Ghostbuster Emblem	Ghostbusters		Ghostbuster Emblem
Ghostbusters (or "The Ghostbusters") was formed in 1984 as a paranormal investigations and eliminations agency; In short, they catch ghosts. Based in New York City, three eccentric parapsychologists-turned-ghost exterminators Dan AYKROYD, Sigourney WEAVER, and Ernie HUDSON, turned to some very wealthy associates Ghostbusters. Corporate Logo. Owner: The Reitman Group, LLC. Underwritten By: Brillstein Bank. Founders: Dan AYKROYD; Sigourney WEAVER; Harold RAMIS; Rick MORANIS; Ernie HUDSON; Annie POTTS; William ATHERTON. Original Staff: Ray STANTZ; Egon SPENGLER; Winston ZEDDEMORE; Janine MELNITZ. Later Staff: Sedgwick Hotel Entity Number 1, aka "Slimer." Global Headquarters: 55 Central Park West. Special Gear: Proton Packs; Containment Traps; Holding Unit (aka "the pen"); Ecto-1a modified '50's-era ambulance. Incorporated: 08 June 1984. Yearly Sales: 3.28 billioncredit (ave). The Original Crew. Left to right is Ray STANTZ, and unknown trainee (probably terminated quickly), Egon SPENGLER, and Winston ZEDDEMORE. "Slimer" (officially "The Sedgwick Hotel Entity Number 1") And His Halloween Costume- A Ghost. of theirs, Harold RAMIS (and investment banker), Rick MORANIS (a successful accountant), Annie POTTS (a well-known socialite), and William ATHERTON (of Atherton International, a multi-million dollar electronics firm), for funding. (Actually they approached several others as well, but only RAMIS, MORANIS, POTTS, and ATHERTON were willing to say yes.) The agency officially opened on 08 June 1984, having hired Dr. Raymond "Ray" STANTZ (a disgraced former researcher on paranormal history and metallurgy, who was discovered to have stolen research data from another researcher, Mz. WEAVER, to be exact- a charge he denied until his death), Dr. Egon SPENGLER (another researcher scientist, though his research "wasn't going well"), Winston ZEDDEMORE (a retired Marine), Janine MELNITZ (secretarial staff), and Louis TULLY (billing and supply). The firm's first-year revenues grossed over $230 million just in the United States, and another $50 million abroad (plus expenses). Because it was a 'private' business, they are not required, except under certain conditions, to reveal their contractees, amongst others that publicly admitted as much are: Sedgwick Hotel; The Kremlin; The Pentagon; Universal Studios Florida; Buffalo Police Department; The City Of New York; The United States Army (on retainer). A shocking latter-day hire was the very first ghost they'd captured, nick-named "Slimer" (officially "The Sedgwick Hotel Entity Number 1"). Franchising rights were sold by the group, under the corporate name The Reitman Group, LLC, to several other groups, and branch offices were opened in Los Angeles, CA, Brownsville, FL, Houston, TX, and several international offices- And all in the first year. The corporations first offices were an abandoned (and decrypted) fire station at 14 North Moore Street; Since the city of New York sold it, it had been used as a mechanics garage, as a disco (for all of about 2 nights), a drug den (busted 1982), and a squatter camp. However, business soon picked up dramatically and the company became a household name, partially due to an unexplained increase in supernatural activity. In fact, the company captured so many ghosts that the scientists become concerned about the capacity of their ghost-containment facility, indicating that a major confrontation was on the horizon- And possibly closing fast. The Stay Puft Marshmellow Man Incident In August of 1984, Dana BARRETT approached the Ghostbusters after seeing a "(D)emon or monster or some such" in her refrigerator one day after returning from work that had said "Zuul." Despite an exhaustive on-site search, the crew could not find anything, but did pull records on the building from the City Records Department, and began researching the building, its builders and architect, occupants, and everything else. The blueprints of her apartment building revealed that the structure was a huge, super-conductive antenna designed and built expressly for the purpose of pulling in and concentrating spiritual turbulence, built by an insane surgeon, Ivo SHANDOR, who, after WWI, came to believe that society was too sick to survive; He created a secret society worshipping the Sumerian god Gozer, a demigod worshiped around 6000 BC by the Hittites, Mesopotamians and Sumerians. They conducted rituals intended to bring about the end of the world. Zuul, the Gatekeeper was a monstrous, dog-like demon minion of Gozer. His other minion was Vinz CLORTHO, the Keymaster, and identical to Zuul. Together they began seeking human hosts. Zuul was able to possess Mz BARRETT (a cellist, and general artist) at her apartment by trapping her in her chair