Stratt receives an email from a student at an American Ivy-league school with the subject line “Ecto-Entities”:
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing because I know of a resource that could be incredibly beneficial, possibly even crucial to your mission.
There is an organization in the USA called the Ghost Investigation Ward (GIW) which harbors beings called “ecto-entities”, colloquially known as “ghosts”. One ghost in particular that the GIW has in their custody is an ecto-entity called Danny Phantom, who I believe could aid in saving humanity.
Danny Phantom has several abilities that could prove to be beneficial when on a space mission, including being able to disregard gravity, thus not requiring zero-grav training prior to the mission. He can also phase through objects, and he does not require oxygen, which leaves more resources on board available for the humans who will be on the craft. Ghosts are also able to withstand enormous atmospheric pressure, or lack thereof, without adverse effects, so he would not require a suit when leaving the ship. He has many other abilities I haven’t listed, but which are less likely to be useful on such a journey. If you’re interested, I can provide you with a comprehensive list.
Something else of note is that over the years, research has suggested that ghosts have something called an “obsession”. Their obsession can be anything from hunting to music to boxes, to any other subject you could think of. This obsession fuels them, and is their reason to remain on Earth, sort of like unfinished business. Danny Phantom is unique in that he has dual obsessions. One of these obsessions is outer space. He can tell you the exact location of a star or planet at any given time, even during the day. He knows how to pilot a space shuttle as well as any trained astronaut. His freckles even glow like constellations when he’s talking about space. And his other obsession is protecting others from harm. There’s not much to say about this other than that he has thrown himself into danger without a single thought for his own wellbeing countless times in order to protect others from harm. He would risk his own life one thousand times over in order to save just one person, much less billions. I’m sure you can see how useful he could be in saving the world, as it seems like this mission was designed for him.
I am aware this is a suicide mission, and that if he is to go, he will never be able to return, but I know that this is better than his current situation. For nearly two years, the GIW has had him in their possession, and I don’t like to imagine what they’re doing to him there in the name of research. Even before they captured him, they promised to him on several occasions that once they had him, they would conduct as many “painful experiments” on him as they could before he perished, and I can’t imagine they’ve broken that promise.
While his obsessions are perfectly tailored to your cause, I am also writing to you as a plea for you to save him. My family and I, as well as his friends and their families, have been working endlessly since his capture to free him, to no avail. I know that even though he would die on this mission, that is a far kinder fate than what he is experiencing as I write this email. He is a genuinely good person who would do anything to help those around him, and I can’t stand the thought that he will rot in that prison while the rest of us move on with our lives.
Thank you for hearing me out. I hope you will at least humor me and look into it. And if you do, please don’t believe anything the GIW tells you about him.
