Chapter 6: Magnitude of Metal

The next day was the day that Galactica would apply for a job at the Nei School for Newmans. Instead of walking there, she had taken a taxi that flew her straight to the right deck and floor. As she entered, she noted how unusually professional the facility seemed. It was probably due to whom the school's name was dedicated to. Nei was supposedly the precursor of the Newman race almost 2,000 years ago. Some historians speculated that she had the DNA of a Muskcat, a type of feline, and a Palman, the ancestors of all Algolian humans. As Galactica approached the front desk, she became unsure of whether she would be accepted.

"May I help you?" asked the secretary, a friendly-looking brunette.

"Um, yes," Galactica replied nervously. "I am here to apply for a position as an instructor's assistant."

"Great," the secretary said. "We've been a little understaffed around here. Please fill out this form," she said handing Galactica a paper. "When you're done, just bring it to me and I'll get an interview ready for you." It didn't take Galactica too long to complete the form.

"I'm finished," she said giving the form to the idle secretary.

"All right…Miss Chikara," the secretary said, reading her name. "Follow me." They then walked down a short hallway and to a door. "Please wait inside. Someone will be with you shortly." The secretary then left. Inside was a desk with a chair on both sides. Galactica took a seat just as a man about the same height as her walked in. His long pointed ears showed that he was a Newman.

"You must be Miss Chikara," he greeted as he sat behind the desk.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," Galactica greeted him politely.

"Now, I'll just take a quick look at your information," he said as he read the form. "Hmm…uh huh…I see that you're a Ranger. Will that interfere with the school day?"

"No, the school day is short enough to allow for that career as well," Galactica replied. "May I ask you a question?"

"Okay, shoot," he said casually.

"I don't believe I caught your name," she said.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm Noah La Michelo."

"Mr. Michelo," she started, "what type of training will I undergo and what sort of class will I be assisting?"

"Since, you're an android," he replied, "your training will be minimal. It will last a few days. As for the class, I think we'll start you off with a very experienced teacher. Her class consists predominantly of girls. All subjects are taught in her class."

"Who am I assisting?" Galactica asked.

"Her name is Isis Mk. X," he replied. "She is also a RAcaseal, like you. She is one of the best teachers we have."

"When does the training session begin?" Galactica asked.

"The soonest session starts…in 15 minutes," he replied, looking at his watch.

Today was a day that T-65 had taken a peculiar quest. The description given was "Retrieve items that were stolen on a trip back from Ragol." According to the client, a trader named Garon, another Ranger had gone to look for the items. But, he returned to say that an android had taken them. T-65 later found out that the items were just Mags. The RAmar, Dacci, said they voluntarily left with the android. They weren't stolen. T-65 also found out, after talking to people in the area, that Garon was not a trustworthy trader and belonged to a questionable group of merchants.

T-65 took the teleporter to the Forest and started his search. He met some minor resistance from the Natives. A few Boomas, wolves, and Rag Rappies were no longer a real challenge for him in such small numbers. After traveling through the Forest for a little while, he finally found who he was looking for. It was a pink-haired RAcaseal holding a Sniper Rifle. She looked very similar to Galactica with the exception that she was silver-skinned and wearing a pink outfit. Instead of a bow, she had what seemed similar to be a maid's cap. Not expecting to meet a girl, he slowly walked up to her, careful not to scare her.

"Well…one's still missing," she softly spoke to herself. Hearing his approach, she jumped back and relaxed slightly upon seeing him. "I was surprised…"

"Sorry about that," T-65 apologized.

"Ah…excuse me," she began, "but have you seen a Mag around here?"

"I'm looking for it," he responded carefully.

"What? You came here to retrieve Mags?" she asked, again surprised.

"Did you…?" T-65 began.

"No, no!" she said quickly. "I didn't mean to take them from the Ranger. But they all looked so sad, so I just started talking to them. And…they looked very happy," she continued. "I just wanted to say hello. But…they all wanted to come with me, and they chased after me. Then everyone returned to their master's place. They aren't here now," she said solemnly.

"I see…" T-65 said understandingly.

"Only one MAG was saying that it would come with me," she added, "but it disappeared. Sorry about that…Are you going to look for it?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm here," he said, spinning his gun.

"Let me join you," she said, moving closer to him. "Maybe it didn't stray too far from me," she said, looking around. "By the way, I'm Elenor. Elenor Camuel."

