The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu Page A

warned. The mugger paid him no attention and continued to advance. He was no further than a few feet away now.
    Break the bottles and wield them in front of you.  
    For a split second, Roen saw an image of a black-armored gladiator standing in an arena holding two swords, one held high over his head and the other in front of his chest. He didn’t know what was going on or who was talking, but he was so scared right now that he did whatever this voice said. He took the two bottles and smashed them together.
    Thunk. They didn’t break.
    What the...? Roen looked down and tried again.
    Thunk. Thunk. The damn bottles wouldn’t break.
    “Oh, for the love of...” Roen gritted his teeth and tried again.
    Thunk. Thunk. They finally shattered into two jagged shards and he waved them in front of him triumphantly, trying to imitate that already fading image of the gladiator.
    Good. Say something mean.  
    “Wha’... what?”
    Threaten him.  
    “You... you give me all your money!” Roen yelled.
    That is not what I meant.  
    The mugger did a double-take. “What? I’m robbing you . Give me all your money!”
    “Not anymore!” Roen cried. “I’m robbing you.”
    “You can’t rob me. That’s not how it works.” The mugger no longer seemed so sure of himself and retreated a few steps.
    The two stood far apart from each other, both harmlessly waving their respective weapons. Every time Roen advanced, the mugger retreated. And every time the mugger moved forward, Roen scampered backward. They began yelling curses at each other.
    “Come on, you fat asshole,” the mugger snarled.
    “You’re a jerk, and you stink,” Roen answered.
    Attack.  
    Roen’s eyes darted around the alley. “Is my brain trying to get me killed?”
    Bullies are cowards. Attack!  
    Nearly a minute into their standoff, after a lot of bravado on both sides, something in Roen snapped. With a burst of momentary courage and the high-pitched roar of a raging mouse, he swung the broken bottles above his head and charged. The mugger seemed to have enough and fled. Roen chased him for about twenty feet before the physical exertion wore him out. He stopped and bent over, panting.
    Let him go. You did well. Go home.  
    “Who is this?” Roen said, in between gasps.
    The voice was silent. Afraid that the mugger would come back, Roen hustled as fast as he could to his car and drove home. He stepped through his front door shortly after 11pm, still shaking. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. It was too bad Antonio was working at the hospital tonight. He could really use someone to talk to.
    Roen plopped himself onto the couch and turned on the television. His stomach growled and he decided that it was time for another dinner. He tossed his shirt onto the floor, popped in a frozen pizza, and proceeded to channel-surf, never staying on one for more than a few seconds. This went on for the better part of an hour as he tried to decide what to watch. It wasn’t until after he finished his pizza that he decided there was nothing worth watching.
    Roen looked up at the clock; it was just past midnight. With a sigh, he picked himself off the couch, moved to the bedroom, and turned on his computer. He grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies lying next to his computer and began to dig through it. For the rest of the night, he played on the computer, immersing himself in a video game – until the clock reminded him that he had to be up in a few hours.
    Wearily, he tore himself away from the computer and made his way to bed, idly thinking that he should sign up for a gym sometime this year. He had been saying that since New Year’s, and it was already March. Soon, he would do it. Just not this week. Maybe next month. Or maybe when summer started. Definitely sometime before the year ended.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
    FIRST CONTACT
     
    Music blared from the radio. Tao woke with a start and listened to the very annoying sound. If pain was a sensation a