Ghostbusters: Regeneration

Chapter Seventeen

Once the entire team returned to the Firehouse, Ray could see that the collective mood was still low. Everyone knew that the chances of tracking down Az'dor again before their one month window closed were extremely small.

What they did not know was that their leader was already formulating a plan, one that would hopefully provide them with at least one more opportunity to catch their nemesis and put this case to bed. With time running short, Ray realised that their traditional approach to the situation – hoping that the public would spot Az'dor then call them up – was leaving too much to chance, and that there had to be a more proactive method available to them. Once he began to wonder if there was a way to bring the beast to them, that's when he experienced one of those light-bulb-above-the-head moments.

In a quick team debriefing he reassured everyone that they still had time to capture Az'dor but chose not to divulge his idea just yet. After Peter, Hiroko, and Melissa went home, Ray took Egon up to the third floor to discuss the feasibility of his plan. He swiftly explained his reasoning about bringing the creature to them and pointed out that they already had technology for attracting paranormal beings in the form of Hiroko's lure device. What he needed to discuss with Egon was the viability of building a version of it with a much larger range, of many miles rather than metres.

Egon concluded that the idea was sound and that there was no scientific reason why a version of the invention could not be built with a wider range of effect. However, this enhanced model would need to be substantially larger in size and require significant resources for construction and power. Without running any hard numbers, Egon speculated that in order to have an effective range spanning the majority of Manhattan, the device would likely require the electricity of an entire city block and need an antennae several stories high to deliver the optimal signal across the skyscraper-filled island.

Egon raised the prospect of Az'dor attempting to escape again. As a being of higher intelligence, it was highly likely that the Class VII would flee the moment he recognised the Ghostbusters, particularly if they were loaded for bear. Ray responded by saying that they would need a location for the operation that would grant the team an element of surprise, but also surmised that it would be wise to have a contingency plan in case their nemesis tried to make a break for it.

Dr. Spengler, who already appeared to have an idea in mind for such a plan, explained to Ray that it should be possible to create a PKE forcefield capable of preventing Az'dor from fleeing the site. Though a generator for this kind of barrier would be a lot smaller and simpler to build than their lure device, it would also need a significant amount of electricity to run, and its power requirements would increase the larger the forcefield was.

Powered by their own inspiration and countless cups of coffee, Ray and Egon worked late into the night hammering out every detail of their theoretical operation, no matter how small it was. By 4am they completed not only detailed plans and diagrams, but also a precise list of components they would need to construct the lure and forcefield devices.

Ray called the whole team, including Janine, to the Firehouse later that morning. On the briefing area on the third floor, he and Egon broke down the basics of their plan with the help of the overhead projector.

The Guggenheim Museum - pending approval from City officials - would be the site of the operation. It was centrally situated in Manhattan, meaning their lure signal could span almost the entire island from there. As Egon illustrated with a projected diagram, the building's unusual rotunda would provide not only a good location for the multi-story lure device but also provided a number of tactical advantages. He and Ray explained that the Ghostbusters would be positioned on the ground floor and lower tiers of the ramp that spiralled around the interior of the rotunda. They would be spread out and placed at varying elevations, not only giving them a range of viable angles for their proton streams but also hiding them from view when the airborne Az'dor arrived.