Outside her Comfort Zone

By Vaughan

Karen was nervous. She met the specification on the casting website (5' 6",
9 - 10 stone, minimum bra cup C (she was DD), some nudity required), but could she impress sufficiently to get the job. The job was described as magician's assistant, so the sizing specification was understandable, but what about the nudity?  The queue at the casting session dwindled. Most of the women who went in were out again in under 5 minutes; those that took longer seemed to come back out in an agitated state. Karen's nervousness had plenty of time to build, because when she was called there was no-one else left.

When her call came, Karen tapped timidly on the door and opened it. She was not prepared for the scene that greeted her. The first thing she noticed was the huge guillotine in the corner, Next to that she recognized a light spiker cabinet, then a pile of components. She stood in the doorway for several seconds before her attention was diverted to the young man sitting on one of the two chairs in another corner.

"Come in and take a seat!" the young man said, "I am Ian Charles, and you are ...?"

"Karen, Karen Stock," she stammered as she closed the door and crossed the room to the empty chair opposite Ian.

"Alright, Karen," he paused to pick up a thin manila folder from the floor beside his chair, glanced inside and added it to the collapsed pile of manila folders on the other side of his chair. "You don't have much of a C.V. when it comes to acting or other theatrical crafts. Why are you auditioning here today?"

Karen arrived at the chair opposite Ian and sat down. "To be honest, I've been waitressing for the last 5 years. I've attended dozens and dozens of auditions, but with no success. So I thought I would step outside my comfort zone, and try for some thing that would have less competition."

"So what is it about the job on the website that is 'outside your comfort zone’?”

"Several things, actually," she replied, "I have never been a magician's assistant, so I would have to learn how the tricks are done, but I am a quick learner and very flexible, and would keep your secrets. The main thing is the 'some nudity required' part of the requirements. I have never done nude work, or even topless." Karen grinned nervously.

The young man looking at Karen, "So, have you been naked in front of anyone at all?"

Karen gave the impression of thinking hard about the question. "Unless you count in front of a boy-friend," then inspiration struck, "but I do like to wander round my flat naked, and in case you get the wrong idea, I keep a dressing gown near the front door so I can slip it on if anyone calls. I once got caught out by the postman. The only thing between me and him was the door, which I peeked round." She flushed with embarrassment, but smiled at the memory.

After a few seconds pause, Ian said, "You seem to be the kind of assistant I am looking for. You have never assisted a magician, so I get to teach you from the beginning. And, also, you are happy with your body, but seem coy enough that you aren't flaunting it. I think it's that touch of innocence that I like." after a further moments pause, "Do you have any questions, before we move on to the practical part of this audition?"

"Er, I hope you don't think me rude, but how does the money work? ... and how much nudity is some nudity?"

"The way I was thinking it would go was: - You would get a third of the basic show fee, which would work out at fifty to a hundred pounds per gig depending on the size and type of the gig. Then, on top of that, you would get two thirds of the nudity component of the show fee. I was thinking that we would double the basic show fee for topless and quadruple it for fully nude, but we would have to negotiate that, if we end up working together."

There was a pause while Ian ran over Karen's questions. "As to how much nudity that we would have to decide exactly how that worked, but I was thinking for a normal show nicely dressed for the 1st half and more sexy for the 2nd half. For the topless show nicely dressed, then lingerie, then topless, in about equal parts. And the same for the fully nude show, except you would do the last illusion or two in the buff."

Karen pondered, and then asked, "It seems that you have put some thought into this; have you done this before?"  She giggled and smiled, "Now it sounds like I'm interviewing you."

"Honestly, I have been doing OK working with my girlfriend; we were doing a steady four or five gigs a week.  Then I got approached by several people asking if I could do a lad's night or stag do show with some toplessness or nudity. So I asked Becky what she thought, and got dumped and called a pervert."

Karen digested this new information and decided to proceed. "OK, you seem to have answered my questions, so what is the practical part of this audition?"

"The practical part of the audition is to try you out in a couple of magic tricks to see if you react well and whether you could enjoy performing as my assistant."

Karen looked across the room. "I assume that's why the equipment is over there."

"Yes, indeed. I thought that those auditionees I liked and that seemed to be here for the right reasons might try out a couple of tricks, to see if the performance and wonder were there. They are all my own variants of well known effects. So, would you like to try out my guillotine?"

"Why the guillotine first?" queried Karen. "Don't I get any choice in the order of things?"

"The guillotine is first, because it can be performed fully clothed and I don't want to push you outside your comfort zone too far, too fast or too soon.  The second trick needs to be done in your underwear and third one can only be performed naked."

"So, it's the guillotine first!  What do I need to do?" Karen stood and approached the tall apparatus.

The guillotine consisted of a pair black lacquered wooden uprights 7 feet tall with metal runners down the inside faces. At the top of the uprights was a cross beam from which was suspended by a hook a block of heavy timber with the typical blade with the slanted edge embedded in the base. Below the blade was a set of stocks and behind the stocks was a bench that lined up with the hole of the stock. Karen examined the stocks and all she detected was a pair of panels with a gap between about the thickness of the hanging blade.

