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Description
The Magnificent Asagiri bowed, his violet cloak billowing as if a wind had made its way into the auditorium. Applause crashed over him like a wave. He raised his hands and made a motion for silence.

The show had only just begun.

"For my next trick," He flourished with his wand for emphasis, "I'll need a volunteer from the crowd."

Six rows deep into the seats, Charli felt her arm raise. It wasn't as if by magic, it was just because the tiny hand of her friend Joanna had pulled it up to join the sea of other eager volunteers. Charli flashed a scowl to her left.

"Ahh, yes, the lovely blonde in the flowery dress near the front." A cloaked arm gestured vaguely enough in Charli's direction for her to feel targeted. She looked down. Her dress did have a golden floral pattern.

Joanna looked down as well. There was a flash of a delighted smirk, and then Charli was being pulled to her feet.

Before she could fully process what had just been foisted onto her, she was looking down the few short metres between her and the stage.

She was already blushing.

Okay, I can make the best of it. Charli tried to organise her thoughts, like she always did to calm herself down. Joanna wasn't being mean... okay, she was, but she knows I can handle being on stage from all that public speaking I used to do. She started to take her steps towards the little wooden stairs. I've always wanted to know how magic tricks worked. Maybe this way I can actually see it in action.

The stairs shook as she climbed them on to the stage, which actually made it easier to ignore her own shivers of nervousness. The Magnificent Asagiri helped her up the last step. He was shorter in person than he looked from out in the audience and his smile, wide enough to be seen from the stands, was a bit creepy up close.

When he spoke he addressed the crowd rather than her. "And what's your name, my dear?"

"I'm Charli," she mumbled, looking at her feet.

"Give it up for Charli, everyone!" The Magnificent Asagiri raised his hands to summon a round of applause from the crowd. "And did you come a long way to be part of the show tonight?"

"A-actually, I live two tube stops away..."

"Perfect! A local! Now everyone knows you're not colluding with the magical Chinese man!" He made a weird gesture with his hands to emphasise it.

Charli was caught off-guard mainly because she was sure his name was Japanese. That actually calmed her nerves, focusing on that possible gap in her knowledge rather than on the hundreds of pairs of eyes on her.

The magician winked at her before addressing the crowd. "Until now, I have shown you all the arts of illusion. But now, I will show you all the power of mentalism!"

A slight murmur went through the crowd. Even Charli wore a quizzical expression.

"Mentalism is the ability to read, and even influence, the minds of others. I can even communicate with people through pure thought!" Another flourish of his cape. Another hushed exclamation in the crowd.

He once again angled himself slightly at her, still addressing the masses, but one eye on her.

"Now my beautiful, impromptu assistant, stand in front of me. Face the crowd and do not turn back. And take this." He forced some sort of plastic square into her hand, and then jostled her towards the front of the stage.

Charli forced a meek smile onto her face. Just pay attention, try to work out the trick. I don't need to worry, no-one here knows me, I don't need to be embarrassed. Wait, is Joanna recording this!?

The Magnificent Asagiri's booming voice rang out from behind her and drowned out her anger. "I will now project a word directly into the lovely Charli's mind. She will write down the word on her whiteboard. I will then say it out loud, to prove my magical powers to you all!"

Charli looked down. Huh, it's quite low-tech. I preferred the vanishing cabinet.

"Activate." The magician said to her. His voice was so clear, the entire theatre must have heard it, especially with the microphone. Her face scrunched in confusion.

Wait, no, I can't look back at him. I'll just write it down, I guess...

She showed the word to the audience, she'd written it in big, childish letters so everyone could see the word. Not that it matters that much, he didn't even try to lower his voice. I don't get it at all.

The Magnificent Asagiri's voice echoed around the theatre again. It was once more filled with bombast and spectacle. "The word that my lovely assistant-by-chance has noted down is..." Charli saw some members of the audience lean forward in their seats, as if this was a surprise. "Activate!"

Gasps. Applause. Her hand in his, being lifted up, then down into a bow. Being ushered down the stairs and back to her seat. Letting go of his soft, manicured hand after he helped her onto the wooden steps.

Well, the trick worked. How did he do it? Maybe the acoustics of the room made his voice carry weirdly? No, someone would have seen his mouth move.

She shook her head.

Dammit. Oh well, I guess he's a professional for a reason. I wasn't going to be able to work it out.

Everyone within six seats of her and Joanna gave her an extra round of applause as she sat down. There were even a couple of wolf-whistles, which especially amused Joanna. Charli shot her an evil glance, and motioned angrily at her phone.

