A/N: This one's a fairly short chapter, the logical conclusion as to what would happen now that the kids have laptops :D It's going to have a somewhat different format too – you'll see what I mean.
I've got some chapters planned that are either (a) focused on plot advancement, (b) dark, or (c) both that will be coming up soon. But since I just got done with writing about that very subject and I'm currently dealing with exams, I'll give you another light-hearted and friendly chapter that I can write up without taking time away from exam studying.
Chapter 16 – Networking
"Did you finish your homework, Meghan?" Ryan called out from the basement.
"Yeah, dad!" Meghan replied. "I'm done!"
"All right, you're good to go for the night."
"Thanks!" Meghan breathed a sigh of relief. This week it had been her turn to get swamped by tests and quizzes, and she counted herself lucky that she hadn't gotten a huge homework load to make things even more painful. "God, I hope high school isn't like this…"
"Hey Meghan!" her dad suddenly called out. "Get Alex and come down here. You're gonna want to see this!"
She raised her eyebrow. This was new. "Alex!" she called out to her brother. "Dad wants to see us!"
"Huh?" he climbed down the stairs. "What for?"
She shrugged. "I dunno, Dad just said it would be interesting."
"Okaaaaayyyyy…" the two of them rushed down into the basement. They found their father grinning in front of the computer.
"Remember those kids you met at Mike's house?" Ryan asked. "The ghosts?"
"How can I forget?" Alex replied with a grin. "Those guys are amazing!"
"Hope we get to see them again soon!" Meghan added.
"Well, I've got the next best thing," Ryan replied. "Mike just sent me a message saying that he got all the kids laptops." His children's eyes widened in shock at this news. "He spent a few hours connecting them on Facebook and Email and everything."
"Holy crap!" Alex exclaimed. "That's awesome!"
"Can we talk to them right now?" Meghan begged. "Please?"
Ryan grinned. "You should have friend requests from all seven of them by now. Have fun, you two!" he said with a smirk as he left the basement.
With excited shouts, the two of them rushed over to their laptops and logged on as quickly as possible. Just like Ryan had promised, each of them had gotten 7 friend requests, one for each of the ghosts. They quickly accepted all of them as fast as humanly possible. As soon as they had done so, they immediately received an invitation to join a group messaging system, indicating that they were all ready and had been waiting to meet up with them from the get-go.
"Ready for this?" Meghan excitedly asked her brother.
"Heck yeah!" he replied as they both accepted. To their delight, all seven of their new ghostly friends were all online, as they'd hoped.
Jeremy: Hey guys!
Alex: Holy crap! You're all here! :D I didn't expect to hear from you guys again this soon!
Meghan: How is this possible?
Susie: Dad got us all new laptops! 3
Meghan: Every single one of you?
Fritz: Yep! Some Dells, Some Macs, some Lenovos…we decided to mix it up a bit.
Cassidy: Dad's the best!
Mary: So how is everything?
Alex: I'm doing pretty well!
Meghan: Uggghhhhh….this week was my turn to get my ass kicked by a bunch of exams. So glad it's over.
Gabe: Oof, sorry to hear that.
Meghan: At least the next week's going to be a lot easier. How are things going with you guys?
Liz: Pretty well, all things considered! Dad's still trying to work on how to get us safely out of the house.
Jeremy: Until then, we're just going to stick to our daily routine of video games, Internet surfing, and books.
Alex: Speaking of books, did you guys read the Harry Potter series yet? I'd highly recommend both the books and the movies, they're great stuff! Even if things get darker later on…
Gabe: We got through the first one, and we're gonna start the second one soon.
Cassidy: I love all of the characters so far! Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione, Ron, they're all so amazing! Even the minor ones like Professor McGonagall are cool!
Susie: I can't believe Harry's parents died when he was a baby! It's so sad!
Fritz: Screw Voldemort, I hope that bastard gets what's coming to him!
