Lafayette "Fate" Robinson is a rejected guide just trying to live out her exile in quiet solitude. She's got everything she could ever want: a house, a dog, and miles of land all to herself. All she has to do is wait until she's out of her prime, a...
Like most guides...or like most people, Lafayette "Fate" Robinson was not a big fan of airports. They all felt the same, thousands of people full to the brim with confusion, frustration, and fear.
As a lone guide, she did not have access to the special Sentinel Isolation lounges and pathways that had become common in recent years as airport traffic increased. Instead, she was one with the throng as her long legs took her at full powerwalk speed towards the exit. Mentally she calculated the last time she'd taken her dampeners. The plane ride itself hadn't been bad. There weren't any fearful first-time flyers or exuberant children to clog her senses. She could probably make it home without having to take any more. The dampeners did their job but made her listless and sleepy. She didn't want to risk it.
She just wanted to get to her safe place, home. She had spent the past month in airports and hotels, traveling from office to office for her job as an IT integration consultant. It wasn't a particularly illustrious job, lots of long days and longer nights trying to get middle managers who could barely open Excel to coordinate with the brightest minds in tech.
It was a job perfectly suited to her talents as a high-sensitivity guide. She could catch frustration in its earliest stages, and glean meaning between two communication styles. Her boss had been skeptical when she was hired on with no real world experience beyond her degree, but the steady increase in her paychecks meant that he definitely understood now.
It felt good to be free. She was the captain of her own ship, her big Earthship that perched on the edge of a hill surrounded by nothing but silence and nature for miles. It was completely self-sufficient, built by her great-aunt and her wife to be a zero-waste eco-luxury home. They'd lived out their last years happily, and willed it and the surrounding lands directly to her.
Great Aunt Fate seemed to have known things were going sour even before she did. Now she could live her life in safety and solitude, without stray emotions piercing through her skull like glass and sand.
Fate shook her head. What had passed was in the past. It wouldn't do to dwell on her old life. She'd been away for 5 years, long enough to get another degree and start a completely different life on the other side of the country. She finally had her life the way she wanted it, and nothing would get in the way of that.
The distinct sound of dog nails tapping on tile broke her from her reverie. She knew the sound of that little dance anywhere. At 5'10 in her thin-soled tennis shoes, she could see easily over most of the crowd to a sign bearing her name in loopy letters. Poor Karen was jumping up and down, her curly blonde hair bouncing to make up for her petite five-foot frame. Sitting beside her were two Akitas, both tapping their paws impatiently as they waited on pets from the passers-by. They both still had on their hospital therapy vests, which explained why they'd let her come in so far with them.
Fate pushed ahead through the throng, going in to hug her dog, Beauregard Noble Tracer (Beau for short), who wiggled in ecstasy, pressing his 100lb frame into her almost hard enough to knock her over. Champagne Princess, his mother, was much more reserved, though her tail did wag as she awaited her greeting pet. Karen laughed as she handed over Beau's lead.
"He missed you so much," Karen laughed, as she handed over Beau's lead.
"I missed you too buddy-beau" Fate mumbled into his soft, freshly groomed fur, "Thanks so much for keeping him while I was gone. I don't have another trip for a few months."
"Oh it was no problem honey, you know the only thing better for your health than petting one dog is petting two! The hospital was happy to have him on our rounds." Karen's smile was wide as she leaned up for a hug. Letting go, they both trekked out towards airport parking.
Like Fate, Karen Montineau was also a high sensitivity guide. She put her skills to use as a patient liaison in the local hospital. Unlike Fate, Karen was matched. She'd met her sentinel- Hunter- at one of the "excursions" organized by the local NOSGS- National Organization for Sentinel-Guide Stability. He was good, if not a bit of a traditionalist. He worked with the local police and fire departments as a forensics specialist, determining the cause of fires and tracking criminals. Together they were poster-children for the success of the NOSGS, literally. The local library had the print with their engagement photo next to the hotline number hanging over the Sentinel Studies shelves. It would be creepy if they weren't so darn cute together.
As if reading her mind (which wasn't far from the truth), Karen broached the subject, "You know, there's a full moon excursion scheduled for tonight. It's not too late to show up. I hear that there's even going to be a few big-time primes from-"
Fate let out a long sigh, "Karen I know you mean well but I just-"
"Fate," Karen interrupted sternly, putting her hands on her hips to seem more intimidating, "You know as well as I do that the dampeners are only for temporary use. You're only 28 and are already on the max dosage. They don't make them any stronger."
"I don't need a Sentinel to make my life easy Karen. I don't want to have this argument." Fate grit out, her feet pulling her faster as Beau jogged to keep up
"And I don't want to find my best friend fried out in the wilderness! Please Fate, just think about it? It doesn't have to be this one. But please?" Karen looked on the verge of tears, with Princess pressing into her side to comfort her.
Fate let out a deep sigh, she didn't want to fight. Karen didn't know all the details of what brought her to Jamison Pass, and she didn't need to. She was younger than her by three years, but she was right. She couldn't continue using dampeners so constantly, or she'd become a vegetable by the time she was thirty. But even with all the advances in medical science, there was no longterm cure for oversensitivity than the constant shielding provided by a sentinel. Compared to tying herself down to another one of those, the vegetable option seemed more appealing.
"I'll think about it Karen, okay? That's all I promise."
Karen let out a soft smile, "Alright. Text me if you need anything okay?"
Fate smiled and nodded as she led Beau away.
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