Chapter 56: Attributes

Although Hugh originally intended to buy a condo, Frankie was determined to search until they found a housing instance Hugh liked. There were over two dozen neighborhoods on each of the city's four walls and no two were alike. He could literally pick anything from a jungle treehouse to mountain cave. They toured a few of the neighborhoods with particularly interesting themes. Hugh found himself leaning toward a arctic militant fortress with reinforced walls while Justin thought Frankie should get one of the desert oasis homes.

However, one of the last neighborhoods they toured had both of them saying in unplanned unison, "This one."

Hugh looked from the small Gothic Victorian home over to Frankie, surprised the doctor would see the appeal. The building wasn't large or impressive at the moment, offering only a one story cylindrical turret attached to a two story squarish tower. A wraparound porch added depth to the turret and a wrought iron fence around the top of the tower promised rooftop access. The building's main porch and entrance were recessed, adding another layer of dimensions to give the small home the appearance of being bigger and more complex than it actually was.

Frankie stared back at him with his eyebrow raised in askance, probably wondering why Hugh would choose this one when his previous choice had been a simple boxy structure sitting on a frozen tundra.

Hugh shrugged and held up the brochure they'd gotten from the salesman. "This says the neighborhood has of a good view of the Milky Way at night and aurora events twice a week, which aren't quite as much as the arctic place, but it's enough to make me happy. Temperatures stay in the seventies during the day, the earthy scent in the air is calming, and I can't imagine frat boys moving in nearby. The Housing Association rules for this area aren't restrictive, either. Pets are allowed, the only lawn restriction is against invasive species, and the street lights are all Victorian in style, meaning I don't have to worry about a bright ass bulb shining through my bedroom window at night. Security might be an issue since Gothic manors will attract loners who will seem like easy pickings to thieves, but that can be solved with guard animals and security bots."

Frankie responded with a lopsided smile and a chuckle for Hugh's long-winded defense of his choice. "I just thought it looked nice. Who wouldn't want an old Victorian to ramble around in? But you're right. Those are all very attractive features. I suppose the only question now is whether we want to buy in the same neighborhood and, if we do, how far apart do we want our houses?"

It wasn't an easy question to answer with their relationship status undefined. Would he come to regret living next door or down the street? Would Frankie be offended if he suggested they choose separate instances?

"You're making it too easy, Frankie," Justin admonished teasingly, unintentionally rescuing Hugh. "Of course you'll both want to be in separate instances, so he'll have to make an effort to come see you. It's not as much fun to pick someone up for a date if they live next door."

Frankie's face turned the reddest it ever had and he immediately launched himself at his Navigator to jokingly slap his arm. The Navigator easily danced out of the way with a laugh, keeping the attention on himself.

Hugh glanced at Dex and rolled his eyes at their antics. From what he could tell from the short time they'd spent together, Justin's personality had been tailor-made to bring out Frankie's youthful side. He didn't just blush anymore. The Doc was already laughing, joking, and horsing around as if decades of responsibility had been sloughed off his shoulders in a matter of days. Hugh found it endearing, but how much would he revert once he was surrounded by fellow medical professionals? What if he transformed into a sniff-necked elitist who wouldn't want to be seen in Hugh's company outside of a professional capacity?

His doubts and fears preyed on him, making his self-confidence lower the more he thought about it. Why would an amazing man like Frankie—

"Shit," Dex muttered quietly. "We need to talk, Hugh. Will you trust me?"

"Of course," he automatically replied despite the way his emotions were bouncing all over the place.

"Doctor Jones," Dex called out. "On second thought, Hugh and I are going to get a place in one of the beach neighborhoods. We're going to take a look at them again. It might take a while to get set up once we pick a house, so we'll meet up with you some time tomorrow at the clinic. Justin, I trust you can handle things here."

The younger Navigator grinned and threw his arm around Frankie's shoulder to surreptitiously hold him back. "So you finally noticed. No worries. I'll handle Frankie and we'll see you tomorrow."

