Tofu was feeling like he wasn't getting enough screen time in his own TV show, so he decided to hijack this scene and try to build up his popularity / "street cred".

He tried getting a side hustle, as a monk, as a junior engineer, as a street sweeper. None of them ever worked out long term, for one reason or another.

The usual reason was that he ate his boss. ... ok that was the only reason.

He sighed and nibbled on his cinnamon bun. While he hated the idea of being typecast, he knew it was impossible to be anything but himself.

Is what he would think if he wasn't a stupid bioweapon. Instead, he decided to shapeshift into a woman with big knockers and try out another job.

And that's how he found himself in the middle of a job interview with a manager at the Cyborg Panda. Tofu had done a lot of research on the internet in preparation.

".... so you have no ID and no work experience?"

"That's right."

"And... what was your name again?"

"It's Teefoo!" Tofu bounced happily.

"I... see. Um, I'm sorry but we have a strict policy of only hiring employees with valid identification. We've had problems with villains, bioweapons, night gaunts, sliders and other filthy rift-raft infiltrating our business. I'm sure you understand."

"Huh? But Teefoo doesn't understand???" Tofu tilted his head at the perfect angle which his research said was optimized for maximum cuteness.

"No no, it's simply impossible, ma'am. A couple weeks ago one of our waiters transformed into a monstrous t-rex thing with tentacles and ate nearly half our customers. Surely you understand we can't take that kind of risk."

Tofu mentally jotted down that trick for later when he was hungry. If he pretended to be someone else, his cover would be safe, and he'd be blameless for any and all antics he might get up to. Why didn't he ever think of this before!

"Teefoo won't eat anyone! Teefoo promises!"

The manager shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry but you're going to have to go."

"You... don't like Teefoo?"

"That's not it. But there's rules, you see."

"You... don't like Teefoo???"

Tofu jiggled his chest to the side slightly.

"That's not it...."

"Teefoo wants to work! Let Teefoo work!" Tofu was being very aggressive with his chest movements now, and those things were bouncing all over the place.

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"I.... I...."

And that's how Tofu got a side job at being the head chef at the Cyborg Panda.

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Tofu felt like he had made some progress, growing as a person and a character, and felt a bit nostalgic for the old days. So he went back to his old stand-by: wandering around the base and talking to people.

It felt kind of lonely, with everyone off somewhere else, busy with their own side stories. These days it felt like the only people in his orbit were those damn kids, and they didn't have much dialogue or comedic potential.

Ifrit was hitting some minions with a bullwhip and yelling at them. Warhead was next to her, chewing on a cute plushie. They were busy so he left them be.

Sandra was nowhere to be seen. Viper wasn't at her desk. Nicole was out.

He did have a notable interaction with Rattleback, who asked him if he knew anything about Evil Tofu's whereabouts. He had escaped a month ago. Tofu let him know he didn't know anything about that, but that he did know one thing: "That guy....." Tofu squinted his eyes for dramatic impact, "is some Bad Tofu."

Rattleback agreed, and left him at that.

While wandering around the base, there was a moment he felt something significant might be near the ceiling, but it turned out it was just a Mikey so he disregarded it.

He was feeling wistful and lonely - he wanted to tell someone about his new job! So he decided to check out the sewers. If Nicole was out, she was probably hiding in her spot again.

... and she was not hiding in her spot again. It was rather barren, save for the nessie's. Mr.Chonkers swam by and bit Tofu on the thigh. He was feeling melancholy, and nobody else was around, so he didn't bother to put up a pretense of the old dodging and bonking.

If the little guy liked human flesh, he should at least be allowed to enjoy life every now and then. Tofu could relate, and his internal algorithms added two affection points to Mr.Chonkers' tracking record.

Sometime later, an eel-shaped thing with a human head slowly drifted by.

"Hey" the head said.

"Hey" Tofu said back.

The eelhead continued to float down the sewers, until it was out of sight.