During breakfast the next morning the three of the four Ghostbusters were all seated at the dining table as they ate breakfast that was cooked up by Ray. He made some eggs and toast and they all ate quietly because Peter in particular wasn't a morning person at all. Winston got in late last night and eventually he strolled out of bed and wore the same shorts and shirt that he slept in as he made his way to the other guys.
"Someone got in late last night. You had a date didn't you? Ray, give the man some coffee he's got stories to tell," Peter said as he looked up at Winston as he took a bite out of his piece of toast with a strawberry jam spread.
"Too early for stories, I'll tell you about it later." Winston yawned and took a seat at the table.
Egon had a notebook with him that contained detailed writings on each collection of readings from the past few months. He studied these readings regularly in order to establish a pattern of hauntings and in what area of America they most occur. He took a sip from his glass of water instead of coffee unlike the others because he firmly considered coffee to dull the senses.
"The majority of hauntings from the past two months seem to be localized around-" Egon swallowed his words as they all heard a scream coming from the first floor. Janine screamed at the top of her lungs and they all jumped up and rushed toward the pole and slid down to see what was going on.
All still wearing the clothes they slept in, the Ghostbusters found Janine standing with a broom in her hand as she swung it around at a ghost who flew around back and forth from Peter's office. It was a squid-like apparition as the ghost had multiple tentacles and slimy purple skin. It had a large mouth with rows and rows of sharp teeth and tiny little horns running across its back. The strangest thing however was that it had a pair of eyes on its stomach that blinked every two minutes or so.
"Do something!" she shouted as she ducked down beneath her desk after throwing the broom away.
"So instead of us going out to find them, the ghosts now come to us. More importantly who's gonna pay us for catching a ghost in our home?" Peter asked as he watched the ghost fly around and it didn't really mind them at all as it just kept repeating the same flight pattern.
"Oh come on a little morning bust never hurt anyone!" Ray said as he, Egon and Winston grabbed their packs out of the back of the Ecto-1a.
"This one should be relatively easy to trap, it doesn't seem too bothered with us," Egon said as Winston helped him put on his proton pack.
Egon, Ray and Winston stood on opposite sides of each other as they tried to surround the ghost after activating their packs. Peter meanwhile had taken one of the traps out of the back of the car and held it in his hands as he stood aside and watched.
"Okay boys, on my mark. Ready, and, go!" Ray said as they aimed their throwers and they had to be extra careful because an accidental hit on the electrical circuits could shut down everything. They were hesitant to fire and no one shot not even after Ray gave the sign. The ghost continued to fly back and forth near the ceiling but too close near the walls where a lot of wires were running that led down directly into the basement.
"Okay this is already taking too long. Let me try somethin'," Peter said as he approached Janine's desk with the trap still in hand. The other Ghostbusters stared at him as they firmly held on to their throwers and he climbed up on Janine's desk. He dropped the pedal on the table and held his foot near it as he bended through his knees a little.
He narrowed his eyes and started to whistle a particular tune which to Egon's surprise actually attracted the ghost's attention. As the ghost stopped flying mid-air not too far away from Janine's desk, Peter stepped on the pedal and the trap opened as the ghost was caught and sucked inside. The trap's red light beeped and it began to smoke as Peter looked at the trap and proudly smirked. "Invade my office, bet you won't make that mistake again!"
"Impressive. You actually found a tune that appeals to the ectoplasmic cortex of a ghost. It seemed very interested in the sound you made. I'd like to study it further," Egon said as he deactivated his proton pack.
"Nothing fancy, Spengs, just my version of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. I tried it out on that sack of slime in your little research bowl and he hated it, thought I'd give it a shot," Peter replied as he headed toward the basement door with the smoking trap that hung from the cable he had wrapped around his hand.
"It seemed very relaxed and almost not aware of us," Ray said after Peter went down to the basement.
"But why show up here anyway? I mean isn't it common knowledge amongst ghosts not to come near our place by now," Winston said as he and Egon helped each other to remove their packs.
"All I know is that you guys aren't paying me enough to handle hauntings at the office," Janine said as she sat down behind her desk and firmly crossed her arms.