with three hideous arms and then pulling her into the fiery chamber that was once her kitchen. Vinz went unnoticed as he waited in the bedroom of TULLY'S apartment when a party was being held. (Why exactly Vinz chose Louis remains unclear.) He was taken to Ghostbuster's headquarters by police, and appeared as a horned entity on Dr. SPENGLER'S multi-spectral scanner. After this, dr. SPENGLER determined that Dana and Louis must never meet, as the "Keymaster" and "Gatekeeper" would literally open the gates of Hell. Vinz remained rather passive, waiting for a "sign" that Gozer will come. For reasons never quite made clear, Walter PECK (an EPA inspector) arrived with a court order to shut down the ghost containment facility and angrily demanded the order be carried out, even ordering a police lieutenant to shoot the Ghostbuster's staff (the order was illegal, and the officer refused to carry it out, or even seriously entertain the notion). Inspector PECK was warned of the consequences, and as soon as an electrician shut the grid down, and all the captured ghosts immediately burst forth in a fantastic explosion. Eventually, the mayor of New York personally summoned the crew to deal the crisis created by the release. The source of the chaos was determined to be the building where SHANDOR conducted his rituals, and somehow tied to those rituals. Over the course of a thirty-minute battle atop the building, the crew thought they'd defeated Gozer (who had possessed the body of Slavitza JOVAN, who's body was never recovered afterwards). A huge earthquake rocks the building as Gozer's disembodied voice echoes down from the dark clouds above. (This event was verified by observers on the ground.) Gozer gave them the opportunity to choose the form of their "destruction." Someone chose a seemingly innocuous corporate mascot, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. A giant sailor-suited marshmallow man instantly appeared, trampling everything in its path. The Ghostbusters attempted to defeat it with their particle accelerators (the packs they used to control an entity until it could be captured), but this only makes the creature angry and it began climbing the building. Using a technique they have never discussed publicly, the crew destroyed Gozer- The few witness there were claimed they combined their streams into one (unlikely, since this would cause a "total protonic reversal"- essentially, EINSTIEN'S laws would have been universally broken, all of them, at the same time.) whatever did happen on that roof that night, an explosion generated by the event incinerated Mister Stay Puft, raining molten marshmallow down onto the roof of the skyscraper and the street below. Several hundred cases of second degree burns, infected with the high-sugar marshmallow, were reported just after this incident. Gozer was shortly thereafter captured, placed in temporary containment, and eventually transferred to permanent containment in the New York Holding unit (later transferred to TML-4413). The Vigo the Carpathian Incident (aka "The Statue Of Liberty Incident") Five years after the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man incident, the company was sued by several city and state agencies for destroying the top three floors of 55 Central Park West, among other instances of property damage. As a result, a judge issued an injunction, banning them from operating as paranormal investigators and eliminators- Effectively putting them out of business. Vigo The Carpathian, cruel 16th-Century Moldavian ruler. Ray STANTZ owned an occult book shop in Manhattan, and along with Winston ZEDDEMORE put on special appearances at children's birthday parties. Egon SPENGLER became a researcher at The Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research. Dana BARRETT had a baby named Oscar, who was sired by a musician who "departed" for England. To make ends meet, Mz BARRETT restored old paintings at the Manhattan Museum of Art. Dana's boss, Dr. Janosz POHA began an ambitious project to restore a particularly old self-portrait of Vigo the Carpathian, a cruel 16ᵗʰ-Century Moldavian ruler. One day, while pushing Oscar's carriage, pink slime emerged from a street crack and touches the stroller, causing the stroller to momentarily assume animation of its own. Frightened, she consulted Dr SPENGLER, who recruited Dr. STANTZ to help investigate. Posing as workmen, they drilled into a street to investigate the slime. There STANTZ discovered a huge river of slime flowing through the ruins of an old subway. He took a sample of the slime for them to study. Because the drilling was not authorized by the city, they were arrested. In court, they were tried by Judge WEXLER. All of their equipment is in the courtroom as evidence in working order. They