At a recently renovated theatre somewhere near Broadway, the Ghostbusters were chasing the ghost of an opera singer around the auditorium.

'I've got her!' Garrett declared, just before shooting down a large chandelier as the ghost flew from one side of the ceiling to the other.

'Oh my, oh my!' twittered the uptight theatre owner. 'We're supposed to be opening tonight – I'll never get all that glass cleared up in time!'

'You're gonna have bigger problems than that if we don't catch this ghost before you open,' Eduardo predicted.

'Yes, I know... but can't you do it without destroying my whole theatre?' said the owner.

'No promises, man,' said Eduardo, as he shot a proton beam into the rafters and blasted a floodlight to smithereens.

'Oh dear, oh dear!' fretted the owner.

'It's okay, guys!' Kylie's voice wafted down from the balcony seating area above. 'I've got her!'

Sure enough, a proton beam shot from the upper level and fixed onto the ghost, which started writhing and screaming in distress.

'Roland,' Kylie called, 'how about another stream on her?'

No reply was forthcoming; nor was a second stream. Kylie turned her gaze away from the ghost, whereupon a deafening bout of shrill opera singing assaulted her ears and she fell backwards over a row of seating, cutting off her proton stream in the process.

'You will never oust me from this theatre!' the ghost sang aggressively. 'I am the star turn here – I always have been and I always will be! There will be no grand reopening until I am given top billing!'

As the ghost spoke, Garrett and Eduardo arrived on the upper level. While Eduardo helped Kylie back onto her feet, Garrett aimed his proton blaster at the ghost.

'Put a cork in it, Brunhilda!' he taunted the spectre. 'You've just been demoted to understudy.'

With that, Garrett trapped the ghost in a containment stream. Eduardo quickly backed him up with a second stream, and Kylie opened the ghost trap. A few seconds later, the singing ghost was sucked into the containment vortex.

'I never liked opera anyway,' said Garrett, picking up the smoking trap. 'She's gonna drive the other spooks in the containment unit crazy with all that caterwauling.'

'Talk about adding insult to incarceration,' said Kylie, allowing herself a small smile of amusement.

'Well done, guys,' said Roland, suddenly appearing from the other end of the balcony. 'Nice catch.'

'Thanks,' said Eduardo, 'but where were you when Kylie needed you, huh? You were supposed to be backing each other up.'

'I know,' Roland said flatly. 'I'm sorry; I got distracted.'

'By what?' asked Kylie. 'Anything we should know about? Another ghost, maybe?'

'No, it was... it was nothing,' Roland shrugged. 'I took my eye off the ball. It won't happen again.'

With that, he turned on his heel and started heading back down to the auditorium. The other three exchanged looks of confusion and concern.

'Is it just me, or is Roland acting kind of loco?' said Eduardo.

'It's not just you,' said Kylie.

'You think maybe he's possessed or something?' said Garrett.

'I don't know... he could be, I guess,' Kylie said.

'He seems more bummed than possessed to me,' said Eduardo.

'Maybe he's both,' said Garrett.

'We'll keep a close eye on him,' said Kylie, 'just in case.'

They followed Roland down to the lower level of the theatre.

Back at the firehouse, Eduardo had spread himself out on the couch and was reading a book with close scrutiny. Garrett and Kylie entered the room. Upon seeing what Eduardo was doing, they exchanged a glance.

'What're you reading this time, Eduardo?' Kylie asked casually.

'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,' said Eduardo, nonchalantly flicking over a page.

'Taking a break from the heavy stuff, huh?' said Kylie. 'But isn't that kind of a kids' book?'

'Just because a book is aimed at kids, doesn't mean it's not worth reading, especially for a Ghostbuster!' Eduardo shot back. 'Remember J.N. Kline? Besides, this isn't just any old copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Didn't you see the cover? It's the adult edition, printed in Canada!'

'But it has exactly the same text as the kids' edition, right?' said Kylie.

'Yeah,' said Eduardo.

'If it's gonna call itself the adult edition, it should have some more adult scenes in it,' Garrett grinned. 'Like, maybe, Harry and Hermione share a bit more than a hug before he goes to face Professor Quirrell, you know what I'm saying?'

'Come on, man, they're like twelve years old!' said Eduardo. 'Plus I don't think their relationship is like that, anyways. Hermione is, like, Harry's best friend.'

'I thought Ron was Harry's best friend,' said Kylie.

'Huh!' said Eduardo. 'Ron don't seem like a very good friend to me!'

'Ron is a putz,' said Garrett.

'The dude has a load of issues with his family that he really needs to deal with,' said Eduardo. 'It's not healthy to leave stuff like that to fester.'

