Chapter 15: Summer Activities
"Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air."- Ralph Waldo Emerson
As Danny pulled the third calculator out of Jazz's hand, he wasn't sure if he was more impressed or horrified to see her reaching back into her backpack for what he assumed to be a fourth one.
"Seriously, why not just the graphing one?"
She leveled Danny with a look. "You think my calculus teacher let anyone use a graphing calculator on a test? Where some of the questions involved graphing the equation?"
"Fine, you needed the scientific one for tests. But why do you have one of these little ones?" He asked looking at the simple machine that could only add, subtract, multiply and divide. Now that he thought about it, Danny swore this was the same calculator Jazz used in elementary school.
"That's all we were allowed to use in AP bio. You either used a simple one or you didn't use one at all. Dr. O' Donnel actually encouraged us to try doing the calculations by hand." She explained pulling out an abacus.
"I can't with you. Why on earth would you even own one of those?"
"What?" She asked affronted. "These were the first calculators ever created, of course I'd have one."
"Do you seriously carry that around with you?"
Jazz rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I kept it in my locker for math emergencies and I haven't gotten around to taking it out of my backpack yet."
"Jazz, this is your last summer before college. How can you spend it taking online classes?"
"Easily. I'm getting a head start to make sure I don't fall behind."
Occasionally when Lancer saw Danny slacking off during after school hours he'd ask him about his drive to succeed. Danny would reply that Jazz had more than enough for two people. It was these moments that sealed the validity of that statement.
"Don't you have anyone you wanna hang out with before going away?"
She shifted some beads on the abacus and wrote a number down in her notebook ignoring her brother with the same skill he usually ignored her with.
"Jazz…"
"I don't have time for friends right now Danny. I didn't take the time in high school to make any. I'm trying to take some classes now while I have free time so I won't be too busy to make some when school starts up this fall."
Her lack of a social life didn't bother her for the most part. Jazz knew that even if she had taken the time out of her busy schedule to make friends in high school they'd probably drift apart in college. It happened all the time and she didn't want to waste time building friendships that were bound to fall apart. It was better to wait until there were more mature people that she shared interests with.
College was her first big opportunity and getting a start on her classes would ensure she had the time for friends and the knowledge to help them if they needed it. It was a win/win.
"So you're not going to hang out with anyone all summer?" He sounded a little defeated.
Jazz looked up. 'Oh.' She realized with a flush. Danny was talking about the two of them spending time together as well. "I'm not that much of a bookworm Danny… I wouldn't call them friends but I do have some acquaintances I promised to help with class scheduling. I was also thinking a family vacation might do us some good. Just promise me you won't bring along any ghosts who'll cause trouble."
"Hey! It's not like I invited youngblood last year."
"Maybe not, but you are responsible for keeping tabs on the regulars. Leave them in a thermos for the week." Jazz leaned back in her chair, taking a moment to twist her spine back and forth. A series of pleasant pop sounded. "Mmm. I also wanted to spend time with you. We can go to the movies, work on my aim and maybe explore the ghost zone some more."
"Sounds like you have it all planned out." He teased.
"Well, you know me. I like planning."
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"Why don't we start with the basics? It's what you wanted to cover first and some of the more advanced stuff requires a good understanding of it. So, what is a ghost?"
Lancer leaned forward, grabbing his cup of tea and thought a moment. "They're the impressions left behind by the deceased, right? Usually people that have trouble moving on so part of them remains."
Maddie nodded. "That's the traditional definition. Though not all ghosts are manifestations of post human consciousness; impressions can be left by animals for instance. And 'impressions' mean different things for different ghosts. Most of the encounters you hear about in haunted houses are exclusively impressions. There's not enough ectoplasm to create a form, much less sustain it.
Me and Jack explored dozens of historically haunted sites in our college days and the strength of the imprints varied. For some, the only indication we had for ghost activity were EMF readings. At other sites objects were thrown at us. Light bulbs exploded. Distinct voices could be heard and there were a few places where we did see the ghost for a few moments before it faded.
Other ghosts are much more than 'impressions'. Their ectoplasmic density adds more complexity. You end up with beings that can directly interact with physical matter and expel energy."
"Those are the kind we see here right? Like Phantom?" Lancer asked.
"Generally speaking, yes. Though Phantom is a special case so thinking of him as a prime example for any type of ghost isn't a good idea. And as far as the ghosts in this town go there's been recently evidence to suggest that some them are a new type. That's something me and Jack are trying to collect more data on. There is also the matter of artificial ghosts."
"Artificial? As in man made?"
"That particular discovery was completely accidental. One of our fields of study here is using ectoplasm as a carbon neutral energy source. The ecto-cooker was one of our earliest inventions. In theory, the ectoplasmic core generates electricity that heats up the metal coils much like an electrical oven. The concept was good but the results were... less than desirable. I assume you are familiar with Frankenstein?"
