"But it was your voice?"
"I swear, if I was planning to say something, I would've shouted it. The place is empty and big; you'd hear me easily. What exactly did you hear? Was it all three?"
"Yeah," Snow says, brow heavily furrowed in thought. "We were in earshot, so we all heard the crackle of each other's radios, and we heard you say that the van is ready, it can hold everything, so we took that to mean we don't need to hold back."
"I said no such things. I didn't even think such things. I want you three organizing these carts based on shape and density. Think packing a bag, so don't go putting eggs under the soda or milk on the bread."
He hurries out, heart pounding in a way he hopes doesn't show on his face. It doesn't usually, he just needs something to hope for.
The van's ramp is still down. They didn't think to close it. There was always a worry someone would take stuff, but the things they'd actually want aren't any of the ghost-hunting tools, as all those are pretty useless if you don't know how to use them.
But there is nothing in their van anymore.
Not that they were robbed, but that the computer, the supplies, even the lights, all are gone.
And in their place, conspicuous and odd, is a door.
It looks like just a door halfway deep into the back, potentially like one of those vehicles meant to have a little place to sleep or store travel supplies during hauls. For someone who hasn't memorized every square millimeter of the back, it seems entirely normal, something waiting to be loaded.
Filled with trepidation, a growing pit in his stomach, he steps up the ramp, reaches out, and opens the door.
The interns find Tussle just outside the van, settled on the ramp with a distant look in his eyes. Concern is clear in how they approach cautiously, in how they crouch to see if he notices them before they even try speaking.
He notices, he just keeps staring off.
"Boss? You good?" As expected, Thrasher speaks first. Is he good? Is Thrasher good? Are any of them truly fine?
"Look past the door."
They do, careful and slow as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. When they've had their moments, gasped or jolted or sat down heavily beside him, he finally speaks again.
"I've seen my fair share of odd things. You don't live without death and not figure somethings out. Hell, you don't work as an investigator of ghosts without learning how to learn and to learn fast. That's why you lot were pretty decent, and I was more concerned I'd mess up the whole we-don't-die moment. Well, don't die for long.
But that?" He doesn't need to point at the door for them to know what he means. "I've seen very few things capable of doing stuff like that, and they don't usually reassure you over the radio. And those few things? They ain't ghosts. You can't fight what they do, not directly, not with tools, not with anything but tricks better than their own."
"You're older than you look, then? You talk like we don't die ever. That... we'll just keep going?"
"Vesper Vectors is all about finding people like us and using it for the betterment of society. They're good about it, too. If you think about what people could try to do, them basically just asking us to help prevent ghosts from taking over the world is great. The exchange of benefits and being able to learn any skills we want, with them helping hide our ability? Better than experiments."
"Yeah, we kinda got that. We thought that if we're dying for real on hunts, then VV is basically both bringing joy to most of the world and using people like us to make sure others don't die for real. Well, for long."
"Wait-wait-wait." Snow interrupts. Considering he's been at the side, whereas Sparky was sitting down and Thrasher standing to talk and pace, he'd mostly been hidden from notice.
"Waiting?"
"You said that there are a few things. Is that like a type or multiple types?"
"Just one type, really. Think... deities but dependent on our world, instead of the other way around."
"So less religion, more extremely powerful spirit things. Great, that narrows things. Does that mean there are types within the types or just dispositions?"
"Uh, dispositions."
"Then what sort of disposition would bring you and your students - because we aren't old or odd enough to warrant that kind of attention - to a new world and also try to provide us everything we need?"
Tussle thinks. He knows little about those sorts, only knowing them from brushes in places with a thin veil between spirit and physical, or from them trying to go after people from VV. He does know that they're as varied as actual people, and benefit from being able to see without eyes.
Thankfully, none of them have ever proven capable of reading minds. They'd be much more dangerous that way.
He's heard them called many things, but the closest he found to being true is jinn. Shapeshifters, genies, spirits of deserts or diseases. In reality, he's found them very human-like, just much scarcer and much more capable of manipulating things with spiritual power.
"I'd wager that if a jinn is behind this, and the same one has altered our van, they want something but they didn't ask for consent, and they feel bad about that. We have new outfits, which are suited for investigating but also fit the vibes of this place. That gives us our usual tools and a method to staying less conspicuous.
The van's change could be aid in having whatever we desire. If this thing was watching me, as you're guessing, they'd know that I don't like doing things other people's ways. That's why Max takes most the paperwork and why I even work at VV. They let me do things how I want to do them, as long as I'm not breaking any laws.
Hell! I could break a law and they'd figure out why and how and see what they can do to help me out, if they even decide to take action once I give my reasons!
It might've observed how VV works to figure out how to make up for this, or it's not an apology and just how it believes it should treat us. That means that, at the least, this is a decent enough one that I'm not too worried. Especially if you lot were the ones given the message, but not me."
"Cause we're the little guys?"
"Because you lot could stub your toes and I'd break the table that did it."
That gets loud laughter from all of them, startled and bright. He smirks, because that's exactly what he wanted.