As Mindy walked into the packed classroom, she was immediately taken aback at the sight of eight-hundred high-leveled Glad Handers all patiently waiting for her to begin lessons. While the Mingler knew this was coming, it was still a strange sight to see and not something that she had ever thought she would come across in her career. Glad Handers were her least favorite cog to work with. While Mr. Hollywoods were usually more arrogant, Glad Handers tended to be the most despicable. The worst crimes in Cog Nation or Sellbot HQ were usually completed by Glad Handers. She wasn't sure if it was how they were constructed or if they just didn't follow the rules. "Good morning everybody. Welcome to your first day of Cog Instruction Training. I know many of you have just been manufactured, some just hours ago, but I will remind you all that first and foremost you serve one mission; To destroy Toons. You will be expected to to not only live this mission, but to breathe it. Your entire livelihood will be dedicated to this task. Regardless of how you may feel about your mission, just know that failing to abide by it will lead to immediate decommission." A Glad Hander in the top row raised his hand, dragging an exasperated sigh from the professor who wasn't in the mood for shenanigans. "Yes... What's your name?"

"Good morning, Professor. My name is George. I was just wondering exactly why we are fighting the Toons?" The question drew the ire of eight hundred pairs of eyes who all had seemed to receive the memo aside from him. "Er, sorry. I just was not updated with that file during manufacturing, I guess."

"Listen, George. I've had a cog like you who questioned his mission. I don't know what happened to him, but I do know that he was likely destroyed. It would be better to just stuff those questions away and to follow orders. Now, you all may have noticed that there are no other cog types here aside from Glad Handers. You have all been manufactured for a very specific reason. For the next week, myself, and your commander are going to be going through the basics of fighting Toons. Then your commander will be providing each of you specific guidelines for this special mission. Just know, that cogs are generally not created at their highest level. This is a special privilege that has been bestowed upon all of you. Remember that when you are out completing your mission, and when you interact with other cogs." The next few hours were filled with basic instruction, lessons and guidelines that Mindy had memorized due to the repeated nature of her job. As they closed in on the end of the first day, the Mingler had been surprised at how quietly and patiently the class had been. Whoever had developed this line of cogs had done a masterful job. "Alright everybody. That is enough for that today. When each of you leave, you will each be assigned to your own apartments including directions. You are on your own from here. Just remember everything we went over today. While you are critical for the mission, just remember that your actions will not be tolerated by cogs outside of this classroom. You will be demoted or decommissioned if you are not acting according to the rules. Does anybody have any questions?" Everybody kept their hands down. "Very well, everybody is dismissed." As the single file line of cogs began to pour out of the classroom, Mindy stopped one Glad Hander in particular, bringing the cog over away from the rest until the rest of the classroom was emptied. "George, was it?"

The anxious Glad Hander rubbed his arm nervously. "Y-yes ma'am. My name is George. My ID number is zero-two-six."

Holding out her hand, Mindy cut off the cog. "That's fine, George. I was just assuring I had your name correct. I just wanted to talk to you about your question earlier."

"I'm very sorry about that Professor Mindy. I didn't mean to ask such a ridiculous question. I just wanted to make sure that I had the most up-to-date information so that I could better carry out the mission as requested from me." George lowered his head. He had only been built twelve hours earlier and he was already causing problems. "Please forgive my transgressions."

"You're fine, George. Now, I want this conversation to stay just between you and me. This does not leave the classroom. I do not want you to tell any of your peers. Actually, I think it would be best not to tell any of your peers. Do you understand?" George gulped and nodded, unable to add anything further to the conversation. "Very good. Answer me honestly, please George. During our lesson today when we discussed causing Toons to go sad, how did that make you feel?"

All George could think about was the possibility that this was a trick. Something intended to lure him into answering and cornering himself. But he knew that lying to a superior was also something that could lead to his decommission. "Well, to be honest Professor. I felt a bit... guilty? I don't know how to explain it. I just didn't feel that what was happening seemed right. Those Toons were not provoking or attacking, they were just minding their own business. I feel that cogs would be better off using our resources to progress and build up our own world, rather than worrying about the Toons. A lot of their world was quite interesting to me. I feel that a merger between the two could even be beneficial.

Mindy stroked her chin. "That is what I thought." Walking over to her desk, Mindy grabbed a folder and carried it back over to the Glad Hander who was visibly shaken by fear. "George. I don't think that you are built to complete the mission as instructed."

