Xenology (2006), p21 — Transcript of Interview Recording File 20/AZ/TAU/001.

In attendance: Inquisitor Maturin Ralei (exterior, containment cell 10); Unnamed Specimen 'Aun' (interior, containment cell 10).
Date 6.994.798.M41

Ralei:

So, do you have a name?

[Silence]

Ralei:

Oh, come now. I know you understand me. My servant Darvus tells me you've been trying to convince him to release you for hours. Your command of our language is very impressive.

Aun:

What do you want with me?

Ralei:

Ahhh... There we are. Was that so hard?

Aun:

What do you want with me, gue'la?

Ralei:

Simply to learn, my nameless friend.

Aun:

Forgive my incredulity. Your race has never struck us as holding much interest in learning.

Ralei:

Hah. Mercifully we aren't all alike. For example, Aun - that's what your caste is called, yes? - I should be delighted if you would tell me all that you can about the 'Tau-var'.

Aun:

The Tau'va. [long pause.] I daresay you think you already know all there is to know.

Ralei:

Nevertheless...

[The Aun reclines her head, then straightens]

Aun:

Very well. If I am denied the company of my people I can at least represent their righteousness. The Tau'va is the one true pathway. Where you gue'las place your faith in a god that can affect your life not at all, the Tau'va brings every Tau to contentment.

Ralei:

But what is it?

Aun:

Selflessness, you would call it. The Greater Good. The knowledge that by staring inwards one finds only solitude, but by staring outwards, by devoting oneself to the race and its quest for perfection, there is harmony and peace.

Ralei:

An ongoing quest? So you admit your empire is not yet perfect?

Aun:

Of course not. What is? The Tau'va is the path, gue'la, not the destination.

Ralei:

And you greyskins all just... agree to follow the same path?

Aun:

Is that so hard to believe? Why should we rail against that which makes most sense? Each Tau is free to choose their destiny. That they all choose the Tau'va is merely testament to its righteousness. It is a unifying ideal.

Ralei:

Unifying. Ah, yes. I've heard that argument before. And what happens when you find someone who doesn't want to be unified, eh? Subjugation.

Aun:

You miss the point. The Greater Good is no mere diversion. No empty godhood in which we place our faith. It is a necessity, human. It is the only thing that can save the galaxy from itself. We have a saying. Aur'ocq shath'r'i tskan sha Tau'va. 'Unity comes to all things, in time'.

Ralei:

Whether they like it or not?

[Silence]

Ralei:

All right. Another question. What do you know of O'Shovah?

[The Aun stiffens. Long pause.]

Aun:

You think you're cleverer than me, gue'la, but I assure y-

Ralei:

Evading my question isn't clever, Aun, just a sign that I've hit a nerve. I ask you again, what do you know of O'Shovah? What do you know of Commander Farsight?

[Silence]

Ralei:

Let me start you off. It's a story I heard from a trader on the edge of the Damocles' Gulf. Seems this O'Shovah was a great hero of yours in the Fire caste. Genius at whatever he did, just so long as what he was doing was fighting. Isn't that how it is with you Tau? Water caste to talk and debate, Air caste to shuttle you around, Earth caste to do the dirty work. Everyone with their niche, no interbreeding, no intermixing. So, O'Shovah sets off to reclaim some colonies, and naturally there's an Ethereal in charge. Except the Aun gets killed and O'Shovah ends up in command. Suddenly there's no one reminding him about the bloody Tau'va, and he's a long way from home. So what does he do, Aun? I mean, like you said, the Tau'va is something you choose to follow, yes? Surely O'Shovah would've carried on with the peace and tranquility crap, despite it all? Aun?

[Silence]

Ralei:

Except he didn't. He set up on his own. His very own little empire, without you Ethereals telling him what to do, without your wretched Tau'va running his life.

[Silence]

Ralei:

You said it yourself, Aun. Why should we rail against that which makes most sense? Well maybe it only makes sense whilst you lot are in charge.

[Silence]