M: Oh, Hank! Good to see you man! I'm really glad you decided to
   stop by.

H: Well, thank you for having me. I'm the one lucky to have a place
   to spend the night.

M: Of course! You can stay as little or as long as you like. You
   know how to go in and out of spacetime rifts now, yeah?

H: It would seem so. Perhaps we both have eachother to thank for 
   something.

M: Life really does work in crazy ways, huh? Why don't I go ahead
   and introduce you to the girls?

H: Of course, lead the way Mick.

M: Honey, Hank's here!

H: I hope I'm not interrupting anything.

M: Don't be silly Hank. I owe you my life. You're my brother, Hank.
   Well, here she is now!

?: Pleasure to meet you, Mr.Hiazra. I hope this evening finds you
   well.

H: Ah, um, you as well ma'am. Just Hank is fine. What should I uh,
   call you?

B: Pleae, call me Bernice.

H: By all means. Nice to meet you, Bernice.

M: Is Kayla comming down?

B: She'll be down soon, dear. You know Girls.

M: If only!

B: Ahahahaha

M: Hehe

H: Can I ask you to point my in the direction of the restroom?

B: Oh, of course Hank. It should be just down the hall and to
   your left.

I had to go to the bathroom but not quite as badly as I had wished I did in that moment. I don't know why I didn't figure it out sooner, but Mick's wife was a ghost. A specter? Not a demon to be sure. She seemed like a really nice woman, if a little old fashioned. Who knows how long ago she had died. It was bizarre to me, but I couldn't say anything. What was there to say? Maybe I am jsut a racist. WAIT?! Does this mean Mick got married to Bernice in less than a week's time? That was all the time that had passed between our timeskip and the day everything went... crazy. And that leaves the question of their daughter. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see. I can't act surprised though, no matter what. I'm a guest here. In this... Place.

M: Hank, come in here, dinner's ready!

H: Yes.

M: Hank I want you to meet my daughter, Kayla.

H: Hello, Kayla. It's good to meet you.

M: Hank's the reason I was finally able to come home!

K: Thank you, for that, sir.

M: Now, now, no need to be so formal! Hank here is our friend!

K: S-sorry.

H: Heh, that's fine. Sometimes I get scolded for being to formal too.

K: Keheh, yeah right.

H: Really! People just don't appreciate that sort of thing like they
   used to, unfortunately.

K: Yeah, exactly.

H: Your mother must've done an excellent job of raising you!

K: Heh.

B: Shall we say grace first?

M: Yes, in fact, why don't we let Hank say grace today!

B: Why, I think that's a fantastic idea dear.

H: Hey, can I get clarification on one thing first?

M: Sure, fire away.

H: What exactly is going on here? Like, with the flow of time.
   I'm not going to come out and see the statue of liberty
   drowning in sand, am I?

M: Of course not Hank, I- No, no of course not. I'm still new
   At the whole spectral physics thing, but this here is 
   Bernice's chronotpe.

B: I assure you, Mr.Hiazra, I know what I'm doing. I've been 
   making worlds like this for 107 standard years.

K: ...

H: Of course, ma'am I would never assume anything less, I
   just need to be certain. I've got some very important 
   appointments ahead of me. The entire United States
   hinges on my punctuality right now.

M: Oh, yes, Hank, you mentioned a plan earlier, something
   involving Santa?

H: W-

B: Forgive me dear, but, may we say grace first? the food
   I prepared is getting cold.

M: Oh, yeah of course, I nearly forgot. Ok, take it away,
   Hank!

H: ...

What is this food? Do ghosts even eat? What the hell is this grace supposed ot be about? Do ghosts believe in GOD or something else? I- I've gotta say something here...

H: Grant us the strength to carry onward, and let us
   find strength in our friends and familly, both
   new and old. 
   Bless us with the judgement to see right from 
   wrong, and to walk along the path of righteousness,
   that we may someday have the grace to stand in your
   presence and bask in your glory, unafraid and 
   unrepentant.
   Guide us through these times as all time,
   and let us not forget ourselves in the face of
   whatever the day may bring.
   Test us so that we may prove ourselves worthy,
   and give us the heart to increase into the
   vast splendor of your creation.
   Oh, God, our God,
   test us,
   for by your grace,
   we shall not crack.
   -in Jesus' name,
    Amen.

