I Need a Job and I Have One, Part 1

Posted on Sun Aug 2nd, 2020 @ 12:37pm by Captain Ash Shultz & Lieutenant Tchaikovsky Ford & Level 1 Rev. DR. Finnegan Quinn
Edited on on Sun Aug 2nd, 2020 @ 1:15pm

Mission: It's... A Bus Station
Location: NCGB HQ
Timeline: MD 1

Along the fence that bordered the property of the city's newest business, stood a man with shoulder length brown hair, a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, black dress pants, a black dress shirt, suit coat and nice shiny shoes. He had on a coat due to the chill in the evening air. Ever since his accident he got cold easily. The sun was still up, so he had on his sunglasses. A dark brown satchel hung on his right shoulder and resting on his left side A cross was embroidered on the satchel. A cane was in his right hand. He had the look of someone average. Nothing too important, just an average person. He had been looking at the very nice big rig. Like a kid at Christmas, he was drawn to how shiny the big was. The fact that it was only a couple years old and a high-end model didn't slip past the man who spent many of his adult years driving trucks like this, just nothing this shiny.

Inwardly Finnegan was chuckling at the fact that they had just pulled in straight in. Not backed it in. He knew the local area well, as his sister's home was just a couple blocks from here. He was aware that the other side of the lot led to a street that they could not drive the truck down, simply due to the weight. Plus the road was thinner than the one he stood by, so getting out would be difficult. So whoever had parked the truck had stuck themselves in by not backing in. This meant to leave, someone would have to check the road before they could back out. As the road he stood next to was usually quite busy. What really had his attention was all of the high tech-looking gear on the trailer. He wasn't sure what it was for, but he was sure it had a purpose. Including the thing that looked like a smaller marquee

Ash had been walking her dachshund Dilla around the block. It was a fairly good walk. Dilla played in the dog park with other dogs and Ash got some time to look at her tablet and review upcoming appointments while her dog chased some squirrels around a tree.

When the station chief walked Dilla around the corner of HQ, Ash spotted a man with a cane almost instantly. Casually she walked up to him and debated on if she should tap his shoulder, or just wait for him to turn around. She was wearing her navy blue polo with the company logo, so it would be easy for him to tell who she was with.

Finn had heard them walking up, but it was the sound of the dog that got his attention the most. He turned his head, looking for the dog. "Hey there pooch. You being a good doggy"

Dilla's dog tags gave her away. And like most dogs, she sniffed around the stranger's legs to understand who they were. Naturally a shy dog, she had a slow tail-wag left to right. The verdict was a meh, and so Dilla decided to stand beside owner.

"Must not like the smell of my feline overlords." He looked up to see her face. "Hi. Sorry. I'm an animal lover." Then Finn saw her top and the logo. "Ah, a ghostbuster. Just one of the people I hoped to see today. I need to speak to someone in charge, about a ghost. Any idea who that would be?"

"I'm the station chief. Ford is my lead buster," Ash announced and put her hand out to shake his hand. "Ash Shultz... What can I help you with?"

"I'm Finnegan Quinn. I could get help with a couple of things really. The first is I have a slight Ghost issue in my house, well, sister's house." Finn replied. Sometimes it was best not to give his credentials right away. After all some science types were dismissive of religion. "Nothing harmful yet. Just a spirit that keeps floating through at random hours. Sis's kids were somewhat fine, until it started moaning in the bedroom closets. I've tried taking photo's of the ghost." He began to reach into the satchel. "Nothing developed with both film and digital photography. "

"Does it have a full-body shape? Or is it half-formed?" Ash asked, trying to deduce the power level of the ghost in question. "And does it appear at certain times, or periodically?"

"Torso, head and arms. No legs. Anywhere from four in the afternoon to about eleven at night." Finn said to her. "Been seen in both kids rooms, the kitchen and the bathroom. Her style of dress looks to be either like what a Mennonite would wear, or maybe something from the eighteen hundreds."

"Does it do anything like make objects float, or project any goopy substances?" Ash asked for a bit more concern in her voice.

"I haven't seen anything float. But there is a gooey spot on the attic door the other day, when we first saw her. Also no words. But she hums."

"I'll get Ford," Ash nodded and began to text him on her company phone.

