Sorry it's a short intro, hopefully I'll post some more later. A bit back to my previous style so I hope you enjoy :-)

Part 1

“Do you really think this is going to work?” Jessica asked, peering doubtfully at the long wooden box. “I mean, I know it works for small joints of meat and stews and that sort of thing but do you really think…”

“It’s a bit late to be worrying about that sort of thing now!” sighed April, the most sensible of the group and the main brains behind the project. “Anyway, the smaller version worked perfectly with that fish. There’s no reason at all this shouldn’t work!”

“Guess there’s only one way to find out!” Penny chuckled. “I’m prepared to stake my reputation on it!”

“And a whole lot more!” Jessica conceded. It had been a fun project and the three young students were grateful for the amount of time and support their school had allowed them, both in the planning stages and the building, first of the smaller test models then of the finished product. But tomorrow was the big day – the demonstration and contest which, if all went as well as they hoped, would win them Roebuck Scholarships for the combined Cookery and Engineering course which had become both popular and extremely prestigious in recent years, with all of Britain’s top universities competing to offer the best course and attract the top students. University had, however, become more expensive with each passing year so the offer of a full scholarship, complete with Living Allowance, was too great to ignore.

When the three eighteen year-olds had signed up for the competition, they had not really discussed who the final test-subject would be. In fact, most of the contenders that they knew of were male teams with girlfriends or sisters being coerced or conscripted to help out. There were a few mixed teams and there were no prizes for guessing how that would play out but they were one of the few all-girl teams.

The remit for the contest was to come up with a new, energy-efficient way to cook whole girls that could also be marketed for home use and did not require a lot of technical knowledge or fancy gadgetry. The girls had approached it as a team effort, recognising that their different body-types would be suited to different cooking methods and assuming that which one of them should sacrifice herself for the others would become apparent as they worked. April, who was blonde and slim, had assumed that she may well end up boiled whereas plump brunette Jessica had pictured herself ending up in some kind of oven like a roast chicken. Over time, however, as the project developed and they leaned towards some kind of slow-cooker, it seemed to have been decided that it would be Penny, a red-head who was pleasantly curvy, somewhat athletic but with enough remaining puppy-fat to keep her on the especially attractive cusp of chubby, would be the test subject. Nobody could remember when this had been decided and, in all honestly, the girls could not recall ever having discussed it. Everyone had just started talking as if it were a given and Penny had raised no objection. During the design and building process she had happily stripped off when needed or laid on the wooden planks to assist with measurement. And now, here they were, the night before the day which would hopefully change all their lives in one way or another.

Although the slow-cooker had been built at the school, it had been transported, along with all the other similar projects, to the exhibition centre where the judging would take place. Since they would need to begin the process far earlier than most of the candidates, the girls had been granted permission to film the first part, which would take place very early the next morning, and show it on a provided video screen while the other demonstrations, each in their own sectioned-off booth, would take place. With no more prep to do, April called her parents and asked them to come collect her and her team-mates and drop them home. The next day would be a very long one and starting very early so a sound and restful night was what they all needed. Penny was not sure if she would be able to sleep or whether the feeling of anticipation she was feeling was more fear or excitement but she knew she had to try if she were to be extra-delicious for the judges the next day!