USH'S MATRIX GAME 2006 SECOND ASSIGNMENT- 'The Monastery'

Heph will take the Key out of his jacket and show it to Lo Qi.

"We found this," Heph says. "In the City."

Lo Qi glances at his advisor, who walks over, supported by his staff, and takes a close look at the key. He then nods at Lo Qi.

"Found?" asks Lo Qi.

"Well, not exactly found," Heph says. "It's kind of hard to explain. In short, we blundered into a criminal meeting in hopes of attaining information of sorts, and ended up with the Key..."

"Stolen, then," says Lo Qi. "But that raises an interesting question, doesn't it? Is it really theft, if the person you took it from was not, either in person or by representation, its rightful owner?"

"I'd suppose a stolen item is still stolen, regardless of whether or not it belonged to the person it was taken from...and the ones we ended up taking it from weren't the only ones after it, apparently." San says, shrugging. "Who is the rightful owner of it?"

"The item is still stolen. But how many people can be called a thief? Just the one who took it from its owner, or all who take it afterwards? Theft is the taking of something that belongs to someone else. If you take an object that does not belong to the person you take it from, can you really be called a thief?"

He smiles.

"I am sorry. It is the kind of issue I enjoy contemplating. To answer your question, I am its rightful owner."

Barb leans foreward, looking protectively at the key.

"Or, for that matter. What is it for?"

"It unlocks a door," says Lo Qi

"Oh man..." mumbles Dallas.

"How did it end up to be in the possession of the people who were trading it, if the key belongs to you? And...what is behind the door it unlocks?"

"I am afraid the key was stolen from me. What happened after that I can hardly account for. As to what is behind the door... I have no idea."

"Well...where is the door, at least? And stolen by who?"

"The door is here within the Monastery. Of the identity of the thief, I also have little idea."

Mirage sits quietly into the back a little to the side. "Would you care to share your thoughts on who took the key?" she asked.

"So would that make you a guardian of the key and door?" Barb asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I am the owner of the key more than its guardian. As for the door... perhaps 'watcher' is a better term. The door is not mine.

"There are as many possibilities to the thief as there are stars in the sky. The key is a much desired property, as I am sure you are aware."

"If the door is here in the Monastery, why don't you know what is behind it?"

"Ah," says Lo Qi. "Well, it is perhaps misleading to say the door is within the Monastery. Perhaps better to say that the Monastery is without the door?"

Dallas looks like his head hurts.

"How long has this monastery been here?"

"You mean to say that the Door was here before the Monastery, then? Like, the Monastery was placed around it?"

"A very long time," says Lo Qi. "I have been here... more or less since the beginning. I remember when this was a very different place.

"And yes, that is indeed so. Long we have been here, but the door has been here slightly longer."