[Meet me in the back lot. Got a small busting case.]

The reply took seconds.

[Be there in five.]

"Right... When my partner gets here, we'll go see to this ghost," Ash promised, then gestured to the truck. "Might not need the truck you been ooglin' at for this, since we're close by, though... We use that as a mobile lab, when we're more than a few hours away from HQ."

"I'll admit, it's a very shiny rig. Beats what I was driving at my last job." Finn replied with a hint of sadness. He had yet to get a new job. Of course it had only been over a week so far. He knew the lord would provide. "But you should speak to your driver. Pulling in, in this area is such a bad idea. He's blocked on the other side. That road isn't wide enough for that tractor and trailer, not with how long that is. Plus the road isn't rated for that kind of load. And you'd have to cut your fence."

"We plan on widening the lot here so it can have more room to turn 'round," Ash explained to Finn. "Have to take care of a problem next door first, before we can change some of the landscape though."

"Back it in from the main street. This way it puts your back loading gate closest to the ole greyhoud building. So if you have to load it, it will go a lot faster with a ramp." Finnegan offered as a suggestion, gesturing with his free hand. Then he added. "There are a lot of companies here in downtown that you have to back into. This road here has two advantages. Its wide and its not traveled on as much as other roads."

He'd been sat in the office with his feet up on the desk, drinking coffee and following a link of YouTube 'ghost' videos. Only one of them looked anything other than fake as hell, but it was a potential lead at least, and in the wider area, not too far away. Then the text lit up his phone and Ford beamed a smile. A case? He locked the laptop screen and left it where it was, then took the stairs down two at a time, stepping out into the back yard to hear voices across by the street entrance. Ash and said client presumably? Ford offered up a lazy wave, then leant against the big rig's side to wait for them to wander over.

"This is Ford. He's one of our expert ghostbusters," Ash explained. "At some point, maybe he'll go to trucking school so he can drive it since we don't have a driver yet."

"Mornin'," offered up Ford amicably enough. He didn't move forward from his calm, but possibly tiny bit protective, position against the ECTOL-1 as he gave the newcomer a quick look over. Ash's direct critique made him raise an eyebrow and sport a grin in her direction. "Maybe," he agreed.

"Ah." Finnegan smiled brightly. "Reason two of why I came." He was pulling out the pictures of the ghost. "I saw the add. It was mentioned on a forum. That's why I came here for the Ghost problem. While I was on your site, I filled out the application for the CDL driver. But I figured, to hedge my bets, maybe I could drop off my driving records and all of my certificates?"

Reason 2? Oh, thought Ford - the job. So this guy wanted to hire them and to be hired? Interesting. He regarded the stranger with a non-derisory, but searching gaze as he spoke back. "Or maybe I won't need to go to truck school," he said, then hit Ash up to gauge her opinion of this dude. "You're all fully licensed up?" Ford asked Finnegan.

"Yes. I just had my physical a month ago. I'm up to date on my hazmat and Hazardous materials certification. I have ten years, give or take of driving trucks like that. I do have copies of my resume as well, even though I put it in online." Finnegan placed the pictures between fingers on the hand that held the cane. Then he held a hand out to Ford. "I'm Finnegan Quinn. Some friends call me Finn."

"Gotcha," noted Ford, giving nothing away as to his opinion of whether this complete stranger was the man for the job or not. He nodded at the mention of a resume, and cast his gaze from Mr. Quinn to Ash and then back again, with no visual clue as to his emotions on this matter. Ford did shake the man's hand though, warmly and with an easy, firm strength. "Good to meet you, Mr Quinn," he said, with a quick flash of a smile. "I'm Ford, people call me... Ford." There was no further explanation on that front, it just was what it was.

"Nice to meet you, Ford." Finn smiled again. As he drew his hand back, he pulled out his resume and other papers. Then held them up. "I got all the papers if you'd like to take a look at them."

Ash tossed Ford the keys. "Right... Finn will tell us where to go. I'll go get a pack, and my shock-blast."

She winked at both of them and gestured to the ECTO-1 SUV before she headed back inside the building for a moment, with Dilla in tow. This road trip was not meant for the little dog.

"Boss and I'll check the papers later," Ford noted, giving Ash a nod as she turned to leave. "Business first." He wasn't about to start reading someone's CV right there in front of them, who knew what facial expressions might give him away.

