"Doctor Hamura, welcome. If you'll follow me, the Director is expecting you."
"T-thank you, Ms…"
"Holmes, Marguerite Holmes."
"Ms Holmes, thank you."
"You can just call me Marguerite, Doctor Hamura."
"O-okay."
Marguerite was a rather petite lady with shoulder-length straw blonde hair. She wore horn-rimmed glasses that turned from yellow to clear as she stood from her computer. I wonder where the usual receptionist was. With a small smirk, Marguerite pulled out an RFID card to open a glass door set into the rear wall.
We continued down a long, straight, white-walled corridor, an eerie blue-purple light illuminating numerous security guards. Abruptly, Marguerite stopped in the middle of the corridor and held out her hand to stop me.
Facing me, she said "Due to security reasons, we need to conduct a search for any ectomaterial that may be attached to you. Is that okay?"
"O-of course! P-p-please, go right ahead." I barely managed to stammer out a response. This place always freaked me out, no matter how many times I was called here.
Marguerite pressed her hand to the left wall and a panel slid open on the other side. She motioned for me to enter, to which I hesitated. They hadn't asked me to do this before. At her insistence, I entered a small room filled with the same light. The panel slid closed behind me, and Marguerite's voice echoed through the room.
"I'm going to need your help with the scan, Doctor Hamura. If you could do as I say, it would be greatly appreciated.
As you know, here at the Department of Ecto-Investigation we take our security very seriously. Thus, we require all staff and visitors to the laboratories to undergo these scans to prevent any contamination within this facility. This room is designed to purge any ectomaterial, but will leave you totally unharmed. If you could please empty your pockets and place all of your effects on the tray to your left, and then remove your jacket and place it on the rack. Then, please move to the platform and the decontamination will begin."
I emptied my pockets onto the tray. Wallet, phone, and keyring. For good measure, I took off my necklace and placed it on top of my phone. I took off my jacket and hung it on a hook next to the tray. The badly singed hem caught my eye. Must have been that explosion in my lab last week. Ah well, it's just a jacket. I should be able to get a new one if my grant application is approved next week. I stepped up onto the raised circular platform in the middle of the room, holding out my hands at shoulder height and waited for the scan to begin.
A few seconds passed and I heard Marguerite's voice again. "Thank you Doctor Hamura, the decontamination is complete. If you could exit via the door in front of you, you can collect your things in the next room."
I stepped though the doorway into yet another room filled with that light. As I returned my stuff to my pockets and put on my jacket, a door opens behind me and Marguerite enters.
"Thank you for your assistance," she smiled. "Here is your ID card. The Director is waiting for you in his office. I must return to my duties, so Rob will show you the way. If you have any further questions, please ask Rob."
"Thank you, Marguerite."
"No, thank you, Doctor Hamura. Have a pleasant stay."
Marguerite exited through the door she entered from, and a tall man with broad shoulders ducked into the room.
"Hello Doctor Hamura, I'm Robert Sullivan and I'll be guiding you through the rest of the facility today. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me and I'll answer as best I can."
"Hello Mr Sullivan, please, call me Eden."
"And me, Rob. Well Eden, the Director asked I show you some of our new lab equipment before your meeting. Is that okay?"
"Of course! I'd love to finally see what you've got here."
Rob chuckled. "Okay, just this way then." Rob moved to press a panel on the wall. The white light emanating from the panel contrasted heavily with the dark colour of his skin. He ducked through the doorway and I followed him into an observation room overlooking a large hangar. At the far end stood the largest portal into the ghost zone. Over 30 metres in diameter, this portal was used mainly for sending autonomous research vehicles to study various aspects of the Ghost Zone, came the commentary from Rob. But from what I've heard, they use that portal for things other than scientific research.
The remainder of the hangar was largely devoid of other equipment, save a bay of ecto-drones and a squad of guards armed with anti-ecto plasma rifles. We exited on the opposite side of the room, and took an elevator down to a floor that read -12. We stepped out of the elevator and Rob showed me into the first room on the left. I couldn't believe my eyes.
"Do you like what you see, Eden?"
