“You can’t rush the art of magical investigation,” Strax sighed. Billows of smoke came from their mouth as they spoke. Their burning eyes flashed an unnatural purple and Goob knew that they were starting to get on their friend’s nerves. Trying to keep on the good side of the eldritch horror, he stayed silent. He wasn’t going to risk them refusing his dimensional portal privileges.

An air conditioning unit had been completely picked apart on the floor. Parts for cooling and heating were grouped in pairs and Strax resumed meticulously pouring through them with a single, slender claw. Goob silently wondered where they had learnt to pick apart an A/C unit but kept it to himself. 

He did make a mental note that Strax would be the one to go to if he fully transformed back from a ghost into a human and needed to know how to book an air conditioning service. Highett could be a nice place to settle down if he needed to start living as a human. It was a good suburb from his haunting experience.

Goob shivered at the intrusive thought. “Is there any hope of figuring out why this is all happening?”

He gestured to his human arm, which hung limply from the rest of his translucent body. Ever since he had begun to possess heating and cooling systems as a joke, his body had started to become solid again. The fleshy feeling made him sick. Maybe it was too late. Before he knew it, he might have to move into a new house and be concerned about needing repairs for his own air conditioning. Toorak was also a nice suburb. Maybe he would be happier there than Highett.

“I think you’ve found yourself in a tricky spot here, friend,” Strax said. Goosebumps formed on Goob’s new human arm. For the first time since his passing, he felt the cold. His friend turned, a thin wire trapped in their claws. The wire appeared to glitch in and out of existence. “I hope you’ve thought about what you want to do as a human because I don’t think you’re getting out of this one.”