1. [text]

[yousayyes]

[As Winston's second day at sea starts, he feels the distinct creeping anxiety of his mind preoccupying itself with worry over what could be happening back home in his absence.]

[Normally, he'd try reading to pass the time and keep his mind busy from those thoughts- but Mom only packed him two books, and he's already read through both of them cover-to-cover multiple times by now. ...he started to realize somewhere in the middle of his fifth re-read of the trainer's guide that he wasn't actually working to absorb the information. By that point, he was just glancing down at the turning pages to feel some amount of productivity as he's stuck waiting for the cruise ship to reach Kanto.]

[Setting the books back in his bag, Winston opens his Pokégear, thumbing through its features until he reaches a text posting option. ...it can't hurt to put something out there, right?]

Hi.

Current events outside of my control have left me temporarily unemployed, seeing as I'm now stuck in a different dimension from my former workplace.

I know- we've ALL been there before... /endsarcasm

While I'm sure my coworkers will be understanding of the situation and leave my spot open until I return... I don't see that reunion happening anytime soon. So in the meantime: if anyone could point me towards a job listing in the Kanto area, I would appreciate it a lot.

Many thanks.

- Winston Zeddemore

Comments

Voice

[ghoststanning]

[HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT

Ray takes a moment to stumble with his Pokegear to turn on voice chat. Soon Winston hears a loud, familiar voice.]

Winston?

Winston!

Is that you?

Get back to me!

Please I miss you!

[... He should be thankful that the voice sounds familiar.]

[yousayyes]

[Well this a much better response than he could've expected. Winston calls him back nearly immediately upon hearing his message.]

Ray! ...Ray, it's me! [His voice is a bit shaky, and sounds like it would be more excited if there wasn't still some residual panic in his system.] I don't know what happened- I just woke up in a house here like a day ago. Where did you end up?

[ghoststanning]

[Ray whines slightly. Not as much as Venkman would but he wanted to see him!]

Winston why did you go on the boat? The others and I are in Violet City! It'll take us forever to reach you again.

[text]

[pkemeter]

[Egon is on break--despite the fact that he doesn't actually take breaks unless it's to eat snacks--at the Pokémon Center when he idly sees the new network post. He has to read the message three times for it to completely hit him.

Winston Zeddemore.

His chest feels like it's being squashed by Gozer. It's him. He begins typing up a message, when he remembers that...this might not be the Winston that he or the others might know. He hastily deletes his message and writes:]

Winston. What age are you? What is the last thing you remember before coming here? Who are your employers?

[....Maybe he...should have told him who he is. These are a lot of invasive questions from an apparent stranger.]

[yousayyes]

The others-? [Winston's voice raises, with a conflicted mix of hope and fear, knowing they've all been sent here together... well, apart. But they're still all here at the same time.]

[...his voice cuts off abruptly for a while. Almost like the call dropped. But no, Winston is just trying to process this new bit of information. And the first conclusion he comes to is:]

So... nobody's at the firehouse.

[ghoststanning]

Well... considering that you didn't notice us gone for the past 8 months, I think it's safe to say that the dimension we're in has a temporal flux! And if that's the case, making sure someone's back in the firehouse should be the least of our concerns!

Besides, Janine's still there.

[neverstudied]

[Honestly, when he scrolls through the network and this post catches his eye, Venkman's first thought is brutally honest: "man, this guy sounds like a real nerd."

Venkman barely has the time to dwell on that thought, of course, because his eyes flit down to the bottom of the message and he gets absolutely blindsided, nearly dropping the Pokegear.

For some reason, he'd always assumed in the back of his mind that Winston's arrival in this universe would have much more fanfare to it. Like he'd know, somehow, that something had changed- that the Ghostbusters were finally whole again.

Life doesn't work like that, of course.]

i hate to be the one to tell you this but theres a fatal flaw in your reasoning win

that reunion may be coming a hell of a lot faster than you think

especially when you tell me where the fuck you are

The message sounds far more relaxed than he feels, and his hands shake a bit too much while he taps it out.]

[yousayyes]

[...is this how they do job interviews here? These questions aren't exactly "what's your biggest weakness" and "where do you see yourself in five years".]

Alright? In order:

Thirty-six. Sleeping in my bed at the firehouse. ...we don't exactly have a strictly delineated employer-employee hierarchy. We're all Ghostbusters.

[yousayyes]

It's... it's a shame about Janine, but- I guess if you were here for eight months and I didn't know it, then that must mean time doesn't play by the same rules across dimensions-

...oh my god, you were here for eight months.

[ghoststanning]

Eight whole months, Win! I miss you so much.

[He honestly sounds so sad right now. You hurt him, Winston.]

I have so many children now and none of them have been able to meet you.

[yousayyes]

[Okay, so Ray's established that Egon and Peter are here, too. ...it doesn't take a Hercule Poirot to figure out which of the two this could be.]

Hey Pete.

Right now I'm on a ship headed to Kanto. Not there yet.

Already regretting it a little.

[neverstudied]

ughhhh why'd you do the me thing

ferry'll get you to pallet within 3 days; i can get a magnet train in goldenrod to saffron and warp+fly over to meet you in pallet right around when you'll arrive

[Just. Already making plans without even checking with the other two first. Especially since the other two can't make the same trip...]

[yousayyes]

Right, I boarded yesterday. Should get there by tomorrow if we have smooth sailing from here on out.

And for the record, it was a "I was told Viridian City had an expansive public library, and I felt like that would be a really helpful resource to help me get my bearings in this place" thing.