"I love it!" The lab was spread wall to wall with a plethora of ecto-equipment I've only every dreamed of possessing. Most of what I had, I built myself over the years.
"Well, this is my lab, so I'll show you around. Here on the left is the new generation of nanobots. These puppies were co-designed with the medical labs to help detect and treat cancers. We found that by using ecto-particles instead of radioactive ones, we significantly reduced the risk to our patients. Each nanobot can also latch onto the cancerous cells and inhibit their growth and duplication, allowing for much easier containment and extraction."
"You're not worried about ecto-radiation? Nothing published has looked at long-term effects."
"There's a team in here that's been conducting a longitudinal study for the past nine years with several different groups. Don't worry, it's safe. However, the real focus of my lab is just down here. I'm really proud of what we've achieved."
I put down the ecto-radiation meter and followed Rob. Ducking under an ecto-laser, we round the bench to reveal what looks like… a space suit?
"This, Eden, is the Ecto-Skeleton: a new type of body suit that will allow a person to enter into the Ghost Zone and be safe from the dangerous amounts of ecto-radiation therein. It has a quantum-communicator built in, as well as room for survey and sampling equipment."
"And you, Doctor Hamura, will be the one to take it into the Ghost Zone." Said a voice. A portly man waddled over from the elevator, his coat straining to hold in his ample gut.
"Ah, there you are Director. We were expecting you."
"Thank you, Rob. Doctor Eden Hamura, a pleasure as always."
"Director, you're looking healthy," I lied. He wasn't as pale as the last time we met, but he looked much older. And not better for it, either. Though, being the Director of a government department will do that to you, I suppose. His frumpy face belied a rather cheery personality. But what was that he said about the Ghost Zone?
"You want me to go into the Ghost Zone? No offense sir, but are you crazy?"
"Haha, I thought you may say that, Doctor. Fear not, however! Rob here has my complete faith."
"This suit has passed every test we've thrown at it. It can survive extreme amounts of pressure, a vacuum, and is impenetrable to all kinds of electromagnetic and ectoplasmic radiation. We've also built in the technology from the Spectre Deflector, providing an impenetrable ghost shield over the entire suit that will also repel any ghost that comes into contact with you. Theoretically, it makes the Ghost Zone treat you like a ghost." Rob boasted. "And you can fly". He seemed very proud of his creation – and rightfully so. It was impressive.
"But why me? What made you choose me for this? I'm not even a government employee."
"That's true, we did look at getting someone from the military," the Director answered, "but you are the only remaining survivor of the Amity Park incident. Your search for the answers to why your home was destroyed has made you one of the most prominent experts in ecto-technology."
"But so what! I told you last time, I don't want any part in the hideous way you people treat ghosts! They have their own consciousnesses and deserve legal rights."
"Look, Doctor Hamura, we've been over this. The President himself declared that after Amity Park was destroyed, no ghosts would ever be welcome here. You saw what they did. Need I remind you of the kinds of torture inflicted upon all of those innocent people?"
"I know what they did, but they still deserve-"
"My dear girl, they deserve nothing! Look, it took me months to convince the board that we should select you for this and not some dunce of a S.E.A.L. or something that would just follow orders!"
"You… did that for me? Why?"
"Cause I know your experience counts for something. But it wasn't easy and they're still not convinced. So keep your mouth shut and your head in line and you won't be kicked off the program. Deal?"
"I still think that-"
"Look, what is actually important is we think we found the one responsible for the disaster."
"You what…?"
"Eden, your mouth is hanging open." I shut my mouth. I was just so shocked! I've been searching for twenty years to find the one responsible for taking my little brother away from me, and they just come out and tell me they think they know who it is?
"Come up to my office, Doctor, and I'll explain everything."
[~] [~] [~]
I sat numbly on a chair in the Director's office, barely feeling the cup of cocoa Rob pressed into my hands. The Director put down the phone and turned to face me.
"I'm going to have the head of the Reconnaissance Division explain the situation to you. Come on in."
On the right wall, a door slides open to reveal Marguerite.
"Hello Doctor Hamura." She smirks.
"Y-you were-"
"Just a receptionist? Yes, that cover was merely for me to get an impression of you. I am the head of Reconnaissance and Exploration, at your service. Director, if I may."