'Well, maybe there's more to Harry Potter than I thought,' said Kylie. 'I'm sorry I teased you, Eduardo. But I didn't realise you liked it too, Garrett.'

'Me?' said Garrett. 'I don't like Harry Potter! Well, it's okay, I guess... for a kids' book.'

'Have you read the new book, The Chamber of Secrets?' asked Eduardo. 'It's even better than the first one.'

'Get out of town, it can't be!' said Garrett. 'Um, that is... no, I haven't read it yet.'

At that moment, Roland entered the room. Garrett used the opportunity to deflect the conversation away from himself.

'What about you, Rolster?' he asked. 'Are you a Harry Potter fanboy like Eddie here?'

'Huh?' said Roland, seemingly coming out of a daze. 'Am I what?'

'Do... you... like... Harry Potter?' Garrett asked, deliberately slowly.

'Oh... I don't know,' Roland shrugged. 'Casey loves it, but I haven't read it myself.'

'You should, man,' said Eduardo. 'It's really good.'

'Yeah, well... I don't know, maybe later,' Roland said distractedly. 'Excuse me, I... I have to go do something.'

With that, Roland wandered out of the room like a sleepwalker.

'I'm telling you, he's possessed!' said Garrett.

'I still think he's just bummed,' said Eduardo.

'Why don't you go talk to him, Kylie?' Garrett suggested.

'Me?' said Kylie. 'Why me?'

'I dunno, 'cause girls are good at talking, I guess,' Garrett shrugged. 'Besides, you're his friend, aren't you?'

'Oh, and you guys aren't?' Kylie riposted.

'Yeah, we are, but... well, you know,' said Garrett. 'Go on, Kylie – ask the big guy what's bugging him.'

'Okay, I will,' said Kylie, setting off after Roland. 'But because I care about him – not because you told me to, Garrett!'

Kylie found Roland in the kitchen, holding the door of the fridge open and staring into it with a glassy expression on his face.

'Trying to add a few dollars to the electric bill, huh?' said Kylie, leaning casually against the counter beside the fridge.

'Huh?' said Roland. 'Oh... no, I was just getting myself... um, a soda.'

He did so, and went to sit down at the table. Kylie watched him carefully as he performed this quick and simple sequence of events.

'Why are you staring at me?' asked Roland.

'I'm wondering what's wrong with you,' said Kylie. 'We all are.'

'There's nothing wrong with me,' Roland shrugged.

'Don't give me that,' said Kylie, taking a seat opposite him at the table. 'You're distant and distracted and we've all noticed. Garrett thinks you're possessed and Eduardo thinks you're bummed.'

'And what do you think, Kylie?' said Roland.

'I'm on the fence,' Kylie told him flatly. 'So, which is it?'

'Well... it's neither, really,' said Roland. 'I guess Eduardo's assessment is pretty close, but I'm not really bummed so much as... thoughtful, I guess.'

'You're not possessed, then?'

'Definitely not.'

'You're thoughtful?'

'Yes. Y'know, as in ruminative – considering something important.'

'I see,' said Kylie. 'Although if you were possessed, you might not want me to find out and so you'd tell me that you'd got something important on your mind, wouldn't you?'

'Yeah, I guess I would,' said Roland, smiling slightly. 'Okay, I'll tell you what I'm thinking about and you see if it rings true.'

'Okay.'

'On the last day of the semester, Professor Banks called me into his office and showed me something.'

'Are you sure you shouldn't be telling this to the police instead of me?' Kylie asked, one corner of her mouth rising in amusement.

'I can't tell you this if you're gonna make jokes,' Roland frowned.

'Okay, I'm sorry,' said Kylie. 'Go ahead, tell me.'

'Well, he showed me a letter from Stanford University.'

'In California?'

'Yeah. I've been accepted on a four-year Engineering doctorate. I can start in September if I want to.'

'Oh, well, congratulations,' said Kylie. 'Stanford's pretty hard to get into, isn't it?'

'Yes,' said Roland. 'That's why I never thought they'd take me when Professor Banks suggested I apply for a transfer, so I let him go ahead and send off the paperwork. But they did take me... and I have to accept or reject the place by the end of the week.'

'And this important decision that's constantly on your mind,' said Kylie, 'is which of those two options you're gonna choose, right?'

'Right,' said Roland. 'On the one hand, I should definitely accept. Like you said, Stanford is a prestigious university and I'd be crazy to turn down a place there. I've always wanted to further my studies, and this course gives me the chance to become a doctor of engineering in four years.'

'Being a doctor is something you've always wanted too, isn't it?' said Kylie.

