What's a Guide?

Edited by: ASaltedFish

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Aster woke up feeling like his whole body got hit by a truck. Then he remembered that he really did get hit by a truck or car while he was driving. 

It was a dark and snowy morning as he was driving home from work. He drove slowly on the road, like all the other cars trying to make it home safely. Everyone had their high beams on, but they could only see a few feet in front of their cars due to the heavy snow obscuring their vision.

It was early morning, so he did his best to keep himself awake.

Trying to keep himself focused, Aster drove down what seemed to be a really long, monotonous stretch of road. He was overstimulated by his job so he didn't want to listen to music, so he did his best to softly hum to himself to keep himself awake.

Hearing a muffled sound coming from behind him, Aster stopped his humming session. Before he could even register the noise, a strong impact slammed into the back of his small, two-seater black car. 

With the lack of friction on the snowy road, his car slid on the icy road and rolled over twice before sliding down the road into a ditch. He did his best to brace himself, but he felt something heavy hit him on the head. 

The last thing he remembered was being upside down in the ditch that his car had slid into before blacking out from the pain. 

Aster thought it was a miracle that he actually made it out alive. Strangely enough, he couldn't remember too much about who he was, just his first name and some other basic info like his parents, the relatives who raised him, and where he lived at the time of the accident… It was strange he couldn't remember his last name though. Actually, a lot of his memories were fuzzy.

Maybe he hit his head a little too hard…

As he was thinking to himself, he felt a little odd. His body felt like it was floating in some sort of liquid… When he opened his eyes, he appeared to be encapsulated in a large metal tube filled with some sort of slimy green liquid.

Casting his gaze beyond the walls of the tube, Aster saw a person who looked like a nurse smiling at him. They seemed happy and surprised to see him. 

Mouthing something in his direction, the nurse hurried away, leaving Aster quite confused. 

What the hell did that person say?

[He said that he was going to get a doctor.] A voice that sounded similar to his said, [Right now, you are in a MedTube, recovering from an injury.] This person talked in a flirty and confident manner, different from his own soft-spoken and formal speech.

Med… Tube? Wait… Why were his thoughts replying to him like that?! Does he have schizophrenia? 

[I don't know what schizophrenia is, but I would like to know the same thing, random soul that ended up in my body. Your soul has been here for as long as my body has been unconscious. Then again, since we are both stuck in this body, we might as well become friends.] 

Aster wanted to pinch himself to check if he was still dreaming, but he couldn't move his arms or legs. 

[It's not a dream… My name is Ellery Aster. The year is 4532 of the Interstellar calendar. I am an A-ranked guide with a red panda quantum beast named Sol. It's a pleasure to meet you.]

Aster calmed down a little and responded, 'You are awfully calm… Well, I will do my best not to freak out even though I am pretty confused. My name is Aster. I can't remember a lot of things from before I died, but the year I died was 2025 on planet Earth. Interstellar civilization was something I thought only existed in fiction media… Um... I don't know what a spiritual guide or quantum beast is.' 

[Heeeh… It's cool that your first name is my last name. Then you can call me Ellery, and I will call you Aster. It seems like the planet you lived on was very exclusive and isolated. To think there was a place in the universe where sentinels and guides don't exist….] The last part he said in a whisper, but Aster could still hear him. 

[I can't tell you much right now because the doctor is about to get here, but just tell them you lost your memories and that you don't know who or where you are. It would be strange if you told them you have two souls in your body, so this is the best solution. I will explain everything to you when the nurses and doctors leave. Your soul seems to have settled in the body, so you should be able to understand the language now.]

'Wait, how did you know that?'

When he finished talking, the top of the MedTube opened up and the slime drained out of it. He felt his body slowly descend before his head landed on a soft pillow-like object. It felt like it was made of the slime he was just in.

"Mr. Aster, it's a relief that you are awake. My name is Dr. Liu and I will be your doctor for the duration of your stay. Are you experiencing any pain anywhere? Can you sit up?" 

Dr. Liu was wearing business casual clothing which was a white dress shirt and black slacks. He was also wearing a lab coat over it. His black hair was short and his bangs were parted at the center. He looked like someone of East Asian descent. 

Aster's body felt really stiff, but he was able to sit up with the help of the male nurse he had seen earlier. Without the green liquid, he could see that the nurse had long brown hair and green eyes. His hair was put up into a bun to keep it out of the way. 

