Evil Incarnate (Part 1)

**"Evil Incarnate (Part 1)"**is the eighth episode of *Rewritten* and the 8th episode overall. It is the first of the two-part episode "Evil Incarnate." This is the first two-part episode.

It was published on August 1, 2017, after a month-long hiatus.

In the episode, a massive manhunt for the missing Dr. Molecule is underway, and his past is explored.

## The Episode

==Years Ago==

"I can't find him!" Marie Avogadro said, a bit too wildly. Her husband, Albert, emerged from the basement, out of breath.

"He's just hiding," he said, denial thick in his voice. Marie was getting hysterical. He needed to be found. He wasn't well. He couldn't be out there...alone. The Toon Patrol was looking too, but Marie had hoped...hoped dearly...that he would have come here. The summer home. Where he had sat out in the grass and flopped his flippers...

Marie clutched her heart, her laff. She could feel it dropping. She had to find her son.

Albert thought he ran away, but he wouldn't be so stupid. He wouldn't endanger himself like that. He knew his condition. What it meant. What it could mean. He was so young...

No, he must have been taken.

Kidnapped.

Thinking it so clearly made her head ache.

Albert met Marie on the stairs. His face was heavy with worry.

"He's not here," he whispered.

Marie's knees buckled. She grabbed the banister for support, but she could hardly breathe.

Adam was gone.

===Present Day===

Chief Constance Miller shook Eileen Irenic's hand.

"Amazing speech you gave last night, Madam Mayor."

Eileen gave a pleasant smile. She had been putting off this meeting with Chief Miller for too long. She had wanted to ensure a proper training program was in place before she began the monumental task of beginning the manhunt for Dr. Adam Molecule. In addition, she had to find a replacement for the deceased Melville Jesop as the Leader of the Docks. Very few people had come forward, but at last a shopkeeper named Ahab Ishmael volunteered.

Now Eileen could focus her efforts on Adam Molecule, the creator of the Cogs, and all the evil.

As it turned out, Eileen was not the only one who had delayed the manhunt. The Chief shared the burden.

"We hardly had time to do anything," Constance said, overturning a stack of folders from before Exodus. "Cog buildings, Cog attacks, then the climate, the murders...a manhunt was far beyond any of my resources."

She found the folder she was looking for, the one on Molecule. It was horrifyingly thin. There were two pages inside.

"A compilation of information we know about him," Constance said, holding up the first sheet, only half full of text. "And then a copy of his birth certificate. His name is a pseudonym. He was born Adam Charles Avogadro to Marie and Albert Avogadro."

"Is his family still around?" Eileen asked. Constance shook her head.

"Parents are the only family he had. And they left Toontown years ago."

Eileen stared.

"What do you mean? Left to go where?"

Constance shrugged.

"Probably one of the colonies. That's as far as we got in the investigation before Exodus. Apparently only a month after Adam ran away from home, they packed up two backpacks and left the house in the middle of the night. They lived in Melodyland. They were last seen leaving the Playground in the Northern direction. They never came back."

"He ran away?" Eileen asked. Constance nodded.

"His parents said they had upset him. The Toon Patrol searched for him, but he had vanished. There was never a resurfacing or anything. People assumed he died. So his case was shelved, though it's still a cold case. Apparently he changed his name."

"Any medical history?" Eileen asked. Constance smirked.

"I thought the same thing. Maybe he was crazy, right? Well, his files were stolen from the Medical Center two days after his disappearance. The cameras were disabled for five minutes on that night, and it's likely he took them."

Eileen stared.

"What could he have been trying to hide?"

"Dunno," Constance said with a shrug. She crossed her arms. "He's an enigma."

"So," Eileen said slowly, "Molecule has no family except parents who are unable to be found. His address is unknown, and without parents or friends we cannot piece together a childhood story or figure out why he ran away. The only person who seems to have met him is Flippy."

"And Flippy's receptionist," Constance pointed out.

