The Buddha Protocol

By: Errin Stowell

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The Buddha Protocol

When the Buddha died in the 5th century BCE, his relics were divided among kingdoms. But one group of monks stole away with a secret too dangerous to share—a tooth hidden inside an ivory reliquary, containing a coded palm-leaf scroll. Within it lay more than prophecy. It held the design for a weapon: a resonant bronze gong capable of killing without a blade.

Centuries later, at Sri Lanka’s Temple of the Tooth, UNESCO investigator Maya Sen oversees a cultural audit during the sacred Esala Perahera festival. When the reliquary vanishes in the night, Maya discovers the theft is no ordinary crime. The relic contains coordinates to a forgotten monastic city, Nine Petals—where the ancient weapon was hidden.

Pursued by mercenaries, shadowed by covert operatives, and betrayed by those she trusts, Maya races from Kandy to the Burmese borderlands, unraveling the legend of the monks who built a weapon in the name of faith and then swore to bury it forever.

But the past refuses to stay buried. And as factions close in, Maya must decide: protect a heritage that could unite humanity, or destroy a weapon that could end it.

Some relics are better left buried.