Karen's nervousness increased. The guillotine looked very real; solidly constructed with no dummy blade in the stock and it seemed that the sole purpose of the block above the blade was to give it the momentum required to force the blade through anything that was placed in the stocks. Below the stocks in front of the intimidating apparatus was a wide wicker basket with a pile of cushions in.

"Let me get this straight," said Karen, "you are planning to see how I react to performing in your magic show, by dropping a blade through my neck."

"No, I was planning to see how you reacted to having your head cut off. The basket is not for show, it's there to catch your head."

"Your kidding me, surely!" exclaimed Karen.

"The only way to find out for sure is to try it. Come for a walk outside your comfort zone; you might find you like it."

Karen felt this challenge would either be a step too far or a step on a path that would change her life. Ian saw the uncertainty, but remained silent; if this afternoon of auditions had taught him anything, it was "if you persuade someone to do something they later regret, you are in line for the blame."

Karen's dilemma swung both ways in the next minute. Finally she decide that she came here to see what it was like outside her comfort zone, so she had better take the step outside, or regret missing what might possibly be her only opportunity.

"Right! What do I do?"

Slightly startled, Ian indicated the bench and instructed, "You lie on the bench and start making yourself comfortable while I open the lunette." Seeing Karen's brief expression of puzzlement, he added, "That’s the stock, where your neck will be."

Karen stepped round the foreboding equipment, sat on the bench and watched while Ian lifted the upper half of the stock and placed it on the floor. "How do you want me?"� She asked. He looked puzzled, so she added, "Face up or face down?"�

"That is entirely your choice. But, my ex, Becky, always said that she didn't have the nerve to do face up and watch the blade falling towards her throat. You choose!"�

After some internal debate, Karen decided that this was her walk on the wild side she might as well experience the terror of watching the blade fall rather than the fearful anticipation of it hitting her neck. "I'm going to try it face up."� She lay on the bench then shuffled backward to the lunette until her shoulders touched the stock. "This is safe, isn't it?"� She asked as he leant down to retrieve the upper part of the stock.

He paused, and then replied, "This is much safer than driving. The trouble is, if things go wrong, it can be very public, which can give a false impression of the dangers."�

Ian lifted the stock and checked for any damage, then slotted it back between the uprights and over Karen's neck. After a moment he looked at the stock and frowned. He lifted the stock back off of his auditionee's neck and took it back out. Karen made a move to start sitting back up, assuming this had be some sort of test willingness to trust him.

He quickly said, "Uh-uh. Don't get up! The stock didn't go in straight, so I am going to reposition it more carefully. If I'd left it where it was the blade would have been stopped half way through and that, I know from experience, is very painful."� With the appearance of extreme concentration he replaced the stock in what seemed exactly the same position.

The next thing Karen heard was a catch on the stock being moved to secure the stock in place. Karen felt very vulnerable. Did she trust this man who was a complete stranger seven minutes ago? What was going to happen?

"Are you ready for your first magical experience?"� asked Ian.

"I don't suppose that I would be any more ready if we waited. So cut the suspense building nonsense and either do it or release me from this contraption."�

"OK, on three. One. Two ... Three."�

As Karen watched, she saw the blade give a twitch as the release was activated and then watched the blade assembly descend, accompanied by the swoosh of the metal guides in the well lubricated runners. The next moment three things happened, she felt the blade against her throat, heard the thud of the blade assembly crashing into the top of the stock and she saw the ceiling tilt away from her.

The next thing she remembered was her head between two cushions looking up at Ian from about a foot lower than when he had released the guillotine. He looked concerned. She blinked and he smiled.

"How was that, for you?"�

"I'm not sure. I remember seeing the blade fall and it touching my neck, then I'm down here. I have a feeling I missed the bit in between. So, how did I get down here? And can I get up now?"�

"You got down there, by your head falling from the stock into the basket. And you're welcome to try getting up."�

Karen started to shuffle herself along the bench, then stopped immediately. "What's going on? I moved my body but my head didn't move."�

"Let me guess! Until just now you didn't believe that I had detached your head from your body, did you?"�

"I still don't believe you could have, but I moved and my head didn't."�

"Allow me to show you!"�

"OK, show me, but no taking advantage."�

Ian bent down and lifted Karen's head from the basket and then turned her head the right way up.

"Whoa! What's happening?"� Karen's head felt as though she had sat up, but the rest of her body felt like it was still lying on the bench. She now had a view of the guillotine that was roughly the same as the one she had seen when she first approached the device. There were two major differences:- the first was that the block that held the blade now rested on top of the stocks with the metal of the blade visible in the hole of the stocks and the sharp edge of the blade running from an inch below the stacks on the left to and inch from the floor on the right; the other being there was someone lying on the bench behind, dressed exactly as she had been. Then, what appeared to have happened penetrated her belief in the normal world. "You've only gone and cut my head off."�

"I did tell you I would,"� stated Ian.