"I'm not uploading it! It's just for our memories, I swear!" Her friend rushed out. Charli gave a single dark glance, just to emphasise the consequences if Joanna went back on her word, and sat back down.

Another woman ("She's not as pretty as you," Joanna assured her) had joined the Magnificent Asagiri on stage for some sort of mind-reading card trick. The magician never let up his wild gesticulation and grand proclamations, working up the audience and keeping their attention focused on the main attraction - him.

As he surveyed his audience, Charli was sure their eyes met. She knew that was how it worked when you're on stage, if you just keep looking around everyone will feel like you've made eye contact with them.

It's presentation skills 101. But still, it really feels like he's looking at me. He would recognise me as his volunteer. He seems like the sort of showman who would. Might mention me as part of his patter later on. I should've thought of that before I went on stage...

"Hello, my lovely."

His voice was clear, carrying perfectly through the air between them. Charli looked around. Nobody else stirred. They were enraptured by his ridiculously showy card shuffling technique.

Going up on stage must have knocked me off balance more than I thought. Auditory hallucinations aren't a great sign. Maybe it's a side-effect of whatever hidden technology he was using for that trick? Oh, actually, maybe he slipped a wireless earpiece into my ear while he was manhandling me!

She rooted about in her left ear, then her right. There was nothing there.

Okay, maybe it's somewhere else on my body. No, it would work on stage but Joanna would have heard it.

She glanced to the side, Joanna was just as fixated on the performance as everyone else.

It's possible it's muffled by my clothes or something... I'll wait to see if it happens again. Yeah, I'm in a magic show, I can't panic over one thing I can't explain.

Charli settled back into the ample cushions of her seat. She tried to relax and watch the show, but she was still alert for anything weird.

Again, she was absolutely sure she had caught the Magnificent Asagiri's eye.

And then for a moment her imagination was filled by a clear image of herself. It was just her in the seat. Well, there were others around her like Joanna but they didn't matter. I look good. My dress is nice. I feel like... I think the low cut is what makes it so appealing. And my thighs poking out beneath the hem?

Wait, what am I thinking?

She felt blood rushing to her cheeks again. She looked around nervously. No response from Joanna or anyone else in the crowd. They were all concerned with the magician's ability to juggle playing cards.

That was weird. It was like I was seeing myself, on stage. And what was with how much I was feeling myself?

Fuck is this actually a hallucinatory episode!?

No, calm down, Charli. I'll go to the loos. Wash my face. Take a breath.

With a mumbled (and ignored) apology to Joanna, Charli squeezed past their seat neighbours and back to the aisles. She made to walk up to the galleries, and then to the toilets.

Her seat was empty. She could feel that fact.

She looked back at the stage. The Magnificent Asagiri wore his ridiculous smile as he caught the King of Hearts out of the air again with impressive precision.

She wanted to go back to watching the show.

Stay here.

That had been her first coherent thought.

She was walking back to her seat.

I was worried about something. Now I'm not. That's weird. But the show is cool, I did think that, I thought I wanted to watch it again.

But it was odd. It wasn't how I usually think. Stop, Charli, think it through properly.

She stood still in the middle of the aisle by the seats. No-one noticed, all eyes were on stage. She still felt self-conscious, though.

I'm lost in the middle of a huge crowd. I don't even know what I'm thinking.

No, that's not it. I don't know how I'm thinking.

The image of her empty chair was still in her head. Her memory still held the image of her sat, beautiful, in that seat. Both images were surrounded by ideas, implications, links and elaborations.

These... they're not just images. They're thoughts. But they're different from how I think. I've heard about this before, some people think in words like me, but some think in the abstract like this.

So I'm thinking thoughts in a different pattern to my own?

She looked up. The Magnificent Asagiri glanced in her direction again. He smiled. She felt his desire, his overwhelming confidence. His power.

Not as words, but as ideas and images, swirling into her brain.

Her attempts to form a normal, coherent train of thought were constantly derailed. The tracks she was trying to run her ideas down were flooding with whirlpools of sentiment and lust. She felt every part of the thoughts being forced onto her.

But she couldn't understand them.

It was an alien way of thinking. It wasn't how her brain worked. It was being forced on her, uncompromising but incomprehensible.

It had started with one word.

Activate.

Just a word. In a clear, strong voice. An anchor that she could understand. It fit in with the way she thought.

The vortex of alien thoughts paused. That was a simplification, it was more like she had entered the eye of the whirlpool, where nothing was moving. She could once again organise her thoughts.