"Who's Flippy's receptionist?"

"Pamela Aaron," Constance said darkly. "Left behind in Exodus. Killed in the Final Battle."

Eileen's shoulders dropped.

"Do you think...that was premeditated? Molecule trying to eliminate those who would recognize him upon return."

"If that's the case," Constance said, "he would have killed Flippy."

"We should talk to Flippy," Eileen said. "He must know something more."

"I agree," Constance said. "I can have him in here this afternoon."

Constance lifted the rest of the folders from the desk and placed them carefully back in the box. Eileen eyed the documents.

"What are those?" she asked.

"Cold cases," Constance said grimly.

Eileen's blood went cold. Her next word came out as a whisper. "Murders...?"

Constance shook her head.

"Three disappearances, including Adam Avogadro's--er, Molecule. Eleven unsolved robberies."

"Who are the other two disappearances?" Eileen asked, trying to remember recent newspaper headlines."

"Alice Carver, disappeared twelve years ago from her estate, and Bradley Wolfe, disappeared ten years ago from Dreamland, though he lived in the Docks."

Eileen raised an eyebrow, but Constance laughed.

"They're not connected," she said. "The three never knew each other, though they were similar in age. Alice was apparently dared by friends at a sleepover to walk outside in a hurricane--you remember, that really terrible one when we were younger--and she was swept away. As for Bradley, he disappeared on the foggiest night in Toontown history, and probably fell into the chasm in the Playground--it was under construction then. They're cold cases for different reasons; we can't find their bodies."

Eileen shivered and stood.

"Let's go get Flippy."

===Years Ago===

Marie and Albert's exuberance of having a newborn had worn out quickly. The excitement, the jubilee, the potential, had run dry. From the outside, people would assume they were bad parents, unwise individuals who foolishly thought having a child would make their lives better, easier, whole. Two people who made a mistake and were paying for it dearly.

But that was not the case. Marie and Albert were thrilled to have a son, a little duckling. Their stoic faces that had replaced the cheery ones of only a few weeks ago were due to another reason. One they'd rather keep hidden.

*There was something wrong with Adam*.

The first doctor said nothing was the matter. Everything was normal.

The second doctor said time would heal all wounds.

The third doctor suggested seeing a specialist.

The fourth doctor, the specialist, recommended a friend in laffology.

The fifth doctor, the laffologist, agreed to see them today.

Marie and Albert watched little Adam totter around the waiting room. They found themselves unable to overcome their curiosity with him. Most parents in their situation would probably keep their child on a short leash--not a physical one, hopefully; those days of barbary were long over--but a metaphorical one. Keeping them close at their side, even in a waiting room. But they wanted to see what Adam would do. How he would react. It would give them more to give the doctor. Their hope was draining.

*Something was wrong with Adam*.

The laffologist ushered them into the spacious office after about an hour of waiting. It was their own fault; they had arrived an hour early from anticipation.

Dr. Guffaw was her name, the laffologist. She was a kind woman, with a kind smile. It made Marie and Albert feel reassured. Hopeful.

What ensued were a series of tests for Adam. As a newborn, there wasn't much cognition to test. He couldn't even speak yet. Totter, wobble, as a little duck, yes, but not quack. His green face puffed up when Dr. Guffaw shone a light in his eye. She placed a device over his chest and listened. Marie leaned forward too, determined to hear whatever was beating within. Albert held his breath. Marie's hand grazed her husband's.

"Mr. and Mrs. Avogadro," Dr. Guffaw said, and Marie braced. Albert gripped her hand and together they squeezed until the blood stopped flowing. Time stood still. And then Dr. Guffaw's mouth moved.

"Your son has a severe laff deficiency."

That was it.

There it was.

Why he was never happy.

Why he never smiled.

Why there was no joy in his eyes.

Marie had absolutely no idea what a laff deficiency entailed, or even what it was. Laff sounded vaguely familiar, something she learned in school. Dr. Guffaw continued to do tests to help explain herself. After what felt like hours and hours and years and centuries, Dr. Guffaw gave Marie and Albert a pamphlet. It was dusty. Unused. Adam's condition was rare.