Catching the keys in one hand, Ford grinned that big stupid grin his face always adopted when driving one of the SUVs was about to happen. Snow, Christmas Eve and ECTO-driving, they all kept him utterly in touch with his inner child.

Finn began to move towards the SUV, placing his papers back in his pouch. "Um, Ford? Not to be a pain and ask this now, but I see the nuclear symbol on the rig and the SUV's. Is this safe for a family home? My sister and her wife live there with two children. This won't make the home unlivable, will it?"

"Family home?" Ford raised a quizzical eyebrow as he walked backward to lean against ECTO-1's hood. "You're not gonna be taking the big rig home," he stated clearly and for the record. "Vehicles stay right here when they're not in use." One of the reasons he stayed here, and slept in the truck.

Finn wanted to sigh, but he tried again. "Ford, what I'm saying is that your vehicles all have a nuclear symbol on them. Meaning that something inside each vehicle have some kind of nuclear property. Most likely your equipment. Is your equipment safe to use in a family home, and will it make the home unlivable?"

"Ohhh," Ford backtracked. Well, that could have been taken, either way, this dude was asking for two very separate things here - a contract and a... well, contract. "Ah, no, it's perfectly safe," he said, swiftly. "All contained within the packs, power only. Safe as a microwave, don't worry." He paused for a second though and added. "Can create an unholy mess though," Ford admitted.

"Okay. I guess a mess is better than a ghost." Finn reached the SUV. "Besides, if I wanted to sleep in something that wasn't a house, I have a forty foot fifth wheel. Trust me, it's got more comfort than the bed in that truck. More space too."

"Sure, yeah," Ford agreed lightly, not wishing to end the job they were about to undertake before it began. "But y'know, that's only if we have to trap it and it fights us. Let's suss your situation out before we worry about that, huh?" He opened ECTO-1's rear driver side door and indicated the back seat. "Hop in, make yourself comfy, we'll just wait for the boss." And then he picked up on Finn's other statement. "Ah, nice. Whatcha tow that with?"

"I have a twenty nineteen dodge ram, duel wheel, diesel thirty-five hundred. Fully loaded. I only use it when I'm hauling the trailer or moving things." Finnegan replied while he slid his pouch off his shoulders, then he got in and put his cane near his legs. "Lot of power. Horrible on miles to the gallon"

"Sweet," said Ford, but he patted ECTO-1's roof just above the driver's door. "S'okay, girl," he told the SUV. "You'll always be my favourite."

Ash came out with their blue jumpsuits and a proton pack, plus a smaller, pack-less gun with some sort of purple-ish power source. The chief then placed the packs in the back of the car and smiled at both men.

"Secured and ready," she added with a final belt snap, locking the pack in place.

"Getting there is easy." Finn said from the back seat. He looked over his shoulder to where the backpack was at and once again he wondered just how safe it was. "When we're moving, right out of the parking lot. Right at the light. Two blocks up and another right." It was at that moment a phone starting to play the old gospel song, as sung by members of one of the churches that he preached at "Shall we gather at the river." Finn reached into his bag and pulled out his phone. He looked at it, but didn't know the number. He pressed the accept button. "Hello, this is Reverend Finnegan Quinn speaking."

The screaming coming from the phone could be heard easily, but not the words. Finn spoke up. "Hello?!? This is Reverend Finnegan Quinn. I need you to calm down and talk to me."

After a few moments of tears on the phone he finally heard a voice he recognized. "Ember!" He didn't yell, as much as had a firmness in his voice. One he used a few times while he preached. "Ember Kaida Smith. Take a breath and calm down. What is going on?" Finn was nervous. After all, this was the girl who was watching his sister's children while his sister and her wife were on a date and he had been doing church business.

"Mr. Reverend, there's a ghost thing here." The girl had begun to cry. "It tried to attack us." In the background, he could hear two others crying. Plus what sounded like a warzone.

"Wait, Ember..." Finn hit the speaker button on his phone and said. "Ember, say that again." In the background they could hear howling and the sounds of something hitting a wall.

"There is a thing here! And it won't let us out of the bathroom!" Ember sobbed out. "It's been trying to kill us!"