Lisa bit her lip. “Um. A li-little... uh… Mmm.” Her toes curled. Along with her fingers and head, they were the only parts of her left exposed.
Chardonnay picked up another piece from the stack, half a sphere with a hole cut in the back. She walked over and turned the board Lisa was fastened to until her volunteer was facing stage right, then latched down the sphere behind her head. “It’s a good thing you were wearing a ponytail, Lisa,” the magicienne said, pulling the brunette’s hair out the hole in the back, before rotating her to face front again.
Chardonnay picked up one more piece- the other half of the sphere. Inside, was another spike. “Well, Lisa, are you feeling very secured? Will I be completely restrained when you lock me in there?”
“I’m feeling completely restrained, yes, but not very secure…” She eyed the spike on the last piece of metal.
Chardonnay looked down. “Oh, this? It’s just a gag designed to prevent you from moving your head inside the cover.” She placed the end of the spike between Lisa’s lips, then slid the piece in place, where it latched securely. “Lisa, can you hear me? Can you move?”
Lisa’s fingers and toes wiggled, the only parts that poked out of the restraining device. From inside could be heard, “Mmm-hmm… Nnnnwww I aaannt.”
Chardonnay turned to the audience. “It occurs to me we’ve spent so much time with Lisa demonstrating how secure I’ll be inside there, that rather than switch, we may as well just let Lisa take my place. Lisa, is that all right with you?”
The volunteer frantically shook her fingers. “Nnnwww!”
Chardonnay smiled. “I didn’t catch that, sorry. Just ask me, and I’ll open it up.”
“Leh ee oou!”
“What was that? Okay, I’ll just assume you’re fine with taking my place, then! The next part would have been difficult for me to show you how to do, anyway.” Chardonnay stepped forward and motioned back to her erstwhile volunteer, completely helpless within the steel tubes. “Ladies and gentlemen, I now present The Piecemeal Maiden!”
The magicienne returned to the pile, picking up some disks with a thin mechanism attached. She stepped behind her volunteer and rotated the restraint 180 degrees, so the audience could see Lisa’s ponytail extending from the back. Her fingers kept wiggling.
“These disks are razor sharp,” Chardonnay announced, as she clipped a set to the device, over the join where Lisa’s left arm met her shoulder, “and spring-loaded.” She clipped another set over the space where Lisa’s right shoulder would be. “They’re also on a simple timer mechanism.” Chardonnay placed two sets of blades at the tops of the tubes covering Lisa’s legs. “I just twist the dial, and the countdown begins.” She placed the final set at the base of the sphere covering Lisa’s head, then rotated the board so Lisa would be facing the audience again.
Chardonnay stepped completely behind the metal maiden, and there were a quick series of ratcheting sounds. The magicienne then stepped to the side. “There, now Lisa has about ten seconds to escape before it’s too late!”
Her fingers and toes wiggled frantically. From inside, the audience heard, “Mmmm! Elllh! NnnAAA-” then a SNNNICK! and the sound cut off, as a flash of steel appeared at the front of the sphere, in the bottom. Slowly, the sphere turned, sliding sideways, then fell to the board, the ponytail trailing behind it. It landed with a *thunk* and rolled onto the stage. Two more SNNNICK!s sounded, and steel appeared at the joins between the arms. Both the upper tubes fell at once, clanging to the stage, the fingers that emerged from the ends curled but otherwise motionless.
“Hmm,” muttered Chardonnay. “I may have gotten the timing a little off.” There was another SNNNICK! and blades appeared at the top of the legs. Slowly, the torso section tilted forwards, then fell to the floor, knocking the sphere containing Lisa’s head out of the way. Chardonnay looked at the two large tubes, Lisa’s toes still sticking out the bottom, then down at the sphere by her feet. She picked it up and looked at the bottom. Lisa’s ponytail dangled down to the magicienne’s hips. “Yes, just as I feared. The collar’s damaged. Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but the pieces won’t be able to latch back together, so I’m afraid I can’t restore her.” She smiled, as though she’d planned the whole thing. “Well, the show must go on!”
Chardonnay stacked the pieces on the board by Lisa’s immobile legs, and pushed the whole thing hard towards the edge of the stage. It skidded off on the casters, then, just as it entered the wings, tipped over out of view, along with the crash of metal. “Oops,” Chardonnay put her right hand to her mouth. ”Well, she can’t feel it now, no harm done…”
“So who’s my next victim?” she grinned wickedly, looking out at the audience.