There has to be another way.
“We don’t have time for another way. You know this is the right thing to do. Just promise me you’ll get that son of a bitch Marc someday.”
There was a brief silence.
I swear it by the Eternal Sea.
“Say goodbye to Kathy for me. Tell her I love her.”
I will, my friend.
Without another word, Edward stood up and sprinted toward the edge. His heart was beating out of his chest as he reached the edge of the roof and leaped out as far as he could. The city opened beneath him to an explosion of lights.
CHAPTER TWO: REBIRTH
Tao cherished his last precious moments with his host as Edward plummeted down the side of the John Hancock Center, a bittersweet luxury as they said their goodbyes. His friend was characteristically stoic about the inevitable, having made peace with this eventuality years ago.
Goodbye, my friend. Return to the Eternal Sea in peace. Your soul will live on through me, and your death will not be in vain. I will always remember you.
“Take care of yourself, Tao. Win the war for me, buddy.”
Then darkness.
And piercing bitter cold.
The expulsion hurt. It always did. No matter how many times he left a host, Tao was never prepared for the crushing shock of the thick atmosphere. He ebbed in and out of consciousness, and then found himself looking down at the body of his fallen friend.
Unable to sustain himself for long without the warm cocoon of a host, Tao struggled to keep his gaseous form together as the winds battered him. His translucent turquoise membrane stretched and expanded as if an irregular beating heart, floating side to side as the heavy oxygen currents pushed and pulled in every direction. He had only minutes before he would succumb to the near freezing temperatures of the planet’s harsh environment. It was a grim reminder of why he was so desperate to return home.
The Genjix would have men down here in moments. Their scanners could track Quasing outside of hosts. Tao surveyed his surroundings. In front of him, Michigan Avenue was relatively still at this hour, save for a few passing cars. Behind him, the ominous structure of the John Hancock Center stretched high up into the sky, eerily black and quiet.
Tao decided to take his chances south and swam along the side of the street. Though time was not on his side and the choices were slim, he was determined to be selective with potential hosts. His first candidate was an old vagrant sleeping on a bus stop bench. Tao swam up and examined him: weak skeletal structure, multiple abrasions over the membrane, uneven shallow breathing. Without another thought, Tao moved on. No use in trapping himself into someone so old and unsuitable. There must be a healthier host more open to influence even at this hour!
He continued south on Michigan Avenue, passed the Water Tower Plaza to Chicago Avenue, turned east at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and studied a stray dog picking through a dumpster in the alley. It was a large mix, possibly mastiff and pit bull with strong jaws, powerful legs, and an intelligent alertness to his eyes. Tao guessed it was no older than three or four. He considered the animal a moment before moving on. It had been centuries since he was desperate enough to occupy an animal host and he wasn’t far enough gone to concede the need yet.
Looking back, he saw a group of four men running toward him in the distance. They had found him! If they got close enough, a gunshot would tear him apart. A Quasing could not outrun a human in their natural state. Hiding was out of the question. The scanners would find him as long as he was within their radius. Tao would have to stay out of sight until he found a suitable candidate. He pressed on.
He doubled back to Michigan Avenue and continued south. A minute later, he found an excellent candidate walking alone on the other side of the street. She was an athletic female, late twenties, a shade under two meters in height, and about fifty kilos. The host was a little old, but at this time of the night, there weren’t going to be many younger. Tao made his move and swam as fast as he could toward the candidate. Careful to avoid oncoming traffic, Tao crossed the street, staying low to the pavement to avoid the stronger air currents.
The young woman had stopped and was standing on the side of the road, looking in both directions. A car sped by in front of him, creating a breeze that sucked him off his course. He lost precious seconds struggling to regain control. Just as he reached her and was about to inhabit the new host, she hailed a cab, got in, and rode off.
No! Tao brushed the setback aside and kept moving, intent on surviving the night. His membrane was starting to crack from the cold, and like a human drowning in the ocean, he was wearing down. He reached Ontario Street and moved west, hoping for signs of life. Several times, he considered heading back for the dog, but knew he would not make it in time. A group of people was on the other side of the street, but traffic was too thick to risk crossing. Even at a slow pace, any impact from a vehicle would finish him in this delicate state.
A loud bang echoed in the distance and the car window near where Tao was floating shattered. Behind him, two more Genjix were taking aim. He didn’t have much time. The Genjix forces were still two hundred meters back, but closing fast. Tao turned the corner and fled down the street. His only option now was to find a host while out of the Genjix agents’ visual range, and then get the host away from this area before they caught him in their surveillance net.
A figure stepped out of a building at the far end of the block and walked toward him. Tao knew this was likely his last chance, so he swam hard toward his target, going against the currents that tossed him like a sailboat in a storm. The cold was overpowering, daggers of pain shooting throughout his membrane. If he was a human, screams would not express the agony he was experiencing, being crushed and ripped apart simultaneously from inside out. It would be so easy to let go, to just let his core dissipate. It would be final rest, a well-deserved one.
Tao lost consciousness, drifting off into the blackness, and for a moment, he felt a sensation of numbness so sweet that it overwhelmed him. If this serenity really was the end, maybe there was nothing to dying after all. The Quasing gave little thought to death, and Tao cared even less than most. But now, he enveloped himself in this beautiful numbness that was the end of his existence. If he had known previously that the end was so beautiful…
But that would mean the Prophus lost.
And the Genjix won.
Tao would die. Edward would die. Edward was dead. And the Genjix would succeed. The memories of every one of his brethren fallen to the Genjix flashed through his mind. He thought of the consequences if the Genjix won. Earth, a planet and her inhabitants he had grown to cherish, would lay in ruin in their wake. His work was unfinished. With a silent howl, Tao snapped back into consciousness and looked at the figure just off to the side, about to get into a car. He pushed forward harder than he ever pushed before. There was too much at stake to give in. Tao was almost upon the person now and prepared to transition into the new host’s body. Then the new host got into a car and slammed the door shut.
Not again. It was over. There was no one else around, and he hadn’t the strength to go any further. Tao floated outside the car and watched as the driver started the engine. Time had run out and he would die. It seemed unfitting in a way, to end his life with such a small whimper. Suddenly, the door opened and the man leaned out, head bent over the side.
Not believing his good fortune, Tao slid inside and focused on his new host as he prepared to make his move. The portly man was in his early thirties by the looks of the skin pigment, a tad under one hundred twenty kilos, and quite a bit under two meters. He had a stressed skeletal structure and a heart condition, most likely from the excess weight and a very low muscle to fat ratio. He also had an unsafe level of alcohol in his system, enough to impair motor skills. An adventurous or a foolhardy man to be sure. Both were traits Tao could take advantage of.