Chapter Twenty Three
22nd December
1045hrs
He woke up with an execruitiating pain in his neck. He was afraid to turn move his head on any plane of movement, but he knew he'd have to. Deciding to sit up first was also not a grand idea. But it had to be done. The smell of the hotel reached his nostrils and the truly foul odours that combined together gave him the encouragement to make those uncomfortable movements. Stretching his neck out didn't really help the discomfort but he knew it was the first step to recovery from a bad hotel pillow. The man didn't dare give thought to the condition of the mattress.
The light coming in through the flimsy curtains told him it was definitely NOT 0800 and so the cheap hotel alarm had obviously not gone off. He reached over and felt around on the sticky bedside table for his watch and was horrified when he saw the true time staring back at him.
"That can't be right!"
He gasped as he threw the bedding off, swung his legs around and planted his feet on the rough carpet, though he was unable to register that. He lifted himself over to his chair and wheeled across to the kitchen bench and picked up his cellphone. The time was indeed correct. No one had rung, so obviously Perceptor had not been too interested in his assistance to sort out their current predictament, or as Percy had a habit of doing, had probably gotten so engrossed in his work he'd completely forgotten. Chip's neck certainly wasn't going to forget for a good few weeks, the only person this would benefit would be human's physiotherapist.
Chip phoned Autobot City, put through to Percy's lab by an always cheery Blaster. Percy gave the usual long winded, esoteric semantics based excuse that roughly translated to "Oh yeah, I forgot about that, just come in whenever". Chip was informed the Autobot scientist that he'd go visit the ghost hunters group that had been recommended to him, then if that was unsuccessful he'd swing by the rest home and chat again with the Priest, see if he could convince the old man to leave his nice warm cardie infested bedroom and come look for ghosties at a robot city. Perceptor gave the usually long winded response that it was a good idea and the conversation then ended.
Chip was at least pleased that the extra time and Perceptor's liberal employment structure would enable him to get a bite, nothing from the hotel of course…
--
It was a really normal looking kind of house. It could probably use a coat of paint, but generally it was in good condition. No broken or dirty windows, a heavy front door with a glass window inlaid and a doorbell, a nice garden kept well maintained was enclosed in the well crafted white picket fence. It even had a ramp leading up to the porch, which was good for Chip. As he sat there in his wheelchair staring up at the house, he had to wonder if it was indeed the place he was told held the Central City and Portland Region Ghost Hunters and Paranormal Investigators' Association. It was quite a wordy title and it looked awkard squeezed onto the small black card, though the shiney green lettering was a nice marketing touch, if not a little pricy. He decided to take the risk and wheeled himself up to the door.
A man answered.
He looked normal.
Like the house.
He wore a casual pair of cargo pants, a dark brown colour which seemed to suit him perfectly. Fluffy dark blue socks poked out from the material. On top he wore a long sleeved maroon turtle neck top underneath a dark brown vest. His hair was neatly groomed and a pair of frameless glasses sat on his face. Chip had always liked those glasses but found without the support of a metal frame the lenses seemed to floopy and too fragile.
"Hi?"
The man asked.
"Ah…"
Chip looked down at the card in his hand and then back up at the dark skinned gentleman with well styled black hair.
"This is going to sound really strange, but…"
"You're in the right place".
The man said rather dully.
"Excuse me?"
Chip inquired.
"The ghost hunters right?"
"How'd you know?"
The man laughed, it was a pleasant laugh, not one of spite or enjoyment in the stupidity of suffering of others, it was truly friendly and joyful.
"Everyone who comes here starts up with "this is really strange" and we all know they're talking about the hunters!"
He chuckled and stepped aside.
"Come in, come in! My name's Ethan".
He walked through into the living area where sitting at a large table covered in a raft of different electronic devices and parts were two others. The young woman in her early 20s with long red hair tied back in a plait, bright blue eyes and incredibly pale skin, dressed in black hipster jeans and a heavy dark green jersey that looked home made was introduced to be Ainsley. The slightly older man, perhaps 28, 29, wearing dark yellow trackpants with the Adidas stripes and a black hoodie of the same brand with green eyes, short blond hair and well tanned was Wade.
He introduced himself and the general pleasantries of an inaugural conversation were dispensed with. The topic then moved quickly to what Chip had come for and after explaining his experiences, the experiences of Perceptor and strange coincidence of the twins sudden insanity and various other reports the three ghost hunters were certainly intrigued.
"So, what happens now, I'm new to all of this".
Chip was honest.
"Usually we'd discuss cost and what not but given none of us have ever met us one of those robots I think I can speak for all of us here when I say we'll do it pro bono. And it's certainly an interesting case, I give you that".
Ethan explained.
"So you'll take the case?"
Chip asked.
Ainsley looked up from the small calculator looking device she was tweaking with a screw driver and smiled.
"Absolutely! This'll be great for our marketing, Eth",
Wade nodded in agreement.
"Oh thank goodness".
"What would you have done if we had asked for too high a price, or had turned you down?"
"Well, at this point,"
Chip answered Ethan.
"Money is not a factor, as for a denial, there was a priest friend of my friend's deceased father who I think might have helped, even if he just gave me advice on how to go about it, it would have been better then sitting on my hands waiting for them to numb worse then my legs".
Occasionally Chip would joke at his expense, the others either didn't find it funny or didn't get it. The odd look on the girl's face told him it was probably the later.
"What's the clergyman's name?"
Wade asked as he put down a series of wires he was counting through.
"Tobias McGirr".
The three started laughing, obviously with knowledge of who the man of the cloth was.
"You know him?"
Chip inquired, though he felt it was a redundant question given their friendly chuckling.
"Oh yeah! Toby is fantastic! We go visit him every weekend. None of us are Catholic, and that doesn't bother him much, but we have heaps in common, and that man, he's got the experience to back him up, he knows his shit, I tell you what!"
Ethan grinned from ear to ear, obviously recounting inwardly all the exciting adventures he'd had with the Padre.
"Oh yeah, remember that time in that old pysch ward? Hell, I thought I was going to crap my pants, but then he whips out that massive crucifix and we were set!"
The girl threw her hands up in absolute delight her bright eyes glowing with the light of memory and joy at such times.
"Seriously, if you've met him, if you've chatted with him, you're well on your way to getting this issue sorted".
Wade added.
"Okay, let's get a cuppa and a feed and then get down to logistics, Mr. Chip".
Ethan smiled as he motioned to the kitchen.
Chip hoped their light hearted joy and their relative normal look didn't mean they weren't the real deal. He had half expected men in white jumpsuits with big packs on their backs and ray guns of some ethereal description, something akin to Ghost Busters, a card board cut out of the characters he soon noticed was standing in the kitchen next to the fridge.