Old Sweepy originally worked in the Upper Ring with the top officers of the cultural authority but was moved by Long Feng into deep cover as a menial laborer after a botched assignment. In 100 AG, he was visited in his warehouse by Team Avatar and Jet, during their search for information regarding Appa's whereabouts. After Aang discovered a clump of his flying bison's white fur in the abandoned building, Old Sweepy informed them that they had shipped Appa off to Whaletail Island the previous day. This turned out to be false, however, as Old Sweepy hoped to earn his way back into Long Feng's good graces by leading the team out of Ba Sing Se.