I can work out what's going on. He used his magic trick, and he said it was projecting thoughts. So, if I assume it actually is magic, this is him forcing his thoughts onto me. That's why I saw myself from his perspective.

But that's ridiculous. It's a magic trick, there's a reasonable explanation. Some sort of drug? No, that would only affect me but everyone else would have still heard his voice.

I don't understand.

She tried to interpret the other thoughts swarming around her mind. Again, she was overwhelmed, forced back to the singular point where it had started.

Activate.

Did he know I would be forced back here? He couldn't know we think in different ways. No, he's a magician, he can probably 'cold read' me or whatever it's called. Or maybe he just thinks in such a weird way that this usually works.

That means that 'Activate' probably isn't random.

I'm meant to do something when I realise this. But I can't do anything, I'm trapped in my own head.

Unless... I need to understand, but my brain works differently. So I need to shut down. Reset. Look at things from his perspective.

I don't know how.

Activate.

It's part of the show. Maybe if I keep watching, I can understand the way he thinks. Maybe I can retrain my brain to understand his thoughts and accept them into my own. Maybe he will teach me afterwards. He knows where I am, he can find me after the show.

Then he can activate me.

Okay, Charli, go back to your seat. Pay attention.

She ran her hands through her hair. Her frustrated scowl became a relieved smile.

She took her seat and focused herself entirely on the stage. Another beautiful woman was being used as the Magnificent Asagiri's willing subject, but whenever she met the magician's eyes she knew she was the real subject. This performance was all for her.

With a glassy, happy stare, she absorbed everything she could. She tried to let go of her own ordered patterns of thought.

She tried to wash that out from her brain, so afterwards she could understand and receive his instructions.

---

I ended up taking a longer-than-expected break after the Halloween mini story-thon, brought about by business at work and Genshin Impact. But, we're back in the saddle here at deviantart.com/maurislave!

I feel like I was a bit rusty here, but maybe I can finesse rust by doing this sort of higher-concept story. The switching between narration and thought is a bit clumsy, but I think necessary to communicate the hypno-method-concept here.

Credit, as usual, to my lovely assistant Dormiria . Magic show themes makes the end-of-deviation name for the proofreader easy, at least.

Description
The Magnificent Asagiri bowed, his violet cloak billowing as if a wind had made its way into the auditorium. Applause crashed over him like a wave. He raised his hands and made a motion for silence.

The show had only just begun.

"For my next trick," He flourished with his wand for emphasis, "I'll need a volunteer from the crowd."

Six rows deep into the seats, Charli felt her arm raise. It wasn't as if by magic, it was just because the tiny hand of her friend Joanna had pulled it up to join the sea of other eager volunteers. Charli flashed a scowl to her left.

"Ahh, yes, the lovely blonde in the flowery dress near the front." A cloaked arm gestured vaguely enough in Charli's direction for her to feel targeted. She looked down. Her dress did have a golden floral pattern.

Joanna looked down as well. There was a flash of a delighted smirk, and then Charli was being pulled to her feet.

Before she could fully process what had just been foisted onto her, she was looking down the few short metres between her and the stage.

She was already blushing.

Okay, I can make the best of it. Charli tried to organise her thoughts, like she always did to calm herself down. Joanna wasn't being mean... okay, she was, but she knows I can handle being on stage from all that public speaking I used to do. She started to take her steps towards the little wooden stairs. I've always wanted to know how magic tricks worked. Maybe this way I can actually see it in action.

The stairs shook as she climbed them on to the stage, which actually made it easier to ignore her own shivers of nervousness. The Magnificent Asagiri helped her up the last step. He was shorter in person than he looked from out in the audience and his smile, wide enough to be seen from the stands, was a bit creepy up close.

When he spoke he addressed the crowd rather than her. "And what's your name, my dear?"

"I'm Charli," she mumbled, looking at her feet.

"Give it up for Charli, everyone!" The Magnificent Asagiri raised his hands to summon a round of applause from the crowd. "And did you come a long way to be part of the show tonight?"

"A-actually, I live two tube stops away..."

"Perfect! A local! Now everyone knows you're not colluding with the magical Chinese man!" He made a weird gesture with his hands to emphasise it.

Charli was caught off-guard mainly because she was sure his name was Japanese. That actually calmed her nerves, focusing on that possible gap in her knowledge rather than on the hundreds of pairs of eyes on her.