'Yes... but I never thought I'd get the chance to work toward it so soon, or so quickly,' said Roland. 'I should be jumping at the chance, but...'

'But California is a very long way away,' said Kylie. 'You'd be leaving the only home you've ever known, and your family with it. You'd have to retire as a Ghostbuster too... or at least take an indefinite sabbatical.'

'Exactly,' said Roland, 'although I'm not sure anyone would really notice if I stopped being a Ghostbuster!'

'Of course we would, Roland,' said Kylie. 'You're like the lynchpin of the team – I know we take you for granted sometimes, but we'd all fall apart without you to keep us grounded!'

'I know my family would miss me if I left,' Roland sighed, 'and I'd miss them. Besides, I'd be letting them down – who'd pick Casey up from soccer practice when Mom's on the late shift?'

'If you stay because of your family, it can't be because you feel obligated to do stuff for them,' Kylie advised. 'It has to be because you... well, because you want to stay with them.'

'I do want that,' said Roland. 'But it's not like I'd never see them again if I went, and I have to leave home sometime, don't I?'

'No, not if you don't want to,' Kylie shrugged.

'You wanted to,' said Roland. 'You haven't lived with either of your parents for years!'

'Yeah, but we're not talking about me,' Kylie pointed out. 'We're talking about you, remember? You have to do what you want to do – what feels right for you. Have you talked to your family about it?'

'A little,' said Roland. 'My dad says I'd be crazy not to go and my mom says I should do what I think is best.'

'Your mom's right,' said Kylie. 'Roland, you've got good reasons to go and good reasons to stay – you just have to decide which reasons are more important to you.'

'I wish I could be as sure of making the right choice for myself as you obviously are.'

'I've never really been sure of anything. But I've always made decisions about my life that feel right for me, so I know I'll never look back and regret any of them because I know I felt they were the right things at the time.'

'But I don't know which is the right thing!' Roland complained. 'To put it simply, my head says go but my heart says no!'

'Then pick one to listen to,' Kylie advised. 'Whichever decision you make will be the right thing – there isn't a wrong one.'

'Man, I wish I could see it like that,' Roland sighed. 'And... and what if I'm not good enough, huh? What if I go to Stanford and I can't cope with the coursework? It's not really meant for our age group, you know. What if I don't have enough knowledge and experience yet?'

'Then you come back to New York and try again when you're ready.'

'But what if Stanford won't ever have me back?'

'Then you apply for another course somewhere other than Stanford.'

'Then I won't have a doctorate from Stanford!'

'Is that what you really want from all this?'

'I don't know!' Roland wailed, dropping his head onto the table. 'I don't know anything! Now can you see why I've been so distracted lately?'

'Yes, I can,' said Kylie. 'Look, Roland, if you want to find out whether you can cope with the coursework, why don't you read up on it? Was there a book list with the letter?'

'Yes.'

'Okay, so go to the library and see what you'd be letting yourself in for. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Do some reading, see how you feel – it might make your decision easier, one way or the other. Besides, it's certainly something you need to take into account when you do make the choice.'

'Yeah,' said Roland. 'Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Kylie – I'll go to the library tomorrow.'

'No – go now,' Kylie advised. 'We can cope without you... but we will notice that you're not here!'

'Okay,' Roland laughed. 'You're right again – I'll go now.'

'Do you mind if I tell the others where you've gone and why?' asked Kylie. 'They really are worried about you, y'know.'

'Yeah, sure, you can tell them,' said Roland, rising to his feet. 'Thanks, Kylie... for everything. I'll see you later.'

He left the kitchen.

'You mean you don't have any of them?' Roland asked in disbelief, allowing the book list to hang limply at his side.

'That is correct,' the snooty old librarian sniffed at him. 'Sorry.'

'And you call this a public library!' said Roland. 'How can you not have any books on commercial engineering?'

'We have plenty of books on commercial engineering,' the librarian bristled. 'We just don't have any of the ones on your list.'

'This is unbelievable,' Roland muttered. 'Could you check again, please?'

'All right,' the librarian said with bad grace. 'Let me see the list again.'

Roland handed it over. The librarian glanced back and forth between the list and the screen of her computer, tapping away at the keyboard from time to time. Roland fixed her with an annoyed and impatient look.

'Ah yes, here's something,' the librarian said at length. 'Tell me, young man – of all the books on this list, which one do you most want to get hold of?'

'I don't know – the first one, I guess,' Roland shrugged. 'The one about an introduction to commercial engineering or whatever it's called.'

'An Introduction to Engineering in the Commercial Sector by Professor G. Gaubert, nineteen seventy-nine,' said the librarian. 'Yes, that's the one.'

