It was a pretty numb morning for Chloe, despite her attempts to forget that dream in its entirety. Her kids were quick to take notice after she stood over the oven for a few minutes without moving.
"Mama?"
"Huh! What? Oh…sorry Dilly. How long were you two sitting there?" Chloe asked, slightly startled by the interruption.
The twins were still waiting at the table for their breakfast, the poor things. She had been staring off for several minutes.
She quickly resumed making some pancakes while doing a few breathing exercises through her nose.
"Man, that was a lot more rattling than I first thought," Chloe mumbled to herself as she set their food before them.
The two gave her a bit of a quizzical look, but with such tempting food in front of them they quickly shifted their focus to that instead.
With the kids distracted, she went upstairs to get her supplies and head to work. She would deal with the dishes later. All of them were late now thanks to her.
For once she was grateful her kids were quick to eat if allowed since by the time she was back downstairs, they were already done. Normally she would do a little finger wag like yesterday, but time was short so instead the three of them walked out of the house to school.
Once again, she was back to her job where that big ol' Doppler was waiting for another hug and a snack.
"My top artist! So good to see you! So good!" Doppler cheered and half-smothered her again.
His hug actually felt good for once. Better than before. Maybe she needed it more than she thought.
After their brief exchange, she walked down the hall back to her office.
"At least he hasn't changed," Chloe mumbled to herself.
Everything seemed normal, despite the foreboding feelings she was experiencing. What was a bit unusual was Lefty was waiting in her office and spinning around her swivel chair. Granted, this wasn't the first time he did this, but it did irk her a bit to see her seat occupied without permission.
As she entered, their eyes met, and she squinted. Lefty jerked to a stop and blushed a bit, embarrassed slightly by her seeing him goofing off. He knew as a Toon he would do Toony things, but around her he knew to keep it a bit regulated for her comfort.
"S-sorry…" Lefty muttered after a long awkward pause.
"Can I have my chair back Lefty?" She asked flatly as she put her hands on her hips.
"Uh…oh, oh yes, of course! Sorry."
"What are you doing here anyways?"
Lefty hopped out of her seat, allowing her to sit down in it. Secretly she was happy it was warm, but she didn't want to give Lefty the wrong idea.
"I uh…what was I doing? Oh right, right! I wanted to ask if maybe you and I could get lunch together?" Lefty stammered.
Chloe just about rolled her eyes. He was a nice Toon, truly, but he didn't seem capable of understanding that they weren't meant to be. Although, she didn't actually have an excuse this time and was not about to hurt his feelings.
Begrudgingly, she felt perhaps just one time would be okay. He was just trying to be nice, and they never really did anything because of her. He was just too naive and too hopeful to understand.
"Oh, alright. But this isn't a date. Just coworkers getting lunch, right?" Chloe stated sternly.
"Oh! Yes! Yes! Of course! I mean…uh…of course I understand. Yeah, it's just a lunch after all," Lefty confirmed, though Chloe knew he didn't mean it.
After a moment of silence with Chloe sitting at her desk trying to send some obvious signs; Lefty finally got the message and began to exit the room to let her focus.
"Oh right, well, I'll let you go then. See you in a few hours!"
At last, he was gone.
Chloe breathed out some stress and pulled out her latest chapter of Anita. At least she could catch up on this before lunch.
About an hour before noon, she realized she had a problem. Normally each chapter consisted of 4 or 5 dreams together since they were so short for her, but her latest dream was completely unusable. The only parts that worked was Anita wandering the forest, but that didn't exactly make for an interesting comic.
Chloe sighed, her frustration making it even harder to concentrate. This was something she didn't know how to handle. She didn't want to write ahead of her own dreams just in case her dreams had a different storyline than what she could come up with.
Chloe really needed another dream so she could continue this before they (probably) published on Sunday.
"Hey Chloe. Hungry?" Came a familiar duck voice.
Chloe looked up at her clock. It was already 12:29. Where did an hour and a half go? It was just 11:00 a few minutes ago! Was she that lost in thought?
"Earth to Chloe! Hello? come in!" Lefty yelled while waving his arms up and down.
"Oh. What are you doing?" Chloe questioned once she focused again, confused by his actions.
"Getting your attention. Must have been in deep thought."
"Was I? Sorry. What was your first question?" Chloe asked, a bit dazed on what happened.