Before Hugh could say his farewells, Dex bustled him down the road and through the gated tunnel leading out of the instance. The Navigator didn't slow once they were back in Nexus and the tunnel doors closed with a heavy thud behind them. He hooked his arm through Hugh's and practically dragged him down the street to the closest Residential Sales skyscraper featuring a beach theme.

"But I don't want a beach house," Hugh heard himself whine as he obstinately dug his heels in to keep himself from being pulled through the front doors.

"Do you hear yourself?" Dex asked. "Neither you nor Doctor Jones are acting like yourselves. You're out of balance. You've been studying too much and neglecting your other status attributes. Doctor Jones has probably been more active in the past few days than he has been in years. Why else would he be running around the city and exploring instead of taking patients like he planned by now?"

"What do you—" Hugh stopped himself from asking the question as the answer came to him. "Empathy," he said. "My highest stat is Empathy. That's why my emotions feel so out of whack and why Frankie is acting like he's half his age? We're being affected by our stats?"

"Not exactly, but yes," he replied. "Your stats reflect your state of being. When they're unbalanced by more than a fifty point spread, the effects of your highest stat naturally become more pronounced. In the case of Empathy, your emotions are overwhelming your Intellect and the signals from your physical body. In Frankie's case, I believe his Stamina has risen too far, causing him to act like a more impulsive, more vigorous version of himself."

"Is this going to happen to everyone?" Hugh asked in alarm.

"The average human won't have this problem unless they have a significantly unbalanced life style."

"Which means, yes, everyone," Hugh replied dryly.

Dex stubbornly shook his head. "No, not everyone. The Constitution an average person will get from taking a bath every day is counterbalanced by the crap they eat. The time they spend in Church or religious self-reflection is counterbalanced by the time they spend mindlessly trawling the Net. I can give you a hundred examples of how the average player's lifestyle is actually very balanced compared to yours."

"That's something I don't understand. Why is my Empathy rising so fast, even though my Intellect should be higher because of all the studying I've been doing with my Book?"

"Because you're not just studying meaningless facts, are you? You're thinking about how to use the information you're gaining to make things better on your world. That's spiritual self-reflection, which affects your Empathy rating. It's like when Christians study their Bibles or Jews study their Torah and they don't just file the information away as facts—they seek out ways to apply the knowledge to their own lives."

Hugh grimaced, seeing how the example translated to himself. He'd been spending hours every night with his head in his Book, queuing up changes to be released into his world and spending magical stamina on Fast Grow, so things would be significantly different once he went back and updated his world using his Genesis Spear. His pathetic running attempts each morning and his leisurely walks through the city with Frankie didn't come close to balancing it out.

"I guess that explains why you think I should live here," Hugh said, looking up at the Residential Sales tower. "Maybe I should start calling you the Love Guru if you're prescribing long walks on the beach."

"Swimming builds strength and stamina, too," Dex said. "But that's actually not the reason I picked here. The fastest way to bring your Empathy under control is to close the gap between your lowest and highest stats. This means we need to raise your Dexterity. The balance you need to move on uneven terrain will help. Raising your other physical stats at the same time is merely a bonus."

"And if I'm going to be an explorer, I need to train anyway," Hugh said with a disappointed sigh. "You know, this sucks. I really liked the idea of living in a Gothic manor. It's more fitting, don't you think, since I already have my first ghost?"

"I do," Dex replied, his voice taking on a considering tone. "Perhaps you should summon your ghost tonight once we get you set up with a house. Castle Decree waives the law against drawing a weapon in the city as long as you remain on your own property."

"Okay," he said easily, then immediately backpedaled when he realized caught himself thinking about how fun it would be and not about the potential consequences. "Holy shit, my emotions really are out of control."

"Let's go," Dex replied, tugging him through the door. "We'll get you back to your old self in no time. Promise."