The magician winked at her before addressing the crowd. "Until now, I have shown you all the arts of illusion. But now, I will show you all the power of mentalism!"

A slight murmur went through the crowd. Even Charli wore a quizzical expression.

"Mentalism is the ability to read, and even influence, the minds of others. I can even communicate with people through pure thought!" Another flourish of his cape. Another hushed exclamation in the crowd.

He once again angled himself slightly at her, still addressing the masses, but one eye on her.

"Now my beautiful, impromptu assistant, stand in front of me. Face the crowd and do not turn back. And take this." He forced some sort of plastic square into her hand, and then jostled her towards the front of the stage.

Charli forced a meek smile onto her face. Just pay attention, try to work out the trick. I don't need to worry, no-one here knows me, I don't need to be embarrassed. Wait, is Joanna recording this!?

The Magnificent Asagiri's booming voice rang out from behind her and drowned out her anger. "I will now project a word directly into the lovely Charli's mind. She will write down the word on her whiteboard. I will then say it out loud, to prove my magical powers to you all!"

Charli looked down. Huh, it's quite low-tech. I preferred the vanishing cabinet.

"Activate." The magician said to her. His voice was so clear, the entire theatre must have heard it, especially with the microphone. Her face scrunched in confusion.

Wait, no, I can't look back at him. I'll just write it down, I guess...

She showed the word to the audience, she'd written it in big, childish letters so everyone could see the word. Not that it matters that much, he didn't even try to lower his voice. I don't get it at all.

The Magnificent Asagiri's voice echoed around the theatre again. It was once more filled with bombast and spectacle. "The word that my lovely assistant-by-chance has noted down is..." Charli saw some members of the audience lean forward in their seats, as if this was a surprise. "Activate!"

Gasps. Applause. Her hand in his, being lifted up, then down into a bow. Being ushered down the stairs and back to her seat. Letting go of his soft, manicured hand after he helped her onto the wooden steps.

Well, the trick worked. How did he do it? Maybe the acoustics of the room made his voice carry weirdly? No, someone would have seen his mouth move.

She shook her head.

Dammit. Oh well, I guess he's a professional for a reason. I wasn't going to be able to work it out.

Everyone within six seats of her and Joanna gave her an extra round of applause as she sat down. There were even a couple of wolf-whistles, which especially amused Joanna. Charli shot her an evil glance, and motioned angrily at her phone.

"I'm not uploading it! It's just for our memories, I swear!" Her friend rushed out. Charli gave a single dark glance, just to emphasise the consequences if Joanna went back on her word, and sat back down.

Another woman ("She's not as pretty as you," Joanna assured her) had joined the Magnificent Asagiri on stage for some sort of mind-reading card trick. The magician never let up his wild gesticulation and grand proclamations, working up the audience and keeping their attention focused on the main attraction - him.

As he surveyed his audience, Charli was sure their eyes met. She knew that was how it worked when you're on stage, if you just keep looking around everyone will feel like you've made eye contact with them.

It's presentation skills 101. But still, it really feels like he's looking at me. He would recognise me as his volunteer. He seems like the sort of showman who would. Might mention me as part of his patter later on. I should've thought of that before I went on stage...

"Hello, my lovely."

His voice was clear, carrying perfectly through the air between them. Charli looked around. Nobody else stirred. They were enraptured by his ridiculously showy card shuffling technique.

Going up on stage must have knocked me off balance more than I thought. Auditory hallucinations aren't a great sign. Maybe it's a side-effect of whatever hidden technology he was using for that trick? Oh, actually, maybe he slipped a wireless earpiece into my ear while he was manhandling me!

She rooted about in her left ear, then her right. There was nothing there.

Okay, maybe it's somewhere else on my body. No, it would work on stage but Joanna would have heard it.

She glanced to the side, Joanna was just as fixated on the performance as everyone else.

It's possible it's muffled by my clothes or something... I'll wait to see if it happens again. Yeah, I'm in a magic show, I can't panic over one thing I can't explain.

Charli settled back into the ample cushions of her seat. She tried to relax and watch the show, but she was still alert for anything weird.

Again, she was absolutely sure she had caught the Magnificent Asagiri's eye.

And then for a moment her imagination was filled by a clear image of herself. It was just her in the seat. Well, there were others around her like Joanna but they didn't matter. I look good. My dress is nice. I feel like... I think the low cut is what makes it so appealing. And my thighs poking out beneath the hem?

Wait, what am I thinking?

She felt blood rushing to her cheeks again. She looked around nervously. No response from Joanna or anyone else in the crowd. They were all concerned with the magician's ability to juggle playing cards.

