Disguised and Disgusted
Their mission was a simple one: Test out their Cog Disguises (without getting caught), and also gather intel. This exact situation isn't what anyone had in mind however...
Waiters came by the table and served cans of oil. A Micromanager sitting with them thanked the waiters, and began to happily sip the oil. The Mover-and-Shaker looked at the oil, trying her best to not cringe obviously. The two decided to not touch their oil cans for now.
Meanwhile, two more Toons kept a close eye on them while hiding away. While it would be easy to just hear about the results after this experiment, these two always think it's good to have another set of eyes on the scene. They both had built the Cog Disguises after all, and they wanted to see first hand how the other two would do.
The sea-green cat whispered, "The disguises are working well! It's like as if they blend right in!"
The yellow cat chimed in, "The designs are unique, but you're right, they work well." Seeing the oil being served, however, neither of them decided to question how the group got into this predicament.
The Micromanager finally chimed in after enjoying her serving.
"Oh, girls, have you not finished your drinks yet?" The Robber Baron and Mover-and-Shaker looked at her, then at each other.
"It's quality stuff, you know. I can get plenty of it too because I help out with the catering, so please help yourselves!"
"I'm uh... not hungry," the Robber Baron said. "I ate earlier since I didn't know we were gonna be... here." She smiled meekly, and pushed her can towards the Micromanager. "You can have my serving." Do Cogs even eat? She wondered if maybe she could have said something different to deflect suspicions, if there were any. The Micromanager then turned to the Mover-and-Shaker.
"How about you? Is yours alright?" The Mover-and-Shaker had a look of surprise and anxiety, but soon answered.
"No thanks!" She said as a quick and nervous response. The Micromanager leaned forward with her arms on the table and a hand resting on her face.
"I know you two must be nervous... You're both new hires, but I'm determined to help guide you through this company!"
The two disguised Toons looked at each other, confused; It wasn't too long ago that they were fighting this one very Cog, albeit without their disguises on. Of course, they were never going to see this side of her as Toons, but it still surprised them that she acted so caringly for those she saw as new or lower.
"Of course, that's why I thought it would be a great idea to bring you two to the Banquet! You'll get to socialize and learn about everything that goes on here."
"Socialize..." the Robber Baron mumbled.
"Of course, of course..." the Mover-and-Shaker said, too confused to do anything else.
While this would technically be "gathering intel", it wasn't the ideal place and event to do so. This wasn't their first time in the disguises, but they hardly understood what the norms of Cogs even were. Of course, they existed, and they seemed fundamentally different from Toons, but the details... they never bothered with the details, actually. It's as if they landed on an alien planet, and had to act quickly and accordingly to something completely new. The fact that the two have been guided by the Micromanager was both a blessing and curse, as well; They could learn some of the norms from her, but if they messed up she would be the one to see it.
The two cats slowly became worried.
"You know, Jellyroll, I think we should be more concerned with the toons inside the disguises," the yellow one said.
"Hmm... fine. We can't have them being found out, after all."
In the Robber Baron and Mover-and-Shaker's earpieces, a voice emerged.
"Gator! Sparkle! We're not feeling too confident in your acting skills." The Robber Baron discreetly glanced over to the place she knew the two cats were hiding, and started to tap her finger anxiously.
"Of course, it'll be easier to blend in once you get exposed to more suit-uations... but for now, try mimicking what everyone else in the room is doing!" Looking around, the Robber Baron knew everyone was chatting and drinking oil. She knew Jellyroll was kind of insane, but he couldn't be recommending..? A waiter holding more oil cans came by suddenly, preparing to serve more oil cans by taking the two empty ones.
"Is everything okay? This one drink hasn't been touched and you've hardly asked for refills," They asked.
The Mover-and-Shaker suddenly spoke. "N-no, everything's good! The oil's good!" The waiter nodded and moved on.
"I just haven't drank it yet 'cause I want to savour it," she explained to the Micromanager. The other three thought this was a good save, until the Mover-and-Shaker drank some of the oil. She did her best to hold back a look of disgust, and also hold back from throwing up the oil right then and there. The Micromanager noticed something was wrong.
"Is everything alright...?"
The voice in the earpieces rang out, saying in a forceful whisper, "Sparklezilla, what the HELL did you do?!" She wiped her mouth.
"You were right, it's quality stuff.. but... I'm a lightweight it seems," she said, smiling nervously.
"Ah!" said the Micromanager. "That makes sense; You're not as strong as your Robber Baron friend, huh?" Gator thought to herself, That made SENSE to her?? She felt somewhat relieved that at least that her friends were somehow both insane but also geniuses.. or Sparklezilla simply got lucky. Either way, their cover wasn't blown, and they seemed to dispel any suspicions once again.
The two cats looked on, absolutely baffled.
"Bonbon," Jellyroll suddenly said, turning to the yellow cat, "I think next time we'll have to sneak in some soda for those two..."
The rest of the night went as planned, with Gator gathering info about the Cogs. Of course, it was boring, but it was nothing compared to Sparklezilla, who sat there the entire night, sick to her stomach.
