The Rebirths of Tao

by Wesley Chu

  Fifteen Candles

  My people were explorers. Over the course of millions of years, we colonized planets, moons, and asteroids, expanding our vast civilization to new solar systems. We created a vast network of living planets, each individually unique, yet part of a larger collective.

  Earth would not have been an ideal candidate for colonization. Too much would have had to be cleaned and altered for the planet to become suitable. You see, we prefer planets without atmospheres, because we can apply our own onto prospective colonies and eventually grow our red ocean until it covers the entire surface. That is true Quasiforming.

  Tao

  * * *

  The three-meter-long spear with the heavy-edged metal point flickered through the air, bending and slashing like a snake’s tongue, its waxwood shaft, soaked in water for weeks, making it malleable, like a heavy whip. Cameron swung and twisted it around his body as if a dance partner, using it as an extension of his arm to skewer, cut or, in the unlikely case of this happening, stop the charge of mounted cavalry. Tao called it the king of weapons, but his mentor was always a bit of a drama queen.

  Hey now.

  “Considering you named the fighting style you created the Grand Supreme Fist, I think drama queen is a pretty apt description.”

  One day, after you have single-handedly defeated the Genjix and are crowned high protector of the Earth and Heavens and all the little furry animals in between, I will not begrudge you such a lofty title. For now, I would say I have earned that title for t’ai chi.

  Lower the shoulder. Watch your leg work. Your right leg. Your other damn right leg. How many times do I have to tell you to not dangle your left hand out like that? Keep it closer to your stomach.

  The instructions and corrections came fast and furious as Cameron flowed through the form, striking with precision and keeping the long spear a blur as he slipped through the motions as smoothly as water. Many of these moves he had learned when he was barely old enough to walk. Now, they were second nature, and he could do them without thinking.

  That was a good thing, because right now, his mental state was a torrential mess. His constant worry about his dad was now a dull pain that lingered just outside his consciousness. Tao had been pushing him extra hard during his training in order to keep his mind off his father. However, Tao regularly red-lined his training anyway, so it was something Cameron was used to. It didn’t help that he wasn’t talking to his mom right now either. Jill was usually his calming influence and his current tantrum – he knew it was misplaced – just made things worse.

  You are sloppy.

  “I can’t help it. I keep wondering if my dad is dead right now.”

  Worrying will not solve anything. Training will.

  “It won’t mean squat if he’s dead.”

  It will if you have to avenge him, but we are getting ahead of ourselves. Roen means a lot to me as well. He is my friend, too.

  “I don’t want to avenge him. I just want him to be okay.”

  Cameron’s feelings welled up again. Usually, these forms and exercises calmed him, but Tao was experimenting and didn’t want him to suppress his bubbling emotions. He wanted to keep them on the surface of his thoughts as he ran these forms. It was the opposite of what he had been trained to do all his life. Now, Tao wanted him to wade through his chaotic thoughts while trying to find the calm at the same time. It was very frustrating.

  Let go.

  Cameron began to run through the form faster and more powerfully than he ever had before. His body reacted differently than he was used to. Then he began to deviate from this form, running through new sets of movements that he had never learned before. Cameron began to observe himself move through his own eyes, feeling detached from his body, as if he was having an out-of-body experience.

  Tao had taken over his body.

  An image flashed into Cameron’s head of a Chinese man wearing dress-like leather garb weaving through this exact form, kicking up a storm of dust in a circle. He was surrounded by a crowd of rough-looking men studying him. Then another image flashed. This time, he was fighting a skirmish against Mongols surrounding his party. Cameron gasped as the Chinese man took out an entire group of cavalry with those exact same moves.

  “What’s going on? What form is this? I don’t recognize it.”

  An old one. I have never taught it to anyone before.

  “Then how –”

  I am accessing your movements directly through your conscious thoughts using a combination of our link and your training. This is extraordinary.

  “It’s weird, Tao. Do you have control of my body now forever? Can I even get it back?”

  Go ahead. Try to regain it.

  Just like that, Cameron was back in control. Immediately, the spear flew out of his hands and thunked into the tree in the middle of the field. The physical exertion that Tao was putting his body through swept over him. A headache came out of nowhere and blindsided Cameron in the back of his brain. He fell to his knees and groaned.

  Interesting side effects. I am exhausted as well.

  “I feel like I just sprinted a marathon while discovering cold fusion.”

  You know how to produce cold fusion? We are going to be rich.

  “You know what I mean.”

  It seems this process takes a severe mental and physical toll on both the host and the Quasing. We will have to monitor this carefully. Rest a bit.

  Alex found Cameron relaxing at the base of the trunk with his arms wrapped around his bent knees. The sunset was bathing everything in a rather angry red glow, which matched the twisted feelings in his guts at the moment. The spear was still stuck into the tree next to his head.

  Alex poked the spear with her hands and watched it wiggle back and forth. “Where’s the rest of your phalanx?”

  Cameron tried hard not to smile; he was enjoying stewing in his misery, but he couldn’t help it. The edges of his lips curved upward, and the rest of his mouth followed. He looked up at her and tried to say something smart. “Wrong kind of spear,” was all that came out.