'Are you telling me you do have a copy of it?' asked Roland.

'Yes – we have just one copy of that particular volume, and luckily for you it's not out on loan at the moment,' said the librarian. 'Look under General Reference, Dewey Decimal number one thousand point four two.'

'I thought the Dewey Decimal system only went up to nine hundred and ninety-nine point whatever,' said Roland.

'You thought wrong then, didn't you?' said the librarian. 'Hurry and find the book, before somebody else borrows it.'

'All right, I'm going,' said Roland. 'Thanks a lot for all your help.'

'Don't mention it, young man,' said the librarian. 'That's exactly what I'm here for.'

Roland found the section of nine hundreds in the General Reference section. Sure enough, the very last book on the shelf was labelled one thousand point four two.

'An Introduction to Engineering in the Commercial Sector,' Roland read off the spine. 'Well, I guess it's a start.'

He plucked the book from the shelf and turned his steps back towards the front desk.

Night had fallen. At the firehouse, Egon entered the lounge and turned on the ceiling light. Roland looked up from his book, which he was reading on the couch.

'You'll damage your eyes if you read without sufficient light,' Egon told him.

'Oh, yeah, I guess I didn't realise how late it's getting,' said Roland. 'You don't mind if I hang around here a little longer, do you? I won't be able to sit and finish this book in peace if I go home.'

'You're welcome to stay as long as you want,' said Egon, 'but you're not planning on reading the whole book in one go, are you?'

'Yes, if I can manage it,' said Roland. 'I'm about halfway through already.'

'How's it going?' asked Egon.

'Fine,' said Roland, with false brightness. 'Well, actually, maybe not totally fine, if I'm honest... I don't really understand all of it... but it sure is interesting.'

'Is there any point in staying up all night reading the thing if you don't understand it?' asked Egon.

'I do understand it!' Roland said defensively. 'Well, some of it... well, a couple of bits... maybe.'

'It's much more advanced than anything you've studied before, isn't it?' said Egon. 'Clearly you have an incredible gift for mechanics and engineering, Roland – the fact that we still have functioning ghostbusting equipment is testament to that, for one thing – but that doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to plough straight into a doctorate on the subject, does it?'

'So what're you saying, Egon?' asked Roland. 'Are you telling me I shouldn't go to Stanford?'

'I'm not telling you anything, Roland,' said Egon.

'You did a bunch of degrees and stuff before you were really old enough, didn't you?' said Roland. 'Are you saying you'd advise someone like me not to do the same thing?'

'Someone like you?' said Egon. 'There's no one like you, Roland – there's no one like anybody. We're all unique individuals, and we have to make the right choices for ourselves.'

'Okay, so do you think you made the wrong choices when you were my age?'

'No, I don't think that. But there are pros and cons to every situation, Roland – you just have to make sure you've weighed them all up for yourself.'

Roland opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it again. He looked down at the page in front of him for a few seconds, then he looked back up at Egon.

'Everyone keeps telling me I have to do what's right for me,' he said. 'To be honest with you, Egon, I'm starting to wonder whether commercial engineering is right for me at all! I mean, there are other things I could study, aren't there? I don't have to do this. I don't have to be a doctor, do I?'

'No, not at all,' said Egon. 'And you certainly don't have to be one four years from now – you have plenty of time for that. But if you really want my advice, I don't think you should make any decision either way based on your reaction to a single textbook.'

Roland laughed slightly, and nodded. Egon started to retrace his steps out of the room.

'I'll let you get back to your reading,' he said. 'Feel free to use the landline if you want to call home for anything. I'll be in the lab if you want me.'

Roland woke up with a start as his floppy hands lost their grip on the heavy textbook and it smacked down onto his face. He pulled himself up into a sitting position.

'Man,' he muttered, 'maybe I should call it a night.'

'You can't go yet. We're just getting started.'

There was no doubt about it – the weird, quavering voice had come from the book. As Roland watched in surprise, a cloud of blue vapour rose from between the pages and formed into the shape of a human face with a small beard and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.

'I have so much more to teach you, Roland,' the apparition said. 'Stay awhile, and let's talk.'

'What... who are you?' asked Roland.

'Why, Professor G. Gaubert, of course,' said the strange blue face. 'Preserved between the pages of my book, just as all great writers are ever destined to be.'

'You're a ghost, then?'

'Well, you're not going to hold that against me, are you? You're not going to bust me, when there's so much I can tell you... so much I can do for you?'

'Why would you want to do anything for me?'

'Because you remind me of myself, Roland. You have the potential to be the greatest engineer the world has ever known, but you are plagued by self-doubt. I was once like you, but then look where I ended up – my magnum opus is now top of the reading list for the country's most prestigious engineering doctorate!'