"Yes, but I didn't believe you, 'cause I know magicians are liars and do it to heighten the tension and increase the drama of stuff that if you did know exactly what was going on wouldn't be in any way magical."� She started to point and saw her hand raise on the other side of the guillotine.  She felt the shock of realizing that what she had been told had happened was really what had happened. Karen did not believe her eyes, so she made an OK gesture with her hand; the gesture was immediately visible on the outstretched hand the other side of the stock.

"Oh, My God!"� she exclaimed, "You really did it; you cut my head off!"� Then a panic started to take hold. Would she survive beheading? Would her body be safe? Would her head ever be re-attached?  Would the young magician take advantage of the situation? She began to jabber barely getting half way through one thought before another two crowded it out.

Seeing Karen start to panic, Ian stepped in front of her and gave her a stinging slap across the face. The shock of the pain silenced her, allowing a small rational piece of her mind realize two things:- firstly, she was still alive and secondly, Ian was standing in front of her with both hands in view.

"OK, I think I needed that. But can you tell me two things?"� Before he gave any sign of ascent, she continued, "�I'm not going to die?"�

Ian replied, "You are not going to die of this."� He paused to allow the second question, which did not come, because Karen struggling in her confused state to understand his meaning. "I mean by that; this experience with the guillotine will not kill you, but I can not guarantee eternal life."� He paused to see how Karen took that. She soon realized how he meant what he had said and her face showed relief.

Seeing that his explanation had been accepted, he continued, "And what was your second question?”�

Karen momentarily looked blank, then she remembered, "If you're over there and my body's over there, what's holding my head up?"�

Ian smiled, "I can see you will make a wonderful assistant, because of the ladies that got this far in the audition process, you are the only one to notice that I was levitating your head. Most of them just asked me to put their heads back."�

"Thank you, I think!"� She made a face of mock annoyance. "Of, course I'd like my head re-attached, but I don't seem to be coming to any harm, so I don't suppose there is any hurry."�

Ian shrugged to indicate that there was indeed no immediate necessity for re-uniting Karen's head with her body.

"Would you help me get up from the bench, I think I might be a little unsteady without my head."�

Ian went round the guillotine allowing Karen to follow. Karen's body was soon sitting upright on the bench with her feet on the floor. Karen looked at her body and thought how good she looked, in fact better than she realized. "So, what happens next?"�

"That's up to you. You’re in the driving seat. If you want the job, it's yours."� He paused to consider what to say next. "So, you can have the job, even if you don't want to do the topless or nude shows, because I think we will make a good team and I urgently need an assistant any way. I could put your head back where it belongs and arrange to start rehearsals as soon as possible, or we could carry on with the audition and see how far outside you comfort zone we can get you."�

"I got the job,"� she squealed and stood up and hugged Ian. She was a little unsteady without her head, but she managed the two steps to Ian with no problem.

When some calm returned, Ian asked, "Do you want to arrange our first rehearsal? Or would you like to see how far you are ready to go?"�

"Of course, we ought to arrange rehearsals, but as I'm standing over there with my head over here, it would be foolish not to see how far I have to go before I would feel comfortable doing a nude or topless show. At least you would know if you can start booking that kind of show immediately or find another nude assistant."�

"In that case, we should try the next trick on the agenda. Do you want to have your head put back or try it without your head?"� enquired Ian.

"Does it make any difference? I wouldn't want to spoil the trick by not having my head in the right place, but I would also like to see what is happening."�

"I don't think it will matter too much. There is a part of this that having your head on would make a difference, but it's only minor, so relax and enjoy watching yourself be part my variation of the light spiker cabinet."�

"What do I do first?"�

"For my version of this you need to strip down to your underwear, while I plug it in."�

Karen considered what to do and watched while Ian uncoiled a power lead and plugged it in to a socket on the wall. She decided that this was her adventure and as she was enjoying it so far, she might as well continue. She also decided that she liked the magician and trusted him to stop if she wanted not to go any further.

She started to unbutton her blouse as she looked round for somewhere to put it. She decided to drape it over the guillotine. Karen made a move to step towards the device that minutes before had beheaded her, but as her body was facing her head she made the move in the opposite direction and bumped into Ian who was coming round the light spiker cabinet to check everything was working correctly. It was inevitable, but still a surprise, when the two ended up in a flail of arms and legs on the floor.