lost the case and were sentenced to 18 months in prison. At this point, a peculiar event occurred; As was his prerogative (and unfortunate custom), Judge WEXLER launched into a 30 minute tirade, becoming angrier and angrier; The slime (taken as evidence) responded to his negative emotions, boiling and eventually overflowing the jar. When the judge's rage reached its pinnacle, the slime exploded, releasing the vengeful ghosts of the SCOLERI Brothers, two murderers whom WEXLER sent to the electric chair; The SCOLERI brothers caused chaos in the courtroom, even grabbing the District Attorney and trying to carry her off. The judge, in desperation, begged the Ghostbusters to intervene, even dropping, in perpetuity, the restraining order and reversing his own ruling and sentence- They were free to walk away, if they so wished. Instead, they busted the door down, captured the ghosts, and quickly recover their previous fame and popularity, and with the court's new-found blessing reclaimed their previous fame- And fortune. The Ghostbusters quickly used their freedom to research the slime. SPENGLER discovered that it was a kind of "mood slime" that feeds off of the emotions of people around it. At around this time, the Vigo portrait suddenly came to life, being inhabited by a spirit-like form of its model. Vigo took control of Janosz, directing him to bring a child so that Vigo can be fully revived by transference of his soul at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. He has apparently selected Oscar, though why never became clear (it may have been as random as any other choice). The Ghostbusters photographed and examined the painting of Vigo, and SPENGLER and STANTZ determined that there is a definitely a living spirit inside of the portrait, co-related with the slime. The crew ventured into a network of abandoned subway tunnels, apparently trying to trace the source of the slime flow. When they try to measure how deep the river is, the river pulled ZEDDEMORE into the slime river, and the others attempted to save him. After emerging from the sewers, they were covered in slime and began fighting; they regained their wits when they removed their clothing, proving the slime had some sort of mood effect. Janosz kidnapped Oscar and brought him to the museum, pursued by BARRETT. The slime flow was now rising out of the ground all over New York and causing supernatural happenings, including the appearance of a full-sized ghost of the RMS Titanic docking, from which emerge the ghosts of passengers via the hole that caused the Titanic to sink. The museum became encased in slime and sealed shut. On New Year's Eve, the mayhem overrunning the city eventually convinces the mayor to send for the Ghostbusters- Because the city had defaulted on the previous bill, they demanded cash. In advance. They arrive at the museum and attempt to break through the slime shell with their proton lasers, but to no avail, causing the crowd to become disappointed and angry. They realized that there is still too much negative energy in the city, so the slime is invulnerable. They notice a symbol of the Statue of Liberty on a number plate, and hatch a plan. The Ghostbusters enter the Statue of Liberty and cover its inside in positively-charged mood slime. Using a portable stereo, they play the slime's favorite song, "Higher and Higher," whereupon the psychokinetic energy in the slime possesses the statue and BROUGHT HER TO "LIFE". They directed the statue to Manhattan Island and then walk to the museum. Along the way, people cheer and scream in joy (some mixed with fear and panic; a walking statute isn't exactly a common sight, though THAT night worse had already ben seen by too many to really get "too" upset) and, causing the negative slime to ebb away from the museum's dome. "Libby" destroyed the glass of the dome with a blow of her torch, and the threesome lower themselves in by abseiling down ropes tied to the statue's crown. At this point Vigo appeared in person. Oscar was rushed out and then everyone started attacking Vigo with what weapons they had (this included their accountant, Louis TULLY, and Mz BARRETT, who used spare packs). Vigo threw lightning from his hands, leaving the group paralyzed on the floor. Vigo sought and found Oscar and held him aloft and prepared to possess him. But it was too little, too late; It is just past midnight, and the crowd, full of good cheer and happiness (and vodka, scotch, whiskey, schnapps, and whatever was to hand), began singing Auld Lang Syne (more or less) in unison. The singing counteracted the power of Vigo's destructive magic, causing his corporeal form to vanish. The Ghostbusters attacked the painting, to which Vigo had returned, spraying it with a combination of positive slime and proton