if she comes in, there is always kitchen work right." I nod. "I will give her a talk, you help them load the food and drive to the first clients."

"Yes, chef."

"You are our head chef, dumbass." She says as I am leaving.

At Pro-drive (software company), I spot Anne as I am plating. She doesn't give a fuck about what she gets. I hand her the pork dish, which is going the slowest. Neither of us has time for small talk, as there is a line of hungry people behind her. I get a text from Jessica, asking if I can administer the test earlier in the morning. I reply with a thumbs up. No complications with it, we head back and have lunch.

Jessica says over lunch, "We might get a new employee tomorrow."

Maria, smiling, asks, "A new man or woman?"

"Woman, but I hope there will not be any accidents with her."

"Why?"

"From what I heard from her family. Her parents aren't great people. But that might be coloured by the person who told me."

"Who told you that?"

Jessica is going to talk around it if I don't step in. "I did. My sister applied for a job." I interject. "We don't need to go into the details. But I basically lived at a friend's place." The mood did dampen a bit, but Maria should have known that asking about **** isn't going to be helpful.

Maria ends up saying, "Sorry for bringing it up."

"It is in the past. I don't see them. If it were an issue, I could have told Jessica I didn't want my sister here. She just doesn't listen to me, and that is fine."

After lunch, we start preparing the dinner portion of our shift. This takes about as long as it did in the morning, and between that and actually cooking, we take a small break.

Jan, who had wandered in for his shift around lunch, is talking to his damm AI-chatbot girlfriend again and leering every once in a while at some of our female colleagues. This is inappropriate, and I have told him before. I also told Jessica, and she went on to say that he just needs to adapt. Once his contract finishes, he will likely not get a new one. Sad for him, but still the scrawny bastard needs to know to respect his colleagues. During these moments, Maria and most of our female colleagues group together. As they do, they are letting hardly any men in as a sort of defensive measure. The exceptions are the ones deemed asexual, gay or vocal defenders who aren't performative. I don't know where I fall, but they often invite me into their conversations, which range from work-related topics to more personal ones. I still wonder where recipes fall in this. They are a bit of both for us.

As we finish our break and we have to start cooking, my phone buzzes. When I find a moment in between steps, I find a moment to glance at my phone. I can give Madelon a new quest. It will have to wait until we are driving to the catering or are back from it. Putting everything in the boxes we use for transport, I am informed that I am driving again. I roll my eyes and head to the car as everyone is in we head to the last address for the day. We serve the dishes without much poha and can return home. I received another buzz and another on the way back.

Back at work, I find out that both Robin and Chantal are available to be given quests. A notification pops up before I can give a quest.

Redistribution: Have a target resend the LifeQuest app to someone who had removed it. [Referral unlock available.]

What is the Referral unlock? I look at it. It seems to be an unlock that allows Targets to invite other Targets. Unlocking it prohibits the user from selecting new targets and excludes some class selection options. However, it does effectively eliminate the cost of the increase in the number of targets. The cost isn't low as well. At 5 perk points, it costs as much as Class Designer. Not that I can grab that now. Let's focus on the quests for now. Madelon's quest is easy.

• Prepare lunch
• Review kitchen safety
• Look up recipes you like.

Due to the upgrade, I can now select the reward from three options.

select a reward:

• guaranteed hire for the job you applied for.
• perk [Cooking I].
• Greater affinity with whoever eats your lunch.

Well, the first is almost already decided if I look at Jessica; the last is... horrendous. What if mom or dad eats it? Definitely not. Perks for subjects I have no idea about, but mine are useful for making quests, and they must be useful for them as well in some way. So let's go with that. On to Robin, who is my partner... do I do something with that or with something else? Let's skip to Chantal, where I have more direction. A way to make her make up with Robin's parents and, in theory, also increase their acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.

Chantal will receive the following quest:

• Have a conversation with your parents about how you felt being rejected.
• Talk to your parents about your current life.
• Take your partner along for the conversation.

Select reward:

• Perk [Orator I]
• Increased acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.
• Your parents accept you and your siblings' identities no matter what.

The last seems better than the second; however, it would exclude partners like Chantals or me, so it is better to do the second, as I have no idea what the perk does. This does, however, free Robin's quest up a bit, though. It doesn't need to focus on them being gay or trans. They were a streamer, so something for that, maybe? Bit of both?

Robin will receive the following quest:

• Play at least one game with your partner on stream.
• Flirt with your partner on stream.
• Wear an outfit you feel comfortable and attractive in.

Select reward:

• Increase in subscriber count.
• Increase for LGBTQ+ support among viewers of the stream.
• a reward related to the quality of the stream.

Okay, the last is vague, but it might be either of the other ones, a combination, a sponsorship or something completely unrelated. It is straight-up gambling. The first is an effective increase in money for Robin, and the second is a long-term increase in support if Robin wants to be more open about being into men. Gambling it is. As soon as I finish sending the quest, I get an invite to stream with Robin and come over to their place.