"Maybe, I could do with a hand getting up, 'cause it's not easy to manoeuvre when your head is not on your shoulders."� confessed Karen. “I was going to drape my clothes over the guillotine, but I think I'm going to need some help."�

Ian got up and assisted Karen to the guillotine, where she finished unbuttoning her blouse and shrugged it off her empty shoulders. Her upper body was now exposed except for her bosom which was restrained under a plain white bra. Once the blouse was draped over the stock of the guillotine, she turned her attention to the waistband of her skirt, which soon pooled around her feet. Stepping backwards out of the skirt and started to lean down to pick it up, but immediately thought better of it, so she said, "Would you mind picking my skirt up, 'cause I don't want to fall over again, today."�

Ian stooped and retrieved the skirt, which placed on top of her blouse. "You will also need to take of your shoes, OK?"�

Karen put out her right hand and took a hold of the upright, then she raised her left foot behind her and used her left hand to remove the shoe. After a small change of balance she repeated the operation to remove her right shoe. Following the removal of her shoes she appeared to be about two and a half inches shorter.

Ian put out his hand and Karen took it and allowed herself to be guided to the light spiker cabinet.

"If you'd wait there I've still got a few checks to do.  By the way, how are you feeling about being partially undressed?"�

"Well, erm, it wasn't preying on my mind, but I don't know what I'd be like in front of an audience. I think I'm OK because I trust you, despite knowing you for only a few minutes and the fact you cut my head off."�

It took Ian a couple of minutes to check this apparatus, then he said, "If you wouldn't mind squeezing side ways between the two plates, we can do this."�

From the vantage point of her head, Karen could see that she was being asked to slip between an upright steel plate with a lot of one and a half inch holes and a parallel Perspex panel with corresponding holes. Behind the steel plate was a rack of spikes made of long light-bulbs and a lever mechanism to push them forward. Karen squeezed her body between the two plates. At this point Ian had finished his apparatus checks and came round the front to check Karen's position. After a few comments of "left a bit"� and "right a tad"�, She was positioned to his satisfaction. "Just hold that position, please, while I get this trick under way."�

As Ian went round the back of the machine, Karen noticed that all but a few of the holes lined up with her body. "Hold Still Karen, you might find this a bit hot, but you will come to no harm, I promise."�

He started the mechanism and came round the front to watch with Karen while her body was impaled on several dozen light bulbs.

After the initial jolt as the device was activated, Karen strained to sense what would happen next. She could feel the vibration of a motor turning, but seemed no clue as to when she would feel anything happen to her.

Meanwhile, Ian picked up another plate, again with corresponding holes, and mounted on the front of the clear panel.

Soon, Karen began to feel heat against her back. "I can feel heat building up at my back,"� she remarked. "Are you sure I won't suffer some kind of burn?"�

"It's perfectly safe. It may feel like the hot sensation of handling a light bulb that has only just blown. Becky said it was like one of those massages with the hot rocks."�

"So, why have you hidden my body from view? It's not like there is anyone here to hide the secret from. I'm assuming that this one is as real as the guillotine.

"I did watch once, but I was nearly sick. The sight of a brightly lit light bulb breaking through human skin is urggghhh!"� Ian looked a bit green at the memory, so Karen decided not to push it.

Karen was about to ask why the plates of the cabinet were so close together, when she found out. The tips of at least 30 tube light bulbs made contact. The heat was intense, but did not hurt, despite feeling as though it should.

"The bulbs have just made contact?"� asked Ian. All Karen could manage was a nod. "After a little time of pressure on your back, they will start to penetrate."�

As the last word passed his lips, the feeling of being pressed against the front plate of the illusion transformed into the feeling of being penetrated by lots of hot spikes that seemed to massage their way through her, rather than stab her.

"That doesn't feel too bad. In fact, I might go so far as to say, it actually feels good in a wrong sort of way."� Karen had only just started enjoying being spiked on a bed of light bulbs, when the first started leaving her body. "Oooohh!"� she squealed, "That feels so weird! If the bulbs leaving a body looks as weird as it feels, I know why it might make you feel queasy. If it wasn't happening to me with the nice penetrating effect, I'd swear I knew how they felt in the Alien movies, but without the violence."� The feeling of light bulb spikes erupting from her flesh paused for a moment as most of them had come out. She knew she had two to go and would have braced herself, if she had not been transfixed by the grid of bulbs. Then possibly the most intense experience of life occurred; the remaining two spikes emerged from her nipples. After a further several seconds, during which the tips of the light bulbs slowly slid out of the holes in the obscuring plate and then halted, Karen said in a whisper, "Wow!"�

Ian stepped forward and carefully manoeuvred the plate from the front of the cabinet, exposing to view, Karen's body impaled by light bulbs. She also noticed there were two bulbs that would have gone through her head, one in the position her mouth would have been and the other would have come out of her forehead. "I see what you mean about being headless would detract from the effect."� She tried to look closer at where the spikes come out of her body but the brightness of the light prevented her from getting too close a look. What she saw looked like the tips of the spikes were attached to her skin rather than emerging from it.

"Are you ready for the next stage? This is the bit where I added my twist on this trick."�

"You seem to have a captive audience and assistant. Let's do it!"�

Ian went behind the device and pressed a few buttons. He reached into the cabinet and behind it, there was a faint snick and the bulb that would have been poking out of Karen's forehead went out. The magician then juggled the still hot bulb from the frame.