beams. Vigo's spirit went spiraling into his painting, screaming, until he finally exploded. The Vigo painting was gone. Lady Liberty cost $6 million and took 6 years to replace; Because she was a federal landmark, the North American Regional Government footed part of the bill, the City of New York part (since it was their contractors who moved it). Since the Vigo Incident, the crew has remained steadily employed- Too much ectoplasm to clear it all way, and it seems to regenerate itself. Part of the payment to saving the world (again) was full propriety of the 55 Central Park West building, which was badly damaged in the Mr. Stay Puft incident. The old fire house remains their working headquarters, by 55 Central, now known collectively as the Ghostbusters Building, became their corporate headquarters (this is also where the containment facility is located). Special Equipment The Ghostbusters own outright the planet TML-4413, aka "Ghost World," which now serves as their long-duration storage facility (massed transfers to TML-4413 happen about once a month, both from Terra and other systems), and use several special, proprietary technologies: Proton Packs; Containment Traps; Holding Unit (aka "the pen"); Ecto-1. Old-Style PKE Meter. New-Style PKE Meter. PKE MeterThe P.K.E. Meter was one of the Ghostbusters' tools invented by Dr. Egon Spengler that enabled them to track ghosts and other entities. The full name of the device is a Psychokinetic Energy Meter, so named because its function is to detect the amounts of said energy and to direct the user to its location. The design of the device is a small screen, mounted on a handle, which has a pair of sensor 'wings' protruding from either side. These wings have lights along their length, and will flash and extend as the meter closes in on the source of a P.K.E. signature. Much like a metaphysical Dowsing Rod, the meter will begin to buzz more and more in response to approaching a source of P.K. Energy. Once at the source of the energy, the wings will extend to their fullest length and the meter will buzz noticeably at a higher pitch. The meters are also apparently the oldest equipment of the Ghostbusters. It was built before the formation of the Ghostbusters and used by Egon, Dr. Stantz, and Dr. Venkman while they were employed by Columbia University. Dr Egon appears to have developed a much more advanced P.K.E. Meter, unceremoniously dubbed the "Giga meter." The P.K.E. Meter returns in the events of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Just like in the films, it is used to detect ghosts and other paranormal items. A new feature is that it is able to detect Cursed Artifacts, which are found throughout the game. The meter has three different colors which it will display to let the user know what is near. These devises have NEVER been authorized outside of Ghostbuster's ownership, but they have appeared from time to time, much to the company's consternation. Proton Packs A Proton Pack. The proton pack, also referred to as a charged particle accelerator, functions by "concentrating protons" (using a highly proprietary technology called a "positron collider"); The "gun" is called a "neutrona wand"), using them to attack "negatively charged ectoplasmic entities". In practical terms, the proton gun fires a stream of energy that allows a wielder to snare a ghost, holding it in place so it can be positioned above a trap for capture. Dr. SPENGLER designed the pack, intending it for this purpose. It operates similarly to a cyclotron, in that it produces a high-powered stream of charged particles. In contrast to a real cyclotron (which produces well-collimated streams of particles), the beam from a proton pack tends to undulate wildly (though it still stays within the general area at which the user is aiming), is quite destructive to physical objects, and can cause extensive property damage. Each pack's energy cell has a half-life of 5000 years. The wand houses the control that customize the proton stream, including adjustments for stream intensity, length, and degrees of polarization. The maximum power setting for the Proton Packs is 500,000 megahertz, and they have a self-destruct mechanism capable of affecting at least a half-mile radius. As a joke, an early staffer referred to the Proton Packs as "unlicensed nuclear accelerators," but in fact there is no nuclear material involved, but rather a static discharge. Still, the joke stuck, even to this day. Other Applications: Once the US Army saw the Proton Pack, they saw potential militry applications; Unfortunately, the beam was too short, and the pack itself held too little power, for practicable combat application. However, that line of research did lead to the PB-01 Particle Beam Rifle and its power pack, which were adopted