Arriving on Station

Posted on Sun May 31st, 2020 @ 12:48pm by Captain Ash Shultz & Level 5 Nicholas "Nick" Medhurst

Mission: It's... A Bus Station
Location: NCGB HQ
Timeline: 2 Days Prior to Orientation

ON:

Nicholas gave his horn a sharp tap as he slammed on the breaks due to a pedestrian streaking across the crosswalk in front of his vehicle- a 2015 Nissan Xterra. In the back, he had packed most of the belongings from his office on Cherry Point and most of his clothing and uniforms- anything he couldn't put in storage, for the two and a half hour relocation to Raleigh. According to the offer letter he'd received, he'd be bunking with the rest of the team so there wouldn't be a need to find a new apartment.

Slowing down as he neared their cross streets, he found the bright blue building that would serve as his new workplace. Not seeing an area in the front to park, he went around the back and slid the vehicle into the first spot he found near a set of roll-up doors that were currently open. Setting his parking brake, he turned off the car and exited the vehicle, grabbing two stacked Bankers Boxes from the back storage area and walking into the open door. Looking around, he could see that it was set up similar to a modern firehouse, with lockers and hooks for each team member and a small screen for them to retrieve information on their current call from the dispatch station. Stopping for a moment as he noticed a green glow coming from an ajar cabinet, he set down the boxes on a nearby table and walked slowly towards the open lockup and peeked inside to reveal backpack like pieces of equipment with wandlike attachments attached to the right-hand side.

"I guess she really wasn't joking..." Nicholas whispered as he stared incredulously.

"I wasn't," Ash smiled as she walked by him toward the other end of the room. The basement was cool, given the safe which was normally closed to contain the proton packs when not in use. "We will likely move the laundry to the motel - assuming everyone wants more space. More so you. Can't really have you living too far from campus, with this job. So a room of your own would be a good thing."

Nicholas cocked his head slightly. "Well, I definitely wouldn't mind. I haven't bunked communally since OCS, so it might help." he said, picking up the boxes from the table he'd left them on. "Mind showing me where my office is?" he asked.

"Back upstairs," Ash gestured to the door, then placed her polo shirts in the dryer, turned it on, and headed back up the stairs. Your office is closest to the front door. Office with the sliding glass-window that looks out into the visitor area.

Looking around, Nicholas noticed a set of stairs leading up and made a beeline for them. Exiting out of the swinging door, he entered what a rather well-appointed reception area with a small office off to the side. Tapping the door to the office with his foot, it swung open with a loud creak. He set down the boxes on a nearby desk as the sight of his new computer caught his eye. Well, to call it a computer would be an understatement- this was a sleek setup consisting of four different thin glass screens, each serving their own purpose. Feeling around, Nicholas didn't see many cables, except three small power cables running into a small power supply and a glowing fiber optic cable bundle that was running through the wall. Smiling slightly, he found the CPU- a small silver rectangle that glowed blue around the edges. "Hello beautiful..." He said lovingly, running his hands along the edges of the device.

Ash pointed to the large monitor on the wall. "MaxTech Ultra 4KHD Holographic Projector monitor/tv. Runs live-feed GPS locations on all our GB fleet, and eventually, the phones will track where we are in the field."

Nicholas nodded. "Kind of like PASS Devices for firefighters." he said, reaching into the box for a picture frame containing his commissioning certificate and holding it up to find the best place to hang it.

"Exactly," Ash confirmed. "You receive calls at all hours, though Ford and I can take some nights to intercept, so you can rest," Ash informed. "After-hours calls cost double if clients insist we take care of a situation RFN... Which is honestly where we get the bulk of our income. Night jobs."

"Sounds like a sound business plan. I'm assuming that we're expected to hit a certain P and L each month."He said, running a quick hypothetical tab in his head.

"To break even to pay bills on the building, and paychecks, we need at least ten grand a month." Ash frowned. "We do have three-months worth from our sponsor,s to give us time to build a good reputation around these parts, though. Don't think they'll fund any more to the paycheck reserve though."

"Ten grand? How much do we plan on charging per job?" he asked. "We'd need to break $500 or a grand per job minimum if we have any hope of meeting that before operating expenses, I'd think," he said, doing the math on his fingers.

"Government contract jobs have been our biggest god-saves," Ash admitted. "They pay close to fifty-grand a job. In part, because some of that is a guarantee we won't spill the beans on the ghost epidemic that's slowly cropped up... But most of the clients we take, are high-dollar. Fifteen to twenty-thousand is usual. And if it's an extremely powerful type of ghost we deal with, we double the fee. But we normally only charge fifty to two-hundred dollars for low-income clients."

Nicholas continued to tabulate the numbers. "So it sounds like what we need to do is market aggressively and tackle some new verticals. In terms of government contracts, we need to get in touch with the city. Especially if this place is poltergeist central like you say. Maybe we can position ourselves as private exterminators?" he asked, slightly playful in his tone.

"We live in the capital of the state," Ash smiled. "It's my hope to get a sitdown with the governor and have him sanction us officially for government jobs... But with all you're talkin' 'bout, sounds like I may take you with me to some of these meetings."

Nick smiled. "Can't hurt, ma'am. I'd like to think business school wasn't a total waste of time," he said quickly. "Now, I'd like to discuss this further once I get settled. If I may be so bold, what's a good place to get dinner and potentially a drink around here?" he asked.

"I like the Fightin' Clover. Good pub. Great food. An' great ta watch sports at," Ash suggested. "But most folks eat at the standard dine-in chains like Apple Bee's for specific things like steaks an' deserts."

Nick shrugged, "I'm in the mood for something outside of the normal chains and a stiff drink." Taking a glance at his watch he looked back up. "If you're interested, I'd love some company. Say 2000? I'm buying." He asked

Ash smiled and gave a firm nod of agreement, "You have deal."