  Oh dear. We have our work cut out for us.

  “Of course,” Alex said, picking up the spear and showing that she knew how to handle it. “This toothpick wouldn’t stop a charging Russian Don. Maybe one of those puny Western ponies.”

  Cameron let that slide. She was goading him, either because she could or because she had seen him mope all evening since dinner and was trying to break his malaise. Cameron’s heart just wasn’t into it today.

  Your father experienced something similar after a tragic event.

  “Did his dad die, too?”

  No, he killed someone.

  “What? I did that when I was eleven when those Genjix were after Mom and Dad in Vancouver.”

  You and Roen are of a different mettle. Remember, you have been trained for this since you were four. At the time, your father was just into his first year as a host.

  “How did he handle it?”

  Very much like you are now. He moped.

  “I am not moping!”

  Then get your ass up.

  Intent on proving Tao wrong, Cameron got up and brushed the dirt off his pants. He looked up at the still-setting sun and figured he had maybe an hour until nightfall. He held his hand out to Alex. “Want to go to the forest?”

  She didn’t take his hand but nodded. “Lead the way, capitalist pig.”

  “Says the billionaire’s daughter.”

  “My father is only a multi-millionaire,” she sniffed. “My mother married down.”

  “Funny, Tao says the same thing about my mom.”

  “That is another similarity we share.”

  The two walked away from the house, down to the tree line and into the forest. There was a small grove of large trees a hundred meters in that had several intertwining branches. At some point, these trees had grown close together. However, instead of the larger trees pushing out the weaker ones, they had learned to grow harmoniously.


  The result of this outgrowth was a network of large branches that Cameron discovered made a very natural tree house. Last summer, he had hauled up some wooden planks and made it his own personal safe house when he needed time alone. It was his fortress of solitude.

  His parents knew about this hiding place, though they pretended not to. Cameron knew they knew, and they knew he knew they knew. However, everyone pretended to not know, so whenever he needed some time alone and came here, they would know where he was, but wouldn’t bother him just to keep up pretenses. This arrangement suited everyone fine.

  “Did you build this?” she asked as he grandiosely gestured at the primitive structure.

  He nodded and pointed to the small wooden stick nailed to the trunk as a step. “You start there and climb that way.” He pointed to a winding path that went from the trunk they were climbing over to the one on the right. “And then once you get to that branch…”

  Without another word, Alex was scaling the branches as easily as he ever did. Impressed, Cameron followed her up, noticing that even though this was her first time climbing this tree, she looked comfortable moving among the branches.

  They do have trees in Russia, you know.

  “I was just surprised. Most girls I know don’t climb trees.”

  That is because you do not know any girls.

  Within a few minutes, they were cradled in a little nook of branches two stories up. Cameron had moved several large pieces of plywood here and stolen some of the deck furniture pillows. He pulled out two bottles of water from the emergency pack he hid here and handed one to her.

  The family had several of these emergency packs all over the place. One was at his school, another nestled between a couple of large boulders at the south end of town, and two more on each end of the safe house tunnels. He had enough experience early in his childhood to know these survival packs were often the difference between life and death. This one had a 9mm pistol, several magazines, flashlights, water, and dried rations.

  “So how do you like your Quasing?” he asked. “I hear you’re a new host. I’m sorry about your mom.”

  Alex shrugged. “She was a vessel to a Holy One. It was a great honor.” She paused. “It is a great honor now.”

  “How are you adjusting to someone talking in your head? I’ve been a host for as long as I can remember. If you have any questions, I can help.”

  Stop trying to show how smart you are.

  Alex rolled her eyes, and then she took on a thoughtful expression. “Is there really no privacy anymore? Ever?”

  Cameron shook his head. “Tao can hear everything I think. I can’t keep a secret from him. He can tell when I’m lying.”

  It is because you are as bad at it as your father. However, I think you hit a nerve.

  Though Alex had attempted to seem like the perfect host for her Quasing, she looked troubled. “I had only had Tabs for a few weeks before we had to run, but my friends… the ones I used to have before I became a vessel… Everything is different now. I do not see the world the same way they do. Not anymore.”

  Cameron leaned forward, his head bobbing up and down. “Yeah. I get the same way at school. All the kids my age, it seems like they just don’t know anything. But I’m not allowed to say anything either. It’s like, they’re so…”

  “Stupid,” Alex said.

  “… sheltered,” Cameron finished.

  They both laughed nervously and settled into several seconds of awkward silence. On one hand, they had just formed a connection, no matter how minute. Whatever this bond was sent tingles down his spine and scared him stiff. After all, she was just like him and understood what he was talking about, but she was also Genjix. Cameron didn’t seem to know what to make of such an awkward relationship. After all, all their lives, they’d been told the other side was the enemy. It was all very confusing, but exciting.

  Something is off. I think Tabs is trying to play us.

  Cameron wasn’t listening to Tao at all, though. They both blushed. Then he noticed her face for the first time, really studied her face, with her blonde hair, startling blue eyes, sharp nose and chin. She looked like a doll, with perfect features, as if she were etched out of marble. She was hard and soft at the same time, and for a second he wondered if she was from the missing Romanov bloodline or some other Russian royalty. Or something. His face felt hot, his palms sweaty. By this time, he had no idea what was going through his head right now. The words he was thinking didn’t even make sense.

