Before he could even attempt the aging Core Construct, Colby first had to make one that sped up the brining process. And afterwards, one that helped with drying. Things that should’ve been done while waiting for the first batch of Gouda to be aged—but he was dumb.

  Although not all cheeses had to be brined, creating a dedicated Core Construct would save a heck of a lot of time. Especially when he foolishly decided that the aged cheese he wanted to master was Gouda—one that required brining.

  The Core Construct had to be big to hold multiple wheels of cheese and the brine, while also deep enough for the cheese to be thoroughly submerged. In essence, he was basically describing a larger Pottingham or Cheese Bowl.

  If that was all that was required, then he could simply upgrade Pottingham and Cheese Bowl, making them larger.

  But that wasn’t all that was needed. It had to speed up the brining process.

  And to do that… well, he didn’t really know how to do that.

  Colby had sort of an idea—but there were so many leaps of logic involved, even he might not be able to fully realize that intent.

  His sort of idea was a hot tub. A cheese tub? A hot cheese? He’ll work on the name later.

  Basically, brining was letting salt enter the cheese. Unfortunately, cheese being cheese, it took its own sweet time, slowly absorbing the salt from the brine at a slow, leisurely pace.

  Therefore, a space for brining cheese was essentially a hot tub, minus the jets.

  But that was where Colby’s idea came in.

  If the salt didn’t want to enter the cheese, he’d force it in—gently, in a way that most likely wouldn’t damage the product. Jets of salt water would push the salt deeper into the cheese—in a gentle manner—thus accelerating the process.

  As long as he truly believed in this idea and channeled his intent, it would happen.

  Colby went down on one leg, hand touching the floor of his Core as he channeled the intent create a new Construct: a hot tub specifically for brining cheese. The area around his palm shimmered and melted into a pearlescent goo.

  Standing up, the shimmering goo stretched like melted cheese before snapping towards his palm.

  As Colby imbued more and more intent, the pearlescent goo slowly detached from his hand. Strand by strand, it peeled away from his skin until a shiny pearl of goo hovered in front of him.

  The mobile Core Constructs paused their epic Rock-Paper-Scissors duel and gathered around Colby, watching the birth of a brand new addition to the family.

  They waved their noodle-like arms, asking for more information about the new member. Colby ignored them. This was too important. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.

  What type of hot tub did he want? More specifically, what shape?

  The answer was obvious, round, but he had to come up with a joke to further solidify that intent—and he had already used up the ‘be there or be square’ line when constructing Cheese Press’s circular mold.

  So why did it have to be round, other than the obvious fact that his cheese wheels were circular? It was for a simple reason—it had to be round, because what’s the point of all the other shapes?

  Apparently, Colby must’ve been thinking out loud because all of his Core Constructs slapped their faces. Smart Waiter opened a hatch and held up a sign that read, “Boo!”

  While Curd-Cutter used his new musically inclined abilities to produce a tune that sounded like a sad trombone: womp, womp, womp.

  Ignoring the disrespect from his Core Constructs, Colby continued to shape the pearlescent goo in front of him. It spun in the air, revolving faster and faster as the sphere flattened into a disc. Each rotation pulled it wider, its diameter stretching outward.

  Then it stopped.

  Walls erupted from the rim of the disc, extending upwards. Near the top, they curved slightly, forming the unmistakable shape of a circular hot tub.

  That was the frame complete.

  Now came the most important part of the Core Construct: the jets.

  Their purpose was to push the salt into the cheese, speeding up the brining process, but at the same time, without damaging the cheesy structure. Plus, with the constant pounding of the jets, it would be like giving the cheese a special salty massage. And since massages helped blood flow—in the cheese’s case, salt flow—it would speed up the process.

  That felt like a good basis for the intention.

  Colby continued on, channeling that intent. Multiple small little jet nozzles popped up along the inner walls of the hot tub. They were all perfectly round and evenly spaced—creating a pattern that could trigger a person’s trypophobia.

  There was only one thing left: a filter.

  It had to catch all of the milk solids and curd particles—basically cheese sheddings—as the brine circulated through the hot tub, otherwise it would pollute his cheese and waste all of that effort.