[neverstudied]

oh you god damned nerd

by "me thing" i meant that i took the ferry when i got here too. which was even worse because none of us could warp or fly or do anything to travel faster so it took two months for me to see ray and egon again while they got to be together the whole time without me

nearly drove me stir crazy

and we've been waiting for you for almost eight months and that was driving me crazy too

and the fact that i still dont get to see you for another couple days is killing me so whatever you do winston do not leave pallet town im gonna get to you first and i'm not gonna let you out of my sight for weeks i swear to god

text

[alittleobsessed]

I've been there before!! I'm there right now, in fact! In an alternate dimension I mean!

Hi, I'm Webby!

[yousayyes]

[Winston's... not sure if he's referring to actual human children or not. Obviously, eight months isn't long enough to have one kid let alone "so many", but he knows Ray would be one to adopt, anyway, so that point's irrelevant. ...and given who Ray is, "his children" could mean the new gadgets he's been able to build in this world.]

[All of that aside-]

...sorry. Sounds like I've got a lot to catch up on with you... again.

[Ever the latecomer, aren't you, Win.]

[yousayyes]

[He's starting to get more than a little concerned over the growing number of people he's seeing on here that have apparently also experienced this sudden dimension hop.]

Sorry to see you're in the same boat as me, Webby.

If you have a minute, do you mind telling me a bit about how you got here? I was swept away to this world in my sleep, so I don't know how it happened or how much damage was caused in the process of warping spacetime around us.

Text;

[schachmeister]

What sort of job are you looking for? I might be able to point you towards some places, but I suppose it would be easier knowing what kind of experience you have.

And I don't think you'll have to worry about your coworkers much. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but it seems that while we are here, time back home freezes. Your coworkers won't even realise you've been gone when you return to your own world. Neither will you, for that matter, as it seems people lose all their memories of this place when they return home.

I'm sorry, all of this is probably a lot to take in all at once. If you have any questions, I could try answering them to the best of my ability. I've been here for a while now, but I remember how overwhelming it all was at first.

- Armin Arlert

Text

[adandyinspace]

Aw man, are you kidding me? how come you had to go to friggin kanto?! everyone knows johtos where its at

i wanted to see the sweet ghostbusters reunion...

whatever have fun with your weird egon

[yousayyes]

[...Armin's right in that he'll definitely need some time to personally process the concept of losing all memory of this place, if or when he ever leaves.]

[Those thoughts aren't something he really feels comfortable dwelling on right now, let alone discussing with a stranger. So let's focus on business here.]

Thanks for contacting me, Arlert.

Admittedly, this isn't my first time travelling to another dimension. ...but I'm still new to this world, and want to prepare for whatever the future has in store for me here, so I'm grateful for any help you're willing to offer me in finding a way to support myself and my newfound pet.

I attended LIU Brooklyn from 1970-73, planning to get a B.A. in English Literature. Unfortunately, I didn't get to complete the degree at the time, so I'm not sure if it would count for much here. [He doesn't feel comfortable going into the details of why he dropped out to a stranger, so he quickly moves on.]

After that, I went into construction work for ten years- so far, that's the longest amount of time I've spent at one job. Never rose up the ranks to a managerial position, but I still picked up a good handful of skills while I was there: following blueprints, operating heavy machinery, welding, keeping my balance walking high up on thin beams... the list goes on.

But honestly- I'm willing to settle for any entry-level position that'll have me. I signed up to be a ghostbuster because I saw the help wanted ad while I was job hunting... and that's the sort of occupation so new and unique that nothing else can prepare you for it. So I'm willing to learn new things on the spot, as the case may be.

[yousayyes]

Sorry to disappoint a fan(?), but... do you know what /isn't/ at Johto? The Viridian City Public Library. Which is where I'm headed. Trust me, I wouldn't spend 2/3rds of the money I have on me just to spend time on a pleasure cruise. [Especially since he's still on board debating if this investment's worth it or not.]

...and I WILL have fun with "my weird Egon" when I get to see him again, but thanks for giving me the permission ahead of time.

[adandyinspace]

you have noooooo clue
i got a vhs collection that would make any other so called fan weep

but yeah no this is like movie egon and

wait
actually
you could totally be movie winston

huh...
idk now either someone's gonna be weird to you and it's gonna be the crossover ive always wanted but whatever

[yousayyes]

You know... if you really want to see our reunion, this handheld has a video feature on it? We're probably gonna record the moment for posterity in the first place... don't see why we couldn't make a copy of it that you could add to your collection.

[For a moment, Winston's almost surprised that this guy could remember his character being in the movie. I mean, even when the four of them were first handed the script, he only remembered reading three names at the top-]

Hang on, do you mean Egon's /actor/ is here? Ramis?

[adandyinspace]

ARE YOU SERIOUS????? best ghostbuster, fucking venkman probably wouldnt record shit for me
...ray might, depends on if he'd remember

[It's a good thing no one can see you become an emotional fanboy over texts. Keep it together, he can do this.]

nah its like
think of the movie like its own little alternate universe
and now that egon is real and also here, it's crazy shit you'll get used to it i believe in you baby

and now i know youre totally RGB winston and thats just
so great
the gangs all (sorta) here

[yousayyes]

No problem (but I don't think it should be a competition).

I think I get what you're saying. So, it's kind of like how Fleischman's creations became real in that cartoon dimension and this world doesn't just take real, living people into itself- it does the same for fictional characters, too?

...what's "RGB" supposed to stand for there.