As he returned and repositioned the front plate, the new assistant felt the hum of the motor resume. For about a second, she felt her body move and pressure apply to her back as the spikes pulled her against the cool steel back plate of the cabinet, then she felt the massage feeling of hot glass through flesh as the bulbs began to withdraw. Just after the tips of the bulbs had retreated behind the plate, she felt the last two spikes to finish penetrating her withdraw back into her breasts. She noticed that her nipples were erect, which slightly surprised her until she realized that she had enjoyed being penetrated and where that metaphor lead.  Then she felt the motor that drove the spikes stop, followed by an ominous snick sound, then the motor resumed dragging the spikes from her body, but Karen could feel that something was different. The spikes were paused with a snick two more times before the arousing feeling of spikes being pulled from her body ceased.

As the motor stopped for the final time, Ian said, "That's it! You can step out of the cabinet."� He then removed the front shield, showing Karen her unharmed body in bra and knickers.

Once Karen was out from between the cabinet's plates, she asked, "So, Mr Magician, what was the twist? Surely the spikes’ pausing on the way out does not make it a twist."�

"Then, I shall show you the twist."� Ian raised a remote control, which he pointed at Karen's body and pressed one of the buttons. Immediately, she felt a warmth, growing quickly to an intense heat, in her breasts and saw that they were glowing inside her bra.

"That explains one pause what about the other two?"� enquired Karen.

Without a word the magician, re-pressed the first button and Karen's bosom dimmed, then he pressed another button. She felt her buttocks heat up and sure enough the rear of her panties were brightly lit up. Ian pressed the second button and that glow faded.

"Let me guess, there's a third."�

Ian nodded and pressed a third button and the bulb he had taken out of the cabinet lit up. "That one would have made your eyes glow, except that it wasn't in your head. To be honest, this trick is meant to be done with the assistant in a see-through dress. Don't you agree that would be a lot more effective?"�

"That would make sense, of course."� answered Karen. "But, what about the bulbs that are in me? Do I have to do it again to get them out? I don't fancy being at your mercy of you and your remote control forever."�

"Rest assured the bulbs will stop working after about an hour and be completely gone from your body in about 12 hours. Like I keep saying, you will come to no permanent harm from my magic."�

"So for your next trick, what are you going to do to me?"� asked the intrigued Karen.

Ian said, "First, we need to complete the first trick, by putting your head back on."�

"Why? I think, with a bit of practice, I could get used to walking about headless."�

Karen felt her head drifting towards her body. Soon it was hovering over her neck, then descended to land on her shoulders and in that instant she knew it was back in place.

"Part of the impact of this trick is that fact you start it whole and the audience get to see what happens to you."�

"So, what is going to happen to me?"� she asked.

"Do you really want to know? ... because I would like to see you perform this one without knowing."�

She seemed doubtful.

"Of course, I'll tell you if you insist, but I would like to think you trust me enough by now to go with the flow. Perhaps, as you are outside your comfort zone, I can give you the full tour. If you're willing, I'll construct this, while you finish undressing. If anything bothers you, just say and I'll stop and we can discuss when we start rehearsals."�

This is my adventure thought Karen; I might as well see it through to the end.

"OK, we'll see how far we can get before I chicken out. So, no looking while I get naked!"� They both smiled

It took Karen about twenty seconds to unhook and remove her bra and draw her panties down her legs. So, she withdrew to the chairs where she sat legs crossed and arms across her chest and watched the magician's preparations.

First, he laid a small round platform on the carpet tiles of the floor, on top of which he fitted a turntable, before quickly adding four wedges to stop it rotating.

What's the point of the turntable?"� asked Karen.

"There's two reasons for that. The first is to rotate the whole assembly, letting the audience see what's happening from all angles. And the other to prevent any one suggesting that you sneak out through a trapdoor."�

"So am I going to be disappearing?"

During a show you will vanish and reappear several times, but that is not what this trick is about."� He next selected six identical pieces and slotted the first one into a socket in the turntable and the remaining five he slotted into each other so they made a column slightly taller than Karen. He then flipped a lever on the back each section causing it to expand by an inch. Ian next picked out ten flattish sections that he slotted onto the column. Karen could see that these sections consisted of hinged plates some of which had holes in. The first pair were connected to the bottom section of the column, the same for the second, third and fifth sections, the fourth and sixth section only had one piece added. Then he slotted two more sections into the sides of the small section fourth from the platform. Karen could see that there was only two hinged sections and a small flat section left and a stack of blades.

"It's time, Karen. Come here and stand in front of the equipment, please."

Karen stood covering her breasts with her left arm and her crotch covered with her other hand. She was nervous of this apparatus, but stepped onto the turntable and turned to face away from the column.

"That's great! now if you would shuffle back a bit. You'll find the first bit to touch is behind your knees, when you get there you should sit slightly; you'll find a ledge that will support your buttocks."

