This is a transference of a roleplay game from called Ghostbusters: Japan quest. And as you may guess, in its original format it was a traditional RPG. The version I am bringing to you here is a condensed version, lacking the game elements and merely bringing you the actual story. I claim no right to this story, its unique aspects, or the source material, only to the reformatting needed to make it fit in on this website.
Ghostbusters: Japan Quest
Your name is Harutora Daisuke, you lean against the wall of the train station, standing out of the way of the flow of people. You're on your third can of beer today, and all of your belongings are in the duffle bag at your feet.
You have fucked up your life royally.
Keio University kicked you out and smeared your records, which means that the companies that you were applying for wont touch you with a ten foot pole. Not even your safety.
Hopefully, your parents will eventually start to talk to you again, or at the very least let you back into their apartment. Right now though, they're all 'You're no child of ours!'
And why has this happened, and for what? Your stupid, stupid, stupid principles and big mouth.
You're in a really dark place, but the train arrives too quickly for you to consider jumping.
The doors open and you see a face from your past. It's Sato Fumihito. He was a pretty close friend in elementary school, but then his folks moved.
He's dressed in the weirdest looking dark blue jumpsuit and he has some kind of backpack on his back that looks like it crawled out of an electronic store's dumpster. He's talking on a cell phone and has another odd-looking gizmo in his hand.
He makes his way through the crowd of commuters and comes out right next to you.
"Yeah, I just got here." He says. "Okay, SongBird...right. I'll..." He turns to look at you and his eyebrows shoot upwards. "I'll call you back when I get there." He hangs up. "Hey!" He says cheerfully. "Long time, no see! How you been Daisuke? Man, it's been years. As the ancients say, 'A Chance Meeting Of A Friend Is Of More Worth Than A Gold Coin!' Or something like that."
Oh wow. Sato hasn't changed in the slightest. Messy brown hair, round face that never lost its baby fat, and he still has that scar on his chin that he got from when he pretended to be Astro Boy and jumped off the top of the slide on the playground. He's also still making up 'Ancient Sayings' that make no sense at all.
"You waiting for a train or something?" He asks. "Cause I'd love to grab a drink and catch up. I mean, I've got my new job to do, but that'll be fast. Heh, it's so awesome, wanna see?"
"Uhhh, what exactly do you do?" You ask.
Sato puffs up his chest with pride and shows you the decal on the shoulder of the jumpsuit he's wearing.
"I'm a Ghostbuster!" He says.
Oh wow. You've heard of them. They're like...a bunch of con artists. One step up from the people who have TV shows where they run around in empty houses looking scared.
You know...that's just perfect. You get your life ruined for trying to be ethical, and Sato, your friend from childhood with a gigantic hero-complex is now scamming people out of money.
Or maybe it's not so bad, maybe he's the one being scammed.
Either way, you see the looks people are giving him as they pass. He looks like a lunatic with his jumpsuit, doofus smile, and that weird-ass backpack.
"So, whaddya say?" He says. "Come see me do my thing, and then we get a drink and catch up? I'll buy."
"Sato, please tell me that the Ghostbusters haven't taken you for much." You say.
"Huh?" Sato asks. "What do you mean?" He asks as he starts to make his way out of the train station and towards the street.
You follow him.
"I mean, how much did they charge you for your uniform, that pile of junk on your back, some so-called training. Do they expect you to make your OWN Ghostbusters who report to you?" You ask.
"What? Like one of those multi-level mark-oh no no no." Sato shakes his head. "Daisuke, they're nothing like that!" He says. "This stuff was all free. We've been making money hand over fist...well...okay is hasn't been FLOODING in...and we still live in the Dumpling Factory...but things are good." He smiles. "Heck on this job along I'm going to make 5000 yen, at least! And that's just for about twenty minutes of work!"
Great. So, Sato's conning people...or being USED to con people.
"I have no idea where I am." Sato mutters, looking at a map on his smartphone. "Daisuke, do you know where the SongBird Karaoke parlor is?"