  What sort of filter should it be?

  There were tons of filtration methods out there in the world, but for now, he would stick with the old reliable: a cloth filter.

  What type of cloth filter?

  He’d be using a butter muslin cloth rather than a cheesecloth. Why? Because it’s butter than the rest.

  Colby chuckled to himself while Curd-Cutter played that sad trombone tune again as his Core Constructs slapped their faces.

  As bad as the joke was, it helped to solidify that intent, making the filter as filtery as possible.

  That was all the things that Colby could reliably configure by himself. Everything else would be left up to the Core Construct to fill in. Stuff like the plumbing, pumps, and heater, etc.

  And that was it—well, mostly it.

  All that was left was to give the Core Construct a personality. And hopefully, it wouldn’t go as badly as Cheese Press. Even more hopefully, the Core Construct would perform what it was designed to do—because he had no idea how he was going to convince the other Core Constructs to let him deconstruct the newest member of the family without all of them turning on him.

  Maybe people were on to something when they said not to give Core Constructs personalities.

  Whatever the case, Colby channeled whatever lingering emotions he had been feeling these past few days into the Core Construct.

  With that, it was over.

  The Core Construct was placed in the corner of the main floor, on the opposite side of The Cheesetastic Fridge and the door that led to his Inventory.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It was definitely a strange addition to what was supposed to be a simple kitchen space, but as long as it got the job done, then he wouldn’t complain.

  The pearlescent goo gradually lost its shimmer as it solidified into a circular hot tub. The exterior resolved into a deep brown frame, made of another type of unidentifiable wood. Inside, the tub turned into a clean white, contrasting starkly with the black jets that sprouted along the rim and floor.

  The mobile Core Constructs walked up to the new addition to the family. They all looked at each other, wondering how the new guy was going to react. More importantly, what was their name?

  Names weren’t Colby’s strong suit, but he had managed to come up with something miles better than Cheese Tub and Hot Cheese.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “Everyone, please say hi to Cheesecuzzi.”

  It was either that or Jacheezi.

  Wooden limbs sprouted from the hot tub's frame as Cheesecuzzi waved hello.

  Cheese Bowl and Cheese-lander rushed forward, eager to challenge Cheesecuzzi to an epic showdown of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

  Before they could even get within dueling distance of her, Temp-tation grabbed them by their rims, stopping them.

  Leaving the pair of Core Constructs to think about the consequences of their actions, Temp-tation walked up to the hot tub and signed, “It’s nice to finally have another girl around. The guys here are so boorish.”

  Cheese Bowl and Cheese-lander threw up their limbs in protest at the comment. Meanwhile, Curd-Cutter took the opportunity to play that tune once more. The glass bowl and plastic colander slowly turned towards the knife.

  Curd-Cutter simply played the tune again.

  They chased after the knife, running laps around the Core, all while Curd-Cutter continued to play that tune.

  Cheesecuzzi giggled, “My, it’s so lively in here. I can’t wait to be a part of this.”

  Colby smiled. She was definitely easier to handle than Cheese Press.

  “Temp,” he said. “Look after Cuzzi. I need to check something.”

  “You got it.” She winked.

  The two Core Constructs happily chatted with each other, their noodle-like limbs rapidly slicing through the air, filling the room with something other than glass and plastic clinking on the floor, along with a trombone tromboning all over the place.

  Ignoring them, Colby inspected the brand new addition to his arsenal of tools.

  Cheesecuzzi:

  Level 1

  A uniquely modified hot tub meant to speed up the brining process. Jets of brine gently massage the cheese, helping it to relax, break knots, and work salt into its inner structure, speeding up the brining time and enhancing the flavor of the final product.

  The more cheese within the hot tub, the longer the brining time. How dare you try to rush them? They just want to hang out and relax with their other dairy-based companions. But, as a result, the overall flavor of the final cheese product is further enhanced.

  (Each level slightly decreases the time taken to brine.)

  (Each level slightly enhances the final product.)

  Well, that was an interesting feature of Cheesecuzzi. The more cheese inside, the longer it would take, but it would make his cheese taste all the better.