Lancer nodded.
"Well, the hotdogs did cook. Unfortunately, the high concentration of ecto-energy caused them to become…" Maddie wasn't sure she wanted to call them ghosts, even artificial ones. That was the current debate between them and the rest of the scientific community.
Mr. Lancer nodded his head, seeming to understand the sentiment despite her lack of conclusion. "Yes, your children have written some papers with rather… interesting descriptions of certain events."
He didn't feel like 'interesting' covered his thoughts on such matters. Disbelief and horror were pretty abundant when he'd read the story about the Christmas goose coming back to life and being chased out the door into an unlucky group of caroling children who had been walking up the steps. One little girl, according to the essay, had her arm broken and a mild concussion from getting knocked over.
Maddie smiled wryly. "Those incidents do bring up some interesting questions regarding our current understanding of ghosts. If you consider reanimated food to be a type of ghost that creates a lot of implications. Ghosts are usually associated with souls. It's assumed that's where the impressions come from, but no one would argue that the hotdogs had a soul. Does that mean that ghosts don't need a living being to form? Can they form spontaneously given enough time and energy? And what other conditions would be necessary for those types of ghosts to form?"
Maddie paused, looking at Mr. Lancer to see how he was holding up under the onslaught of information. He looked overwhelmed and a little lost, which she expected, but he also seemed in thought as he digested the new information.
"You mentioned the possibility of Amity Park having different ghosts." He said slowly. "I assume these… undead ghosts are the ones you mentioned, but how would pure energy be able to spontaneously form a consciousness?"
"I suppose it's simple biology when you break it down. Our thoughts and emotions, the things that give rise to our personalities, are at their core nothing more than electrical impulses fired between neurons. Evolution has made this electrical circuitry more refined and complex for some things and less so for others, but as I said, in the end it's just a matter of electrical connections.
Ectoplasm is a rather unique substance. I can't think of any other form of self-sustaining energy. Nuclear fusion, which we have yet to achieve, is probably the closest thing, but the amount of energy required to kick start that kind of reaction is enormous and eventually the material for fusion does run out… but I digress.
The magic of ectoplasm lies in the fact that it creates energy as well as structures. I believe that it is possible for ectoplasm to form it's own version of a neural network and self supply the energy to stimulate it. In theory you would end up with a newly formed ghost."
"How would these structures form and how is it different from a more traditional ghost? If all ghosts are just ectoplasmic connections is there really a difference?"
"The way the constructs form makes the difference. It is possible to manipulate ectoplasm into specific forms with thoughts. Ghosts create shields or weapons this way. Constructs also form from existing patterns. That's how a traditional ghost forms; ectoplasm builds around the existing electrical matrix of either the physical brain or perhaps a person's soul has a matrix itself that ectoplasm can form around and copy.
In either case, this would be recreating a matrix that has distinct traits, such as a personality. Whatever part of the matrix was most active around the time of creation would impact the result. Different emotions light up different parts of the brain. A person enraged at the time of death would likely lead to the creation of an angry ghost. Someone fixating on a box crushing them to death might end up with a matrix heavily focused on boxes. But ectoplasm doesn't require instructions, it can create things on its own without direct input. If a ghost was created this way, then it wouldn't be a remnant of a person or animal. It would be a new sentient being. In a way, this would be a creation of life."
It took Lancer several long moments to understand the implications of that particular train of thought. "Would they really be considered a ghost at that point? Or even dead?"
"Some in this community classify ghosts as beings made of ectoplasm. Under that definition these could be considered ghosts."
As interesting as the subject was, and Lancer could admit to being surprised by the fact that it actually was interesting, his head was starting to hurt. 'And I'm only partway through day one. This is gonna be a long summer.'
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Jack extinguished the torch once he was done welding the glass tubing into the back plate of the suit. It was a lot of work rebuilding the ecto-skeleton but it couldn't be helped. The old one had vanished months ago and even if it hadn't, carefully disassembling it to install the upgrades would have taken just as much time.
Maddie's ecto-skin was inspiring. Jack had been going through old papers and diagrams, trying to organize stuff, when he found the ecto-skeleton blueprints. If he could directly use ectoplasm as the energy source instead of converting it to electricity that could solve the problem of draining the user's energy and make the suit more powerful. Maddie had already proven the idea was possible. Jack was just about to try it on a slightly bigger scale.
He set down the torch and took off his goggles, wiping at his eyes. They were better than having to wear a full face shield but still, after a few hours the goggles got uncomfortably hot and foggy.
Jack survey his progress for the day then turned his head to stare at the portal's blast doors. 'Maybe this'll do it. The first suit was no joke and if I can get a modified version of the ecto converter installed I can have it run off the ambient energy in there.'
