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Prologue
-SeBea-
The Chairman drummed his fingers on his desk, waiting for the Spin Doctors to enter the conference call. He groaned loudly as he glanced at the time. They were now two minutes and thirty-five seconds late. Unacceptable.
Suddenly, his screen lit up and he rose his eyes to meet it. Three level 10 Spin Doctors cleared their throat and adjusted their bow ties nervously.
The Chairman could see them, but they couldn't see him.
"Gentlemen," he spoke first. "this is the third time this week that you're making me wait."
Their faces twisted in fear, two of them gulped while the last one gathered the courage to apologize.
"We are deeply sorry sir, we had some problems with uh…" He paused. "The samples you gave us."
The Chairman frowned.
"Well, do you have anything positive to report?"
The Spin Doctors looked at each other, worried, and mentally preparing themselves for the worst. The Chairman, sensing the bad news coming, deepened his frown.
"I said, do you have anything to report?" His voice was dark, impatient.
The second Spin Doctor on his screen was the one to talk. He avoided the Chairman's glare.
"I'm afraid the experiment has been inconclusive, sir." He answered. "It seems that the energy in its purest, most powerful form, is impossible to extract from a cog. Only a toon can do so without perishing."
The Chairman rose his eyebrow.
"Well then what are you waiting for? We have plenty of toons in custody!" He exclaimed. "You can take that blasted green duck Toontown cares so much about. Maybe your work could make him…cooperate."
An evil, toothily grin spread across the Chairman's face. Would the Lawbots have seen him, they would've undoubtedly had chills.
The second Spin Doctor gulped. "We've tried…That wouldn't be possible either sir…"
The Chairman felt his frustration build up inside him and his patience slowly breaking.
"And why not?"
"B-Because," the Lawbot stuttered. "The toon in question must be genuinely laughing."
His patience having snapped, the Chairman slammed his fists on his desk making all three Spin Doctors yelp and jump back at the noise.
"Blasted toons!" He exclaimed.
He let his anger pass for a couple of seconds, rubbed his metallic temples frustratingly and gave heavy sigh. He knew it was possible, that there was a way of making it work. Those Spin Doctors were probably not working hard enough. After all, it was a pretty logical and simple demand: having a cog do what toon can do.
Then it clicked.
Having a cog do what a toon can do.
A wicked smile formed on his face.
"Gentlemen, what if a cog were to…" He paused to think of a proper word. "form a friendly partnership with a toon in order to make that toon laugh?"
The three Spin Doctors widened their eyes in a mix of horror and disbelief.
"S-Sir…" One of them said. "With all due respect, this would be a, erm…"
His co-worker attempted to finish. "an abomination?"
"Absolute torture?" The third Spin Doctor proposed.
The Chairman rolled his eyes.
"At ease, their partnership wouldn't be real. It would be mission, of course. A mission given to the best suited cog for the task."
The three Lawbots sighed of relief. They couldn't bear imagine a cog actually enjoying a friendship with a toon. The anguish that cog would feel…Oh the horror.
"If I may sir," one of them replied. "Backstabbers are extremely skilled in those tasks. They specialize in manipulation and strategic betrayal."
The Chairman narrowed his eyes in thought. It certainly made sense to chose a Backstabber for this kind of mission. At least the conversation with his private researchers had brought something useful to him today.
"Very well." He declared. "Ask the Chief Justice to bring me the best Backstabber in Lawbot HQ."
"Understood!" The three Spin Doctors nodded.
The Chairman ended the video conference call and sighed heavily. His features etched with frustration and tiredness.
He and his researchers had spent countless hours trying to crack the code of what made the toons so powerful. All the money he had spent…it was unbelievable. The investment was enormous, and it was for Cog Nation, a organization that kept on losing to childish, weirdly coloured animals. Pathetic.
But he was determined to get rid of the cogs' biggest weakness. The fatal weakness that their creator had given them. Once that was done, then he could truly accomplish what Cogs were destined to do.
Gearloose. The Chairman thought, his fists clenched. I will not lose because of you. The toons must know where you are hiding. I will find you, and I will destroy you.
Several hundred miles away from Toontown and its surroundings, beneath the surface of the earth, Gyro Gearloose took his eyes off his telescope. Nothing unusual happening in Toontown nor in the Cog HQs.
The chicken frowned. This didn't look very good. Things had been much too calm for much too long.
There was something significant that was going to happen. He could feel it in his feathers.
Gearloose let out a sad sigh.
When are they going to understand?