"I'm T-65," he said. He was careful not to give his full name too quickly. It was not wise to give out your full name to just anyone.

"Let's backtrack a bit," he suggested. "I think I missed an area." They then walked into the area that T-65 had previously been in. He had been right. To the right was a passable laser fence. As they went through Elenor began to feel a bit guilty.

"Are you mad because I let the Mags run away?" she asked, stopping him.

"Don't worry about it," he said, waving his hand in dismissal. "You just did what you thought was right."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "But please listen; I don't know if you're aware of this, but... Mags are intelligent. When a hunter equips a Mag, it recognizes him or her as its master. Some Mags are clever. They can protect or heal their masters! Moreover, some can do a lot of photon damage. Doc told me, but... I forgot...Aaa...anyway! Mags'll try to help you if you're nice to them. Mags feel very sad when they lose their masters." She was obviously very knowledgeable about Mags.

While there was no Mag in this corner of the forest, there were a number of supply boxes and treasure chests. After picking up a few items, none of which were noteworthy, they went back to where they had begun. The next area was a narrow, winding trail. There was a treasure chest behind a red laser fence. The switch to deactivate it was right next to it. T-65 deactivated the fence and found a Telepipe inside the treasure chest. For some reason, since he had met Elenor, he had not blasted a single chest or box. Instead, he just lifted the lid and took what he wanted.

When they went through the next gate, there was a wide sandy path in front of them with a laser fence on the right and its switch on the left. As they walked forward, a pair of Boomas ascended from the ground. Without saying a word, Elenor quickly shot them with her Sniper. She killed one of them in three shots.

"She must be kinda strong to kill it so easily," T-65 thought to himself, picking off the other Booma.

Then another pair of Boomas appeared to the right. They were also quickly killed by Elenor and T-65. Then, a pair of Rag Rappies dropped in. Just as they started to approach, the androids quickly downed them. They heard roars behind them. The sources were two yellow Goboomas. Again, they didn't last very long against Elenor's Sniper and T-65's Handgun.

"Wish I had a Rifle," he thought to himself. As the two creatures died, the fallen Rag Rappies suddenly got to their feet. Elenor immediately turned to shoot one. T-65, not expecting them to get back up, followed along and shot the other. Despite being hit, the Rappies still managed to run and tumble into the bushes. They left behind some items. T-65, not expecting this either, went to check them out. Unfortunately, a strange noise from above told him that a Monest and its Mothmants were coming in for a landing.

"Cover me," he said to Elenor while he glanced at the items. She complied, by shooting as many of the flying menaces as she could. After seeing that the items were not valuable, T-65 began to shoot the Monest. Elenor joined in as soon as the Mothmants were all gone. The Monest fell from the punishment but released a few more Mothmants. T-65 quickly destroyed them, while Elenor finished off the Monest. After no more enemies appeared, T-65 went over to the switch and turned off the laser fence. The boxes behind it contained Meseta.

"Do you want any of this?" he asked, trying not to seem greedy.

"No thank you," she replied. "I don't need any more Meseta. Doc provides everything for me."

"Suit your self," he said as he took the money.

"Oh, I just remembered!" she exclaimed. "When Mags get damaged, they charge energy to endure the pain. The charged energy can be converted into a Photon Blast!" She then paused to say, "But I'm not sure…When the energy is fully charged your Mag tells you to use the power!"

"I don't think my Mag can do that yet," T-65 said, looking at his simple Mag. It was just an orange floating piece of metal next to his shoulder.

"I'm sorry but I'm not sure," she responded. "Anyway, that lost Mag couldn't have gone much farther."

When they entered the next area, they found a pack of wolves waiting for them. Elenor was able to keep them at bay with her long-range weapon. T-65's weapon didn't have as much range so he had to move closer to the Savage Wolves. Elenor managed to slay the Barbarous Wolf, causing the others to howl. The red and blue sparkles returned, making the wolves easier to defeat. Afterwards, a few Boomas appeared and made their way over to the androids. They were also dispatched easily. As they began searching, Elenor went into deep thought.

"I remember now…" she said thoughfully.

"Remember what?" T-65 asked looking back to her. "She's opening up to me an awful lot. Definitely not the average Android."