by the RDF in a slightly modified design as the Heavy Laser Rifle. Crossing the Streams "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light." Egon SPENGLER on crossing proton streams. Crossing the streams was initially discouraged, as Egon believed that "total protonic reversal" would occur: This effect would have catastrophic results (see quote above). However, in a desperate effort to stop the powerful Gozer the Gozerian, the Ghostbusters performed a simultaneous 4-fold crossing directly into the inter-dimensional portal, which then exploded every molecule of Gozer (including her psychic influence) and forced it back through the dimensional "window" from which it entered. The portal collapsed and exploded when Gozer was destroyed. Containment Traps Of the of equipment used to contain ghosts, the most well-known by the public is "The Trap." The ghost trap is a box with a split, hinged lid, remote-controlled by a simple pedal switch, attached to the end of the box by a long cable. When a ghost is brought close to the trap (usually by means of the proton pack, though not necessarily), the ghost trap is activated by the foot switch. Its lid then opens, and a force field draws the ghost inside. (Users and bystanders are well-cautioned to refrain from looking directly at the trap when it is activated.) The ghost can then be transported to the larger, more permanent containment unit. More than one ghost can be stored in a trap, but has never been established how many or for how long a ghost can be held (the Ghostbusters consider that proprietary). It has also been speculated that a captured ghost can be released by a Ghostbuster from the ghost trap voluntarily by opening it again. This was not explicitly discussed, but several "captured" ghosts are known to have been released. More powerful ghosts must be quickly sent to the containment unit or they may break free of the trap. The crew also once converted a dump truck into a giant "ecto trap" in order to capture a massive being that was devouring the city. Holding Unit (aka "the pen") The ghosts the Ghostbusters catch are housed at their retrofitted fire house. The building also houses their offices and residence. The building used in the movie has become a real-world New York City tourist attraction. In addition, ghost traps are used to catch ghosts and transport them to the fire house. Once brought back, they are stored in the Ecto-Containment Unit. The Ecto-Containment Unit, also referred to as the "Containment System," is the large containment facility on TML-4413, with smaller temporary facilities on each planet that they hold regional offices on. Because of the proprietary nature of the containment facilities (partly due to prior problems with federal and state authorities, resulting in an explosion, discussed above), the basement of the regional offices (where The Pen is located is closed) is not only to visitors but also most staff- Only the House Manager, Assistant House Manager, and those with a warrant or writ or something can go back there. Photographs are NOT allowed. Retrieval of entities form the holding unit is "part of" the reason for the move to TML-4413; The larger (planet sized) containment facility allowed for greater control of the entities, while at the same time allowing the entities to interact with one another, and prevented overcrowding (one of the factors, though not the critical one, that resulted in the explosion in '84). Retrieval requires the use of Skelescope, who peers into the containment unit, showing the staff what "direction" the inserted empty trap is pointed, allowing the to "trap" the entity while inside the unit for removal. (For transfer from a regional unit to the central unit, the trap is simply inserted and opened, transferring up to 10 entities at a time). Ecto-Series The original Ectomobile still is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor limo-style endloader combination car (hearse/ambulance; back in the '50's, an ambulance was little more than a way to move soon-to-be dead bodies around- pre-hearse). She was purchased by Dr. STANTZ for the price of $4,800 in a poor state of repair. In STANTZ'S own words, she needed suspension work and shocks, brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear-end, new rings, mufflers, and a little wiring. After the necessary reconstruction, she was re-fitted with 2 jumper seats in rear (already sat 4 comfortably in the front bench seat), blue (police-style) lightbars, cowls, spinners, antennas and a specialized siren. For power, she was refitted with the popular aftermarket GM 454 automatic tran, so hauling around the 3 tons of this auto is not a problem, power steering was implemented by adapting a small boat hydraulic ram system, and finally a special pull-out