"Hello, Dr. Liu… Hmm… Where am I? Actually, who am I?" 

Everyone in the room froze.

Dr. Liu pushed up his golden-rim glasses and instantly felt tired. "Is there anything you can remember? Like your age? Family? Friends? School? Rank?" 

"Uh… No… Honestly, I didn't even know my name until you told me… Um, you called me Mr. Aster, right?" He did have to act like he had no memories, but Aster seemed genuinely confused because he was still a bit confused about a lot of things. He only knew this body's name and that he got reincarnated or transmigrated into an interstellar era. That was it. 

Rank? Didn't Ellery say that he was an A-ranked Guide? What did that even mean? 

Dr. Liu felt flabbergasted. With the advancement in technology, there weren't many cases of amnesia so this was his first time having a patient with it. 

"According to your terminal, your name is Ellery Aster. You are a 4th-year student from the Imperial Military Academy at the Imperial Star and are an A-ranked guide on a scholarship. You recently got into an accident during an excursion with the Academy and you've been in a coma for a month. Do you remember getting into an accident? It seems you hit your head really hard." 

"No, I don't remember anything like that. Um… What's a guide?" 

All the healthcare professionals knew it was going to be a long day, especially because they had to report to the Spiritual Guide Association about the situation. 

"That… we will have someone else explain that to you. Let me check your body to make sure you have fully healed physically."

After the doctor checked the rest of Aster's body, they concluded that he had healed perfectly, except for his amnesia. 

"If you need anything, just press the button."

With that, the doctor and nurses left the room while a social worker for Guides came to his room to explain everything to him, even how to use his terminal. 

Aster learned that Guides were people who could not only calm and purify the chaotic spiritual energy that sentinels had, but they could also use defensive spiritual abilities on the battlefield. 

Sentinels were people who could use their spiritual powers in combat. There were different kinds of abilities that sentinels had, almost like magic in fantasy worlds. This was possible because sentinels could combine with their quantum beasts, aiding them in battle and increasing their strength. The more they used their spiritual powers, the more corrupt their spiritual energy became. And with that corruption, sentinels would slowly become unable to separate themselves from their quantum beasts, essentially merging and losing all resemblance of themselves. Once this happens, sentinels explode due to the chaotic energy causing riots in their spiritual sea. When it became uncontrollable, exploding was inevitable.

When sentinels found they could not control themselves any longer, they made sure they were on the battlefield before they completely merged with their quantum beasts and exploded. Which was why they needed a guide to help them. 

In this Interstellar Universe, Guides were at the top of the social hierarchy. Without them, Sentinels would die one after the other. Normal people were at the bottom of the social hierarchy, but they made up the majority of the population, so their rights were as much as Sentinels had. 

Guides were the little treasures of the universe. They were cherished and loved by everyone, even at the lower ranks. To awaken as a guide was to have your whole life gilded in gold. No matter where they went, their services were in high demand and they were well taken care of. 

The guide social worker, Mrs. Lora, was quite passionate about guides as she was one herself. She worked for the Guide Association to make sure that guides were treated with the love and care they deserved. There were times when sentinels tried to force guides to do whatever they wanted, so the Association had to step in to not only save the guide but persecute the offending sentinel. 

She seemed like a delicate older woman, and was short in stature, but she felt like a motherly figure, making people naturally comfortable with her. 

"Mr. Aster, the Guide Association places great importance on your case and we will find out what happened to you. In the meantime, please, relax in the hospital for as long as you need to. The Association will pay for your hospital stay and medical bills." 

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Lora. I'm sorry for the trouble. I hope I can regain my memories soon." 

"It's no problem at all. The Association is always happy to help." She gently patted his hand to give him comfort. "It's not your fault sweetheart. Be sure to get plenty of rest and I will come visit you tomorrow." 

"I understand. I will see you tomorrow." 

"Of course, of course. If you need anything, be sure to press that button to call for a nurse. I will be going now." Mrs. Lora quietly exited the room, leaving Aster lying in the hospital bed that he was moved to during this whole ordeal. 

When he was finally alone, he heard Ellery's voice again. 

[That took some time, but it's good everyone is gone now. I'm going to explain to you what I know so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.]