"I used to have a Mag a long time ago," she said. "It had a twin. I lost it when it was still a baby, so I feel guilty about that…" she said, looking down. But I'm sure it's doing fine!" she said, more upbeat. "The doctor said it's probably doing fine, anyway! Still…I often wonder what it turned out to be, now that it's all grown up. I wonder what your Mag will turn out to be!" she said, looking to T-65 with a smile.

"I know one thing," he said. "It's going to be a strong Mag. And it'll look pretty cool, too." The next area they entered was one that T-65 had already cleared of animals. Elenor could tell by the bloodstains on the ground.

"I guess I missed it when I first came through here. They then started looking around. Elenor seemed to be a bit distracted.

"Something wrong?" he said, noticing that she was looking uncomfortable.

"I don't know if I should tell you this…but," she began, "T-65, your Mag is hungry…"

"They get hungry?" he asked surprised. "I thought that you could just give 'em stuff to make 'em stronger."

""It's true!" she persuaded him. "Mags are alive. Yours needs something to eat. It's best to give a Mag its favorite item. Each Mag has its own characteristics and its own favorite items. Some like Monomate, others like Dimate."

"Like this?" he asked as he gave his Mag a Dimate. It bounced in the air in approval.

"That's it," she said approvingly. "It's easy, isn't it? Try to know 'your' Mag. It grows as its Master gains experience."

"Thanks for the info," he said. They then went through the second area that T-65 had been to since he arrived.

As they walked, Elenor said, "T-65, your Mag is cute. It likes you a lot." T-65 actually blushed at this, although he hid it from her.

"How can you talk to them?" he asked, trying to keep his composure. All of this time, she had been telling him about his Mag.

"Huh?" she asked, caught off-guard by the question. "Well, because…um…I'm sorry…I just don't know." They continued into the next room. Elenor saw something near the teleporter to Pioneer 2. "Hey! There it is! There! Over there!" she said pointing just ahead. "Can you see it?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "We found it!" He ran over to the red basic Mag and picked it up.

"Hi again," she said to it. She stayed silent for a moment, presumably listening to what it was saying. "I see."

"What did it say?" asked T-65.

"It visited its ex-master to say bye-bye," she responded. "Now it's done. It says it wants to have a new master. See? Mags prefer a master that loves them. T-65, please take care of your Mag. Even if you can't hear its voice, know that it understands you."

"Don't worry," he said confidently. "My Mag will be the best one that anyone's ever seen."

"Mags are good partners to hunters," she commented. "I 'know' my Mag. I can feel my Mag because I'm very close to it."

"That's deep," T-65 thought to himself. "I wonder what it's like to talk to a Mag."

"It's fun," Elenor responded positively. "Most of them are very nice."

"Did I say that out loud?" he laughed, a little embarrassed. "Thanks for the help, Elenor. I'll see you around."

"Bye, T-65," she said waving as he teleported to Pioneer 2. The RAmar was happy to hear that the Mags did what they wanted. Garon was sorely disappointed that only one Mag was brought back. Despite the fact that he didn't like the results, he couldn't take his money back from the Guild. T-65 collected his Meseta and went about his business.

Back at the school, the day's introductory session had ended. Job candidates were finding out whether they would be suitable teachers and for what sort of students. Galactica met an old friend that she hadn't seen in months. It was a very tall, but very beautiful woman in a grey dress with a white collar. She had soft blue eyes, snow-white skin, and shimmering golden locks in a ponytail that reached below her thighs.

"How is my little cousin?" the woman said, tightly hugging Galactica, who was over half a foot shorter.

"It's nice to see you again, Caseal," Galactica said, returning the hug. "What have you been up to?"

"Keeping busy," Caseal said. "Otherwise this mess we've gotten into with Ragol would drive me crazy. When I'm not at home with Alicia and Donoph, I'm here doing volunteer work at the school and orphanage."

"You know each other?" Mr. Michelo inquired. They nodded. "Well, Galactica, this woman here is exactly what we want. She's dedicated, loves children, and volunteers whenever possible. Many of our students who live at the orphanage already know and adore her. I might even say she's the best non-Android employee we have here."

"Mr. Michelo," Caseal began modestly, turning red with embarrassment. "I'm not an actual employee. I don't get paid, I just volunteer."

"And I don't see why you don't go full-time with pay," he said haughtily. "You are the epitome of the reason why teachers should be paid more."