That was weird. It was like I was seeing myself, on stage. And what was with how much I was feeling myself?

Fuck is this actually a hallucinatory episode!?

No, calm down, Charli. I'll go to the loos. Wash my face. Take a breath.

With a mumbled (and ignored) apology to Joanna, Charli squeezed past their seat neighbours and back to the aisles. She made to walk up to the galleries, and then to the toilets.

Her seat was empty. She could feel that fact.

She looked back at the stage. The Magnificent Asagiri wore his ridiculous smile as he caught the King of Hearts out of the air again with impressive precision.

She wanted to go back to watching the show.

Stay here.

That had been her first coherent thought.

She was walking back to her seat.

I was worried about something. Now I'm not. That's weird. But the show is cool, I did think that, I thought I wanted to watch it again.

But it was odd. It wasn't how I usually think. Stop, Charli, think it through properly.

She stood still in the middle of the aisle by the seats. No-one noticed, all eyes were on stage. She still felt self-conscious, though.

I'm lost in the middle of a huge crowd. I don't even know what I'm thinking.

No, that's not it. I don't know how I'm thinking.

The image of her empty chair was still in her head. Her memory still held the image of her sat, beautiful, in that seat. Both images were surrounded by ideas, implications, links and elaborations.

These... they're not just images. They're thoughts. But they're different from how I think. I've heard about this before, some people think in words like me, but some think in the abstract like this.

So I'm thinking thoughts in a different pattern to my own?

She looked up. The Magnificent Asagiri glanced in her direction again. He smiled. She felt his desire, his overwhelming confidence. His power.

Not as words, but as ideas and images, swirling into her brain.

Her attempts to form a normal, coherent train of thought were constantly derailed. The tracks she was trying to run her ideas down were flooding with whirlpools of sentiment and lust. She felt every part of the thoughts being forced onto her.

But she couldn't understand them.

It was an alien way of thinking. It wasn't how her brain worked. It was being forced on her, uncompromising but incomprehensible.

It had started with one word.

Activate.

Just a word. In a clear, strong voice. An anchor that she could understand. It fit in with the way she thought.

The vortex of alien thoughts paused. That was a simplification, it was more like she had entered the eye of the whirlpool, where nothing was moving. She could once again organise her thoughts.

I can work out what's going on. He used his magic trick, and he said it was projecting thoughts. So, if I assume it actually is magic, this is him forcing his thoughts onto me. That's why I saw myself from his perspective.

But that's ridiculous. It's a magic trick, there's a reasonable explanation. Some sort of drug? No, that would only affect me but everyone else would have still heard his voice.

I don't understand.

She tried to interpret the other thoughts swarming around her mind. Again, she was overwhelmed, forced back to the singular point where it had started.

Activate.

Did he know I would be forced back here? He couldn't know we think in different ways. No, he's a magician, he can probably 'cold read' me or whatever it's called. Or maybe he just thinks in such a weird way that this usually works.

That means that 'Activate' probably isn't random.

I'm meant to do something when I realise this. But I can't do anything, I'm trapped in my own head.

Unless... I need to understand, but my brain works differently. So I need to shut down. Reset. Look at things from his perspective.

I don't know how.

Activate.

It's part of the show. Maybe if I keep watching, I can understand the way he thinks. Maybe I can retrain my brain to understand his thoughts and accept them into my own. Maybe he will teach me afterwards. He knows where I am, he can find me after the show.

Then he can activate me.

Okay, Charli, go back to your seat. Pay attention.

She ran her hands through her hair. Her frustrated scowl became a relieved smile.

She took her seat and focused herself entirely on the stage. Another beautiful woman was being used as the Magnificent Asagiri's willing subject, but whenever she met the magician's eyes she knew she was the real subject. This performance was all for her.

With a glassy, happy stare, she absorbed everything she could. She tried to let go of her own ordered patterns of thought.

She tried to wash that out from her brain, so afterwards she could understand and receive his instructions.

---

I ended up taking a longer-than-expected break after the Halloween mini story-thon, brought about by business at work and Genshin Impact. But, we're back in the saddle here at deviantart.com/maurislave!

I feel like I was a bit rusty here, but maybe I can finesse rust by doing this sort of higher-concept story. The switching between narration and thought is a bit clumsy, but I think necessary to communicate the hypno-method-concept here.

Credit, as usual, to my lovely assistant Dormiria . Magic show themes makes the end-of-deviation name for the proofreader easy, at least.