He showed up ten minutes early, same outfit. Same gas mask-style helmet. I was still sipping a caffeine supplement and watching the news when he walked in with a storage cube around his neck on a chain. No MAG, is there another shortage? Those cubes would store items to an extent, but it aint a MAG.

"Kid, you not get a MAG?"

He shrugged, yeah, must be a shortage.

"Well, I'll look into getting you one. Tell you what, you kill anything higher than a Rappy and I'll give you something more expensive than your entire arsenal."

I made that offer to every new student, not many takers so far. But hey, you always shoot closer if you know it'll get you a rare item. I got us a quick spot in line because I know the guards, thankfully Transporter protocol was standard for everyone on the ship. He didn't even puke like most first timers.

We touched down in the Forest, what, was I supposed to let him loose in the Ruins? We were in a clearing with a small stream running through, a few item crates tucked away.

". . . Welcome to Ragol. Now, let's go blow the heads off our welcoming party."

The kid didn't laugh. He was staring at the sky. Then the stream. Oh yeah, the ship took off a few years ago, this might be the first time he's seen any of this stuff.

"I'll give you a few minutes. . ."

I left him alone to go break the crates, I always let the new guys stop and smell the planet. Some people pay millions just to be escorted for ten minutes down here. That's one perk of being a Hunter, free exercise and fresh air. My MAG picked up the floating cubes and I walked back to see the kid putting his mouth-piece back on. Probably tasting fresh water.

"What kind of heat you carrying?"

He clicked something on his helmet and he talked in his usual muffled manner.

"I got an upgraded rifle from a friend, mates, maybe a few fluids lying around. I don't know any spells, so less weight."

So the kid didn't have a MAG, and was carrying everything on his belt. Real luxurious life.

"Wait, you even get a Resta disk from the Guild?"

He adjusted his rifle to his shoulder, ready to set out.

"Shortages."

I sighed and warped out the Beam rifle I use, hitting a switch and opening the door to the unstable sectors.

Our first few rooms were empty. The third housed a few Rappies. I went to pick them off, then laid back.

"Kid, do your thing."

He stared at me fora second then shook it off and shouldered the rifle. I'm not sure if he even knew how to use it. I was about to suggest a Handgun as he fired a shot clean into the center of a Rappy. It keeled over, its friends ran, he got each one in the back. I was about to comment when what appeared to be a gigantic Booma relative jumped out in front of us. I calmly fired a shot at it, but watched it go through empty air as the thing was already collapsed on the ground. Holy. . .

". . . um. . . Rangers Atlas?"

I proceeded to scream out several obscenities in exclamation. The 'Kid' had just beat me to a kill! That little punk had to be playing a joke or something, honestly, new to hunting!

"This is just some prank, you're a mercenary, aren't you?"

Some guy had pulled something similar last year, he was a top-notch Ranger who signed up for the Training course.

". . . eh. . . Ma'am, I can assure you. . ."

Ten minutes of my screaming later he got a word in. Wait, this kid had never actually gone on a hunt before? Could somebody learn everything from a book? Sure, it was an amazing guide but it couldn't turn a civilian into a Hunter. While I had been yelling the kid had been backing off, now forced against an item crate. Okay, so I tend to scare people a bit. Who doesn't? He probably took up a new faith by the time I lost my breath.

". . . kid, what did you do before you signed up to come down here?"

"Well, I was in my quarters calibrating the. . ."

"I mean when you were a civilian."

". . . I'd rather not talk about it."

". . . how about your family?"

". . . um. . . Rangers. . ."

. . . I just screamed at a poor teenager for twenty minutes, for no good reason. No wonder they have me training these guys.

Four hours after the Hunt I had the kid in a café, talking about what he did out there. I regret not writing down the details of the screaming, I'm a hypocrite when it comes to cursing.

". . . and so it said in the will that you should join the Guild. . ."

I had just heard the life story of the kid in the helmet with no code-name.

He of course grew up in a family of Rangers, explaining his little sideshow in the Forest. But somewhere his parents went wrong and he became a civilian. A month ago he got a message from Earth that one of his relatives had died leaving behind a rather cliché will saying he has to fulfill his duty. Who the heck dies and leaves behind that to be remembered by?