You're familiar with it. It's about two blocks from here. It's a place that normally caters to a certain type of clientele...the girls and men who go there often end up in one of the love hotels, nearby.
Also the owner's kind of scummy. One of the reasons that they created 'Women Only' train cars.
Well, if Sato has to scam anyone, at least he picked a good target.
5000 yen for just twenty minutes? This you have GOT to see.
"Yeah, it's this way, follow me." You say.
"Thanks man." Sato says. You both start to walk down the street. "So, what have you been up to man? You go to Keio now, right?"
"No. I'm not, not really." You say. "But what about you? This a full-time job, or just part-time while you're in college?"
"This is a full-time thing." He says. "And I'm glad for it. It got me out of cow-town." He says. "Last thing I want to do is look at empty fields of grass and shovel animal crap."
You arrive at the SongBird.
"Okay," Sato says. "Umm...I'm not expecting anything bad but...maybe you want to wait out here for a bit? I mean, this stuff can get a bit...technical."
"Heh, after all you've said to hype this up? No way. I want to see this. I could use a laugh." You say.
Sato nods. "Okay but follow me and do what I do. Oh...wait wait wait..." He reaches into a shoulder bag he was carrying and pulls out a thick three ring pocket binder. He flips through it for a bit, and then tears out a sheet. "Sign this." He hands you a piece of paper.
You look at it. It's a liability wavier. One in very small print, but probably one of the longest you've ever seen. It even has 'exsanguination,' ' temporal displacement,' 'skeletal liquefaction,' and a bunch of other laughable terms.
The gist is, no matter what happens you can't sue Sato, Ghostbusters: Japan, or the Ghostbusters franchise.
Sato holds out a pen. "This is protocol." He says.
Sato's playing his part to the hilt. Fine. You sign the form and hand it back to him.
"Great! Protocol's important." He says as he goes inside, you following him.
The SongBird Karaoke Parlor and Cafe has pink tinted windows, and a large reception room with a white tile floor.
Sato walks up to the front desk, where a nervous looking woman in a slightly too-tight dress is nervously sitting behind the desk. There are other young girls, and older business men sitting around in cushy looking chairs. The girls are leafing through magazines, chatting with each other and the men are trying to not get caught leering at the girls. They all have that look of people who are mildly annoyed by waiting. One of the men looks at Sato with his jumpsuit and flashing backpack and sighs, muttering "Finally!" under his breath.
It does seem a tad crowded in here. Also, you don't hear the thumping of bass from the karaoke suites down the hall. They emptied the rooms, just for Sato's arrival?
"Hello Miss." Sato bows and extends a business card. "I'm the specialist you called in."
"Oh...oh!" The woman nods. "Yes, yes...she...it's..." She glances back at the hallway to the parlor rooms.
Sato smiles and waves his hands. "No need to get up. I'll handle everything and be done in a few moments."
She's obviously relieved, and the mood from the waiting guests is a bit less hostile. The sight of professional looking people with impressive looking tools is enough to make people believe that Things Are Under Control.
Sato looks around. "Is the proprietor here?"
The girl nods and points to one of the waiting men.
"Great, let me talk to him." He pauses and then turns to you. "This is boring stuff, rates and forms." He waves his binder. "Wanna do me a favor? I just need you to scan the suite doors, don't go in or anything. Just point this." He holds up the doohickey in his hand. "At the doors. Tell me if the bars go over three."
"Sure." You say as you take the whatever-it-is. This is a farce, but it's a free lunch. If people are openly paying for this then it's at least a legal scam. "Point, hold the button, count the bars?" You ask.
"Yeah. Thanks." He says and goes to the owner.
You go down the rooms, 'scanning' the door to each one. You have no idea how this thing works, but it's making some chirping noises, and one or two bars appear on the screen. Once a three. You're at the last suite in the hall when you scan the door and all five bars on the screen glow bright green and the chirping noises change.
Sato's back in the lobby, out of immediate ear shot.
