Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 64

[I'm excited to get to the next arc. Unedited]

The rest of the report was a documentation of the scene. There were pictures of the remains of the house as well as a satellite view identifying the exact location. The house had been camoflauged by trees planted too close to be safe. Because of this the fire had spread almost a three mile radius around the house before the emergency fire team could address it.  

There were forensic photos of the body identified as only John Doe. DNA tests confirmed he was a sentinel, approximately late twenties early thirties, solidly built and approximately 6'3". His remains didn't have any identifying marks after the fire and without any other recourse, he was buried without fanfare in an unmarked grave next to convicts and vagrants in the Lithica County public cemetary. 

The fire marshall went over the scene with a fine toothed comb to make absolutely sure it wasn't arson. He found evidence that the house had been shoddily constructed by the original owners of the land. It had been forgotten for generations and recently renovated by the unknown tenant. But the wiring was still shoddy. A particular wire in the basement lightbox had been exposed and sparks ignited decades of un-cleared lint in the basement dryer. It traveled through the frayed tubing into the walls and the place was as good as gone when it reached the outdoor propane tanks. 

It didn't explain why the sentinel was right beside the door however. The doors burned out but the metal knobs and locks were generally intact, if not melted in place. All of the expected doors were unlocked during the fire. It wasn't a large place, and it would have made sense for the sentinel to also be able to escape. 

The initial thought was that he died from smoke inhalation, the most common cause of death in a fire. The beams of the house had fallen on him but it was clear that he'd died while the frame still stood. The surprise was when the autopsy showed very little smoke inhalation. 

So the body had died very soon after the fire reached that portion of the house. But by then the smoke would have been so thick that he would have known in plenty of time to escape. Unless he was asleep. The fire had started in the middle of the night. The bedroom and kitchen were nearest to the back of the house where the propane tanks had exploded. There was no security or smoke detectors in the place, so it was probably the sound of the pressure plates exploding that woke them. It had woken the neighbors two miles out after all. 

The conclusion of the fire marshall's report was succinct and to the point. 

"The combination of the loud sound of the explosion as well as the bright light of fire and strong scent of smoke triggered an episode of Finchausen's in the victim. The panicked guide was unable to assist him and managed to flee the fire. The sentinel perished. No foul play has been determined." 

And that was it. Case closed as far as Lithica County was concerned. Jack returned the police report to its folder and picked up the NOGS file. The label for her name was blank as well, though the birth date was written. 

The photos were on the bottom of this pile, and Jack did not rush to look at them, more interested in the two CDs on the pile labeled "Interview". 

He rushed to put the first one in his laptop. A grainy surveillance camera image of Fate came up on the screen. She was hooked into a dampening helmet, restrained in a chair while a group of people sat behind a glass wall. She didn't look like a hospice patient but a lab experiment. One of the people, a doctor in a lab coat leaned forward into the microphone. 

"We hope you understand why we have you in isolation," the doctor's soft voice was hard to hear with the quality of the cameras, "But you have overloaded all the guides that came to help you."