Watchful

The head swiveled of one of the ceramic owls perched on the wall. That was no surprise. Starley had known it would be here, and knew exactly what it was. It was an Oversight Mark II model from Witherby Corporation. It was near the top of the line in magical guardians, but Starley had studied its specs and knew its weaknesses. In particular, it was enchanted to ignore Witherby maintenance personnel, who wore specially endweomered uniforms that it would recognize and ignore. It hadn't been easy, but Starley had gotten her hands on one of those uniforms, and with it she knew she could walk right by the Oversights unimpeded.

The front door was not much of an obstacle. It was locked, but with a type of lock she had a lot of experience bypassing. And then she was in, and she headed straight for the vault—she already knew where it was.

And then suddenly she couldn't move. What?

Out of the corner of the eye she noticed another watchful ceramic owl at the end of the corridor. Similar to the ones outside, but with red stripes on its wings.

Damn. When had they upgraded to a Mark III?