"Sato?" You say. "Hey Sato!"
Damn, he can't hear you.
You walk down the hall and almost bump into him.
"Got all the paperwork done." He says. "Something up?"
"Last room, five bars." You say.
"What color?!" He snaps. His eyes going wide.
"Green. Why?" You ask.
He sighs with relief. "Alright. That's not so bad. Let's go."
You follow him down, handing him the thing-a-mabob that you were using.
He scans the door and nods. "Alright, a class five non-aggravated PKE source." He nods and takes a deep breath and opens the door and walks inside.
You follow him. The suite has the same slightly-pinkish walls, a small plastic table with a book of songs on it, a big screen TV at one end with microphones and a remote lying in front of it. Across from that is a large couch of faux leather that's just a slightly darker shade of pink than the walls.
It's a room...Sato seems intent on studying every little part of it but you see nothing.
Oh, hang on...there's something that fell between the back of the couch and the wall that you can see from this angle.
You're not sure what it is though. It's not very big, your first thought is that it's a small remote.
"The hell's this?" You say as you reach behind the couch. It takes you a few tries, but you manage to grab it and pull it out.
Oh, it's a Chyme.
They were a knock-off MP3 player when the first wave of them came out. They were actually REALLY good for first generation. Color screen, camera, up to thirty seconds of video capability, read text emails, and they could hold 'Up to 1,000,000 Songs!' as the ads claimed.
Too bad that they were expensive as hell. Plus they were the size of a graphing calculator, twice as thick, and heavy. So naturally, they died off pretty quickly.
The Chyme has a clear crack along the casing, and it has brown stains on it. Other than that, it looks to be in decent condition.
"Hey, Sato. Look at this." You say holding out the Chyme to Sato. "This part of your show or something?"
"Hmm? Ah! Daisuke!" He starts and goes wide eyed. "Okay...Dai...put...that...down. On the table. Very...slowly."
He's acting like you have a bomb in your hands. Honestly. Well, better to play along. Sooner this farce is done with, the sooner you'll get a lunch.
As you set the thing down, your finger brushes over the crack in the casing.
Suddenly ,you're staring up at the ceiling of this room.
"Shit. Shit! SHIT!" A female voice says. "Oh...you fucking pimple-faced slut."
"Oh fuck...oh fuck..we need...we need to call the po-" Another female voice.
"Are you crazy? They'll lo-" A third female voice.
"SHUT UP!" A pause. "Alright. Grab her legs."
It does dark.
You blink and look at Sato. He's looking calmly at the other side of the room you turn and look and...and...
and you're looking at a ghost.
She can't be older than 15. She's wearing a school uniform. She has no feet. Her legs just fade away to right below her knees. Also, she's slightly transparent.
It...She...The Ghost looks like a girl who is in the middle of a horrific puberty. Slightly too tall, her haircut is a cheap one, and she's got really bad acne over her face. You see long red lines down her wrists.
You can see your own breath. It's cold enough that you can see your own breath. Sato is flipping through his three-ring-notebook like mad.
You back up towards Sato. "Who...who are you?" You ask the gho...apparit...spir...the other being in the room.
She just looks at you, and then looks at the Chyme on the table.
"Okay, found it." Sato says. He clears his throat. "Greetings entity. My name is Insert Na-oh...My name is Sato Fumihito, I am a Ghostbuster and currently appointed representative of the management of the SongBird Cafe, the City of Tokyo, and the nation of Japan. I request an audience; do we have permission to speak to you?"
The girl tilts her head to the side confused for a moment. Then she slowly nods, still confused.
"Excellent, can you understand me?" Sato asks.
She nods.
"Can you speak?"
She shakes her head.
"If entity cannot speak, but has visible form and is responsive, proceed to page 6-D." Sato flips the page. "While we acknowledge your desire to remain on this plane, we must request that your presence here is disruptive to the living, and ask that you vacate to either a different location, or a different state of reality of your choice or convenience."