"No, no. Professor I assure you that I can complete my mission. I will not let any of my feelings affect me from doing what is instructed of me. Please, I do not want to be decommissioned!" Dropping to his knees, George put his hands together and pleaded. "Please, have mercy on me!"

"Stand up, George. You're a cog for gosh sake." Waiting for the Glad Hander to stand up, Mindy sighed. "Listen. I'm not going to have you decommissioned. Quite the opposite actually. While I don't necessarily agree with your opinions and feelings, it isn't your fault you were built that way. There are still many tasks that are needed through Cog Nation that do not require battling. In this file is a special letter. I want you to follow all the instructions on here. You're going to meet with an old friend in Lawbot HQ. He'll set you up with some busy work and an apartment there. It isn't too common for Sellbots to be there, but you'll be fine. You just tell everyone you are on a special assignment." Handing the confused cog the file, she stuttered. "For the love of cog, do not let anybody else know what you told me. Keep your head down, do your job and you'll be fine." Looking around to make sure nobody was listening, she leaned over and whispered. "I have a source that says a cog is now living among the Toons. It seems that there may be a day where cogs and Toons can live together. I don't know if that day will come, but that is your best chance. Remember what I told you. Now, get out of here before anybody walks in and starts asking questions."

Giving a salute, George nodded and grinned. "Thank you, Professor. I will never forget your kindness." Turning, George slipped the folder into his suit jacket and walked casually out of the classroom, leaving Mindy alone.

Once the Glad Hander left, Mindy walked to her desk and sat down. "I really hope that day will come."

Muffin sat alone on the couch in the living room. Doctor Matzoh had requested that she wait outside while the procedure was done, as to best ensure no distractions. While the blue cat had tried to keep her own mind distracted with TV and video games, she was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything but Glen. What if something happened? What if he didn't wake up as the same sweet, charming, Glad Hander she was falling for... or what if he didn't wake up at all? She didn't want to think about the negatives. The worst part was that there would be no updates, and that the entire operation could take several hours. Unable to leave the house due to the potential for Rook to come back, she felt like she was in jail. Throughout the passing time she would go and place her ear to the door in hopes of hearing something. Other than the occasional. "Hmm. That's interesting." Or "That doesn't look good." She wasn't having any luck. Two grueling hours later, as the exhausted cat laid on the couch, fully convinced that Glen was likely head, the creaking sound of a door opened. "Hey, Muffin? Are you still here?" Peeking out from around the hallway, Matzoh grinned as she saw the blue cat bounce upwards like a tennis ball. "Oh good. You're still here." The purple cat spoke in a neutral tone, almost as if she was purposely dragging it out to increase Muffin's stress levels.

"Yes! Of course I am here! Oh my gosh, please tell me that he is okay!" Muffin grabbed the doctor by her jacket and clenched tightly almost sliding down to her knees. "Please!"

"Woah, just calm down there." The slightly older cat chuckled at the younger cat's genuine caring nature. "Just. Come on and stand up. I have some good news, and I have some bad news."

Audibly showing her fear, Muffin sighed and began to tense up again, slowly sliding back downwards. "Oh my gosh! What is the bad news? Please tell me he is still okay!"

Snickering, Matzoh could no longer withhold her silliness. "Sorry, there is no bad news. I've just always wanted to say that, you know? They say it in movies and on TV shows and everything. I couldn't resist I'm sorry." The purple cat helped her client back up to her feet. Muffin, scowling was not amused. "Ha. I guess this wasn't the best place to try it out. Anyways, I have some good news and some interesting news! Which one would you like first?"

"For the love of cog, just tell me if he's okay!" The blue cat nearly screamed as she pleaded with the doctor to finally reveal the results of the operation. She could not withstand any more torture.

"Okay? Glen is going to be better than okay! In fact, he is better than ever! The operation took a little longer, but I've made a few changes that I think are going to really help in the long run!" Matzoh gleamed at her brilliance. "Do you want to see him?" The tall Toon had hardly finished her sentence before Muffin had began sprinting into the bedroom to see her boyfriend. "Hold on, just wait a second!" Matzoh chased after the love-struck kitten.

Bursting into the makeshift surgery spot, Muffin held her breath as she slowly walked in and approached the still unconscious cog. "Glen?" She whispered. Sitting on the bed, she rubbed the shirtless cog's arm. She had never seen a cog without a shirt on. Although she was still a bit overwhelmed, she couldn't help but take notice and get a bit heated. "Glen..."