"Our laff," Dr. Guffaw said, "is an inherent part of our Toon biology. It keeps us happy and whole. Inside our hearts is a laff meter, so to speak, which moves up and down as our emotions change. As your laff gets lower, you get sadder. When it is fully depleted, you go sad. And...well, no Toon lives long once they're sad."

Marie choked.

"So...is Adam sad?" Albert gasped.

"No," Dr. Guffaw answered quickly. "But his laff is incredibly low."

"How low?" Marie quacked.

Dr. Guffaw sighed.

"It's impossible to put any sort of measurement on it. But..."

She stood and pulled a chart from the wall. It showed a duck laff meter, shaped like a duck head. It was smiling, and it had fifteen teeth, each numbered.

"This is an imaginative depiction of what a laff meter could look like," Dr. Guffaw said. Each tooth represents one laff point. For the sake of this example, let's say every Toon is born with 15 laff points."

Marie and Albert nodded.

"Adam was born with 5."

Albert leaned backward. Marie's hand fell from his with a slap against the chair. Dr. Guffaw did not say anything further. She rolled up the chart.

"What do we do?" Marie asked.

Guffaw clasped her hands together.

"It is imperative," she said, "that Adam is well-cared for. Nurtured. He is more susceptible to sadness and heartbreak than anyone else I've ever known. Keep Toonups around the house. You can purchase kits from the pharmacy."

"If he goes sad..." Albert said, "what happens?"

Dr. Guffaw frowned.

"I'm not sure. He would be incompetent and unable to communicate, most likely. And it is a possibility he could die."

Marie began to cry. Albert wiped away his own tears. They glanced together at their young son, sleeping soundly on the doctor's table. Severe laff deficiency. A rare condition. That could kill him.

They must keep a close eye on him.

They must ensure he was always happy.

They couldn't risk him going sad.

===Present Day===

Flippy was agitated. He kept fidgeting. Constance tried her best to calm him, but he was, in her opinion, overcome with guilt. He regretted what he had done to Toontown. Good.

But he needed to get over it if he wanted to help them with this investigation. The hunt to find Molecule.

"How did you find him?" was Constance's first question.

"He was in the Toon Database," Flippy mumbled. "Listed as a Mechanical Engineer."

"And you contacted him, why?"

"Because his bio said that he was a master of robotics that could automate machinery and save jellybeans. So I asked to see him."

"What happened in this first meeting?"

"He showed me the Cogs. Diagrams, drawings, what they were capable of. All bound in a journal. And then I met one."

Constance's eyebrows shot off her face.

"You *met* a Cog and didn't realize their terror?"

Flippy leapt to his paws.

"Certainly not. The Cog he showed me doesn't even exist in Toontown. It was called a Quack. And it was lovely. It was kind, and it told jokes. I didn't know the Cogs would be...so..."

"Sad," Constance finished.

Flippy nodded.

Constance was satisfied with the rest of Flippy's interview. It helped her get an image of what the ousted Mayor was feeling and doing while the Cogs were beginning their rise. Perhaps she was too hard on him.

"I think I know where he lived," Flippy barked.

Constance looked at him, shocked.

"Where?"

Flippy told her about when he visited his office on the day of Exodus.

"He said he wasn't going with us to Fantasyland. And he didn't. So I don't think he lived in Toontown."

"Then where did he live?" Constance asked.

"On the outskirts. Somewhere the rain wouldn't reach. I would ask Nimbus...but he's dead. He might have lived in the tundra beyond the Brrrgh. It's desolate and harsh up there, perfect for a monster like him."

"Or he could live in the forests beyond Dreamland, the desert beyond Melodyland, on an island beyond the Docks...Flippy it would take us years to search all that territory."

"I know," Flippy said dismally. "But it's all we have now."