Karen did as instructed and was soon in the partial sitting position. It became clear what the holes in the third section did. As she sat Karen felt her bare cheeks make contact with the edges of the cut-outs. Ian approached. "It's time to close up the cabinet. If you wouldn't mind I'd like to stay still, unless I asked you to help me out by moving. OK?"�

Karen cleared her throat and in a voice that showed that she was almost totally petrified, said, "OK, but I'm as twitchy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

"Don't be nervous! I know what I'm doing. I build this trick myself."�

Ian leaned down and folded the ends of the two panels forward and then locked the hinges beside Karen's ankles. His next move was to fold the next hinges, so that the two pieces met in front of her ankles and her toes came through the holes in the panels. He had made a box around her feet and shins with her toes sticking out the front. He then picked up a pair of flat metal pieces and slid them between the Karen's lower legs.

"Now, I need a little co-operation, please."� announced Ian. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to transfer your weight onto your left foot."�
"OK,"� said Karen as she did so. Ian took another flat metal piece and slid it under her barely raised right foot.

"Now, shift your weight a bit to the right,"� he instructed. As she complied he fitted a matching plate under her left foot. He had effectively enclosed her lower legs, from mid calf down in a pair of metal boxes with the toes on view out of the front of the box.

The next stage was the same folding and locking of hinges so that from mid calf for nearly the top of her thighs were enclosed with only her knees showing. He then fitted a pair of plates between her knees, so her upper legs were in individual tubes.

The third section was more folding and locking to cover her hips. To Karen's relief there were no holes in the front of this section, then she remembered that her bottom was visible from the rear.

"This part is a bit tricky, so would you mind holding this,"� he said as he handed her another plate with a hole in. She removed the hand that had been protecting her groin and grasped the proffered item. Ian folded the side to her right around and retrieving the held piece he slotted it into the side so that the hole in the piece exposed her belly button. "Thanks! And now would you put your fingers through the hole in the side, there."� After a bit of fumbling, she found the hole and put her fingers through. He then folded the side of the cabinet to the left of her belly into place. This was followed by the insertion of more plates that separated the ends of the belly section from her abdomen. So her lower right arm was in a different section from her belly and the other side waited for her left hand, which currently shielded her chest. "OK, Karen, the time has come.  I would like you to put your left hand down beside your belly, so that your fingers come out of the hole?"� He paused. "This is entirely your choice, and you've still got the job if you want it, but I can not go any further with this unless you expose your bosom, by putting your hand down there,"� he concluded indicated the empty part of the belly section.

After what seemed like hours to her, it took Karen about ninety seconds to make up her mind that she trusted this near stranger enough to go through with this. After a bit of an awkward movement, her fingers emerged through the hole in the side of the belly section.

There was a pause as the young magician looked at her breasts and smiled. "Can I say, you have a lovely pair of breasts."� She smiled back, it was the first compliment she had received in many months, that had not been from a drunken customer. He folded and locked the panels, so that her breasts emerged through the holes in the front of the section.
"Just one more section to go before we get to the interesting part."� He folded the ends the top panel forward, so they came just past her ears. He then picked up what appeared to be the last panel, which he slotted in as the front of the top section with her face peering through the hole and the back of her head pressed against the rim of the hole at the back.

The nett result of all this preparation was that Karen stood naked in a narrow, shallow, multi section cabinet, with her toes, knees, buttocks, fingers, belly, small of back, breasts, face and back of head exposed through holes.

"So, now you have me in a box, what are you going to do to me?"� she asked. Karen was starting to get an idea what Ian had in store; she felt he ought to tell now.

"The plan is to divide the cabinet I have just constructed around you into its component sections, each with a piece of you sticking out of it. That will be a total of 14 pieces."

Karen was getting used to being in the cabinet and felt this development was a natural progression of a naked magician's assistant in a tall cabinet. It took her a while to tot up the parts exposed in the cabinet and came to a sudden realization. "You’re planning to cut my head in two as well as everything else!"�

Ian put on a re-assuring voice and said, "We don't have to go that far if you don't want to, but shall we see how far we get?"

"If you promise to stop and put me back together if I say I want to be re-assembled."

Ian nodded, "If you say stop, I will stop." He went to the pile of metal pieces and started sorting them. "Besides, I don't want to offend or antagonize you in any way, because then I would be without an assistant again."

Ian picked up the largest piece of metal (this had a handle) and knelt beside the cabinet.  He lined it up with the division between the lower leg section and the main leg section. "This won't hurt, but you may feel something,"� he said as he firmly pushed the blade through the cabinet and Karen's calves.

Karen definitely felt the blade pass through her calves.  It did not feel like a blade passing through or being cut with a sharp knife, but like gentle tickling.  Karen giggled.

