[Location: Binary System Delta-Nova | Orbiting Twin Stars, Asterion & Solara]
The kitchen shuttle groaned as it entered orbit — one side bathed in golden light, the other frozen solid in the shadow of a second sun.
Lira stared out the viewport.
"You ever notice how every new place we go to looks like it's actively trying to kill us?"
Arin, half-asleep and chewing on what looked suspiciously like a frozen eggroll, mumbled,
"Death builds flavor. Michelin fact."
The temperature gauge screamed.
Then exploded.
1 — THE MISSION
The Flavor Network's announcer droid flickered into the cabin, projecting a mission card midair.
ROUND FIVE: The Salt of Two Suns.
Harvest crystalline salt formed only at the precise intersection of two dying stars.
Warning: temperature differential will liquefy most contestants. Good luck!
Lira raised a brow. "Liquefy?"
Arin nodded, unfazed. "Salted human's probably not bad with calamansi."
She glared. "You need therapy."
"Already have vinegar. It's cheaper."
The droid's hologram glitched — static crackled — and for just a moment, a familiar face flickered through the interference.
Chef Veyra (Arin's former mentor).
"Let's see if you can season survival, boy."
Then the feed cut out.
Arin straightened, suddenly serious. "She's watching."
Lira folded her arms. "Good. Maybe she'll witness your glorious meltdown."
2 — DESCENT INTO DUALITY
The shuttle dipped between the two suns — a corridor of shifting hellfire and ice.
One half of the cabin steamed; the other froze.
Arin switched from oven mitts to ice tongs mid-step. "This is like cooking in heaven's air fryer and hell's freezer at the same time. Ayos."
Lira, shivering and sweating simultaneously, adjusted her space blaster, a heavy chrome pistol that looked equal parts weapon and blowtorch.
"Focus. The Salt of Two Suns crystallizes right where the heat and cold meet — at the equilibrium point."
He squinted through the glare.
A massive floating shard glimmered in the distance — a salt crystal the size of a cathedral, suspended between the suns.
It pulsed with radiant light, like it was breathing.
Arin grinned. "Big salt. Big flavor."
Lira facepalmed. "If you die, I'm telling people you slipped on seasoning."
3 — THE HARVEST
They stepped out onto a magnetized platform.
The suns rumbled — one roaring flame, the other whispering frost.
Arin held up his knife. "Alright, salt gods. Let's make history."
The instant he struck the crystal, the world shattered into color — two forces colliding, heat and cold clashing like angry gods.
Lira shouted, "It's destabilizing!"
Arin's suit cracked with frost and flame, his visor fogging. "Worth it— for the taste!"
He sliced again. The blade sang.
A burst of light shot out, searing the air — and suddenly he wasn't in the Binary System anymore.
He stood in a void made of salt and memory.
4 — THE VISION OF VEYRA
Chef Veyra (Arin's former mentor) appeared, surrounded by shimmering dunes.
Her eyes glowed with the same dual light as the suns.
"You've learned to cook with feeling," she said. "But you never learned control. That's why you fail."
Arin clenched his fists. "You left me with nothing but burnt recipes and panic attacks!"
"And yet here you are — seasoning your fear."
The salt began to move — coiling into shapes: memories of dishes he ruined, kitchens he set on fire, the rice cooker he once detonated "for science."
Arin whispered, "You're not real."
"Taste me and see."
He reached out — and the salt solidified into a shimmering blade, humming like a tuning fork made of sunlight.
"A Quantum Knife," she said. "It doesn't cut matter. It cuts meaning. Use it well, or it'll cut you first."
He blinked. "...Can it also spread butter?"
"If you're an idiot — yes."
The salt storm exploded.
5 — BACK IN REALITY
Lira's voice screamed through the comms.
"Arin! You stopped breathing for two minutes! The salt's collapsing!"
He gasped awake, clutching a glowing shard — half white, half gold.
Lira dragged him toward the shuttle as the crystal field imploded behind them.
They barely made it aboard before the explosion bloomed — a halo of flame and ice across the horizon.
The shuttle rattled violently.
Arin sat there, smoke rising from his suit, staring at the glowing shard.
It stretched, folding into a handle. Then, with a loud pop, the blade materialized — sleek, humming, alive.
He screamed. "It hatched!"
Lira pointed her blaster. "Do I shoot it?!"
"No! It's mine! My baby!"
"You adopted a weapon?!"
"It chose me! Probably!"
The knife pulsed, echoing his heartbeat — unstable, chaotic, perfect.
6 — THE COOKING
Back aboard the Flavor Network station, Arin set up his kitchen.
The main dish this round: Solaris Bulalo — beef shank simmered with Twin Sun Salt, meant to embody heat and cold, chaos and calm.
Lira kept her blaster aimed at the knife the whole time. "If it starts talking, I'm vaporizing it."
"Relax," Arin said. "It's just vibrating with flavor."
"That's what you said before we lost gravity for three hours."
As the marrow melted and the broth turned gold, the air shimmered. Even the judges leaned in.
Arin ladled a bowl, hands trembling. "This one's not for ratings," he said quietly.
"It's for her."
The judges tasted it. One gasped. Another burst into tears.
"This dish… balances two impossible forces. Passion and restraint."
Lira smiled faintly. "Guess you're learning control after all."
Arin exhaled, staring at the empty bowl. "Nah. Just learning to stop running from the burn."
The Quantum Knife hummed softly beside him, as if approving.
7 — THE HOOK
Before the applause could settle, the broadcast glitched again.
"CONGRATULATIONS, TEAM EARTH," said the announcer.
"But your next ingredient has gone missing — stolen by an interdimensional black market."
A map unfolded across the stars — glowing trails of spice and crime.
Lira frowned. "A black market for ingredients?"
Arin grinned, eyes alight. "Oh yeah. The Spice Underground."
"Arin—no."
"Oh yes. We're going shopping."
He twirled the Quantum Knife.
It sliced a hole in reality by accident.
"Oops."
End of Chapter 5