Constance sighed in agreement. It was.

Everything changed overnight.

When Constance came into work that morning, there was one envelope in the mailbox. A postcard from the Docks. Unsigned. It said simply, "Chipper Acres."

Constance had frowned. There was an old golf course that was part of the initial settlement of Toontown that had become obsolete when Toons stopped playing the sport. Trees sprouted along the course in the past centuries, surrounding the land of the Docks. But there was a well-known clearing once used for camping called Chipper Acres.

Did it have something to do with Molecule?

The thought made Constance's heart soar. They would arrest him once and for all.

But one thing that Constance hated most was anonymous tips. It made it difficult to pursue leads. Thankfully, she had a camera installed outside Toon HQ before Exodus. She asked the technician to pull up the footage.

They fast forwarded through the night until 4am, when a tall dog with a darker face than arms and legs sauntered up to the building, head bent, and dropped the postcard in the box.

Constance sucked in her breath.

The dog resembled the appearance Professor Pete described of the Mystery Man in Fantasyland. It was him. He was a dog.

Constance made sure to tell Pete before calling Eileen to put together a reconnaissance team to Chipper Acres.

===Years Ago===

Adam Avogadro thought his parents were stupid. Not stupid in the kid sense, where everything that is undesirable is stupid. Adam thought his parents were thoroughly unintellectual. Unintelligent. Dumb.

They refused to see the benefits of academia, especially mechanics. It infuriated him.

The young duck crossed his arms and studied the gears and cogs in front of him. He had just disassembled the dishwasher in the restaurant owned by his parents. They were furious.

"Now it doesn't work!" Dad had cried.

"Adam, we need clean dishes for our customers!"

"*Please* put it back together!" Dad insisted.

"It's not a toy," Mom said as she hurried out the door.

Adam had rolled his eyes. He knew it wasn't a toy. He was trying to improve it. Automate it. The dishwasher they had was so old, it was essentially an antique from the War. He was just trying to help. But anything related to mechanical science went unappreciated.

Adam stooped and lifted the heaviest of the gears. He returned it to its original spot and cocked his head. If the circuits were rerouted through the sockets...maybe he could garner enough electrical energy to power a generator to automatically wash dishes regardless of if it was full or not. It could even churn out the clean ones. Then Mom and Dad would see how smart he was, and how valuable his passion was. Then they would let him attend a university outside Toontown. Somewhere far away where he could study.

"You could be an apprentice," Dad said once. "Learn the trade from a professional here in Toontown. And then you could practice mechanics as a hobby while keeping up with the restaurant."

Adam wrinkled his beak. He didn't want to work in the food industry. And he certainly wanted to put as much distance between himself and the Periodic Table Bar and Grill as was Toonly possible.

Mom was upset when Adam said he wanted to leave Toontown. For one, that was almost a death wish for most. Very few people wanted to believe there was anything left beyond Toontown's borders. Of course there were the few little settlements dotting the former map of the continent.

"ADAM! We need help out here!"

Adam groaned. He quickly reconnected all the gears and wires and grabbed a few menus from the bin. He waddled out to the host stand, his usual spot.

"Hi how are you?" he quacked curtly to the arriving party. "Welcome to the Periodic Table."

"We have seven," a cat said without even making eye contact.

"Follow me."

The University of Cervidium, Adam mused to himself. It was rumored to have survived the War. If the War couldn't shut its doors, then surely it was an option today. Adam had to cling to that. He set the seven menus on the table and left without a word to the guests.

When he returned to the host stand, a purple monkey was waiting patiently. She had big round brown ears, a small snout, and a graceful smile. She had a dark purple clip in the fur on her head. When she looked at Adam, he felt his heart skip a beat.

She was beautiful. She was the girl he had seen at school all year. The one with the corner locker near the water fountain.

"Hi," he said dumbly.

"Hello," she said in the sweetest, most loving voice he had ever heard. "It's just me."