Meghan: There's still six books left before that finally happens Fritz. Sorry.
Alex: You guys are gonna be amazed at how well everything ties together once you get to the later books, trust me. Can't say much right now cause of spoilers, but you'll see!
Gabe: If that's true then I can't wait to get to the rest of the books!
Jeremy: Do you have any other recommendations for books we could read?
Meghan: Well, one of my personal favorites is the Percy Jackson series. I don't know how much you know about Greek mythology, but the basic gist of it is that the Greek gods exist in the modern universe and have demigod children. The main character is a son of Poseidon, and he goes through a WHOLE lot of crazy shit.
Alex: Can confirm, Percy Jackson is an absolute badass.
Fritz: Well, when you describe it like that, then we HAVE to get our hands on those!
Alex: Just don't watch the movies. Unlike the Harry Potter films, the Percy Jackson films kinda suck, to be honest.
Liz: I heard Dad talking about something called…Lord of the Rings? I think? Have you ever heard about that one?
Alex: Liz, Lord of the Rings is absolutely amazing, but for that one…watch the movies first. The books are…pretty dense, to be honest. It's pretty easy to get lost since they're so long. The movies keep all of the important details in while leaving a couple of things out, and even then they end up being like 3 hours at least. Plus, you have some absolutely amazing acting and everything is just so goddamn badass! Like holy crap, I get excited just thinking about it!
Meghan: Just so you guys know, it's Fellowship of the Ring first, then Two Towers, then Return of the King. You might want to read the Hobbit first, that one is meant to be for a younger audience and that's one that you will probably be able to follow just fine, though I'd still probably wait til after you finish Harry Potter and Percy Jackson first.
Susie: Gotcha! Man, you guys have got me really excited! I don't remember ever being this excited about books when I was alive!
Alex: To be fair, we're self-admitted nerds :P
Meghan: Anyway, what else have you guys been up to? 😊
Cassidy: We tried some of those games you mentioned. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the early Super Mario Bros. games, things like that. Got started on those a day or two ago.
Jeremy: Dad doesn't want us playing games that are above our age range.
Fritz: Technically been around for like around 40 years, lol.
Susie: I can't believe how hard those games are, though! Is that normal? Like, we can barely get through the first world in the first Super Mario Bros.!
Alex: Oh, believe me, Susie, hard games were the norm for 90s. Honestly, if you want the quintessential 2D Mario experience that isn't overly difficult or unfair, Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World are the best choices in my opinion. The fact that both have a save system definitely helps. As for 3D, there's plenty of options that are all amazing. Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, etc. etc.
Gabe: Will do! We also tried Crash Bandicoot 1, and man, that's some pretty hard platforming!
Meghan: Pfffttttt, that's nothing compared to the old versions of the game. You know how in the new version you have to break all of the boxes without dying for the colored gems?
Fritz: Yeah?
Meghan: In the old versions, that applied to EVERY SINGLE gem. And the jumping was much more screwy than in the newer versions.
Susie: You're kidding. O_O
Alex: Nope. Thank God that 2 and 3 are easier than 1 is, even though those games have their own challenges too. And good luck when you hit the High Road and Slippery Climb, you guys.
Meghan: WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE GODDAMN HIGH ROAD, ALEX!
Alex: Yeesh, calm down, sis!
Liz: Is it that bad?
Mary: I've beaten it before, and yes, it is very difficult. Your jumps on that stage have to be nearly perfect. If my friends and siblings can't beat it, I'll do it for them.
Jeremy: Now I'm kind of worried.
Susie: You know what my favorite game of the bunch has been so far? The Spyro the Dragon trilogy.
Meghan: Oh my God, all of my yes! :D Spyro the Dragon is absolutely adorable! I still play those games years after I got them!
Alex: They really upped the formula between the first game and the second and third ones, gotta say.