She looks at you and points to Sato with a look on her face that says 'Do YOU know what he is saying?"
Sato sighs. "The management wants you to leave."
The girl shakes her head violently. Sato winces and waits for a moment. Then goes back to his folder. "Let's see, reluctant but non-hostile...page 21-D." Flip flip. "Ah, okay. We understand that this is a dramatic shift and are willing to assist you in any way that we can so that your transition process can be eased. Do you have any unfinished business that you feel is necessary to complete. A message that was never sent, or a task to be completed?"
She shakes her head.
"Were you murdered and you feel that your killer has not received justice?"
The girl looks down at her wrists and shakes her head.
Sato looks confused for a moment, and then his eyes widen. "Ah. Alright...is there something you need or desire?"
The girl shakes her head.
Flip "Is there something keeping you here?"
She nods.
Sato sighs a 'Finally' sigh. "Okay, page 24-D...is this a physical object?"
A shake of no.
"A person."
She starts to shake her head, but then pauses and waves her hand in a 'kinda' gesture.
"So, kind of a person...what would..." He goes through the book and then his eyes widen. "Another ghost, or other such entity?"
The girl nods wildly.
"This ghost that is keeping you here, is it hostile to humans?" He asks.
She nods again, eyes wide.
Sato grins. "Excellent! Alright, so if we dispatch this other ghost, will you be free and willing to leave?"
The girl nods.
"Good, I have to call in back up." He takes out his phone and then frowns. "PKE interference...alright, stay here with my friend Daisuke. I need to find a spot where I can get a signal. I'll be right back." He exits the room.
Leaving you alone in the room...with the ghost girl.
"Hi." You manage to croak out. Ohhh, Sato is going to have to buy you a very large liquid lunch for this. Holy. Fuck.
"Can...can you believe that he had a standardized man-wait...what was that about hostile to humans?"
The ghost nods. She motions putting a hand to her neck and sticks out her tongue. She's miming someone choking.
"This ghost does this to people?" You ask.
She shakes her head. You relax a little.
She holds up three fingers.
"She's done this to three people?"
She shakes her head.
"She does it three times to the same person?"
Shakes her head.
You take a deep breath and REALLY hope you're wrong.
"There's three of them?" You ask.
She nods.
"SATO!" You yell out from the door keeping your eyes on the ghost girl. "WE HAVE A PROB-LEM! SHE SAYS THERE'S THREE YOU HAVE TO LOOK OUT FOR!"
You turn back to the Ghost Girl. "Why do they have it out for you and the living?"
The girl sighs and nods at her Chyme. The screen turns on. And voice start to play.
"Fuck! So much blood! You know if you hadn't teased her, we wouldn't have to DO this!"
"Not my fault she couldn't take a JOKE!"
"We NEED to call the police!"
"Absolutely NOT, my uncle would KILL me if I ruined his parlor with police and a suicide! Just finish chopping her up! I'll clean up the blood."
"Okay okay. You stupid pimply cow!"
There's some nasty wet sounds and then a sizzling.
"Ugh, *cough* you sure that *cough* she won't be found?"
"No one...*Cough* comes in here! *cough* And I locked the door! No windows, no nothing! She'll disappear."
"*cough* *cough* What IS that smell? *cough*"
"It's the cleaners I used...to...clean up the... blood."
"Oh...oh no no no! Tell me you didn't use ammonia and bleeaaa..."
"You *cough* stupid...bitch...your fault...your fault..."
Then silence.
The girl looks down at the ground and at her wrist-slashes. She gestures at the Chyme.
"Your...fault..."
The girl nods.
"It's alright." You say. "It's not your fault that they were stupid. They should have called the police. That's on them."
She shakes her head. Points to her slashed wrists and then points to herself.
"Ummm...yeah." You say and sigh. "You want to...talk about that?" You ask lamely. "Alright let's start with your name. What's your name?"
She opens her mouth and then stops she then goes wide eyed and puts her hands to her head and looks hysterical.