Adam fumbled for a menu and scanned the seating chart for the best seat in the house.

"Right this way!" Adam said and led the way to the table by the window overlooking the pond. He even pulled the chair out for her. She glided into it with poise. Adam set down the menu, and before he could do or say anything stupid like he always did, he ran away.

"Albert," Marie Avogadro said quietly. "We should send Adam home."

"Why?" Albert Avogadro said as he swiftly drank a glass of water for energy.

"Look."

Albert watched his son fawn over the young monkey by the window.

"His laff is too fragile for him to be having love interests," Marie whispered. "If she breaks his heart...that's it."

"Marie," Albert said with forced patience, "we can't control his life. We said we wouldn't be those kinds of parents."

"He has a *severe laff deficiency,"* Marie said as if this was news to Albert. "We have to protect him until he's old enough to fully understand it."

Albert bit his tongue. "You're right."

"Can you tell Adam he can go home?"

Albert bowed his head.

===Present Day===

Constance Miller sized up the team Eileen Irenic had put together. It was a team of six, consisting of who Eileen considered to be the most able of her recruits. A bear, a pig, a duck, Eileen herself, Constance, and Dr. Hyla Sensitive. The bear's name was Doctor. The pig was Piggy Pie, and the duck was called Violet. "This is what we must do," Constance said. "We must venture beyond the Docks into the relatively untouched Chipper Acres and find the hideaway of Adam Molecule. We will arrest him and order him to destroy the Cogs."

Eileen nodded fervently.

"How do we know he's in Chipper Acres?" Piggy Pie asked. Constance explained the anonymous tip.

"Shouldn't we do some more investigating before storming his hideout?" Violet asked with hesitation.

"We've wasted enough time," Constance said. "He could have already moved."

"What about his parents?" Doctor asked. "Are they still alive?"

"They disappeared shortly after Adam did," Constance said with a frown. "They had the Toon Patrol doing a manhunt for him across Toontown. Posters were up, he was on milk cartons...you all remember."

Everyone nodded.

"But his parents vanished. One day they just left their home and did not return. They had packed belongings in their suitcases and left in the dead of night. No one knows why, or where they went."

"Did they leave Toontown?" Piggy Pie asked incredulously, but Constance only shrugged.

"All we can do is speculate. We can't find them at any rate, so we have to focus our efforts on Adam Molecule."

Eileen passed out maps of Chipper Acres.

"Teleport to the edge of the Docks."

The six whipped out their transports and leapt toward the Docks.

===Years Ago===

Marie opened the front door of the house. The purple monkey was smiling sweetly on the doorstep, holding an envelope. Marie had learned her name was Alice Carver.

"Good morning, Mrs. Avogadro!" she said. "Is Adam home?"

Marie moved onto the doorstep and closed the door of the house.

"No," she lied. "He isn't. What's that you have there?"

Alice shifted sheepishly. "A card."

"A card?" Marie said. "Oh my. Well, I'll make sure to give it to him."

Marie put out her hand and blinked at Alice. She didn't move. She was blushing.

"Alice?" Marie said. "Can I have it please?"

Alice dropped the envelope in Marie's palm and left quickly. Marie sighed. She wished it didn't have to be this way. She pocketed the letter and opened the door of the house.

Adam was standing on the stair. His eyes were alight with fury.

"Why did you send her away?" he muttered.

Marie slammed the door so that he couldn't see Alice anymore.

"I didn't," she said. "She just wanted to drop something off is all..."

"I want that letter," he said. "Give it to me."

Marie raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound very polite, Adam. Remember how important it is to say please and..."

"Shut up," Adam spat.

Marie's mouth fell open. What had come over him?

"What's wrong?" Marie said, moving closer. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Albert getting in his car to go to work. In her head, she willed him to stay.

"You sent her away," Adam gasped. "You hate me."

Marie stared. Her eyes were wide. She could feel her heartbeat quickening. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Adam..." she breathed. "Your laff..."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY LAFF!"