"Kid, you have the most genetic talent I've ever seen in a beginner."

He seemed flattered, to the point of hiding behind the Ranger's Atlas again. Christ, how modest can a guy get?

"Stop apologizing! Geez…don't you want to brag to your friends about this?"

"No, Ma'am…"

…this guy wasn't human…

I called my husband, that Force with the bad job, from a public console while the Kid did something on a cheap organizer. I watched the screen light up with Shade's bored face, the background of his office dim.

"…Sonnet!"

Heh, he always did light up around me.

"Hey Honey, just got back from Ragol…I think I just found a new apprentice."

Shade raised an eyebrow.

"You're gonna try and teach a guy full time?"

Usually I just taught Rangers the basics, gave them their name, bought them dinner as a graduation gift, and let them loose.

"…he shot 39 freaks down there."

"How much did you get?"

"41."

"…you don't want a rival, do you?"

Shade knew me too well…

I walked the kid to his section in Greenil, same neighborhood I started in as a rookie. Since he was a new Hunter, his quarters were a 'box' on the ground level of a building. He opened the door to reveal a one-room apartment with a small bathroom. And…eh…a table, desk, futon…and an empty shelf.

"…you poor, Kid?"

He didn't seem offended.

"I'm just a Minimalist…"

Oh…okay. I looked over his tiny box of cheap weaponry, the size of a shoebox.

"…I was serious about giving you some stuff, Kid."

His ears perked up, remembering that offer I made before the Transporter. Before he could deny it I had my MAG drop half its cargo onto his floor, all in little colored floating cubes.

"I want you to upgrade whatever you can, sell or trade the rest. Get one of each Gun type, but splurge a bit on a Rifle."

Always accent your strengths, and back up your weaknesses. He nearly fainted, I could read some emotion from him even in that lame armor suit. I turned on my heel and left, not giving him time to argue. My plan was to draw him in with items, then sign in him as my new side-kick/apprentice. I always loved a challenge, but working with a prodigy is even more fun.

I stopped by Snake's tavern, he wasn't around so I spun by Moon's high-rise to find a note saying he was on a job. Good for him, about time he got some meseta. So finally I went home to Salia and a tired Shade, both were watching a movie as I walked in, stripping out of the Ranger armor and into a pajama-wannabe outfit, just like any other day. I asked Shade how his day went, same old. Then of course I brought up the prodigy with no name, literally, he didn't have a code-name yet.

"…so, he doesn't have a MAG, no required equipment, or even a Resta disk. And he's a minimalist, you should see his Box."

Shade started paying attention when I mentioned a spell disk. He's such a Force-maniac.

"…he doesn't know anything?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, remember Moon? He doesn't do a bit of magic and look how he turned out."

Moon's no-magic ways were my trump card against Shade's Force-loving.

"Honey, if you get to let him hang around you all the time and copy you, I better get in on it."

"Oh, you want him to watch games like one of the guys?"

"…Honey…you love watching a Ranger make his first kill, I like watching a Force first use magic."

Touche'…

"Fine, I'll let you give him some disks, and you can teach him some basic stuff…"

We kept watching the movie, so the Kid was also going to learn spells from a genius Force. Heck, you think I wasn't in control of my Husband? We fell in love as he taught me all the spells I know, RAmarls have to know a little about magic. A lot, actually, in my case. Then Salia asked the big one. No, not the sex thing.

"…Mom, what are you going to name him?"

"…I was thinking something about sniping…the guy's family has been doing it forever."

Shade looked over with one eye.

"…how about Snipe?"

"…that's perfect, actually..."

Snipe…fit the kid perfectly. Shade looked victorious.

"Since I technically am his father figure now, I'll give him that Apsaras we got from that shop…"

Shade was giving him a high-powered Mind MAG! To a beginner! That could double his stats! Usually it took months to get used to a weaker MAG, let alone a maxed out one!

"…sounds fun…"

…this kid was going to think he sold his soul to become all-powerful. Why am I doing this? Think about it, I'll be mentoring and guiding a Hunter that'll change the tides down on the planet. All the weak bums are getting all the quests, no talent. Why? Snipe was going to help me find out.