Following in her fellow cat's footsteps, Doctor walked in and tapped her foot on the ground while crossing her arms. "Gosh, nobody ever listens to me. I'm still a doctor after all. Young doesn't mean I'm an idiot you know." Stepping over to the opposite side of the bed, Matzoh tsk-tsked Muffin. "You didn't let me finish. I haven't turned him back on yet. The other good news is that I didn't need to touch any of his programming as anticipated, but I did and we're going to see how well it worked. Well, I guess that was the interesting news."

"Wait, you did something and don't know how it will affect him? Why would you do that?" Muffin was becoming more irritated by the eccentric doctor. "Why couldn't you just leave him how he was? He is perfect! He didn't need to be fixed anymore than I asked! Just because you want to do your research or whatever doesn't give you a right to just start experimenting on him!"

"Hey, just calm down there, silly-whiskers. I wouldn't go around messing with your boyfriend all willy-nilly!" Muffin immediately blushed at Matzoh's mention of Glen as her boyfriend. "I just made a few necessary adjustments. You're going to be thankful I did. I wanted to make sure that he's awake though when I go over this. Are you ready to turn him on?" Matzoh rolled her eyes as Muffin turned even redder. "Not like that. Let's just get his power going." Reaching behind the cog's head, the purple cat pushed a button and stepped back as Glen's colors began to brighten a bit and his eyes opened slowly. "He's alive! He's alive!"

For the first time in a while, Billy felt mildly relaxed as he made his way to work. With the good doctor working on Glen and getting him into functioning shape, soon this would all be over with and everybody could move on with their lives. He would deal with Glen living in town at a later time. For now, he just wanted to get to work and get through today. Body exhausted from his lack of sleep, he was nearly dragging himself along, fortunate that he worked so close. As he began approaching his small office, he heard a voice calling out to him. Turning around, he was surprised to see one of the local HQ officers approaching. "Good afternoon, Billy. Incredible timing it appears!"

Slowly lifting his hand, the orange monkey summoned the energy to wave to his counterpart. "Hey, Wanda. What are you doing out of your cage? I thought they had you locked up on weekdays?"

"Can't keep a good rabbit down, I guess?" Wanda winked and grinned. "Sorry, I guess you're probably busy. I was actually on my way to see you at home, but this saved me a bit of a walk." Rubbing her neck, the teal rabbit tilted back and forth. "So, I think we need to talk about Rook."

"Rook, eh? Listen Wanda, I don't know what he told you but I assure you that I have everything under control. He's just totally overreacting to everything. I think what happened to Geoduck broke something in him." Tightening his lips together, Billy stared at the ground awkwardly. "So, what did he tell you?"

Wanda crossed her arms. "Me? How about half the dang town. He came in earlier and started trying to get everybody to sign a petition to expel your new guest. Now, I made sure to quickly shut him up, but I still promised him a town vote. But I didn't want him going off and causing a ruckus without a chance to get an idea of what was going on."

Pounding his fist on the door to his office, the chimp growled in frustration. "Damn it, Rook." Turning back to the bunny, he grimaced. "Wanda, listen to me. Glen saved Muffin's life. He likely would have been killed if I didn't find them when I did. For all I know, Muffin could have been too. I'm letting him stay with us until he is fully functional again and then we're going to work on getting him somewhere else. If he goes back to the cogs he will be killed, most likely. Cog or not, he deserves a chance to live. We can't expect anybody to change if we punish them not due to their actions, but due to circumstances outside of their control. Muffin has become quite infatuated with him, and if it is between her and the town, I'm going with her every time and I won't apologize for it."

"Hey, you don't need to explain anything to me cowboy. You've done about more for this town than anyone. I trust your judgement and that's exactly why I stood up for you. Rook was going to get that vote one way or the other. I just wanted you to get a chance to prepare yourself. Maybe that... Glen? Maybe Glen can have an opportunity to come and speak for himself. We will make sure to bring the protection of the Toontown Rangers if he does decide to speak and we will let it be known any attacks on him, or your family, is a punishable offense." The rabbit patted Billy on the shoulder. "You look pretty exhausted. Why don't you head home for the day? It is pretty slow down at Headquarters. Let me take over things today. I'll get in touch when you once the town vote has been set up. Alright? Go be with Muffin."

"Thanks, Wanda. I really owe you one." Billy hugged the rabbit and smiled. "Sleep does sound pretty nice. Just having some peace of mind would be wonderful right about now, to be honest." Slinking off down the road, the monkey nodded to his friend as he made his way back home, eager to finally get some good news.