The basement door opened as Peter came up and closed the door behind him. He walked toward the others and he shrugged his shoulders. "Who do we bill for this? Anyway the little creep is stored and I'm heading back up to finish my breakfast. See you guys later."
Egon didn't seem puzzled by what had just happened because chances are that every once in a while even the firehouse would get haunted. Especially since the firehouse had a larger psychokinetic pull than most of the buildings in New York, due to the fact that there's a massive storage of psychokinetic energy in the basement.
A few hours later in the afternoon, Egon and Ray tested and checked the equipment as they often would on the first Monday of the month. They've gone through the packs already and moved on to the traps. They tested the traps for storage capacity and containment charge, Egon stood with a trap in hand and had it connected to a laptop where he could check data and took notes as well.
"The containment field in the traps we've tested so far seem to be consistent with our check-up data from last month," Egon said as he turned to Ray.
"I agree, the equipment seems to be good so far. Though I've had an idea about upgrading the slime blowers. Actually it isn't so much an upgrade as it is a version of the proton grenade. Think about it, a slime grenade would be effective in the field," Ray replied as he held the giga meter in one hand and a screwdriver in the other.
"Interesting, could be worth trying out. The proton grenades seem to work perfectly. No reason why the slime grenades would have a lesser effect," Egon said as he unhooked the trap from the laptop and took a chocolate bar out of his white lab coat.
Meanwhile Peter and Winston smoked a cigarette on the rooftop as they hung back and talked about the date that Winston had last night. "Okay so spill it already, was she hot?" Peter asked as he took another drag.
"Of course, man. She was too fine and a damn good kisser," Winston answered and nodded as he thought back to last night.
"You military types get all the action," Peter said as he smiled and looked up at the sky for a moment as he enjoyed the fresh air.
A couple of hours later evening fell as all four Ghostbusters were seated at the dining table, they played a game of cards and everyone but Egon drank beer. Janine had left already and went home so they would now have to answer their own calls for the remainder of the night. At Egon's request no one smoked because he considered nicotine to be a useless drug that simplified the mind.
"Not counting that tentacle thing from this morning, we've had a quiet day so far. I still feel the need to bill someone though, think I'll send one to Peck and claim admission fee. He ain't joining our little team of nutjobs without paying for it!" Peter said after he took a strong gulp from the bottle of beer he held in his right hand.
"Still can't believe we have Peck watching our every move now," Winston said as he shuffled the cards and looked at his fellow Ghostbusters.
Egon cleaned his glasses and nodded. "Yes Peck's involvement with our business could potentially be bad."
"Such a smooth talker you are, Spengs. We gotta work on your communication skills or you won't get invited to birthday parties anymore," Venkman said as he slapped Egon on the shoulder and chuckled.
Ray pulled the black leather book he got from Edward's nephew out of his back pocket and opened it as he flipped through the pages quickly. "Still can't get over the fact how he just gave this book to me for free. Do you guys know for how much this would sell on the open market?" Ray said as he closed the book and held it in his hand as he grabbed his bottle of beer and drank from it.
They played for money and Ray had won most of it by now as they had just finished another game and he counted the money he had won thus far. Peter had his hands pressed against his cheeks as he leaned on the table with his elbows and expressed an annoyed look on his face, he hated losing to Ray at cards and all those beers he drank hadn't improved his mood. Winston came back from the kitchen and he held a plate in his hands that had an egg sandwich on it, he offered to make some for the others but they declined. Egon meanwhile had stacked whatever money he still had on the table and argued with himself whether or not he should stack them again.
"Egon, leave the money alone. You've stacked those few dollars so many times now I think they've actually melted together," Peter said as he rubbed his tired eyes.
"I think we should all retire for the night. We might still get a call and it would be a good idea to get a few hours of sleep," Egon said as he cleaned his glasses and slowly stood up.
"Egon's right, we should all get some sleep. Especially you, Pete. Those beer bottles behind you on the floor weren't emptied by me and Winston," Ray said as he looked at an exhausted Peter.
"Thanks Ray, I really needed that," Peter replied as he stood up and grunted the entire way from the dining table to the long couch where he dropped down and almost immediately fell asleep.