Per 
Fortunately, Lord Totch was too wrapped up in his conversation with the Tyrant to pay any attention to his slaves.
Not that he would have had much luck keeping track of us in the first place given how packed the great hall was with throngs of revelers. No one city had conquered another completely since the age of the gods, and while there were bodyguards aplenty around the Lord and Tyrant, the "Museum" was much more sparsely attended.
Stealing a wonder in front of the Great Tyrant of two cities? To be frank, what I was attempting was so mad as to be unthinkable. by definition, one does not plan for the unthinkable.
That collection is incredibly dangerous. Came the Wandsman's voice in my mind.
It took all my will to stop myself from flinching. I knew the monster I was bargaining with had great power, even as obviously weakened as it was, but this silent speech it had shown me was truly disconcerting, even if it was essential to our plan's success.
Is there anything else in it we can use? I thought back. After all, grabbing two things would be a trifle once we'd breached the hoard's perimeter.
I felt a tiny shift in my bosom (it was the only place I could hide the creature where it would not be noticed, I'd long discarded dignity in the pursuit of expedience.) I think you'd rather want to avoid certain display cases if possible. There is a bottle of highly corrosive material in the first case and a memetic hazard in the fifth.
That word threw me. What does 'memetic' mean?
It would take too long to explain. Suffice it to say you don't want to touch it or look at it too closely.
There were a great many things the tiny bird said would take too long to explain. Normally I would find that untrustworthy, but there was an edge of defeat in his tone each time he told me that, like he was restraining himself from not launching into a detailed lecture.
Oddly I found this trait… endearing, for lack of a better term. I too loved to tell tales and speak of all I've learned in secret, but I'd always had to bite my tongue. Slaves were not supposed to know much of anything. I shuddered to imagine what my master would do to me if he ever found out I could read.