'So... how are you going to help me?' asked Roland. 'Can you explain the parts of the book I don't understand?'

'Of course I can do that for you, Roland,' said the spectre. 'That, and so much more.'

'You want to help me with my education?'

'Yes... but that's only for starters. In death, there are no secrets. We see all... hear all... know all... and feel all. What would you like to feel, Roland, that you've never felt before?'

'Um, well... perhaps there are a couple of things,' Roland admitted sheepishly.

'Of course there are,' said the entity. 'It's only natural that there should be. Take me with you to California, Roland, and you will know all you need to know... and feel all you want to feel.'

'But I... I don't think I can.'

'I see. Not got the stomach for it, eh?'

'No, it's not that,' said Roland. 'It's just that you're a library book – I have to return you in two weeks.'

'There are ways around that,' said the apparition. 'Just tell me we're partners, Roland, and everything will fall into place from there.'

Roland opened his mouth to reply but before he could say anything, a blinding white light filled the room and he had to shield his eyes. He heard screams and curses from the entity followed by a metallic clang. He opened his eyes to see Egon approaching him, a closed ghost trap in his hands. Slimer was floating alongside.

'Perhaps I shouldn't have done that,' said Egon. 'Perhaps I was interfering. But I've done it now.'

'You don't think that ghost was trustworthy?' asked Roland.

'I think anything that seems too good to be true is probably exactly that,' said Egon. 'You don't need the help of a haunted book to achieve your goals, Roland – you can do that by yourself.'

Roland laughed ruefully, and looked down into his lap. 'Can I?'

'Well, I suppose that's for you to decide,' said Egon. 'I'll leave the trap with you – you can take it down to the containment unit when you're ready.'

With that, Egon left the room again. Slimer decided to stay, and came to hover near Roland's face. Roland turned away slightly.

'Wanna talk about it?' Slimer asked hopefully.

'Huh?' said Roland. 'Oh... no thanks, Slimer.'

'Are you sure?' Slimer asked coaxingly.

'I've just been given some advice from beyond the grave, but Egon seems to think I shouldn't listen to it,' said Roland. 'No offence, Slimer, but maybe ghosts aren't really the best life coaches, seeing as they aren't alive themselves.'

Slimer adopted an extremely hurt expression, and Roland looked instantly guilty.

'Sorry, that was insensitive of me,' Roland said awkwardly. 'I should just be glad to have a friend like you who really cares about me, even if you're not alive. And that doesn't mean I should totally discount you as a source of advice. I mean, you were alive once, weren't you?'

'Yeah,' said Slimer.

'And you probably have lots of life experiences to draw on, don't you?'

'Maybe. I don't remember.'

'You don't remember what it's like to be alive?'

'Not really. Not properly.'

Roland held back for a few seconds, but then gave in and asked the question he was longing to ask. 'Do you remember what it's like to die?'

'Yes,' said Slimer, a dark look crossing his face for a moment. 'Yes, I remember that.'

'Can you... can you describe it to me?'

Slimer shrugged and fixed Roland with an uncomfortable expression.

'I'm sorry, Slimer,' said Roland, 'I shouldn't have asked you that.'

'It's okay, Roland,' said Slimer. 'I want to tell you, but... but...'

'But you don't have the words, right?' said Roland. 'And you probably wouldn't have them even if you could still speak like... well, like you did when you were alive?'

Slimer nodded. 'Pretty much.'

'I'm really sorry,' said Roland. 'It was wrong of me to push you like I did. It's just that... well, it's just that Professor Gaubert made his particular brand of death sound so attractive... so much knowledge... so much power...'

'You should be careful, Roland,' Slimer advised. 'Never trust something that thinks for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.'

'Oh yeah?' Roland laughed. 'Where did you get that piece of wisdom from?'

'Eduardo,' said Slimer.

'Hmm, well, Professor Gaubert had a head... I mean, he was a head... so I did see where he keeps his brain!'

'It wasn't a head – just a face.'

'Yeah, well, I don't think I'm desperate enough yet to take Eduardo's advice!'

'Why not?' asked Slimer. 'At least he's alive, right?'

'I'm losing a battle of wits with a ghost,' Roland sighed. 'I think I'd better call it a night. Thanks for the talk, Slimer. And I'm... y'know, sorry.'

'It's okay, Roland,' said Slimer.

'Tell Egon I've gone home, will you?'

'Okay. You gonna empty the trap first?'

'Um... not right now,' said Roland. 'I'll do it later.'

With that, Roland picked up the book and the ghost trap, found his car keys and left the firehouse.