  Really? I think it is time you two head back to the house.

  “Why? I like it here.”

  Just do it. Now.

  “Tao thinks we should head back,” he said, hating every word that came out of his mouth. He began to get up.

  Alex leaned forward and put her hand on his wrist. “A few minutes more. It’s nice here. Tell me, do your parents treat you differently? I feel like I have this weight on my shoulders and Papa treats me like a glass figurine.”

  And just like that, Tao lost control of his host for the rest of the night. The dam between the kids had sprung a leak, and suddenly they were sharing their feelings, fears. They spoke about being hosts, but it was more than that. While Cameron had experienced loneliness all his life, he also knew nothing else but Tao and this loneliness. For Alex, it had come as an even greater shock. She had been popular with the other children in the Russian upper social circles before becoming a vessel. Now she had no one.

  The sudden collapse of everything she knew in life was so oppressive, it hurt her physically. Yet, as a young Adonis, she knew that it was her destiny to become a host, or a vessel, as they called it. The only reason she had not gone to the Hatchery years ago was because of the Council Power Struggle. Her father had elected to train her closer to home as opposed to at the Hatchery, which fell under Councilman Enzo’s control.

  Questions and personal thoughts he had of the Quasing and the war dribbled out of Cameron like a running faucet. It was the same with Alex. The two of them viewed the Quasing civil war from an entirely different angle than the adults, and they both had a desperate need to talk to someone who might understand. Before the night was over, way past the time they were supposed to be back home, Cameron felt like he had never known someone so well as he knew Alex.

  “We should head back,” he said, standing up and helping her to her feet. Together, they climbed down the tree and made their way back toward the farmhouse. This time, as they made their way through the pitch-black forest, Alexandra held Cameron’s hand.

  * * *

  “Hello, Tabs.” Tao stood at the doorway to Alex’s room.

  Jill had offered to move all the refugees up to the farmhouse. Vladimir and Rin, feeling more secure underground with escape routes, declined to come up to the civilized world and stayed in their cells. Ohr and Alexandra had leaped at the chance. The old Korean senator complained about how the dank underground made his bones ache, while the girl just wanted a little space between her and her father.

  “Tao,” Tabs said, sitting her sleeping host up. “I was expecting you.”

  “Oh?” Tao moved Cameron into the room and sat at the end of the bed. “I honestly never thought I would be in this situation.”

  “And which one is that?” Tabs said. “The one where you and I, two extremes of our faction, are talking through slumbering vessels, or that we are actually talking and not trying to stab each other.”

  “You still have not forgiven me for the Mexican War, have you?”

  “You buried my vessel neck-deep and left him for the vultures. I am pretty sure I never will.”

  “Sorry.” Tao shrugged, not sorry at all. “War is hell. What did you end up inhabiting next anyway?”

  “A vulture.”

  “Ah, makes sense. How long did that keep you out of the war?”

  “Part of the reason I will never forgive you.”

  “Excellent.”

  “So to what do I owe this pleasure, then?”

  T
ao squared up Cameron’s body so it faced Alex directly. “There are some things occurring between our two hosts that I do not approve of. What are you trying to pull?”

  Tabs gave an innocent shrug with a mischievous glint in her eye. “I do not know what you are claiming. After all, are we not on the same side now?”

  “Maybe. I can believe Ladm would find a conscience. You finding one would be a surprise.”

  “I do not care what you think of me, Tao. I do not think much of you. You are as rabid an animal as Zoras and Chiyva. They just seem much better at it than you. To be honest, if our sources are correct, most Prophus do not think much of you either.” She held up a finger. “First of all, my previous vessel was killed by Enzo and his minions. I take offense to that. You should know how much I take offense to that.” She held up another finger. “Secondly, I am not sold on this planet being ready for Quasiform. Perhaps next century, but certainly not now.”

  Tao processed Tabs’s words. Knowing Tabs’s history and personality, it made sense. Tabs was just as attached to her host as any Quasing was, and Enzo had had Marta assassinated. Her motives aligned with her actions. Maybe his judgment was just being clouded by their centuries of animosity.

  “What will you do for the Prophus, then? What do you plan next?” he asked.

  Tabs smiled. “Nothing. I will not lift a hand to help the Prophus. However, I am going to take a rest from the war and spectate from the sidelines. And since Enzo does not believe in neutrality…” Tabs made a magnanimous gesture with her arms. “Here I am. I would like to raise Alexandra in peace until she can fulfill her potential as an Adonis Vessel. Is that so far a stretch?”

  He leaned in, shaking a finger. “What you say is plausible, but I will have my eye on you. Do not even think about betraying us. You know my reputation.”

  “And a vicious reputation it is,” Tabs said mockingly. “That is what makes you so unbearable at Decennials.”

  “And if you think I will allow your host to have sway over mine…”

  Tabs puckered up and blew him a kiss. “Oh Tao, she already has.”