Nerfed

Aiden asked her a doubt which had been brewing inside his mind, "But can't it shut down the window by itself?"

"Ghosts can't perform complicated tasks like that, they can't even run. So you can imagine the extent of their cognitive prowess."

"But the ghost helps me with things, how does it know how to do all of that then?"

Hellen had a serious look on her face as she replied to the question, "I don't know. But the Bureau has a theory that ghosts have enhanced cognitive prowess in the domain of their ability. For example let's just take the helping ghost, its ability is related to helping—"

"It's the condition."

"Same shit, at least it's a condition for activating its power, so it's related to the ability still. So we can assume that the ghost has enhanced mental capability when it comes to helping. Running doesn't come under help, probably also why it walked towards you instead of running. Likewise, closing the window for itself doesn't count as helping you. Geddit?"

Aiden nodded his head as she got up and instructed him, "Let's go, we need to set up all the equipment. Even if we now know that it has the phaseless ability, it doesn't hurt to keep track of it."

They took up the next hour trying to set up equipment all around the place. It was silence, Aiden didn't attempt to sense info about his ability again. This time aunt Hellen was working together with him, and it took time for the unique sensation to come about. If he lost focus while doing work again, she was sure to notice and he was pretty sure he didn't want to lose more brownie points in aunt Hellen's book.

Towards the end there were only three rooms left, the one where he encountered the ghost and the two adjacent to it. Hellen stood beside Aiden while glancing at the three doors and wondered aloud,

"We didn't encounter the ghost in any of the rooms we were setting up equipment in. It should only be here right?"

She checked the feed of all the cameras they had set up all over her bungalow. There was not a single blindspot left, even the bathrooms had been covered. Obviously, she would turn off the cameras if someone were to use the bathroom or wanted some private space for themselves in some other room. In those cases, the person themselves can work better than the camera and immediately know if a ghost had entered, so turning off the camera for the said room wouldn't be a problem either.

There was silence for 2 minutes as Hellen thoroughly checked the feed. There was no ghost. She quipped with a smile, "We'll probably be battling the ghost again. Feeling good?"

Aiden looked worse. He didn't offer her a reply as he tightly gripped a golf club in his hand and gazed at the doors, as if the ghost would suddenly smash out of it. Lightly tapping on his shoulder, Hellen urged, "C'mon, let's go. No use standing in the hallway and looking at the doors. We ultimately gotta deal with it right?"

A firm expression crossed across his face as he nodded and followed her into the room. They first spent a few minutes searching through every nook and cranny of the room and found no ghost. With a relieved sigh but increased anxiety about future rooms, he continued helping aunt Hellen to set up all the things.

Hellen glanced back at Aiden, who had his emotions written all over the face and consoled, "Look, you're thinking too deep into this. See it like this, you have to face off against someone who has no powers, just a normal human body which is simply disgusting to face off against. It even has reduced damage, so you'll basically be confronting a nerfed human. What are you afraid of?"

Aiden passed her the next thing which she would need why he went deep into thought about what she said. It was true when he thought about it. What was he being afraid of? It was the folklore and myths about ghosts which had occupied his mind and scared him up until now. If he isolated those things and just looked at actual facts related to the ghost which had happened, it could be concluded that the ghost could really be dealt with by a normal human.

Hellen knew her words had worked when she saw the look in Aiden's eye change. He was a smart lad, she realized she didn't need to keep babysitting him like some of the newcomers the Bureau had tasked her to guide while in her old days of being a field agent. He only needed to be explained once to make him understand, was quick with his reasoning and derivation of information, and was also sensitive to what was happening in the surroundings. Well, maybe not so much for the last one since he could even get lost in his thoughts while dealing with a ghost he oh-so-feared.

The room was done. It was time for the next room. There were only two left. They once again didn't opt for the original room where Aiden encountered the ghost but entered the one adjacent to it. Both of them were much more tense than before. According to their hypothesis, hiding was a vital part of its ability, be it a condition or a way of avoiding side effects. 

Before opening the door, Hellen looked at Aiden and said, "It's going to be quite literally your battle okay? Just listen to what I say. If the ghost happens to be there, and considering how it didn't attack until you went too close to it, it won't attack at first sight. But, if it does, I'll engage with it, don't worry. But still, you'll have to join in on the fight too. 

"Why? Because first it is going to be an experience for you of course. You don't get such easy ghosts often. Second, I thought of something just now. If the side effect of its ability is reduced physical damage, why does it need to hide? I mean, it doesn't specifically need to hide in this case. Just not hitting you would also be able to hide the fact that it has less damage as a side effect."

Aiden's eyebrows shot up, the gears in his head turning as aunt Hellen continued to explain him,

"If we try to be a bit bold in our approach of derivation, can we assume that physical damage against it is increased? We'll also approach this safely. It is currently targeting you, so I can't rashly assume that the side effect it is going through will apply to me too. We'll move with the assumption that it only has to hide from you, has reduced physical damage only against you and has weakened physical resistance only against you.

"So while I dodge around, because obviously taking a direct hit from a physique above that of the peak mortal limit is deadly, you need to try and get some hits in. I'll do the same if given a chance. Then we'll know for sure if the side effect we thought of is true, and whether it only applies against you or everyone.

"Last thing. The third help hasn't arrived yet, right? Well, chuck it. I'll say that later."

Saying so, she cautiously and slowly opened the door, giving Aiden enough time to recollect himself and follow her. The wooden door smoothly opened without a creak as Hellen quickly turned on the lights. A quick scan revealed nothing. Both of them stepped inside cautiously, Hellen with her Beretta M9 and Aiden with his golf club.