When the portal started working, Jack had been eager to explore the other side. The project was his life's work, was decades in the making and the finish line was finally in sight. But he understood the necessity of precautions. Jack had jumped in head first in college and it'd cost Vlad his health for years. He didn't want to repeat the mistake.
So Jack created the specter speeder. It was as beautiful as it was functional. It guarded against ectoplasmic radiation. There was plenty of room for instruments to take readings and samples. And perhaps most importantly several weapons had been installed in the initial design. After all, there was no telling what was waiting on the other side.
The specter speeder hadn't been finished before the ghost attacks started and once they began, Jack realized the ship wouldn't be enough. It was hard enough fighting one or two ghosts on their own solid turf, he didn't want to think about what would happen if a handful of spooks attacked him and Maddie in the other dimension.
The two of them started building more weapons to combat the ghosts that came through. They varied from assault to containment and even defense. Jack took pride in the machines they built. Fenton's were natural born inventors and Maddie was every bit as creative and good with machines as any Fenton.
His hope was to build a good enough offense and defense to feel safe exploring the ghost zone. It hadn't happened yet, every step forward was met with a stronger ghost that set them back, but maybe the new suit would finally do it. If Phantom was right, if most of the ghosts in there were peaceful or at least not outright violent, then the ecto-skeleton should be enough. Jack didn't think there were too many Pariah Darks running around.
He heard footsteps coming down the stairs, Maddie's if his ears were correct.
"How's the new suit coming along?" She asked walking over to him.
Jack gave his wife a smile before wrapping her in his arms. "It's coming, but it's gonna be a while. Every part of the process is time consuming. Shaping the metal to my build, building the circuitry, installing the circuitry and connecting it to the ectoplasm, and once it's all functional, wielding it shut." He let go of her and walked over to her desk. "It took you months just to complete an elbow length glove." He said looking at her creation. "I really don't know when it's gonna be ready."
"Not for another few months at least. It'll be faster than without my wiring designs but those are only going to be of limited use; you're using regular ectoplasm instead of core plasm. I'm not sure how that's gonna affect the transmitter and converter. I also didn't have a neural connection. If you're still installing that, that's going to impact everything else."
Jack sighed. He knew that extra component was going to be a headache to add into the mix. Unfortunately it wasn't negotiable. "I need the neural connector to control the suit. It's too heavy to move using brute strength and running on ectoplasm isn't going change that. The interface needs to be installed so the user can move the suit freely. I'm just hoping the increased energy output can negate the draining affect."
Energy was never truly lost, that was a law of thermodynamics, but it was impossible to convert energy from one form to another with a hundred percent efficiency. Some was always 'lost' in the conversion process, usually as heat or light. Most Fenton tech was powered by electricity that was generated from ectoplasm. The original ecto-skeleton had been no exception.
As much as he wanted to, Jack wasn't sure he could eliminate the ecto-battery. The systems that moved the suit, the ones linked to the neural connectors ran on electricity. They had to, to be able to interact with the human body's nervous system. Maybe the suit could run purely on ectoplasm if a ghost was the one using it, but Jack was building it for himself.
By incorporating Maddie's idea, the weapons could be run exclusively on ectoplasm. The user would fire ectoblasts like a ghost, no battery required. It would also theoretically allow the wearer to turn intangible and invisible and shields would be possible. The abilities would be less specialized than Maddie's body suit but Jack figure that would make learning to utilize it easier.
"Well. You can see what I've been up to for the past…" Jack looked at the clock, "four hours. How'd it go with Paul?"
A/N:
This was going to be a longer chapter that included the Jack/Maddie and Johnny/Kitty date but that part is currently at 6000 and I'm not done so I thought it's be better to split the chapter in half, metaphorically speaking. This isn't quite 3000 words and the other is gonna end up being at least 7000 so more of a one third/ two third split. Hope everyone is doing well and hanging on with this pandemic still going on. I know school has started up for most people which just adds another element of chaos. I'm still job hunting. There aren't as many jobs with the economy going to hell in a hand basket and more people competing for the jobs that still exist. I've toned my search down a bit since I was hired by the Census Bureau so I've had work for the last month but it's only temporary.
Notes:
1- That beginning scene with Jazz is actually based on something that happened to me my senior HS year. I was trying to get some calculus HW done and my friend wanted to get my attention so he swiped my graphing calculator. I pulled out my scientific. He grabbed that too. I pulled out my stupid calculator. He gave up at that point. I didn't have an abacus as a fourth but I couldn't resist with Jazz.
2- The artificial ghosts. We see canonically that the hotdogs and a turkey come back to life and I would consider them man made (or Fenton) made ghosts, if they were to be called ghosts. It's interesting to imagine irradiating a human corpse and seeing what that does and I have an alternate snip where Maddie and Lancer discuss this. Maybe this is how zombies will be made.
As always let me know what you think. I read every single comment and seeing them always makes me smile.
~May