The Director waved his hand and Marguerite brought our attention to a large screen covering the upper portion of the rear wall. The windows facing Lake Superior darkened behind us and a map of the Ghost Zone and numerous live readouts appeared on the screen.
"As you can see here, our activities throughout the Ghost Zone have allowed us to expensively map and monitor the conditions therein. Through our own exploration and the assistance of the ghosts,"
"Assistance? You interrogate them!"
"Doctor," the Director growled. Right, keep my mouth shut and head in line or I get kicked out. I gulp, and nod at Marguerite.
"Continuing, we believe that a being called the 'Ghost King' is responsible for the incident at Amity Park twenty years ago."
"The Ghost King? He was the one responsible for transporting Amity Park to the Ghost Zone the year before, and according to my sources he was sealed away again. There is no way he is responsible for the incident."
The Director looked intrigued, but Marguerite responded coolly, "Our 'sources' speak of a new Ghost King, one with even more power than the last. However, this is all we know of him. We don't know his identity, what he looks like, or where he resides within the Ghost Zone. Because of the constantly shifting currents, navigating the Ghost Zone is almost impossible for us." She points to a large dark area on the map.
"This area is one that we cannot reach; we lose all contact with our drones after this line."
"The Event Horizon…" Rob whispers, almost reverently.
"Some have called it that, yes. Research is still having no luck with the thermodynamic properties of ectoplasm, for now this is all we can do."
"A new Ghost King…"
"You see our concern, Doctor. We have decided that your experience makes you the best candidate to go in to the Ghost Zone and find this new Ghost King. With the amount of ghost activity steadily increasing all over the globe, it stands to reason that this Ghost King is responsible. Naturally, this activity seems to centre on the former Amity Park, so that is why this facility is based here in Minnesota."
As the Director said, ghost activity has steadily been increasing all over the world. My own contacts within the Ghost Zone have said worrying things about how the ghosts are reacting to research being conducted into the Ghost Zone by various countries, but they never mentioned anything of a new Ghost King. Maybe that's why I haven't received reports in a while… Marguerite began to speak again.
"Doctor Hamura. We need you to take the experimental new Ecto-Skeleton and head into the Ghost Zone to find the source of this threat and stamp it out. We will be sending an armed contingent with you, so don't worry about that."
"Alright, I'll go. But I'll need a few things from my lab…"
"We've already brought them in. You're in the lab opposite me, Eden," Rob smiled, "if that's okay with you?"
"Oh, okay. But what about-"
"Doctor, everything has been taken care of. Doctor Sullivan will show you to your new living quarters, and he will help you adjust to life here in the facility. Your first excursion will take place tomorrow, so get some good rest this evening. Okay? Dismissed."
[~] [~] [~]
"I've got the double Nasty Burger with extra bacon, large fries and frozen cola?"
"That's mine, thanks." Answered Rob's gravelly voice.
"And the tofu soy melt with the orange juice?"
"Yes thanks." That was for me. I just can't eat anything with a face on it.
"I take you out for comfort food and you order a tofu soy melt? Don't you know how gross that thing is?"
"Hey, I like it. Besides, why is there a Nasty Burger here? I thought the only one was in Amity Park."
"A few years back, someone bought out the name rights and started building them all over the country. I'm surprised you didn't know about it."
"Well, for the last six years, I've lived up on the hill behind Amity Park to do my research on ghosts. I always just got my food delivered cause it's too far a drive to Elmerton and I could miss some big event!"
"Haha, that's fair enough." Rob chuckled. "You seem pretty okay for someone who lived as a hermit for six years though."
"What, no!" I laughed. "I've been here to the DEI a couple of times, and I travel around analysing ghost activity and giving guest lectures at schools and universities. I don't think I could totally separate myself from human contact."
"Oh, I knew you gave lectures but I didn't know you travelled for research, too. So! What do you think of your new lab?"
I considered over a bite of my tofu soy melt.
"It's nice."
"It's nice? You've been given access to a multi-billion dollar facility and all you say is 'it's nice'?"