"Uh…lunch?"
She was about to respond when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and stomach. She winced, grabbing her stomach, and struggled to answer for a moment.
"Oh…I don't think I can," She groaned and leaned forward in her chair. Lefty seemed alarmed and came to her.
"Chloe? Hey, Chloe? What happened?" Lefty asked, quite concerned, and leaned onto one knee to be closer to her current height.
"I feel sick. I'm sorry. I think I need to go home early," The cat responded, jumping up and pushing past Lefty.
The poor duck watched as she ran to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Part of him wasn't sure what just happened, but he felt maybe she just didn't have the heart to tell him he was no good.
He wasn't going to eavesdrop and find out, so he decided to wait at his desk and doodle until she came back to him.
Meanwhile, once Chloe slammed the door closed, she placed her hands on the sink and sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. She had no idea what caused such a sudden shift in her health, but she was none too happy to feel sick.
It was obvious at this point, she needed to see a doctor.
After making sure she was strong enough to walk steadily, she left the bathroom, past Lefty without even looking at him, and went to Doppler to ask for the day off. Lefty had raised a hand to stop her, but she was too fast; he felt pretty worried about her. Maybe she really was sick.
What terrible luck, of all times! Well, the obvious thing was to try and help her at her comics while she was gone so she didn't fall behind, but she had made it plainly clear that no one could write her comics but her. He really wanted to helpful for her so instead, he settled for trying to write out the title of it as close to her style as he could.
"Oh dear, my numero uno cartoonist is sick? Oh dear! Yes yes, please go see a doctor right now!" Doppler agreed without issue once she explained the problem.
She quickly made her way back to the playground to switch streets by using her portal. She hopped out on the other side in the playground. Once she located it, she was on her way to the local doctor of the town.
"Hey there Chloe! Sorry to see you again, but Dr. Pulyurleg is at your service. What's happened? Cogs got some good hits on your twins?" The yellow doctor cat asked, cheerfully but also a bit nervous.
"No, it's me actually, and it's not the Cogs. I just feel…really sick. Think you could check me out?" Chloe asked.
"Sure, I can do that. Let's see here," The doctor replied as he fumbled around his pockets for some tools.
He produced a wooden stick first.
"Okay, open your mouth."
"Ahhhh…" Chloe responded with her tongue out.
She felt the wood on her tongue as the doctor inspected her mouth.
"Hmm…looks red. Just like clown shoes," Dr. Pulyurleg joked.
Chloe didn't look amused.
Several more tests were conducted on her, but she was beginning to realize that Dr. Pulyurleg didn't know what he was doing for something like this. Especially since he was having her stand on one leg and touch her nose with each hand back and forth.
"Okay, I think I have done enough research to make a conclusion," Dr. Pulyurleg said at last, much to Chloe's relief.
"So what is the problem?" Chloe asked, surprised he could actually give an answer.
"Well…" The doctor drew out the word while he went through a few papers "I have no idea. It's nothing I've ever seen before."
Chloe looked at the doctor blankly. All these tests were just to get an 'I don't know' for an answer?
"So that's it? No idea? Not even a guess?" Chloe asked, trying to avoid yelling at him for wasting her time.
"Afraid not. Sorry. This is something unique for sure. You are fine physically I'm pretty sure. Maybe a bad playground snack?"
Chloe had enough at this point and hopped off the table and onto her feet. She couldn't be rude; he was much better at restoring Laff and healing children with treats.
"Thanks for the help, Dr. Pulyurleg. Stay Toony," Chloe grumbled and quickly left.
She looked at her phone for the time and saw that it was currently 2:53 pm. She had actually spent over an hour there to get an unknown diagnosis. Well, she had no choice now. Since a Toon couldn't help her, she needed a Cog to take a look instead.
"Hello, this is M-11-04-03-13. How can I help you?" A monotone voice came through the speaker.
"It's me, Marylin," Chloe replied, "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you during work hours."
"That's okay Chloe, but please keep whatever you are needing to ask brief," The Mingler gently warned.
"I think I'm getting sick. I went to my doctor, and he doesn't have an answer for me. Can you put me in touch with one of yours?" Chloe asked, sounding a bit desperate.
She could almost hear the Mingler raising her eyebrows at the odd request.