He stormed past her. Marie grabbed for his flipper, but he was gone, out the door, down the path, running wildly.

"No," Marie said to no one but herself. She raced after him. She left the front door wide open. She didn't care. She knew what was happening. It had hit her like a brick sailing through the window of her past.

Adam had gone sad.

And it was her fault. His own mother had made her son go sad.

The number for the emergency service was in the kitchen by the phone. Marie knew it by heart. She cursed herself for leaving her phone behind. Adam had run down the street deeper into the neighborhood, away from the route Albert took by car.

"ADAM!" Marie screamed. She looked around in desperation. Adam was no where to be seen.

She gave up her fruitless search and returned to the house. She called the emergency number and reported his disappearance. Then she called Albert and tearfully recalled that morning's events.

"It's my fault," she wept.

To her sadness, Albert did not deny it.

===Several Weeks Later===

Adam frowned at the ledger. He didn't want to put down his name. One, he didn't want his parents to find him. Two, he didn't want anyone to find him. He wanted to be alone. And it would be obvious that he had been here if he signed the ledger.

The front desk agent of the Seaweed Street Inn was watching him with beady eyes. She could see through his lies.

"Nevermind," Adam said. "I don't think I can afford it."

The front desk agent smiled politely and Adam left the hotel in a hurry.

For a few weeks, Adam slept on the street. He found alcoves in which he could hide so that the Toon Patrol wouldn't see him and neither would passerby or shop patrons or shopkeepers. He wanted to remain hidden for as long as possible. By now his mother would realize that he had not run away at all, but circled back through the neighborhood to pick up a backpack from his bedroom and supplies and food from the kitchen. He stole his medical records from the Medical Center so that no one would know he had a laff deficiency. They'd say he was crazy. He knew his mother would never tell the police; they would judge her and she hated being judged. Adam then went to the restaurant and took a little over 10,000 jellybeans from the safe.

He had only spent the money so far on food from small shops on the streets. He didn't dare go into the Trolley Depot, where many high officials would likely recognize him.

Adam considered his options. He could run away to another neighborhood and live a new life. New name, new identity, but the chances of that succeeding were slim. He wanted to be able to spend money at will and live like a normal person. He felt his heart, where his laff had turned green. Unnoticeable against his neon green skin. It was weighing him down, but it wouldn't stop him. He had become inured to the pain. Establishing a new identity would be easy, but not a longterm solution.

Leaving Toontown altogether was the most appealing option. There were colonies hundreds of miles North, but Adam knew they were small--very small--and lived like peasants. They were a simple people, and would certainly not be any more tolerant of Adam's mechanical inclinations than his blasted parents.

There were the Kingdoms. The ones that were rumored to still be around. Cervidium and Vulpus and that other one that no one could pronounce or spell. Everything Adam had heard about them was negative, though. They were monsters, they were killers, they were inhumane and terrible. They were the reason for the War. They're why the Toons were in Toontown now. And why none of them were with them. Their species were banned from entering.

The ships from the Docks *never* voyaged that far North. Not even close. And no ships came from the North. So Adam was quite literally stuck in Toontown. Even if he could get to the borders of Cervidium, they would probably kill him on the spot. The ducks were on the wrong side of the War. Or something like that.

Adam settled on the prospect of changing his name and living in isolation where he could study mechanics in peace. He visited a real estate firm in the Docks called New Horizons, terribly cheesy, that sold properties all around Toontown. He found a quiet, serene, and empty place called Chipper Acres that surrounded the Docks on one side. The forests were used for camping on occasion but were largely untraveled. Berries were harvested from select areas and a natural geyser was a popular tourist attraction when it was in season to erupt every few years, not due for many years. Adam theorized the power of the geyser could be used to harness electrical energy through hydropower. And from there, he could build whatever he wanted. A machine to mow the grass, a fishing rod that did fishing all by itself, whatever his heart contented.