"That's a good reaction"�, commented Ian, "but then any reaction that doesn't express pain or discomfort is good.  How did it feel? "'cause I never did this one on Becky, so no-one has ever told me what it feels like…"

"I feels like being tickled,"� Karen paused, "but in a good way, like a feather or leaf against my skin, not someone trying to make me laugh myself silly."

Ian picked out a few smaller blades and slid them on either side of the big blade and then took the big blade out. Karen could tell that the smaller blades completed the boxes, so now her feet were in seperate boxes and upper legs were in boxes that ended a little below the knee.  Ian lined up the blade with the top of the main leg section and inserted it with the same ease that it had earlier.

Karen giggled some more. Ian again completed the boxes with smaller blades and withdrew the cutting blade.

"Do you want to see what I've done so far?  Or shall I continue slicing?"� asked Ian.

"Keep slicing, Ian, I like the way it feels so far, but remember you promised to stop if I said."

"OK.  The next slice is through your hips,"� he said as he inserted the blade through the cabinet just below her fingertips. After inserting smaller blades to complete the sections, he moved on to the divided between Karen's belly and her bust.  The blade went through with even more ease than before.  Again the smaller blades completed the boxes holding the slice and the blade came out. "Last horizontal cut, coming up."� and before she could query this Karen felt her shoulders seperated from her neck. and in short order the smaller blades were in place and the cutting blade removed.

"Now! we have nearly reached the half way stage of this thing.  How would you describe your situation, so far?"

"Erm!  I've been shut in a narrow cabinet with parts of me showing and sliced into 6 sections:- Feet, thighs, pelvis, belly, chest and head."

"That's a good description, but how do you know that you are divided into six?"

"Well, I felt the cutting blade go in and I can fell the other blades still in place."

"I'll show you something else that proves it."� said Ian, as he brought a mirror into view and positioned it so Karen could see her predicament.  "Watch!"� he instructed.  He went round the back of the cabinet and leant down.  Karen felt the contact as Ian pushed the lever behind the bottom section and saw to her amazement and shock that a gap of about two inches appeared between the two bottom sections of the cabinet as the upper section was raised.  As soon as the gap was there Ian moved up and pushed the next lever up, causing Karen's boxed torso to rise a further two inches above her thighs.  Soon each section was separated from the section below by a gap of the same size.  "At this point I would rotate the turntable so the audience could see that you are truly in six sections, but I shan't bother today."

"What comes next?"

"I remove your various parts from the frame and stack you next to yourself."� So saying he knelt down and detached the box containing Karen's right foot from the spine of the illusion and placed it on the floor a couple of feet away with her toes sticking out of the front at the top, upside-down. He then removed the box from the left of her belly section and placed it on top of the foot section so that she could touch the underside of her toes with the fingers that protruded from that box. Next her left knee was almost touched the floor next to the right foot box and her right knee box was laid horizontally between these boxes. Then her right hand and left foot were added to the pile of Karen's parts. "There six sections each with a part of you visible sticking out of it in a pile.  Only eight more to go."

"I don't want to be a killjoy, but there are only four sections of me here."

"That's where this comes back in."� he said, as he picked up the cutting blade again. With practiced smoothness he slid it between the side blades of Karen's belly section and it went through with ease. A couple of small blades were placed either side of the cutter and it was removed. Ian took hold of the part with her belly button visible and it came away only to be added to the pile of Karen.  The small of her back quickly followed.  "How was that?"

"Actually it made my tummy turn over,"� said Karen.

Ian frowned, worried that he may have caused his assistant-to-be some discomfort, that might make her reconsider.

Seeing his expression of concern, Karen quickly added, "�No, no, no.  It's not bad.  It's like the excitement you feel when you are on waiting for a roller-coaster to start.  Adrenalin, not indigestion."

"The next parts are probably the most intense divisions, so braced yourself."  It did not take him long to locate the cutting blade in the slot between her breasts and push it through her sternum and out of her spine.

"Wow!  That was pretty intense. The tickle seemed to go up a notch, like being caressed by a lover.  I might get to enjoy being divided, if it felt like that all the time."

Ian inserted more blades before taking the cutter out and swiftly added her breasts to the stack of Karen's parts. "This one will be even more, so if you want to stop now just say."

Karen quickly saw the significance of the next cut.  She wondered briefly why she had not spotted that Ian planned to cut straight between her legs. "Go ahead.  I hope it feels at least as good as the last cut.  I think I'm enjoying this adventure outside my comfort zone."

Ian lined up the cutter with special care and pushed it into the front of the section until he felt it make contact with Karen.  "�OK?"

"OK!"

Ian pushed the blade into Karen and after the initial tickle while it cut through the base of her belly, she felt the full firework display of sensations she knew to be an orgasm as blade continued to pass between her legs.  "Wowee! That was fantastic."� When her sensations subsided enough, she noticed that her breasts were heaving from their places in the pile of boxes that contained most her and her toes were twitching.  She also noticed that her buttocks had already been added to the pile, while she had been distracted by the sensations.