"I was happy enough in my little lab on the hill. I had all the equipment I needed right there. It's not that I'm not grateful for the opportunity and the funding, but I do wish they'd at least consulted me before bringing me down here."
"I guess that's fair enough. At least I had a choice."
"Yeah, how did you end up here?"
"Well, I guess I've always been into ghosts. I'm too young to remember the Amity Park incident; I was only three at the time. But, upstate Washington is a bit spooky all the time. I wrote a column in the school paper during high school, and then moved to UCLA for college. I majored in Ghost Studies, and then completed my doctorate in two years."
"Oh, I went to UCLA! It's great there."
"Y-yeah, I know." Rob mumbled.
"Anyway, what was your thesis on?"
"I focussed on the psychological impacts on teenagers who use ecto-technology compared to those who don't."
"So you're not only an ecto-engineer but also a developmental psychologist?"
"I did a few psychology subjects on exchange in Germany. European ghosts are very different to ghosts here in America though. Some of the older ones are supposed to be very powerful, but I didn't run into any. Not quite sure if that's a shame or not, but it's probably for the best. Oh, right the thesis. In the end, the ecto-technology only had positive effects on self-worth and self-efficacy, social confidence and scholastic achievement. Another part of my work is to integrate ecto-technology into schools, though it's currently on hold while I've been working on this project. When I was awarded my doctorate, Marguerite approached me about working for the DEI and I couldn't refuse. French fry?"
"Thanks. So, you'd only just be out of your doctorate. How long have you been with the DEI then, 6 months?"
"No, it's been about three years now. I was pretty heavily accelerated through school."
"Wow. I've heard good and bad things about acceleration through school, but I guess everyone's different. You seem to have come out okay. Want a refill? I'm going to get one."
"Sure, thanks." Rob hands me his cup and I go to refill our drinks. This guy has more experience than I thought. Still, it's really nice of him to bring me out for dinner. I look around at the other patrons; it's fairly busy for a Thursday night. A few teenagers on awkward dates, a nuclear family with very well-behaved children and a large group in the back corner playing some tattered old game with dice and dragons or something. I return to the table and hand Rob his now-full cup. He smiles from behind his burger and continues chewing. I raise my orange juice to my mouth when a bloodcurdling scream comes from the kitchen.
A young man with bad acne and a patchy beard comes running out of the doors, spatula in hand.
"Get back, ghost! Get back!" He screams. I look at Rob. He's chewing furiously and wiping his hands. I stand.
"Where's the ghost?" I ask the young man.
"Why, I'm right here, dearies." comes a voice from the kitchen, as dozens of frozen Nasty Patties come flying out the door and knock the poor boy off his feet. I run over to him. He's uninjured, but unconscious. I turn around to find Rob standing next to the door, ectoblaster in hand. I pull my lipstick out of my bag. It's an ectoblaster too, as well as a modified version of a Fenton Thermos I found in the ruins of Amity Park. Pretty useful for ghost attacks, but I'm told it's very cramped inside.
"You came prepared." Notes Rob.
"A woman knows how to accessorise. Now, to deal with this ghost." I open the door to the kitchen. Everything seems to be normal. Where could she be…?
"Hello, dearie. Cupcake?" A ghost appears in front of me.
"Hello. The Lunch Lady ghost, I presume?"
"Why yes, I am. How did you know?"
"I'm a ghost researcher, and defender of Earth from ghost attacks!"
"Defender of Earth, really?" Rob snickered from the doorway.
"Oh, shut up!"
"Yes," said the Lunch Lady, "Don't you know it's RUDE to talk with your mouth full? Well, at least you're eating meat."
"Urgh. I don't know how you can eat anything with a face on it. Those animals are all so cute." Seriously though, how?
"What!?" shrieked the Lunch Lady. "No meat!? Well, can I get you a side of DOOM!?" The Nasty Patties fly back in through the door and spin around the Lunch Lady ghost. The hot plate catches fire and the ovens jump around, eyes filling with rage.
"Damn, that's a lot of meat for one lady." Quips Robert.
"Are you gonna stand there or help me stop her!?"
"Excellent idea. Hey Lunch Lady, can I get extra sauce with that?" Robert fires his ectoblaster at the tornado of meat and animal fats, knocking aside just a few patties.