M: Amen.

B: Amen.

K: Amen.

M: Hank, that was beautiful, how did you come up with that?

H: Oh, I just, well. I didn't know what to say, so I suppose I just 
   naturally took to the prayer my father taught me when I was
   young. About your age, actually, Kayla.

B: It was lovely, Hank.

M: I think I'll try and commit that one to memory, honestly, Hank.
   But speaking of lovely, and I know I've said it already, but my
   goodness, B, your cooking just got better and better over the
   time I was gone.

B: Of course, dear. All I did was practice, waiting for you to come
   back home. It pleasures me to see you enjoying it so thoroughly.

M: What did I ever do to deserve a woman like this? My goodness!

B: Please, darling, I just did what any wife would do. Hank, what
   do you think of our meal tonight?

H: Real good. Really, Like, very much unlike anything I've had
   before, truly. Thank you, ma'am.

Forgive my lax attitude towards narration this chapter. It was simply so unordinary for me. I didn't quite know how to react to anything, or how to feel ahead of time. The food in particular I would love to describe to you, but unfortunately I just can't seem to, quite, I just can't find the words to desribe any aspect of it in full, really. It was good though. That part wasn't a lie.

M: So, Hank, now you've got to tell me about this plan you've been
   cooking.

K: heh.

H: Oh, it's really very simple. Barely worth explaining, if not for
   the fact that it's going to change everything. What's so funny,
   Kayla?

K: Oh, pardon, it's just, I found it funny, we went from cooking
   dinner to cooking plans.

The future of this country shines bright. Regardless, I explained the plan to Mick.

M: I see. Yeah, With Santa on our side, there's no way we can lose,
   huh?

H: Yup. Then we can put an end to all this nonsense. Oh, that 
   reminds me, Mick, do you happen to have any game consoles?

M: Game consoles?

H: Yeah, as much as I resent it, I think the best thing I can
   do to help Ms.Hygrave other than enlisting the help of Santa,
   is to get on top of this system. I need to be able to work 
   from within if I want to topple it, you see? It'll make those
   still attached to this way of life and reaping the benefits of
   it more likely to trust us and willing to work with us once 
   things are settled.

M: You mean once the boss is in power?

H: Exactly.

K: I've a few game consoles. I don't play them much anymore, so
   I'd be perfectly happy to let you use them, sir.

H: Really? Why, that'd be a great help to me. What kind of games do
   you play Kayla?

K: Oh, well, I really like everything I guess. I mean, I, I
   suppose you could call me a retro gamer? That's not really doing 
   it justice, though.

H: Hey, I understand. Heh, I used to hate it when extended familly
   would ask stuff like that. I used to be a big gamer back in the 
   day, you know, but I just sort of stopped when I took up my job
   as an assistant. I used to love tactics games, but trying to 
   explain that to a cousin in law or something felt impossible. In
   any case, thank you very much, I appreciate it.

K: Oh, yeah, of course.

M: You know Hank, I really respect what you're doing here.

H: For what reason?

M: Well I mean, Ms.Hygrave, Hillary, she's not your boss anymore,
   she can't even pay you, but you still really want to help fix 
   things, and you genuinely seem to believe she's the only one who 
   can do it right. That's real dedication. I wish there was some
   way I could help too, seeing as how I s=caused this mess.

H: I'd like to say I'm just doing my job, but i suppose that job 
   isn't real anymore. I can't fully explain it myself. I guess you
   could say that I'm just clinging to the only thing I know, you 
   know? I'm not sure, I'd like to think there's more to it than 
   that, but at the same time I don't think I can put it into words 
   just yet. It just feels like the only thing to do. I suppose 
   that'd be the best way to explain it.

B: Well, in my humble opinion, I believe the work you're doing,
   Hank, is incredibly honorable, no matter the reason.

H: Thank you ma'am. That means a lot comming from you.

B: From me?

H: Yes, you know, as a, specter. I'd never really spoken to one
   before today, but I'm glad to hear your words of support.

B: ...