rack in the rear containing the staff's proton packs, which facilitates a quick retrieval without the complication of having to reach into the vehicle's rear. There are also various gadgets mounted on the top, whose function were never revealed, but are believed to be specific types of sensors. Ecto-1 was used to carry the team's ghost-capturing equipment, as well as transporting the Ghostbusters through New York City. She had a distinctive siren wail. She is known as "Ecto-1" because of its custom ECTO-1 license plate. After a few years, Ecto-1 was upgraded, including more technical equipment placed on the roof of the chassis. Most noticeably this upgrade included digital announcement boards on each side of the vehicle's roof, broadcasting Ghostbuster advertisements, specials, and their phone number. Also, the logo was updated on the doors and back entrance of the ambulance. As Ghostbusters went interplanetary, then inter-galactic, exacting copies of Ecto-1 were replicated, with the number being that in order of construction; Ecto-2 was built on and for the Valivarre system (Fantoma and Tirol). However, the original "gave up the ghost" (literally, as it turned out, creating some minor havoc at 14 N Moore) decades ago, and is ensconced in the Ghostbusters Museum at 55 Central West (having been replaced by Ecto-221). General Information: Name: Ghostbusters. Director: Many over time. Mission: Paranormal investigations and eliminations. Size and Orientation: Super Network (300). Features:
A: Outfits:	B: Equipment:	C: Weapons:	D: Bionics and Robotics
Utility Outfits (2).	Gimmicked Equipment (30).	None (0); They shouldn't ever need a gun.	None (0; Also not needed).
E: Vehicles:	F: Communications:	G: Offices, Hideouts and Distribution:	H: Military Power:
Public Transportation (3).	None (0).	Urban (5).	None (0; unnecessary).
I: Super Power Specialists:	J: Sponsorship:	K: Special Budget:	L: Administrative Control:
A few Regulars (20; Slimer, plus a few other paroled entities).	Private Industry (6).	Small Potatoes (15).	Loose Laws (5).
M: Internal Security:	N: External Infiltration:	O: Intelligence Resources:	P: Agency Credentials:
None (0; never needed).	None (0; never needed).	Cheap Resources (2).	Known (3).
Q: Salary:	Personnel:
Pittance (2); The investors get all the real money.	Corporate Staff: Mostly by proxy votes.	Field investigation and elimination.	Support staff (drivers, mechanics, etc.).
Controversy Amongst other controversies, there were allegations in the beginning of the Ghostbusters that they "incensed nerve gasses"; This would have been illegal, if it really happened. An on-going internal controversy is the distribution of income; Investors get all the money, employees take all the risk. The employees have been fighting to get a bigger income, but have consistently been refused; The agency was declared an "Emergency Services Provider," preventing them from going on strike, while remaining a private service provider, precluding them from gaining a union. Another, related controversy, is the declaration of the Ghostbusters as an emergency service provider; They gained a special, "Classification B" emergency license permit, allowing them to run red lights after coming to a full and complete stop, and requiring other drivers to turn to the right or out of the way of their vehicles. Most people just ignore them anyways. Part of the deal to defeat Vigo was the transfer of the 55 Central Park West building to the Ghostbuster's ownership; this was the building that the city charged them with vandalism for damaging, then billed them for the clean-up of; The owners of the building also sued them for clean up and repairs, meaning they were sued TWICE for the same incident. In order to 'facilitate' the deal, the city was obliged to declare the building 'imminent domain', which the owners of the building objected to, and managed to tie the matter up in court for five years. (The Ghostbuster's attorneys counter-sued the owners of the building for "loss of income," which just made things worse.) The Ghostbuster also charge extortionairy rates; As much as 25,000credit for a simple consultation. Though 'consultry' fees are then applied to any actual charges, one must pay the consultation. The city never did pay for the '84 incident (reportedly $22 million dollars). The city claimed they shouldn't have to pay, because it was the civil duty of the crew to do their part to save the city, that the contract was agreed to practically with a gun to their heads, that there was no evidence that anything would have happened had they done nothing, and finally- That the city was broke and couldn't pay if they wanted to. The Ghostbusters AT-AT. The Ghostbusters VECTO-1 (schematics by Rob BRICKEN). The Salvage And Original Ship's Crew Of