13. Mood Slime Group Hug

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*Note: this work is an 18 chapter novella, not a collection of shorts, best started at chapter one. Rating PG13*


The Sheriff pulls up in the yard, with Lucky riding shotgun. Once inside, around the kitchen table, the Ghostbusters and the Spengler family fill them in and they try to clarify a plan for what to do next.

"There's no way we can mood slime 2 million people," Ray realizes. "We couldn't find them all and get slime to them in time. Gozer will drain them to death or they'll die of dehydration first."

"Grim," remarks Venkman, face serious for once.

"YouView has 4 billion logins a day. This could spread all over the planet," Podcast says, looking sick and pale.

"We can slime everyone affected in Summerville," Sheriff Domingo says, hands on his hips. "My deputies and I can go house to house and squirt the zombies. Tell everyone to delete YouView off their phones, to stay off of it."

"Technically, they are not zombies. They're being used as batteries, as a power source. It's more like The Matrix, Dad," Lucky tells the Sheriff.

At Lucky's arrival, Trevor went out to the barn to clean corn stalks out of the grill and undercarriage of Ecto1. Get the Ecto ready to drive to LA. He's definitely not hiding from Lucky. Or his feelings.

Ray, Phoebe and Gary have determined that Gozer is in YouView now, spreading through it like a virus. Not just contained in Podcast's live stream, but luckily, not roaming the entire Internet. Not yet, anyway.

There is absolutely no way The Ghostbusters have the power to shut an app like that down, short of bombing the corporation's servers, wherever they were, probably hidden in heavily guarded caves all over the planet. YouView is on phones, tablets, tvs and computers all over the world. 14 billion minutes of content are uploaded to it every day. It's an almost infinite power source. Gozer is a parasite, an alien tick that's found a thick vein of energy to latch on to. It's very bad news that the disincorporated entity has found a way to use YouView as a vessel.

"Gozer should have been sucked into the machine after Zuul and Vinz! They shouldn't be able to have ANY form in this universe at all without their servants!" Phoebe is outraged that Gozer hasn't followed the rules.

"The Internet doesn't follow the rules," Trevor says. "Especially YouView. It doesn't accurately reflect reality. YouView isn't really real life, you know? Maybe that makes it a slightly separate plane of existence, with different rules that Gozer found a way to exploit. A parallel dimension. A loophole."

"Interesting, Trevor," Ray then explains what he and Egon have been thinking, "Spengler and I theorize that the Gozarians are responsible for Gozer's ability to remain here in any form. Their rituals are anchoring It to this reality in some way, weakening our Universe's laws, bending them. Gozer isn't in a body. Instead, Gozer found a way to tap into raw power without being embodied. They've essentially possessed YouView instead of a human body or a form like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. And they've tapped into millions of unwilling worshippers, draining them through their screens."

"This is all my fault!" wails Podcast, dropping his head to the table in misery. The positive mood slime vibes have worn off and he feels awash with guilt.

"No, it's not, Podcast," everyone says in different ways. Trevor feels quite guilty, too, for having encouraged him to set up the Livestream. Phoebe isn't sure how to feel yet. It will come to her in 6-8 business weeks.

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