“Damn.” Bulco’s face clouded. “It means my trait will become less and less useful over time. If at some point we get ten points per level, the measly plus one I get won’t mean much. I should have taken the Tec Infusion boost.”

“We did what we had to,” Nori said shortly. “The traits we selected allowed both of us to survive long enough to reach this point. So, like you said earlier, there’s no sense in crying over it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” the Engineer said gruffly. “With six points, I can increase Intelligence and Control to five.”

“That leaves you with two points. Where are you going to put them?” Lana asked.

“Strength.”

The dark-haired woman frowned. “But you already have a high Strength score, and that’s only a secondary attribute for you. Wouldn’t it be wiser to invest in Awareness, that’s your other secondary, right?”

The Engineer gave her a piercing look that made her skin crawl. “In a few minutes, I might need all the strength I can get.”

Lana lowered her eyes.

The Engineer finished tweaking his interface, then he opened his Status screen.

Bulco, Human, level 7 (68 Tec)

Path: Engineer→AstroTec (score 18)

Attributes:

●       Strength 12 Ⓢ

●       Agility 2

●       Intelligence 5 Ⓟ

●       Control 5 Ⓟ

●       Awareness 2 Ⓢ

●       Appeal 2

Conditions:

●       Attribute Boost: +1/level

Lana contemplated her own Status for a moment. Of all her Path’s attributes, Appeal was the lowest. Strength and Agility were both on one, making her physically vulnerable. She considered putting her points there but then shook her head. Her job was to stand back and operate computer systems while her friends handled combat. And for her to do that, she’d need to be the best darn Expert she could. She dumped a point into Appeal and another into Intelligence. She blinked in surprise a few times at the weird sensation the change had caused throughout her body. Her hands rose to touch her hair. Is it fuller than before? she thought with surprise. Status.

Lana, Human, level 7 (95 Tec)

Path: Expert→Admin (score 14)

Attributes:

●       Strength 1

●       Agility 1

●       Intelligence 7 Ⓟ

●       Control 4 Ⓢ

●       Awareness 4 Ⓟ

●       Appeal 3 Ⓢ

Conditions:

●       Tec Infusion Boost +5%

Nori eased her hold on the ship’s controls and concentrated on her Status. Not long ago, such an action would have made her lose control and crash the ship, but her new Pilot path made things a lot easier.

Hardly pausing to think, she dumped two points into Awareness and split the remaining two between Agility and Control. Once done, she examined her Status.

Nori, Human, level 7 (66 Tec)

Path: Navigator→Pilot (score 15)

Attributes:

●       Strength 2

●       Agility 5 Ⓟ

●       Intelligence 4 Ⓢ

●       Control 5 Ⓟ

●       Awareness 4 Ⓢ

●       Appeal 2

Conditions:

●       Level Suppression -2

Not bad. She smiled to herself. A beep on her console drew her attention, and a secondary holo monitor popped open. She frowned, trying to make sense of the new data she was seeing.

The ship’s floor started shifting.

“What’s going on?” The Engineer asked.

An oval shape slowly rose from the floor, growing into a familiarly shaped pod.