A shed that had once been used as a visitor center was for sale for 8,000 jellybeans. Adam was hesitant to spend almost all his money, but was more eager to get off the streets. The Toon Patrol were increasing their search for him. His parents were seemingly distraught.

Adam needed to get them off his trail.

He met with the real estate agent and deepened his quack so that the agent would think he was older. The agent asked for credentials and Adam's heart sank. He offered 9,000 jellybeans to skip the credentials. The agent seemed shocked by the proposal, but quickly countered with 9,100 jellybeans. Adam listed his name on the purchase form as Dr. Atom Molecule. Might as well throw in a doctorate, Adam thought.

The shed was off the transport grid and Adam had to walk to get there. By nightfall, he had reached the roaring river that divided the clearing known as Chipper Acres. He had to swim across it--no problem for a duck--to reach his new home. It was not empty, to his surprise. There was a countertop with a glass cabinet behind it which once held brochures. There were two windows, one on each wall, except the wall that was opposite the door. It was long and narrow, as opposed to a square, but it was homey. A cot had been tucked away for him. He stretched it out and lay down on his new bed in his new home. He stared up at the wooden ceilings and counted the cobwebs. It needed work.

And he needed money.

He spent the remaining 900 jellybeans on food, clothes, a journal and some pens, and the tools he didn't already steal from his parents. He also gave 50 jellybeans to a little sneaky cat to deliver a note to his parents.

But now he had nothing, not one jellybean in his pocket. And while he had food, clothing, and shelter, he had no income and certainly no way to build anything.

There was a lot that needed to be worked out, but the gears of Adam's head were spinning madly, and he closed his eyes to soak up the silence and tranquility of his new haven.

Marie Avogadro near lost her mind in the weeks following Adam's runaway. She was a complete and total wreck. Sometimes she saw herself from the outside and imagined everyone thought she was catatonic. But also guilty. It was her, after all, who had sent her son away.

Come home, Adam. Come home.

Marie begged every night for his return, but...

Nothing.

The feeling of emptiness that consumed her was exhausting. She found it difficult to sleep, meals were a struggle. She hadn't been to work since the day Adam ran away. Because he was out there, saddened, depressed, unable to function, and completely helpless. He could be picked up by a stranger, a violent Toon. He could fall into a pond and drown, get hit by a trolley. Every night she could see all the scenarios play out in explicit detail. She had to find him. She just had to.

One day, when Marie was sweeping the foyer (or rather, sweeping the dust around aimlessly) and Albert was balancing tax statements for the restaurant, a letter came through the mail flap in the door.

A postcard.

No return address, not even a picture on the obverse side. It was a blank scrap of paper. A stamp was neatly pressed in the top right corner. The message on the back made Marie want to scream.

"We have taken your son North to the Colony. 10,000 jellybeans will see his safe return. Come alone; tell no one."

Marie ran out the door, searching desperately for the deliverer, but no one was in sight. She didn't notice the bright pair of cat eyes watching her from under the front porch.

By nightfall, Marie and Albert had left their home behind and crept North, outside the borders of Toontown, and never knew they had been deceived.

===Months Later===

Adam Molecule wiped the grease off the printer and turned to the fat pig manager of the construction firm.

"Done," he said simply. The fat pig smiled his ugly toothless smile and flapped the jellybeans at Molecule. As always, he dropped most of them on the floor and Molecule had to go scurrying about to pick them up. It infuriated him, but he needed the money and the fat pig always paid well for the odd jobs Adam did. And it was under the table. It was mutually beneficial. Though Adam thought the fat pig was greasy and disgusting and foul.

On Molecule's way out of the shipyard, where the fat pig's employees were busy constructing a new fishing boat, he stopped in the supply closet to "return" the ink he didn't use. While there, he swept various mechanical gears and cogs into his backpack. Supplies for his experiments and inventions.

He was almost done with his first full-functioning robot. A Cog.

And he had plans for it.