"You seem to have enjoyed that.  You were a bit spaced out."� He paused and smiled at his unintended pun.  "Just one more cut, if you’re alright with that."

"Go ahead. I might as well see this thing through to the end."

Ian placed the blade in position in the head box and immediately pushed it through. Karen felt the blade passed through her head just in front of her ears. And soon after the blades either side were in place and the cutter removed.

"This may be a bit weird as your inner ear is going to remain still but you eyes will change position.  You may feel a bit seasick."

Ian grasped the two inch thick box containing Karen's face and lifted it down, placing it gently on the floor. He returned to the remaining section of the cabinet and took the remainder of Karen's head to the stacked parts. He then picked up her face and showed her parts at close range.

"So, how do I know all those parts are mine and not fakes?" queried Karen.

For a moment, Ian seemed taken aback by the question, but an idea came to him. He placed Karen's boxed face into the air facing the pile of her remaining parts and went to stand beside the heap. He, then, reached into his pocket; retrieving a small remote control which he put into Karen's right hand. "There you go. Try it!"

Karen recognised the remote as the one he had used after the light spiker, so pressed the top button. Instantly she felt the warmth and saw the glow in her breasts. She pressed the button again and the glow and heat faded. "OK, I'm convinced."

Ian retrieved the controller from Karen's hand and dropped back into his jacket pocket.

"While I enjoyed that,"� commented Karen, "I think it is time to re-assembled me, so I can check my diary and arrange these rehearsals."

While Karen watched he re-constructed her body from the ground up.  First the feet were placed side by side (at first the wrong way round, until she told him). On the feet he mounted the knee boxes, first touching the knees to be sure he had the correct one above the appropriate foot.

His next move surprised Karen.  Ian removed the blades that separated her upper and lower legs.  The feeling of the two parts rejoining was pleasant, like the taste of chocolate. Both her legs were now whole, each in their seperate tall box.

Ian then placed her hips on top of their respective legs and withdrew the blades, so that the two halves of her lower body were still held apart by the blades between them. This state of affairs did not last long, as he removed the dividing blades from floor up. As he took out the dividers from between her hips she experienced another orgasmic feeling.

When she recovered from the rush of having her groin rejoined, she noticed that Ian had not proceeded as he had with her dismantling.  He was observing her (not quite staring, but nearly).

"I was waiting until you were ready for the next part." When he was sure she was back in this world and paying attention. "Do you think you could stand without the support of the cabinet?"

"I think that would be Ok." She considered for a moment, then speculated, "So you're going to assembled the rest of me out of the boxes?"

"Not quite. Just watch!"

Ian leant down to the lower leg box and unlocked the hinges. A little tap on a corner caused the wall of the boxes enclosing her lower legs to collapse, exposing her lower legs. Karen's lower body and the two remaining sections of cabinet were supported by just her feet, fortunately, it all seemed in balance so she did not stumble or tip over.

When it was obvious that Karen's legs were stable, Ian leant down again and detached to remains of the leg boxes, so Karen's legs stood free surmounted by an open-bottomed box containing her hips. The next part was to place her abdomen back in its proper position and remove the blades separating the front and back and those that intervened between her belly and her hips. The chocolate sensations associated with the rejoining of these parts had an added hint of raspberry.

Next he touched the sides of the hips box, but did not proceed with their removal, but look over to where her face still hung in the air and raised an eye-brow. For a fleeting moment she wondered why he was hesitating, then she realised that what modesty she had left would be exposed by his proposed action. Her first reaction was that she did not want to be exposed, but a counter-thought came to her, 'if I am to be a magician's nude assistant I might as well start getting used to it,' and 'also,' another curious part of her mind interjected, 'I've never seen that part of me without the use of a mirror.'

"Go ahead!" she said. "The audience will expect nothing less, so I need to become accustomed to it."

Ian smiled and with a quick flip the walls surrounding her hips dropped to the floor. He gave her groin a quick glance and fetched her breasts from the pile. These were soon in place and the dividing blades and box around her belly was as quickly removed. The chocolate feeling shifted from raspberry to mint overtones. The boxes that held her arms were soon reconnected and removed. At last Karen could have reached down to conceal herself, but she did not feel the need as she trusted Ian.

His next move was to place head in place, before retrieving her face and putting that in place. The four remaining blades were quickly removed and residue of the cabinet disassembled. Karen stood there for a moment savouring the sensation of being whole again.

Ian went over to the chair and got out a smart phone, and was into his calendar/diary app. "so, when can we start rehearsing?"

Karen return to the other chair and fished a diary from her handbag. Soon mutually convenient dates and times had been arranged and she returned her diary to its place in her bag and headed for the door.

As her hand touched the door handle, she felt a now familiar heat as her breasts and buttocks began to glow. She turned to say that she did not approve of his 'prank'.

Before she could open her mouth, he said, "I don't think you'll have any problem with the nudity, but didn't you ought to get dressed before you go home."

They both laughed.