She can't remember.
The lights start to flicker in the room the more hysterical she gets.
"It's okay! It's okay! We'll figure that out later. Okay?" You say. "For now...for now...ah hold on." You pick up her Chyme. "Let's see if there are any text messages with your name on it."
You don't see any text messages from friends. If she had any, they didn't text her. You DO see texts from three other sources, cyber-bullying at it's worse. They insult her clothes, her face, her lack of parents (apparently this girl was an orphan too, was she BORN to suffer?!), even the fact that she has a Chyme...it doesn't let up. There's weeks of this stuff archived.
"You poor kid." You say. "Alright, forget that. Let's call you something else. How about..."
"Ummm, heh. How about Yurei?" You say.
She tilts her head to the side and then back and then nods. She then smiles a little at the bad joke.
"Okay, Yurei it is th-"
And that's when the screaming starts.
You look out from the suite to see a form hurled down the hall. You run outside and see Sato, lying on the ground.
"Your money will be cheerfully refunded sir...as long as you have the receipt and fill out this form...ughh." He slumps to the floor out cold.
One of his backpack's straps has unhooked itself.
You hear screaming and...feedback...coming from the lobby.
You grab Sato and drag him into the suite.
Then you do something really stupid.
You take Sato's Three-Ring-Handbook and you start to read it.
- - Dealing with Hostile Entities. 1-A, ensure your proton pack is in place and properly working. - -
You unhook Sato from the backpack, strap it to yourself, and turn it on.
It makes a strange sound when it starts up, you feel slightly tingly...what IS this thing running on? Maybe you don't want to know.
- - Ensure that you have Wand (Diagram 2-A) and Trap (3-A) ready and charged. - -
With some fumbling, you pull out the wand and get that box thing and the small car-alarm fob that operates it from Sato.
- - Bust those spectral bastards back to where they came from! (Ensure that you have all forms filled out prior to action, save in XK class scenarios, where it is considered gratis) - -
"Take care of him." You say to Yurei. She nods and mouths 'Good luck' to you.
You head out down the hall and into the lobby.
It looks like nearly everyone has fled, save for the owner of the SongBird and the girl that was behind the corner.
They're both being choked by...what the fuck ARE these things?!
The...you hate to call these things girls, or even imply that they had been human once. They're wearing school uniforms like Yurei's. Their arms and legs aren't arms and legs, but rather writhing, undulating, twitching cables and cords. Their hair is a mass of stripped bare wires. Ball microphone speakers form their fingers. They have two speaker dishes where eyes should be. They have had red, white, and yellow A/V plugs for teeth, and black slime drips from their mouths.
All three of them are floating in the air.
Two of them are busy wrapping the hostess and the manager's neck in their cord arms, trying to pull them off the ground. The third is laughing, a horrific sound that sounds like static mixed with feedback.
They haven't noticed you yet. You're pretty sure you can use this thing, the manual says it's just point and blast.
You press the trigger and HOLY SHIT THAT'S BRIGHT! And the recoil is something else!
But your shot, or should I say 'beam' hits home and nails the bitch right in the center of mass. The sound of her distorted scream is ear splitting.
The other two ghosts look up from their activity of torture, and look right at you.
Oh crap.
The thing screams some more and you see it start to...unravel? The cords, wires, and other stuff seem to be spooling out away from the body disintegrating, showing just a humanoid figure covered in Black Slime.
You also hear something in the distance, over the howling and screeching of the other Karaoke Ghosts. It sounds like a siren but...never one you've heard.
Regardless the other two ghosts lash out at you with their whip arms.
One misses...but the other one gets its arm around your neck and starts to squeeze.
You see spots, however your grip is rock solid, and you know this thing in front of you can't take much more.
But you are NOT letting this bitch get away! You hold the beam and toss the box thing right underneath it.
Then you click it on.
You look at the trap though, and the spots in your eyes get worse...but still.
Your beam slips away, so there's still a bunch of wires and junk surrounding the slimed figure. So she has a chance of resisting the trap.