"You want extra sauce?" Seriously, she sounds like a sweet, old lady most of the time. "I'll show you extra sauce!" she screams as buckets of ketchup and mustard are hurled at Rob. He dives out of the way behind a stack of boxes labelled 'buns'. I fire a few shots of my own, but nothing really has any effect.
"You'll need more than that to defeat me, dearies!"
"You got anything else in that bag of yours?" yells Rob across the room.
I glance around the room. If we can find some way to reduce her power, then I can capture her in my lipstick. Of course!
"Rob! Can you distract the Lunch Lady?"
"What!? I don't wanna be turned into a Nasty Burger!"
"Just do it! I know how we can beat her!"
"Argh fine!" Rob jumps out from behind the boxes. "Hey, Lunch Lady!"
"What is it, dearie?"
"I… uh… prefer broccoli to meat!"
"You what!? Well, maybe you need some more meat in your diet. Take that!" the Lunch Lady cries as she launches Nasty Patties at Rob. Okay, it's my time to shine.
I fire a few shots at the hot plate to get its attention. It sees me and growls. I fire at it again, and it begins to charge. As it nears the Lunch Lady, I shoot off its front wheels and it begins to skid. A stray bun zooms across the ground. The hot plate and the bun collide, flipping the plate up and over, right onto the Lunch Lady.
She screams as meat meets hot metal, it cooking and melting off her ghostly form. The hot plate crashes to the ground, pinning the Lunch Lady beneath it.
"You can cook, but you can't forget to clean up your mess." I say as I flip the switch on my lipstick. The Lunch Lady wails as I suck her into the ecto-container, and I quickly close the lid and trap her inside. As I do, all of the patties, condiments and cooking oil fall to the ground. The ovens stop rattling and the fires subside. I look over at Rob. He's been covered in various sauces.
"This is nasty." He sighs.
"Well, it's over and that's what matters."
"I'll call the Cleaners."
"The Cleaners? Who're they?" I inquire.
"Can I tell you later? I need to clean up me first."
"You can use the staff shower." It's the young man from before. "Thanks for getting rid of that ghost, ma'am."
"It's all part of the job." Rob says with a smile. "Now, about that shower."
"Right this way, sir." Rob winks at me as he follows the young man into the back room. The muffled sound of sirens comes from outside. As I leave the kitchen, a police officer accosts me.
"What are you doing here!? We received reports of a ghost attack, are you that ghost!?"
"What, no! We've already dealt with the ghost."
"We?"
"My colleague is cleaning himself up in the back room. It got a little messy."
"So where's the ghost, then? Huh?"
"In here." I reply as I hold up my lipstick.
"That's a lipstick…"
"It is, but it's also a ghost containment device."
"It's okay, officer. We have the situation under control." It's Marguerite, but with dark brown hair?
"Marguerite? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, no. I'm Gina. We're twins, you see. I'm the Head of Security."
"Oh, Ms Holmes. Well, if you say so." The officer turns around. "Alright men, pack it up. The DEI is already here." He is met with groans from the other policemen.
"They always beat us to it. When will I get to fight some ghosts?" one policeman says.
"How about you just join the DEI then?" another speaks up.
"And work with those ghost nerds? No thanks." Now that's just mean. Poo on you, Policeman #1.
Rob steps out of the kitchen. He's borrowed one of the spare Nasty Burger uniforms, and has his dirty clothes in a bag. Judging by the grin on his face, I'd say they're not getting that shirt back.
"Oh Gina, you're here." How can he tell them apart?
"Yes, and I see you two have taken care of the situation?"
"We sure have. Man, you should have seen Eden! She's great with an ectogun. It was all like 'pew pew' and the ghost was like 'ahhhhhhhh' and then Eden was like 'you can cook, but you can't forget to clean up your mess'."
Gina sighs with resignation. "Well, that's a relief. The Cleaners are on their way, so you two can head back to the facility and get some rest. We'll take care of it from here."
"Thanks Gina," I yawn, "C'mon Rob. Time for some shut-eye."
"Aye aye, Cap'n Eden."