Ghostbusters: Regeneration

Chapter Nine

'That was good work out there,' Ray called back to his victorious team as he led them into the Firehouse's side entrance, 'but we've still got a lot to do.'

He and Egon headed across the spacious ground floor chamber, which doubled as both the garage bay and the reception area for the Ghostbusters' headquarters, towards the wooden lockers which stood against the opposite wall. Melissa and Callum followed close behind them, carrying three bags of luggage between them, while Hiroko and Janine brought up the rear, sharing the duty of carrying five now-occupied traps.

The three newcomers could now finally take a good look at the large room. Its layout and contents seemed almost identical to the way Melissa had imagined them. Throughout her life she had studied publicity photos, TV news reports, and any other media she could find relating to the Ghostbusters, including those about the Firehouse. This combined garage and reception area seemed almost entirely unchanged from those photos and videos, most of which had been taken in the late 80s and early 90s, right down to the distinctive green and white wall tiles and prominent wood fittings.

Like any hardcore Ghostbusters fan, she had dreamt of seeing inside the secretive home base of her spook-catching heroes. Actually being here was both thrilling and surreal in equal measure, and felt like somehow being inside childhood itself.

'Wow!' Hiroko uttered in awe, clearly having similar emotions to Melissa but being less reserved about showing them. With her now-dormant proton pack on her back once more, she carried three of the traps in her arms while looking around the room in wonder. Her eyes soon darted in the direction of the large object covered by a sheet that stood in the centre of the room.

'Oh my god, the Ecto-1!' She whispered loudly in excitement. 'Or is it the Ecto-1B these days?'

Melissa joined Callum in leaving the luggage by the reception desk. She considered advising Hiroko to dial-down her fan-girling, but then remembered that this was her being dialled-down.

As the others began to return their proton packs to their respective lockers, Hiroko soon resumed following Janine, who was carrying the two other traps, over to the reception area. Ms. Melnitz placed the two boxy devices on top of her desk, causing them to nudge against a small stack of what looked to be romance novels. She then leaned in slightly, pushing her glasses up her nose, to observe the phone that sat alongside an ancient-looking computer monitor and an equally retro printer.

Hiroko pulled up alongside Janine with an excited look on her face, still holding three traps against her chest.

'I've always wanted to see inside this place.' She beamed, still peering all around the room. 'There was even one time I decided to break in, but I talked myself out of it at the last minute!'

Janine stood back up straight and turned her head towards Hiroko with an unmoved expression on her face.

'That's great. Thanks for not doing that.' She said flatly.

Before Hiroko could decide whether she was traumatised or exhilarated to have been sassed by the one-and-only Janine Melnitz, Ray approached the desk, having stowed his equipment away.

'Janine, have we had any messages?' He asked.

'49, all in the last four hours.' She told him in a notably unenthusiastic tone.

'Alright, start drawing up a priority list of the most significant-sounding jobs and we'll get to work as soon as we can.' Ray instructed. 'Oh, and contact the mayor's office and let them know that we're back in business.'

'I'm technically still on vacation for another few days, y'know.' Janine remarked with a sour expression.

'Haven't you guys been closed down for over a decade?' Callum asked, who was now standing sans proton pack with Melissa and Egon, just behind Ray.