KA-6368 Slimer. Because they had "full and unfettered authorization to do any and all things required by the peculiar circumstances of the case at hand" per their written contract, the Ghostbusters claimed they weren't responsible to put the Statue of Liberty back where they found her- So they didn't do it. Part of the contract also gave them "blanket immunity from all damages, destructions, injuries, deaths, and other events attributable the events surrounding the crisis, without exception." They could have murdered someone, and gotten away with it. In 2450, the corporation purchased an AT-AT dubbed GB-AT 1 (Ghost Busters Atmospheric Transport 1) as a promotional gimmick; The idea was that they "could" take on any sized ghost, just name it, and if they had to bring the big guns, they could. The robot was outfitted with proton packs and a drone-born trap. The robot was already outfitted with a re-entry shield, allowing it to be deployed to anywhere. In 2465, they commissioned a Veritech dubbed VECTO-1 (Vertitech Ecto-1) also as a promotional gimmick; The original was outfitted with a proton pack, allowing it to directly engage a ghost, but the main purpose was for promotional sales of a toy based on the vehicle. Both gimmicks flopped, to the tune of several billion credits each. Between these two disastrous promotional flops (costing the company millions each) and an investor having to sell all common stock to fight an insider trading scandal (eventually she was cleared), the company's common stock was to say the least rocky; With a few million credits borrowed from another bank, the employees themselves made a bid at a hostile takeover of the company- And won. They now control 53% of the company's common stocks, but no premium stocks. This did, however, put the company as an effectively employee-owned corporation, in turn allowing them to much more closely control what the company does. "Ecto-221" caused quite a bit of consternation throughout the company when it was noticed there were no Ecto units past 102 (at the time). The move was to instill in investors confidence in the company's success, by indirectly portraying the vehicle as the two hundred and twenty first Ecto; However, the issue was quietly "resolved" in an investor-only newsletter "explaining" that "221" was necessary due to communications issues (that "103" was already en route, 104 was already contracted, etc., but moreso because "221" was the next available number that wouldn't create "confusion" within the company). This act of duplicity was eventually resolved (the last Ecto being 97̶3, legitimately, with 104 through 220 being filled in, and over a dozen un-designated units standing by), and the company's President at the time denied any intention to mislead. In 2480, the company paid for the salvage and repair of an ACCLAMATOR-Class Assault Ship on the planet Yanie; In perhaps the first wise promotional gimmick move, they didn't make it a promotional gimmick, but merely a "working boat" to transport entities to TML-4413 (they also put the AT-AT aboard). This led to an unintended "air of mystery" around the otherwise non-descript ship, which in turn generated buzz. It's an open secret they own the vsl, but they never talk about it, only referring to her as "the scow" (though her Terra, America, New Mexico register paper identify her as KA-6368 Slimer). The controversy is their choice of a "retired" militry vsl, but the simple fact of the matter is she was crashed and abandoned on Yanie over a century earlier.Slimer was retrofitted with proton beams capable of handling a space-sized ghost, should one ever be discovered, and a trap that would hold something that big, but to date this has never been tested. (The trap she uses is also her entity transfer bay, so that didn't result in any "new" expense, and the proton beams "can" double as anti-missile/asteroid defenses, meeting Patrol standards for self-defense capabilities- barely). Ghostbusters' Ghosts. Slimer And Janine MELNITZ. Ghostbuggy. "Ghost Parole" In additon to Slimer, other ghosts were hired, some on permanent status others on retainer, as a kind of "ghost parole" program; The program is controversial as the company is paid to remove, not employ, ghosts; However, the program has in fact proven successful in general, and some in particular pointedly so: Slimer, officially "The Sedgwick Hotel Entity Number 1," but better known as Onionhead or Little Spud, is a Class Level 5 Full-Roaming Vapor (a ghost made up of pure Ectoplasm) and the first ghost successfully captured by the Ghostbusters. He's well known for his gigantic appetite and the slime he leaves behind when he passes through solid objects. Slimer was a legendary ghost to all on the original staff of the Sedgewick Hotel. His usual