Chapter Ten
Tally arrived for her shift fifteen minutes early, allotting five minutes to finding who she was looking for. When she found McPhee, she had nine minutes left, and she signalled for him to follow. She led him into the Egyptian wing and walked up to the sarcophagus. "In seven minutes, you'll see the impossible, and I'll have no other explanation for it except Cecil's: magic."
"Whatever happened to 'technology'?"
"This can't be done with technology. Technology can't give the long-dead flesh and make them walk again."
"What about robots?"
"Robots were never alive. Ahkmenrah was alive." Tally checked her watch. "Okay, four minutes thirty seconds and counting. You ready for this?"
"How're we going to pass the time?"
"Well, let me tell you something. Every night, the exhibits in this museum come to life. No technology, just magic. It's because of Ahkmenrah's tablet. Among other things, it brings everything in the museum or whatever building it's in to life at night. If any of the exhibits end up outside while the sun rises, it turns to dust, and all hope of recovering it is lost."
"You know all this how?"
"Cecil taught me the second I expressed interest in becoming a night guard." She checked her watch again. "Okay, three minutes."
"Could you please stop counting?"
"Okay, I will, as long as you tell me what else you want to know."
McPhee asked questions, and Tally answered them with the cumulative knowledge of Ahkmenrah and Cecil, along with some common sense. With just a few seconds to spare, Tally cut the conversation short and said, "It's time."
The tablet glowed, and within seconds, Tally helped Ahkmenrah push the sarcophagus lid away from him and sat up. "He's...he's...supposed...to be a...a mummy."
"Yep, and here he is, Pharaoh Ahkmenrah in the flesh."
Ahkmenrah climbed out stood up to his full height and waved, smiling at Tally and kissing her lightly, as usual.
"He has flesh. Impossible."
"Hey, Dr. McPhee, maybe you should have a seat." McPhee found a nearby bench and flopped down onto it, rubbing his eyes and muttering nonsense about how what he'd clearly just seen couldn't be happening. Ahkmenrah turned to Tally, who merely shrugged.
"Will he be alright?"
"Yeah, he'll be fine. He just needs a moment, from the looks of him."
"Then a moment he shall have." Ahkmenrah walked out of the Egyptian wing and into the rest of the museum. After reassuring herself of McPhee's prognosis, she followed him.