Fritz: Oh? We've only gotten started on the first ones to be honest. Fuck those blue thieves by the way, those guys have an even more annoying laugh than Balloon Boy!
Meghan: Who's Balloon Boy?
Mary: Don't worry about it.
Gabe: I think Spyro the Dragon is our collective favorite so far. Maybe it's the fact that when you take away the fact that he's a dragon, he's a kid just like us, but he's doing great things. Saving the adult dragons is pretty neat!
Cassidy: Finding all of those gems is a pain, though.
Meghan: Yeah, finding the first game's collectibles can be kind of…cryptic, not gonna lie. The other games do have their own little secrets and exploration but I personally think finding everything was a little easier. Plus the bosses in 2 and 3 are SO much better.
Jeremy: Yeah, we beat Toasty yesterday. He was kinda…anticlimactic, to be honest. Though finding out he was a sheep on stilts was funny :P
Mary: My friends are planning on completing every game 100% as a team. I already did that myself, and I'll be giving a little nudge here and there or doing things for them if they REALLY get stuck, but I want to avoid doing that unless I need to.
Liz: Yeah, wouldn't be much point in playing the game if Mary did all the work for us.
Alex: I like that mentality, Mary. I think you've got the right approach. :)
Susie: I honestly just can't wait to see you guys again. It's incredible that we can talk to you guys like this, but it just isn't the same…
Meghan: I know that feel, Susie.
Alex: I hope you guys don't get lonely in Mr. Schmidt's house.
Gabe: Nah. We've got each other and we've got Mike. That's all we need.
Meghan: Awwwwwwwwwww 3
Alex: We'll definitely try to come over again as soon as possible. I kinda want to show you our house too, when you guys get to it. It isn't anything fancy like Mr. Schmidt's, but I think it's still nice.
Cassidy: I'm sure it looks absolutely amazing, Alex.
Meghan: Has your dad introduced you to anyone else?
Mary: Not yet, unfortunately. He's very careful with how he handles issues. Heck, technically meeting you guys was an accident, no matter how much of a happy accident it was.
Jeremy: Did your mom come back, and does she know about us?
Alex: Yeah, she does. We try not to keep secrets in this house from each other. She was skeptical at first but we eventually convinced her. Luckily, she's on ball with keeping you guys secret from the rest of the world, though she doesn't think anyone would believe her even if we told them.
Gabe: That's good to know.
Meghan: Is your dad going to get you cell phones too?
Liz: Not sure, Meghan. I…kinda don't want to ask him about that, after he just spent God knows how much money on laptops for us.
Alex: Fair point, Liz. Wouldn't want to sound ungrateful or needy.
Mary: We've got to go, guys. Mike wants us to have a movie night tonight, and this time he'll be watching it with us.
Alex: Awww…so soon? Oh well. Now would be a good time as any to watch Lord of the Rings, right?
Fritz: You betcha, Alex! We'll bring it up to him once we log off.
Meghan: Hope to hear from you guys again soon!
All: Bye!
Meghan looked at her brother as they logged off their computers. "Seems like they've settled in pretty well," she commented. Her mouth stretched into a frown. "All things considered…"
"It's terrible, that they died so young," Alex agreed. "What could have possibly happened to them?"
Meghan shuddered. "I don't think I'm going to like the answer if I ever find out," she said with a sigh. "And something tells me they weren't happy as ghosts before they found Mr. Schmidt. Whatever happened to them before, I'm just glad that they found someone to finally take care of them."
"I couldn't agree more, sis. I couldn't agree more."
/
And there you have it, folks! In addition to reconnecting with their new friends after 6 chapters, I've decided to add a couple of hints as to what the kids are doing currently. I probably won't dedicate a full chapter for the books, but I might give one to the Video Games I mentioned (that would be Video Game Bonanza 2).
This chapter is short and sweet because I have med school finals week. I won't tackle the plot advancement stuff until after all that responsibility is over and done with.
Hope you guys enjoyed!f
