City of Dreams - 006
William returned to normal consciousness at exactly 11 p.m. in the Japanese wing of the museum. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why he was there, but it quickly came back to him. He stood up and stretched. He'd been sitting perfectly still for the last six hours and his joints were sore. He could hear a guard walking through the hall nearby. William was confident he hadn't been seen--his meditation had made sure of that--but now he would have to be more careful. Violating his oath of Asteya was not something he took lightly, but it needed to be done. He silently walked down the hall in the direction of the guard, who happened to be moving towards the room where the Tibetan ghau was on display. He waited until the guard had moved on and then entered the room. He stood before the glass case containing the ancient prayer box and focused his mind upon it. As he did so, the rest of the world fell away. There was only him and the ghau, with its Buddha image on the cover looking back at him. Everything else, including and most importantly, the glass case that had been protecting the box, had ceased to exist. He reached out and grasped the box and pulled it back towards himself. As he came out of his trance he heard the shout of a voice that had only just come back into existence. It was the guard and he had his gun trained on William. Though extremely fortunate that the guard had not rounded the corner only a few seconds earlier, William cursed his luck as he turned towards the man who was clearly not prepared for this. William raised his arms and began to chant. The sound of the chant filled the room, echoing off of the glass cases protecting the numerous Tibetan artifacts around them. The guard was confused for a moment, wondering if he should order the thief to be quiet. But almost before finishing that thought he found his mind consumed by the sound of William's voice. And then William issued a command: "walk away." And so he did. The guard put the gun back in its holster, turned around, and walked away. Breathing a sigh of relief, William walked out the other exit, down the stairs, and out the door. None of this would have been possible without Ada. Security cameras make for obnoxious witnesses. He called her and thanked her, letting her know that the job was complete as he headed back downtown.
Character Cross-Reference:
Character Cross-Reference: