"Skye! It’s good to see you again!" The Magician clasped the hand of the girl with blue hair warmly. She’d only ever see him dressed formally, or at the very least in business casual, but today he was wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt, both of which had dots of paint splattered across them. "Thomas mentioned you’d be stopping by. We’re between shows right now, so I’ve got some time. Come on in, I’ll give you a tour of the place."

Skye smiled as he opened the side door of the theater fully to let her in. It was brightly lit inside the large room, and a bit noisy. This space was larger than the small stage the building housed on the front. It looked like at least four projects were going on simultaneously- in the closest part of the room, boards held together with clamps were laid across sawhorses, adding drips of glue to the rainbow of paint splotches below. A frame draped with clear plastic took up another half of the vast space. Inside it was a small box on a stand, half-painted. Wads of blue tape were scattered on the floor beside it. An airbrush hung from a hook inside the frame, the hose snaking out of the plastic to a compressor. On another part of the floor was a stack of assorted metal pieces on a low table. In the far corner, she saw the platinum blonde she recognized as Laurel, leaning over a sewing machine. Skye couldn’t see what she was working on. Against the walls were various power tools and equipment, some of which she recognized, many which she did not. One appeared to be a computer-aided router the size of a sheet of plywood. It was noisily milling gears out of a thin plate of metal.

She looked at the Magician and raised her voice over the din. "This must be your workshop. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything."

He shook his head, "Not at all, Skye; I just finished spraying a coat of paint on the Breaker Box. It won’t be dry for a while."

"Breaker Box?" Skye asked, curious. "Dare I ask what it does?"

"Mari thought up the name. And you may dare, but I won’t tell you," he smiled. "It would spoil the surprise when you get to see it performed. Anyway, it’s not even close to finished- I’m still milling the mechanisms." He walked her over to the CNC router, which, she saw, was cutting thin gears and cogs out of the plate metal.

"Nice- what’s the tolerance on that?"

"Within 0.001 millimeters. I’ve got a smaller laser cutter with a 100 nanometer tolerance, but I usually don’t need something that precise." He smiled in response to her appreciative look. "I assume the engineering degree is coming along well?"

Skye stood up straighter. "I’m at the top of the class. They won’t give me any more extra credit, though- it would skew the curve too badly."

"So you’ll be graduating on schedule?"

"Definitely. I assume Tom mentioned why I was coming-"

The Magician smiled. "Skye, I don’t take on interns. Wait, don’t look so dejected. At least let me finish showing you around, then we’ll discuss it further. I think you’ll appreciate our effects board." He lead her out of the workshop, and down a hallway. "Do you have any stage experience?"

Skye nodded, "A few courses- I was on the stage crew for last semester’s production of Mary Poppins."

"I understand you built the illusions for the performance?"

"Well, we worked from plans, but I had to improvise in a place or two..."

"You used the Loomis dollhouse plans, I noticed. Excellent work all around." He helped her up the ladder into the control room, still chatting.

Skye appreciated the small talk; it took her mind off her earlier disappointment- and she had to admit, she was impressed with the Magician’s equipment. He cheerfully answered most of her technical questions, as they went around the control room, then on, over, and even under the stage.

Eventually they found their way back to the workshop. The Magician opened the door for her again. "I’m sure you expected to see a bit of magic today, Skye, but most of the illusions are in storage right now..." He stopped, and looked around.

"Here-" he said, walking her to the pile of metal on the floor. "I can show you this one, if you help me put it together."

Skye regarded the metal; the largest piece was a plate, about six foot by four feet, and thin- no more than two inches thick. Skye looked at the hole on one side, estimated it to be about maybe 18" across- roughly the size of the hole in the side of the four foot disc the Magician lifted up. "Careful, Skye, the insides of that hole are razor sharp. Help me put this on the drive shaft in the center, if you could?"

They quickly had it mounted, and the Magician screwed it securely in place while he continued, "The table’s hollow, of course- it’s housing the pancake motor we just put the blade on, and the batteries to run it. I’m still building the manual crank system, which is, of course, just for show." He chuckled. "Can’t let the audience think there’s too much much magic. Nobody thinks about pancake motors- which is good for me- but a bulkier motor casing might look like a potential hiding spot."

He picked up a partial disc, the same radius as the first, but only a half circle, and blunter. "Help me put this on the same shaft." Skye noticed it covered the hole in the first disc as they secured it in place. They bolted a ring around the discs to cover their edges.

"We’re almost done, Skye. Help me turn this over." They flipped over the whole plate, with discs attached, and slotted it into place on the low frame. "Mind you don’t kick the lexan on the base. It’s only there to prevent a mess." The clear barrier ran between the legs of the frame, which held the plate about two feet off the ground.

"All right." The Magician secured another ring on the top of the plate, over the hole in the middle. It was made of clear lexan as well, and was about a foot and a half tall. He attached a four-foot long rod to the center of the plate. "Okay, we’re done." He looked around, spotted a red head walking purposefully past the door to the theater itself.

"Robyn! Could you come and assist us quick?"

The red-head smiled and waved. She stopped for a moment at the table where the blonde was finishing up her sewing, then walked over to the Magician and Skye. "Laurel says the costume’s not ready." She turned. "Hello Skye! Nice to see you again!" Robyn looked back at the Magician. "Since it’s only you guys and Skye, I can do this without, if she doesn’t mind." She slipped off her shoes, and was barefoot.

Skye looked at her, a little confused, as Robyn climbed up onto the platform. The assistant laughed, then unbuttoned her cut-off jean shorts, and slid them down her legs. "Just us girls, Skye." She pulled off her t-shirt. "Oh, and the Magician, but he’s always professional about it," she said, reaching behind her back and unhooking her bra, then handing it to Skye. "I don’t want that ruined- took me forever to get one that fit." Dressed in only white panties, she stepped inside the clear ring, using the rod to steady herself.

The Magician looked at Skye, then at his assistant. "Ready, Robyn?"

"As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess..." She smiled.

The Magician turned on the motor. The oiled discs quietly slid into motion. Skye watched as Robyn slipped down a short bit, then heard a *thump.* Robyn winced.

Skye looked as something fell from the underside of the platform onto the floor. Two feet. Or most of them. The top ended shortly above the neatly painted toes in a flat cut- red, with white lines she realized were probably tendons. There was another *thump* and the rest of the feet fell down. A third *thump* and two more discs fell, which Skye realized were ankles and the start of shins- Robyn’s. She looked back up and saw the assistant looking rather shorter.

Robyn looked around, then lurched downward a small bit with the next *thump*. "That feels weird, boss. But keep going."

"Certainly, Robyn. In fact. I can speed it up." He touched the platform, and the next *thump* came more quickly. The discs that were Robyn were piling up within the lexan below.

Skye just stepped back and took in the illusion- the first metal disc they placed was the slicer. *Thump* The second metal disc was the *thump* barrier, which kept Robyn from falling too *thump* far between rotations. *Thump.* She guessed Robyn was being *thump* neatly sliced into *thump* two-inch sections. *Thump.*
*Thump.*
*Thump.*
"Boss?" Robyn bit her lip as her hips sunk below the top of the platform.
*Thump.* Skye noticed a large, single disc fall from the underside into the pile.
"Yes?"
*Thump.*
Robyn reached up to steady herself with one hand on the rod. "Mmm-" *Thump* Her other arm was already *thump* vanishing into the slicer. *Thump*
"You did *thump* figure out *thump* the last *thump* half of- *thump*" She couldn’t continue- her head, from the lower lip, up, rested on the blade. *Thump* She looked rather concerned. *Thump* *thump* *thump*

Robyn’s hand waved, and vanished into the slicing mechanism. Skye saw the fingers spit out below.

The Magician shut off the mechanism, and turned to Skye. "I probably should have mentioned to her- I haven’t actually figured out the restoration bit yet, but Robyn’s been in a similar pickle before." He winked.

"Anyway, we call this one the Super Slicer. My humble improvement on the standard Slicer illusion. I never thought nine pieces was going far enough."

Skye nodded, quietly, her face not betraying the suspicion that she may have just seen the demise of an assistant.

"Go ahead, Skye, take a closer look... but don’t touch, please."

She knew the Magician was watching her as she stared at the illusion and the aftermath. She walked around the prop. The wreckage did seem contained, and yet...

"So, Skye. Like I said, I don’t take on interns," the Magician spoke once she’d made a full circuit around the slicer. "But, since you’re graduating in a month, I can tell you I will have an opening for a full-time employee at that time. The non-disclosure agreement is decidedly draconian, I should warn you," he smiled warmly. "And, if you pass the interview, you’ll need to sign it before you leave today."

Skye nodded, "So I’m being interviewed now?"

"If you’re interested in the job, then yes. The tour was the first half. We can negotiate salary if you pass the second half. It’s a single question." The Magician gestured to the super slicer illusion. "How did I do it?"

Skye looked at him, looked back to the illusion, where the pieces of Robyn apparently still rested in the container below the blades, then back at the Magician. She thought back to the tour, and remembered what she’d learned the one time she’d been volunteered during his show. Totally different trick, but some of the principles still seemed applicable... And based on the equipment she’d seen in the workshop... She smiled- she had this one.

*

"Welcome aboard, Miss Branaugh," Hitomi bowed curtly, then sat back down behind the desk. She pulled out a rather thick packet from one of the drawers. "Please look over this. You’ll need to initial each paragraph, and sign the last page."

Skye idly thought it looked thicker than the college loan application she’d filled out. She started skimming. "Non-disclosure agreement?"

"You better read in full. I trust the boss mentioned it was draconian? Loss of soul and first-borne," she said flatly, and watched Skye speed-read through the document before smiling briefly. "A joke, of course."

Skye nodded. Not much of one, though, considering the other limits the agreement put on her- including what she could and could not list on future resumes. Still, at the offered salary, she’d have her loan paid off very quickly. She initialed each section and signed, then handed it back to Hitomi.

There was a quick knock, then the door squeaked open. Robyn peeked in, smiling. "Heard you passed the interview!"

Skye smiled. "Yes, thank you. Looks like I’ll be joining the team."

Hitomi glanced up at Robyn, who was dressed in her shirt and cut-off shorts again. "Skye will be assisting with design and fabrication. And, of course, assisting."

Robyn smiled. "Finally, a more junior assistant!"

Hitomi smirked. "Try not to scare her off before she even starts, Robyn." Skye couldn’t tell if the Japanese woman was joking or not.

Robyn laughed. "Don’t worry! Hey, Skye- come with me; I’ll introduce you to everyone else. I think Marisol has something she’ll want to show you..." She grabbed Skye by the hand and pulled her out the door.

Hitomi called after them, "Make sure I don’t have to write up Marisol for sexual harassment! Again!"

Skye giggled as Robyn pulled her along. She had a feeling she was going to like this place...