When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad stood in the L.A.B., holding a green-liquid filled beaker up to his eyes and studying it intently. Frowning, he began pouring some of the substance into a test tube.

[George Blythe]

George sat in the corner, studying a test tube intently. His eyes were bloodshot and the skin around them hung heavy and dark. "No luck." His voice sounded as though it hadn't been used for a good while. "Again."

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad filled the test tube to the top and slipped it into a rung attached to a tray. "Again?" he repeated, setting the beaker down and mixing the substance in the test tube with a straw. "What happened?"

[George Blythe]

"Nothing." There was bottled frustration in George's voice, and he slammed the test tube back into it's holder. "Dammit!" he cursed, pushing himself up to stand and stretching out his limbs.

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad stopped mixing and turned around. "Maybe you ought to take a break," he suggest quietly. "Get some fresh air. Spend time with your son."

[George Blythe]

George massaged his temples, stretching his eyes wide. "No. I'm going to crack this." he shook out his legs, then stopped and picked at some notes he had made previously. "Maybe a miscalculation." He held the paper up the little light that there was in the basement. "We're meant to be solving this bloody thing." he dropped the paper to the floor. "Pioneers in sicence."

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad picked up the paper. "You need a break, Blythe," he said seriously upon straightening. "And you have a son who will do almost anything to get your attention. I seriously think you should go spend some time with him instead of wasting away down here."

[George Blythe]

George's eyes met his friend's in frustration. "Unngh. I need a break through, not a break, Beecher. Toby's fine." He turned his back to Conrad and approached the bench once more. "What do you think it is?" he spun round once more. "A malignant spirit? Some sort of poltergeist? It's on a huge scale, but it's possible." He looked desperately at Conrad. "Isn't it?"

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad sighed. "Anything's possible, Blythe, you know that. I don't think it's a poltergeist." He looked a bit frustrated himself. "I don't know what it is. I wish we had some clue, anything." He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, thinking. "It seems to be sentient, and yet...not." He frowned.

[George Blythe]

"It depends it's the substance itself or something controlling it." George wrung his hands. "What puzzles me is the multitude of mutations it has shown already. It's form doesn't seem fixed in any way- I'm not sure that there's any limitation on what it could do."

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad's frown deepened. "I'm willing to bet Anton has some theories about it he's not ready to share. But I--I wonder if there isn't some other force controlling it. It seems to act completely at random, doesn't it?"

[George Blythe]

George raised an eyebrow. "As 'at random' as pinpointing a particular town can be." he rejoined. "Not even I expected the power plant to bring this amount of activity- in it's first week, for heavens sake." He frowned. "Anton- yes. Where is he?"

[Conrad Beecher]

"Perhaps he's spending some quality time with your son," Conrad suggested pointedly.

[George Blythe]

George shot his friend a frustrated look. "If it's something malignant there should be some sort of sign. Something would have been disturbed."

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad snorted. "Something would have been disturbed?" he asked, incredulous. "George, this entire town is disturbed. People were changing color, remember?"

[George Blythe]

"No, previous to that!" George rubbed his forehead, his eyes widening once more. "Something to make the- the whatever-it-is angry." He flopped down onto a stool and leant his head back against the wall. "Or, of course." his voice was rough. "It could be a series of coincidences."

[Conrad Beecher]

"It could," Conrad agreed with a slight nod. "But that's highly unlikely, don't you think?" He began mixing the substance in the test tube again before pouring a bit of sulfur in. "Wonder what that'll do."

[Checks And Balances]

Instantly, a small green flame began to burn with bright intensity in the test tube, making a small roaring noise.

[George Blythe]

"Vertical Vertibraes!" George leapt from his stool to look at the test tube. "Sulphur, you say? Interesting."

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad stared at the test tube, frowning. "Interesting," he agreed. "Why's the flame green, though?"

[George Blythe]

George frowned. "Not a clue." he admitted, yawning widely, trying to stifle it unsucessfully. "It seems to like green."

[Checks And Balances]

The flame began to grow, until it reached out of the testube and along Conrad's arm. The flame emitted no heat, only caused a strange fizz effect on the air around it, making vision difficult.

[Conrad Beecher]

"Yikes!" Conrad cried, jumped back and blowing unsuccessfully on his arm. "What's happening?" He looked panicked.

[Checks And Balances]

Conrad's actions had no effect on the flames other than possibly to encourage him. They spread across his chest to his other arm and began to crawl down his trousers, making no visible effect on his skin or clothes.

[George Blythe]

"What on..." George watched as the flames spread, feeling remarkably helpless. "Water won't be much..." he leapt forwards and began to try to beat out the flames on Conrad's back by slapping them.

[Conrad Beecher]

"Ow!" Conrad muttered. "You have to slap that hard?" He continued blowing frantically, beating as his own chest to stop the flames. "This is impossible," he said, his voice hoarse.

[Checks And Balances]

The flames started to jump from Conrad to George, quickly covering his whole lab-coat with the green flames. It spread faster and faster, so soon the two men were completely enveloped in a green haze.

[George Blythe]

George made a strangled sort of noise. "Conrad..." he said, stopping hitting his friend and staring down at himself in shock.

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad blinked hard, his eyes tearing. "I can't see anything," he moaned, standing stock-still, arms out, afraid to move.

[Checks And Balances]

The fire, meanwhile, spread from the two men, quickly gathering pace, to every surface of the room, leaving everything almost as soon as it touched it, as though exploring the room. Until it reached the test tubes. Each one that contained a specimen of the goo erupted into more flames, sending a putrid stench throughout the room.

[George Blythe]

George looked around the room. "Incredible." He said in a hushed voice. "Who'd have thought! Sulfur!"

[Conrad Beecher]

Conrad coughed, real tears now trickling from the corners of his eyes. "Yeah," he rasped, waving a hand in front of him to get rid of the smell. "Incredible. This stuff wreaks! How are we going to get rid of it?" He glanced down at his green flame covered body.

[Checks And Balances]

Conrad would never know. The gas emitted by the flames grew more overpowering, and in a second the two men were passed out, flat on the floor. As they lay there, it finished exploring the very corners of the room, suddenly bursting into an explosion as it touched the corners. Seconds later, there was nothing to show for the experiment but two unconcious paranormal investigators.