"Well, please know that our doctors aren't exactly in tune with your species. I doubt he will be capable of figuring it out," Marylin explained, leaning back in her chair and tapping her fingers on her desk.
"I know, but I'm running out of options, and I need my comic to continue; without it I can't get donations in for you guys," Chloe pleaded, knowing this would probably motivate her Cog friend.
"Well, that does sound like a problem…" Marilyn pondered, "Alright, I'll have someone reach out for an 'on the road' appointment. Anything else?" Marylin asked, sitting up in her chair, sure enough now much more engaged at this point.
There was, but Chloe didn't want to ask about it right now. She had already asked for one favor after all.
"No that's all."
"Alright. Thank you and have a good productive day," The Mingler rattled off and then promptly hung up.
With that matter resolved, for the most part, Chloe suddenly had a new problem. What was she supposed to do with her time? She wasn't able to work right now, and her kids were at school. She gave it some thought of what to do as she pocketed her phone.
The thought of taking up Lefty on his lunch offer did cross her mind, but she just couldn't deal with it right now and it was already close to the afternoon, well past lunch time.
Instead, she decided to try to relax her mind with one of the best ways she knew. Racing.
It may surprise some, but this cat was an adamant racer. She adored the hobby and, despite owning an SUV, still enjoyed racing it. Sure, she wasn't nearly as competitive as other Toons with their high-end F1 cars, but she still loved to set personal bests and compete for top times of the week. Something her humble truck was capable of doing.
She strutted over the loading area where plenty of tracks were awaiting a contender. She particularly liked empty districts to really get those speed runs going and today was no exception.
She was very fond of the forest tracks; their long straight shapes were great at top speeds despite some pretty large hairpin turns.
As a creature of habit, she decided to try to beat her own record again.
Once her SUV was dropped onto the load line, she hopped into it and drove into the tunnel to the track. These tunnels worked a lot like personal portals, as they would open up into the track for her to set at the start line.
Usually these were pretty quick, but strangely today it was taking a while for it to open up on the other side.
She stopped and turned around in her seat to see if maybe she could just reverse out of there and try again. This wasn't exactly a new thing, sometimes these portals struggled at larger sizes.
Unfortunately for her, the way she came was also closed off.
Chloe then noticed the tension in the air. It was a tension she wasn't used to, but it felt oddly familiar for some reason. She could feel her heart rate starting to rise.
Right as she was about to worry, the other end opened finally, allowing her to get through.
She quickly raced through, but once she was through, she immediately regretted it. It was nighttime out. How was this possible?
"What…?" She breathed.
She had never seen this place at night. It was always closed at night. But there was another problem. This didn't look like the hairpin track she had jumped to.
Actually, it didn't look like any track at all. Even her map wasn't loading the layout on her car screen.
Where was she?
That same feeling returned again. That 'being watched' feeling. This was not good at all. She could feel her fur rising around her neck.
She looked around, the moon was high in the sky, and she was all alone. She regretted doing this by herself. Maybe she should have gone with some rookies. Or professionals. Or anyone.
She mulled over her options. Well, only option. Drive until the end. She didn't see much else to do, so she put her car in gear and drove along the track.
It was oddly quiet. Nothing was happening other than that feeling. Not even any forest critters were making a sound.
She was already going flat out after a minute since it was straight as an arrow out here. There was no speed boost or mystery boxes for her to grab either. Her headlights did little to show the way for her, their poor yellow haze wasn't exactly great for long distance lighting.
Trees flew by either side of her as she cruised at her top speed. She was holding her steering wheel pretty tightly as she hoped this would end soon.
*SLAM*
Out of nowhere, an anvil came down and flattened her and her car! After a moment she popped back up in shock and looked behind her after getting her bearings back.
That was a gag. One of a few from mystery boxes on the track that racers could pick up to sabotage others. There was no one here to use it on her, right? Where did it come from? She hadn't even passed any boxes herself.
Has someone come to rescue her? She squinted as she looked back desperate to see the other Toon coming.
Except it didn't seem to be a Toon. It was…something for sure. She halted her car to let it catch it up. Maybe it was someone after all, just a car model she hadn't seen before.
The being approached slowly. A nagging feeling was starting to eat at her. Something was screaming at her to run, but she was torn on what to do.