===Months Later===

Adam sat on the step of the shed and admired his creation. It was taller than he was, though still relatively short, and dressed in a black metal suit. It robotically nodded at him.

This was the first Cog to be completely operational. And Adam was thrilled. It took him almost a year but here it was. His first Cog.

Adam stood and fixated the nameplate to the breast of the Cog. It looked down at the name plate and spoke.

"Time for business."

Adam grinned. He took the photograph from the counter in the shed and handed it to the Cog, the Pinkerton, or Pinky for short. It was designed to excel in espionage and subterfuge. And it would be the solution to Adam's loneliness.

"Get her for me," Adam said. The Pinky took the photograph and scanned it. Then he dropped it in his breast pocket. A rotor sprung from his head and began to spin rapidly.

The Pinky lifted off the ground and soared into the sky, toward Toontown. The clouds on the horizon were darkening. He heard over the radio that a hurricane was coming.

Adam couldn't help but say in a singsong voice, "He's coming for you Alice..."

## Production

### Continuity and Story Arcs

In the past, many years ago, Adam Molecule, then known as Adam Avogadro, was born with a severe laff deficiency. His parents, deterined to protect him, shielded him from any sources of heartbreak. When his mother told Adam's childhood crush, Alice Carver, to go away, his laff dropped the short distance to total sadness. Adam ran away from home and changed his name, but somehow maintained functionability despite his sadness. He lived on the streets of the Docks for several weeks before using stolen money from his parents' restaurant to purchase a derelict shed in Chipper Acres to live and conduct his experiments. From there, he completed his first cog, known as a Pinkerton (Pinky for short). Lonely and overcome with sadness, Molecule ordered the Pinky to kidnap Alice Carver.

In the present day, the episode takes place right after the Resistance meeting in "Cogs Can't Take a Joke." Eileen Irenic and Constance Miller gathered to concoct a plan for the manhunt for Dr. Molecule. Information known about Adam Molecule is slim, though his runaway has remained a cold case in Toontown history.

Marie and Albert Avogadro also disappeared, suspected to have left Toontown altogether. In the past, it was revealed that Adam had sent them a purposefully-misleading letter to get them off his trail. It worked, as they did in fact leave Toontown.

This is the first episode to mention the disappearances of Alice Carver and Bradley Wolfe.

Flippy admitted that he hired Dr. Molecule because he was listed in the public Toon Database as a Mechanical Engineer.

The Mystery Man reappeared, delivering the tip to the Toon Patrol that ultimately led them to Dr. Molecule. He is revealed to be a dog.

The Kingdoms of the War, namely Cervidium and Vulpus, are first mentioned.

### References

Eileen Irenic needed to find a replacement Leader for Melville Jesop after he died in the Final Battle. She got a volunteer named Ahab Ishmael. Both Ahab and Ishmael are main characters in *Moby Dick*, the famous novel by Herman Melville.

Flippy's receptionist, Pamela Aaron, is named after Pam Beasley and Erin Hannon, the two most renowned receptionists of *The Office*.

When Flippy leaps to his paws and exclaims "certainly not!" it is a reference to a verbatim line and action done by Wadsworth the butler in the movie *Clue.*

## Trivia

* The episode title is a reference to Adam Molecule, who is considered by almost every Toon to be evil.
* Producers decided to split the episode in two when the sizable content became too difficult to manage and weave together.
* Dr. Guffaw shows Albert and Marie Avogadro a diagram of a laff meter, showing a fictional depiction of what it may look like. It is based on the cartoon laff meter shown in the bottom left screen of the game of Toontown. The drawing includes teeth and an estimated 15 laff as a basis for every Toon.
* Adam Avogadro's photograph was pasted on milk cartons around Toontown, a common practice in the United States in the 1980s to spread images of missing children. The practice was discontinued by the early 1990s, replaced by the AMBER Alert system.
* The Pinkerton Cog is named after the Pinkerton Agents, most prominent in the late 19th century. They were most undercover private detectives and largely feared.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Helvetica}