Nope!
With a horrific scream and screeching sound the figure is sucked into that swirling vortex. Down, down, all the wires and speakers and microphones whipping and spinning away, and all of it into the light and then the box snaps shut.
The other ghosts howl again in rage. The one around your neck tries to choke you further, and the other one attempts to get her arms around your neck.
You try but...no...it's...just...no...good.
The last thing you see before darkness washes over you, is a bright light...and a banging noise. Then...nothing.
Dai...Daisuke...DAISUKE! WAKE UP!
You start and sit up, gasping for breath.
"Oh thank then Heavens." Sato says. "You're alive!"
"Yeeee-haw!" A loud accented voice says. "I TOLD you that fella was a badass. Facin' down three Class 4s! DAMN!"
"Totally radical to the max!" A cheery female voice says.
"Yes, he has done quite well to be alive and not dead and also victorious in his actions which were very bologna." Another voice says.
"Brave, Doctor Griffin. Brave." The female voice says.
"Ah, apologies."
Sato steps back and out of the way. You see three people, standing there and two more smoking boxes on the ground.
There's two Japanese folks, and one American woman. The male Japanese guy is quite tall, wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat as well as the same jumpsuit Sato has. The girl has her hair done up in the poofiest style you've ever seen and is dyed blue and pink and she has glittering star hair clips in that mass. She's also wearing thick pink eye shadow and glitter lipstick.
The American woman has dark hair, pale skin, and it looks like she's wearing orange American-football shoulder pads.
Now you know what that light was. It was the light from the street and the banging was these three people kicking it open.
Sato's back-up. You smile and say "Thanks."
"Easy there Hoss." The Cowboy says. "You sound like ten miles of bad road."
"And your throat is, like, totally groady." Say the Girl who apparently never left the 80s.
"Sato," You croak out as the 80's girl bandages your throat. "You REALLY owe me that drink."
"Yeah, no kidding." He says.
"How are you?" You ask.
"Fine. I mean, I may have a slight concussion, but you remember when I was Gigantor when we were little and had that accident?" He taps his head. "Metal plate, got put in the ol' noggin. I could get hit on the head all day and be fine."
"What about Yurei?"
"Who?"
"Ghost girl. The good one. Oh, locked door in basement. The remains of all three of the girls are there." You say.
"On it, come on Doc." The cowboy says and heads off.
"She's fine." Sato point to the side. You see Yurei there. She waves and smiles at you. "She wanted to thank you before she moved on."
A Chyme slides across the floor and bumps into your side. She nods at you as you pick it up. A gift...you think, cause she's got this mischievous look on her face as she fades away. Waving her hand.
Sato sniffs and wipes his eyes. "Tears me up, every time I see it." He says.
"Yeah, sure." You say as you pocket the Chyme, trying to ignore at how the screen just lit up.
"So, who are they?"
"I'm Sakura." The 80's girl says. "But please call me Star! It's totally the name I was BORN to have!"
Sato rolls his eyes. "Akira's the one in the stupid hat, and that was Doctor Kylie Griffin from Central. She's helping us set up the franchise." He rubs his hands. "Which brings me to what I'm about to ask. You said you weren't in college anymore, right? Well...not many people can charge in and bust a Class 4."
"But I got my ass kicked."
"So what? It's not like we haven't." Sato says. "The world didn't end, right? So, I call it a win. So, what do you say Daisuke? Wanna join up and be a Ghostbuster?"
You pause. Well...beats doing fuck-all and considering suicide. (Although certain death seems MORE likely in this path.)
"Can I drink on the job?" You ask.
"Sure!" Sato says. With a smug look on his face. Oh no... you know what's coming next.
"As the Ancients Say: 'One Can Drink All One Wants...As Long as It Is Water!' Or something like that." He grins.
"I hate you." You say. "Yes."
"AWESOME!" Star says. "You ain't afraid o' no ghost!"
Is it too late to get hit by a train?