She looked in front of her again. The endless road stretched beyond what she could see. She looked back again.
Her heart sank a moment later as the thing came close enough that she could make out something she remembered all too vividly. The bright red eyes were a dead giveaway.
With a shriek mixed with a yelp, she jerked back in her seat and stepped on it. Her little truck did a minor burnout before pulling away but whatever that thing was, it was already moving much faster and closing the gap as fast.
She raced through those woods as fast as she could. How she longed for a mystery box that spawned periodically on these tracks. To just hold something for her to use to protect herself, but for some reason there was nothing here. It was an endless road.
She was gripping the wheel so hard; her hands were starting to hurt. But the rear-view mirrors were showing a terrifying picture behind her.
For the first time, she cursed herself for not buying the fancy F1 car like literally every other Toon ever. The truck was lagging in terms of top speed, and it was obvious the thing behind her knew it.
Suddenly, she was rammed, and hard. Her neck jolted backwards from the hit, and she almost started to cry as it went for another hit.
She looked back to see what this entity was. It was definitely a Cog of some kind.
She tried to avoid it by moving out of the way, but he followed with ease and landed another hit. The car after her was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Black as night and glowing red headlights, just like the Cog itself. She couldn't even really make out the model. She was at a loss on what to do.
The apparent Cog pulled up beside her and the two met each other's gaze at the same time. They raced at the same speed for a while before the Cog swung over and rammed her side, almost causing her to lose control!
Her poor truck was not meant for this kind of abuse. Anvils, pies, and bananas were all fun and games and so was periodically slamming into a wall, but she was flat out being rammed at this point.
Chloe was losing speed as her SUV was wearing out from the abuse. She was trying her best to nurse it along, desperately hoping something would come and save her if she held out long enough.
The Cog slammed into her and pushed her into the guard rail; sparks flew up from her side and she leaned over to avoid being hit by them. The grinding noise was beyond loud and was deafening her.
She looked over at the Cog again as her car grinded on the rail, seeing it was watching at her, those beady red eyes staring her down. Chloe could finally make out what the Cog was…sort of.
Like the vehicle, she had never seen this Cog before. It almost looked like a Legal Eagle but black and more warped looking. What was this thing?
She squinted a little harder and it almost looked like it was kind see through, but she couldn't be sure.
Before she could watch a little longer the mystery Cog slammed into her, the hardest hit yet, sending her out of control into the tree line right as the guardrail ended.
She gripped the wheel as hard as she could trying to maintain some level of control but at the speed she was going, it was nearly impossible.
Her truck slammed through branches, bushes, and sticks at high speed. She looked over at the road she was veering from to see if he was following her still, but he was gone.
She then turned her head back in front just in time to see a particularly large tree racing towards her. With no way to stop or turn around, it was a collision course.
An absolutely deafening crash echoed out and almost threw her out of her seat.
Chloe groaned while lifting her head off the steering wheel. She was in a lot of pain from such a violent hit even as a Toon.
She glanced to her side and saw the track. It looked normal. Wait a minute…
It was day again.
She looked all around. She was back on the normal track and her map had returned, albeit the screen on her car was shattered.
It dawned on her that she had in fact gone off track into a tree, but she was a mere 10 feet from the road.
She then heard engine noises again. Multiple this time though. Chloe felt a sense of panic. Was he…she…it coming back?
Up the hill came several much toonier looking cars. Several F1s and a basic model. A massive relief at last from this nightmare. It was just Toons.
Chloe tried to get up, but she realized in the violent wreck, her car had kinked just enough to trap her leg in the foot hole. She sighed in annoyance. There was no way to avoid this embarrassment.
She considered not letting them see her but last time she was alone she felt her life was on the line. It was clear embarrassment was better than the unknown.
Ultimately, with frantic waving of her hands while stuck in her seat, the other Toons did see her and stopped on the side of the track. It was very rare for anyone to wreck in the racetracks, so they were quite worried at the sight.
"Good grief! Are you alright, friend?" The first Toon, a tall red slender bear, asked as he ran over to assist.
"No…not at all," Chloe moaned, "My leg is stuck. I can't get out."
"Oh dear! Did you spin out on a banana peel? Where are the other Toons you were with?" A second Toon, a shorter pink cat asked.
"I didn't race with anyone else actually..." Chloe admitted.