territory was the twelfth floor, but his outings were usually non-violent and simply involved eating food. As a result, the hotel was able to keep a lid on the supernatural problems for decades. For some reason, Gozer's approaching time of arrival provoked Slimer (and many other ghosts) into being much more active than usual. Eventually the staff couldn't keep the ghost a secret anymore and called the Ghostbusters. However, the Ghostbusters had not yet fully tested their equipment and weren't completely prepared for a full capture; After many errant shots and the resulting destruction, Slimer flew into the Alhambra Ballroom where the Ghostbusters made another attempt at capture. Though Slimer is at first tossed around by some more missed shots, the Ghostbusters eventually manage to get him in the streams. Slimer was then caught in the Trap and put in the storage facility. However, he was released with the many other ghosts when the storage facility was shut down by Walter PECK. Slimer occupied a hot dog cart on at 1221 Avenue of the Americas in front of the Rockefeller Plaza. When the Hot Dog Vendor opened the cart, he was naturally shocked to see a ghost. After the Ghostbusters defeated Gozer and left Central Park West, Slimer was sighted in the area. Slimer became a "pet ghost" to the Ghostbusters. During the Vigo Incident of 1989, Slimer commandeered an abandoned bus from the havoc resulting from Vigo's Mood slime assault to assist Lois TULLY. He's also a fan favorite, with an almost cult-like following; Despite the fact that he's never said much of anything great or profound, he can go almost anywhere and do almost anything with little or no consequences; He once drifted into the Raiderette's locker room while they were showing and was treated as if he were a lost puppy. (The crew at 14 N. Moore unfortunately know the truth about Slimer, and that incident got him grounded for a month, with a re-occurrence likely to get him time in a trap.) He's quite childish, and has a limited vocabulary by Human standards but is very well spoken by ghost standards, being able to use complete sentences constructed by himself at about a 5 to 8 year old level; Outside of the Ansabones and Skelevisions, his is the widest vocabulary and syntax in the program (Ansabones and Skelvisions being recruited for their ability to actually "think" rather than just be). Most stations have a "slimmer" counterpart, but these rarely are even vocal, nevermind as vocal as "the original." Ghost Buggy (aka "G.B.") is the defecto "Ecto-2," a haunted tin Lizzy (Ford model T) thought to be haunted by it's ("his") roginal owner, though Ghost Buggy can't say for sure one way or another. Ghost Buggy is often found sleeping in Ghost command's garage and gets annoyed when the crew disturbs him, except to go out on parades, where he has a tendency to strut his stuff (sometimes a bit TOO much). Ansabones are haunted phone used to communicate into the Holding Units. They are typically "hired" on the parole program, being tasked to deliberately ahunt the phones in question, which allows the employees (usually a House Manager) to communicate with the inhabitants. Skelevisions are also haunted devices arranged under the parole program, in this case a television, computer monitor, or similar device used to peer into the pen and see what, if anything, needs to be "addressed." One of the issues with the first pen (the one that "exploded" when the power was shut down) was SEVERE overcrowding; It had an estimated 14 TIMES the expected limit (placing it at almost 2 and a half times the actual limit). Had the crew known just how bad the situation inside was, they could have remediated the situation. Skelevisions allow them to do this, plus to selectively remove entities on a desired basis. Popular Cultural Influence. There were several novelizations of the crew's exploits, and a movie. The first book was written by Larry MILNE and was 191 pages long. A second novelization, written by Richard MUELLER, was released in 1985. It was 65 pages longer at 256 pages, and had the extended subtitle, The Supernatural Experience, and was set at Fort Detmerring, as well as a subplot involving the two homeless men, Harlan BOJAY and Robert Learned COOMBS. There are also two songs dedicated to the Ghostbusters (both pre-GCW). "Cleaning Up The Town" (which actually, formally named Ecto-1) and the "Ghostbusters Themesong" (with its galaxy-wide famed line, "I ain't afraid of no ghost"; Garudans, after seeing the movie, would repeat that line ad nausuem, 'adjusting' it to "I ain't afraid of no slug"). Finally, there was for many years a toy line; There is still a costuming line (though only the pack is offered; the suit is pretty common). Only Slimer is still being manufactured on a regular basis.