Richard's workshop was still in the sleepy, early-morning type of busy when Richard was jerked back awake by a knock at the door.

"Hmm...? Shut up, Simon..." was Richard's groggy reply as he got his bearings, which was sitting with his head down (Or at least, used to be down) at the workbench on his prototype Mark III Faraday Pack, with integrated Detection Wand and a more powerful battery made using ionized lithium, hydrogen, and a small amount of a small, glowy, expensive rock he got from a few... less savoury places in London. He blinked a few times, and checked his watch (which he saw had stopped due to around twenty hours of neglect and cheap manufacturing). He rubbed his eyes, and realized what was going on when the door was knocked at again.

"Society for the Detection, Elimination, and Research of Spectres," Richard said, opening the door. He blinked a few times when he saw who awaited him, unable to determine whether he was hallucinating from lack of sleep or really seeing her at the door.

It was a woman, of all people, at the door. Not that he had a problem with that, but it was very uncommon in this day and age to see something like this. Her hair and eyes were both a deep brown, appearing almost black. She wore a simple black shirt and ankle-length skirt, and carried a revolver in a holster on one hip.

"How can I help you today?" he said, unsure of how to carry on the greeting.

"I'm here about the job listing." The woman spoke with a strange accent that Richard had heard previously on American migrants.

"Right! That job listing! Right, come in, come in!"

Richard beckoned the woman in, yawning, where they sat down on opposite sides of the workbench, the prototype Mark III between them.

"Okay," Richard said, grabbing a notepad from the desktop. "First question: Do you believe in ghosts?"

"I've seen many people with many beliefs. I'll just say if I can see it, it's damn well real."

"Oh-kayy." Richard wrote a few notes about this down on the notepad. He made to give it a heading, but paused. "I never caught your name."

"I never threw it out there," the woman said. "It's Laura. Laura MacTayb."

"Well," Richard continued, noting her name as the heading on his notepad, "Do you put faith in science?"

"I've never seen any omnipotent being come and save me from evil when I needed it most, so in return, I don't ask for any favours."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"Yes, I trust science."

"Thank you," Richard said as he noted this on his notepad. "How are you with lifting heavy weights?"

"Back in Colorado, I could lift a 20-pound keg of whiskey like it was a sack of potatoes."

More notes. "How well do you follow instructions?"

"I can speak and understand English. Whether I follow the instructions is for me to decide."

"They'll relate to jobs. And if the jobs don't get done, you don't get paid."

"To the letter."

More notes. "Thank you, Laura, and we'll consider you for the job. If you're selected, we'll get right back to you."

"I don't think you'll find anyone quite like me..."

"That much is certain."

-{1 WEEK LATER}-

Average Joe was on his way home from work, exactly a month since he saw that... thing...

Before that rabbit hole swallowed him, he held his head high and started across London Bridge, humming a merry tune in the dark.

A rattling breath reached his ears, but he pretended not to hear it.

He just continued walking, and opened his eyes as he reached the other end of the bridge.

... Eyes which revealed a small army of undead foot soldiers, staring at Joe in the dark, pikes ready, with the same unnatural glow the drowned demon had.

Joe saw no more as he fell into the blissful safety of unconsciousness, trying to ignore the heart-stopping fright and the primal fear.

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through this again, sir," Simon said, taking notes on the various apparitions Joe had seen.

Joe simply remained silent.

Simon sent Joe off, and turned around, starting to pace. Two large supernatural occurrences happening in the same place in the space of a month? It wasn't very likely, but it wasn't very unlikely either. Simon filed it away in the back of his head as Richard checked the mailbox.

"Bill for damage to one stained glass window... Rent for this place... Junk mail... Oooh, looky this! There's a job that came from an anonymous source. It says to meet at the Tower Bridge, at 3 PM today."

"That's kinda suspicious... You're planning to take it?"

"Of course. That bust in Windsor Castle wasn't going to sustain us forever."

"Right, right... And what about the girl?"

"She was the only one who applied. She's got the job."

"You sure she's the best?"

"She's better than you, at any rate."

"Don't remind me..."

One "You're Hired", one equipment fitting, and one long walk later, Simon, Richard, and Laura were standing on the Tower Bridge. People and buggies passed by them, the former giving them weird looks, the latter splashing puddles at them. The group were standing at the Tower Bridge for a full ten minutes before an all-black buggy pulled up and stopped beside them. A figure, dressed in an all-black suit, ushered them in.

"Who are you?" Richard said as the DEARS sat down and the carriage started to move.

"Suffice it to say," the man said through an alabaster mustache and beard, "I am your client."

Simon pulled a notepad and pencil from his pockets. "Well…" he said, "What kind of ghost is it? Is it a spectre? A demon? An undefined green ball? An intangible yet otherwise detected presence?"

The man in black thought for a moment, resting his hands on his walking cane. "At this point, I'd say it's a spectre."

Laura sniffed, looking out the window. "Whoever you are, you must be really freaking rich."

Richard, Simon and the man in black all looked at her. "How can you tell?" the man asked.

Laura pointed a thumb out the window. "I may be new to London and all, but even I know how expensive a mansion in the city centre is."

Simon and Richard did a double take as they saw the property gates pass by.

"Laura…" Richard said. "This isn't just any mansion."

Laura did a double take this time as she realized what that meant.

"You mean we're doing a bust in BUCKINGHAM PALACE?!"

The man in black nodded. "It's a matter of the utmost secrecy. If the general public learned their Queen was having problems with the supernatural…"

"It would cause general fear, a ripe environment for hopeful anarchists and revolutionaries to plant more fear and distrust in their Queen. After all, if she can't defend herself against a simple ghost, what could she possibly do for the country against a larger force, like France or Germany?" Richard finished.

"Well… yes," the man in black said as the carriage started to slow. "Exactly."

When the carriage stopped, the DEARS hopped out, and were escorted by a member of the Royal Guard to their audience with the Queen.

Once in the audience chamber, the DEARS sat and waited, finally met by a clearly-fretting Queen Victoria.

"Your Majesty," Richard said.

"Yes, greetings, DEARS."

"Dears?" Laura whispered to Simon.

"D-E-A-R-S. Society for the Detection, Elimination And Research of Spectres," Simon whispered back.

"Quiet, you two!" Richard barked. Both of the misbehaving parties got their act together. "Apologies, Your Majesty. We just had a new hire earlier today. We were told on our way here that you had a problematic apparition here in the Palace?"

"Quite," Queen Victoria said. "Its last appearance was around here at around ten this morning. I do hope you can get rid of it. Oh, and Richard?" the Queen said, attracting the attention of the engineer. "Give my regards to your father. God only knows I need more Cabinet ministers like him."

The engineer nodded, and turned and followed the rest of the DEARS into Buckingham Palace.

Hello there, DetectiveSky612 here!

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to upload more content. As it stands, I've had my hands full with reality, so I haven't been able to write and produce content as fast as I'd have liked. Sorry!