The two Toons looked at each other in puzzlement as their third friend came over.
"Wait, so how did you wreck like this all by yourself?" The pink cat asked while tilting her head.
"Yeah, normally anyone worth a jellybean of driving can't wreck like this by themselves," The bear agreed.
Chloe just groaned again. Last thing she needed was to be judged on something that didn't happen.
"No, I was chased by a Cog. It's unlike anything I've ever seen in my life. He was changing the track to something I've never seen before," Chloe explained.
The Toons did believe her at first but once she started talking like the Cog had superpowers, they started to fall off.
"Hey, hey, look! I guess maybe it can sometimes happen that you wreck on your own, but there's no need to make up silly stories. What if there was a child around to overhear that? They would never wanna race here again!" The bear chuffed, almost like he was the one who should be upset.
"I'm serious! That's what happened! Ooh..." Chloe began but winced in pain, she had stretched a little too much in one direction while trapped.
"Hey, maybe we should get her out first and then figure this out," The third Toon finally spoke up after inspecting her wrecked SUV.
The two seemed a little hesitant since she seemed like a liar, but maybe she was just hurt and stuck and just too embarrassed to admit it.
The three Toons pried at the door for a little while and gently pulled up on her back to slide her out from the top.
With some trial and error, she was finally removed from the car and put on her feet.
She stumbled a little but managed to maintain her balance.
"Thanks…really," Chloe mumbled and sighed, looking back at her lovely truck, now mangled almost beyond recognition.
"Of course! That's what Toons do, but really, there's no need to fib about a little mistake," The fellow cat explained, but she was hushed by Chloe.
Chloe was about to argue until she felt her phone buzz. Thinking it was one of her kids, she answered without looking at the caller.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Miss Chloe. I am Spin Doctor 03-09-99-01, calling about setting an appointment for inspection of your person. Do you have time for an examination today?"
"Wha- Oh, oh. Yes, I'm sorry. I am ready today, yes," Chloe stammered, completely forgetting about her ailment at first.
"Can you be at the Lawbot HQ at 17:00 hours" He asked in a robotic monotone.
"Uh…"
Chloe looked at her watch, 4:21 pm.
"Yeah, I can make it, but I thought this was meant to be an 'on the road' type deal?"
"Yes, well none of our traveling physicians were available, and I am willing to allow you to come here instead, but if you require specific accommodations you will have to wait possibly up to 48 hours for an opening."
Chloe could hear papers being shuffled on the other end of the phone. Either he was checking the schedule for her or was so busy that he was already working on his next case while talking to her.
"No no, it's fine, I'll make it. Thanks," Chloe relented.
"Very well, I will see you at 5," The doctor said before hanging up, not giving her a chance to say goodbye.
Typical Cog behavior, especially for a Lawbot. No art of the sales pitch for sure.
Once she pocketed her phone again, she looked back at the three Toons which had been idly waiting for her. One of them was just playing with the wheel on her truck that was not on the ground and could be spun at will.
"Who was that?" The bear asked without thinking of personal boundaries.
"Never mind that. I have to go! I guess, thank you all for your help. Have fun with your race," Chloe blurred out quickly.
Chloe then abruptly pulled out a portal to The Brrrgh and placed it down without giving the helpful group a second glance. Without even giving them a chance to befriend her, she left.
Chloe was walking down the street to the Lawbot HQ, although her pace was pretty slow due to the wreck from earlier.
She was grateful it was a bit emptier on these cold winter streets, save for the Cogs that paid her no mind. She didn't want to be totally alone, so some workaholics that minded their own business were the perfect match for her.
Eventually, she passed by the final tunnel into the Lawbot HQ. Chloe came here often enough for battles, and every time she would always take in the massive sight of the Lawbots. Their HQ was so pristine, and their pace was so orderly.
The one and only thing about Sellbots she disliked was how dirty they were. Couldn't they sell junk and then clean up after themselves? The cleanliness and openness of the Lawbots was a lot to take in, and the marble all over the place added to the formalness of the grand establishment.
Admittedly, the marble was a bit much for her. Marble pillars, marble floors, marble stairs, marble doors. It really needed a break in color somewhere besides tints of white and brown. Not to mention the giant marble statue of their boss right front and center was frankly quite silly.