  Colby couldn’t wait to test her out. Too bad he was going to have to wait regardless. Sadly, Cheesecuzzi was filled with air rather than water. And you can’t brine cheese with just air—or maybe you could, depending on how the Core Construct was created.

  Digressing, Colby continued to complain.

  Maybe he should’ve given more thought to Cheesecuzzi's placement. The only way for him to get water was from The Cheesetastic Fridge. Specifically, ice that would slowly melt into water.

  This was going to take a while.

  Sighing, Colby walked up to The Cheesestastic Fridge, grabbed the tray of ice, and dumped its contents into Cheesecuzzi.

  “My goodness,” she yelled.

  Temp-tation immediately slapped his leg.

  “Ouch,” he said.

  ”It’s okay, darling,” Cheesecuzzi signed to Temp-tation. “I just wasn’t expecting it to be so cold.”

  “Sorry,” Colby said. “I should’ve warned you.”

  “I don’t mind, darling. Anything for you,” she said, bubbly.

  At least she was nice.

  And to speed up the process, Colby dumped some of the see-salt that he had ‘earned’ from Farmer Hound, helping the ice melt a bit quicker, plus adding the salt required to make the brine.

  From there, it was a long and boring process of walking to The Cheesetastic Fridge, grabbing the ice tray, dumping it into Cheesecuzzi, then back to the fridge where he had to wait for the ice tray to fill up and rinse and repeat.

  Congratulations! The Cheesetastic Fridge has reached Level 10!

  Yet another Core Construct that could be upgraded. And yet, another project added to his ever-expanding to-do list.

  As more and more ice melted into water Cheesecuzzi, Cheesecuzzi started up her pump and heater. Hot salty water circulated within her, helping the ice melt even faster. Once the water level rose past the nozzles, she turned on the jets. Brine surged through them, breaking the rising surface in churning streams that rippled and frothed.

  Walking back from another refill of ice, Colby realized that Cheese Bowl and Cheese-lander had stopped chasing Curd-Cutter, but none of them were on top of Stove having a Rock-Paper-Scissors duel. Even Pottingham was missing.

  Where did they go?

  That was quickly answered after his umpteenth ice run.

  There, sitting inside of Cheesecuzzi, playing around in the brine, were his mobile Core Constructs.

  Colby sighed, “Guys, the hot tub is for the cheese, not you.”

  “Oh, relax, darling,” Cheesecuzzi signed. “They’re just making sure I’m up, running, and good to go. And if you’re worried about a little contamination, don’t be. I’ll suck and clean all of that gunk out before you can say Cheese.”

  “Cheese,” Colby said.

  “It’s already been filtered out, darling.”

  Too tired to argue, he continued to fill Cheesecuzzi up until she was nearly overflowing. Now, he could brine the Gouda wheels.

  But his mobile Core Constructs were still inside of her, enjoying the warmth of the brine and the gentle pressure of the jets.

  It would be mean to force them out right now. Plus, he was a bit tired from walking up and down the same stretch innumerable times just to fill up Cheesecuzzi. And he still had to wait at least a day before he could even attempt the drying Core Construct.

  Maybe they could continue the soak for a little bit longer.

  Just before he exited the Core and called it a night, Colby glanced over at Cheese Press.

  His wooden frame trembled when Colby made eye contact, but the Core Construct forced himself to stop. Tracing his eyeline, he found that Cheese Press was looking directly at Cheesecuzzi and all the mobile Core Constructs inside.

  Walking up, Colby asked, “Do you want to join them?”

  “Y-yes. M-may I?”

  Rather than show how tired he was, Colby smiled and picked up the wooden press. While smaller than Stove, The Cheesetastic Fridge, and Cheesecuzzi, he wasn’t mobile like the rest.

  As Colby slowly lowered Cheese Press into the bubbling water, all of the other Core Constructs waved at him.

  “Be nice, okay?” Colby said.

  They all nodded.

  With that, he exited his Core.

  It was already night. Brie was fast asleep on her bed and drooling on Thornelius.

  Tomorrow, once his Core was less sore, he’d make that drying Core Construct.