She wandered across the floor causally passing Cogs left and right. They all knew she was a more neutral Toon and had heard of her donations, so none of them seemed to care much about her presence; assuming she wasn't trying to trespass anywhere.
With some luck, she finally found the entrance hidden behind the statue labeled as maintenance. Obviously, Toons had no reason to go in there. It was just a repair ward with minimal threats and no rewards. The Cogs couldn't fight back, so destroying them was a hollow victory since they couldn't do anything anyways. Better to spend resources fighting that boss or their DA offices.
Chloe slipped inside and walked up to a Spin Doctor typing away at a desk.
"Excuse me?" Chloe called out.
The Cog looked up for a moment at her and then back down to the screen.
"Are you lost, Toon?" He asked dismissively.
"No. I have an appointment actually," Chloe explained.
"That lure won't work on me. If you wanna fight, see the DA," He deadpanned, unimpressed.
"I'm serious. No gags. I set an appointment for 5," Chloe firmly replied.
"Sure kid, we will go with that."
"Look, just look at the schedule for 5 under the name Chloe," She argued, getting annoyed at this Cog's lack of interest.
With a, probably, exaggerated metallic sigh, the Spin Doctor looked over the schedule on his computer. His metal eyebrows raised slightly as he saw her name was actually in the system. He looked at her intently, rather perplexed.
"What are you doing in a repair ward with an appointment as a Toon?" He questioned.
"Inspection, I guess. Can I go now?" Chloe asked impatiently.
He seemed unsure how to proceed. With no reason to stop her, he got off his seat and escorted her to the doctor's office. He then opened the door slightly and popped his head in.
"Sir? There's a…Toon. She's here to see you, she claims. A Chloe?" He asked, unsure of himself.
"Yes, yes, that's correct. Let her in."
The now fully surprised Cog stepped out of her way and let her walk inside.
"Thanks," she said over her shoulder, the Cog already leaving her alone with the doctor.
"So, Miss Chloe. As you know per our standard practice disclaimer, I am not a practicing Toon healer, so I may not be able to identify your problem. Please sign this as acknowledgement to this fact."
The doctor handed her a clipboard with a paper attached to it. Chloe read over it as best as she could, but the print was so small and irritating and needlessly wordy, she couldn't really make out what it was trying to tell her. She decided to just accept his explanation and signed off.
Once her signature was secured, the doctor pulled out a small file and set it on the table.
"As mentioned, our knowledge is limited, so you'll have to bear with me on this one."
"I understand, sir."
"So, tell me. What is the issue then?" He asked as he sat down in front of her on a little rolling stool.
"I uh…I've been seeing things lately. I've been dreaming of things I shouldn't be. Some kind of Cog, unlike any of you that we know of. It's almost like…a black Legal Eagle?" She tried to explain but she was struggling to say anything without coming off as insane.
The doctor hummed a response and scribbled in his notes what she was saying.
"Continue please."
"Well…like just before I came here, I was on the racetrack we have in Toontown, and he showed up! Like he somehow changed the track, and I was chased before I wrecked trying to escape him…"
"I see. So, you have an overactive imagination? I believe I can assist th-" He began before she cut him off.
"No! No. It's not imagined. I swear he was real. Or I think he is…. well…" Chloe tried to argue but listening to herself, she could tell she wasn't making a good case for herself.
"Madam, I do not mean this in a condescending or harsh way, but it appears your imagination is likely the culprit. Have you actually been physically attacked?" He asked, watching her closely.
"Yes! He was ramming my car before I wrecked."
He raised an eyebrow.
"You understand if I was to see this vehicle it would be hard to decipher between a wreck you admit being a part of and being rammed by an enemy of yours?"
"Well…yes." She begrudgingly agreed and looked down at her feet, "But look at me! I didn't just do this to myself!"
"No need to be testy, Miss Chloe," The doctor mumbled as he wrote before inspecting her body.
She did in fact have several bruises so perhaps there was something that happened.
"To humor you, I will question you about your apparent aggressor. Describe him or her in as much detail as possible," The doctor requested.
"He's…like a Legal Eagle, but black, and maybe see-through? Kinda? With bright red eyes. And he's really tall," Chloe attempted to explain.
"I see," The doctor responded. "And did he say anything to you?"
"No. He hasn't said a single word so far."
After a moment of silence, the doctor finished his writing. He pondered for a moment, and then looked at her.
"Unfortunately, this kind of Cog is not in our database," The doctor explained slowly so she would understand him, "We have no information on what it could be. Without that, I cannot give an explanation other than your imagination is overactive and is blending Cogs together for an unknown reason."
She nodded solemnly, quite upset that he didn't have an answer either.
"What about my injuries?" She asked.
"You already admitted you wrecked, clearly at a high speed, so that would happen regardless. I will provide some medication for that at least," The doctor offered.
"So, what does this mean for me? Can you do anything for imagination if it is just that?" She asked, not even bothering to acknowledge her physical injuries.
"I have suppressants. Unfortunately, they are high end; designed for Cogs to block out all imagination in the event of something similar to this. I believe it could be fatal to remove all imagination from a Toon, so I can't give you these."
She shook her head aggressively.
"No, I am willing! I'm sure they are safe!"
"They aren't meant for Toons, Toon," He argued, not budging an inch.
"Surely you can do something about it. Anything else?"
"Well, I can contact the producer of the medication and ask them to produce a lighter version. With luck they may be able to manufacture a version for Toons if necessary. I know your kind…struggles… with actual disease and viruses, so it's best we keep this under-wrap."
"Fine. So can I pick it up later today?"
"Today? Not possible. The medication is manufactured in Cog Nation's capital city, Cog City. That alone is a day's train ride, but to produce it will probably take over a week. I'm afraid until then, you'll have to try and deal with it on your own."
"Over a week?! But doctor, how can I do that?" She cried out in anguish.
"I would not know. Maybe try not to imagine as much?" The Spin Doctor shrugged.
She sighed and stood up.
"Wait…you said something similar like this is said to happen to other Cogs?" Chloe noted, "What does that mean?"
"There are Cogs who have reported that they had to engage in battles with 'phantom Toons' while off duty. Although there's no evidence of this, so we tend to believe they just imagine these fights after a time. It seems to occur among senior Cogs that have gone through many battles with Toons and survived. These 'battles' they imagine are not harmful though and never lead to injury. These pills are for combating imagination that's too harmful for a Cog to have."
She sighed; it didn't sound like what she was going through all that much. After all she was physically attacked…. right?
"I guess it is what it is. Thanks for your help doctor. I just hope I can get a grip. Maybe it really is just my imagination…"
As she walked to the door and opened it, the doctor cleared his throat. She paused and looked back at him.
"Don't forget the bill. I would assume correctly you don't have insurance to cover."
"Oh…of course. I'll do that before I leave," She rolled her eyes and went to walk out the door.
"Oh, Miss Chloe? You said he is…see-through?" The doctor called out one last time.
"Yeah, almost like a shadow or something."
The doctor scratched his chin.
"I see. I'll be in touch with you when the medications are delivered to me."
She nodded and headed to the front desk where the first Spin Doctor looked back up at her and raised an eyebrow.
"So, I guess I have to pay now?" She asked, unsure of the process.
"Pay?" He asked skeptically, but a receipt printed out on his desk with the total. He picked it up and read it to her.
"250 cogbucks, please," He ordered, returning to his standard monotone.
"Uh…how much is that in jellybeans again?"
He looked at her and then down at his desk phone before picking it up and dialing a number.
She waited awkwardly for a moment.
"Yes…yes…250 cogbucks to jellybeans. Mhmm…thanks," He muttered before hanging up.
"Our Bean Counter says that is 1250 jellybeans, more or less," he told her.
Her eyes widened a bit. A thousand jellybeans!? For another 'I don't know'? She was locked in now, so she begrudgingly paid the amount needed.
"Thanks," She groaned before exiting the door, but before she left, the Spin Doctor placed a bottle of something in front of her.
"Medication for your injuries. Your special medication will arrive with an ETA of 1-2 weeks," He explained.
With a raised eyebrow, she took her bottle and left.
"A thousand two hundred and fifty. What a scam…" Chloe complained as she headed towards the exit of the HQ so she could portal home.
As Chloe approached, she wondered what she was meant to do now. Her medication wasn't going to arrive for possibly weeks.
Regardless of her problem, she realized something much more important. It was almost 6. Her kids had been out of school for almost 3 hours now!
She could only hope they were fine and with their friends still.
Then Chloe ran for home.