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You're shocked by how quickly it happens. One moment, the pencil is sitting completely still by your grandma's arm—and then an instant later, it's rattling to a stop right in front of you, as if an invisible hand just plucked it out of the air.

By your side, your grandma claps her hands.

"Oh, that's fantastic!" she exclaims. "I think it worked better than I've ever seen it. Here—I'll reverse the coordinates, and you can try sending it back."

She types for a couple of seconds before gesturing for you to take the mouse again. You click it once more—and before you can blink, the pencil is back by your grandma's side.

It's difficult not to be infected by her joy as she beams at you.

"Honestly, Huknock, that was fantastic. I know it may seem simple, but it can take a while to know just how to communicate with a machine like this—and you seem to have the knack for it already. I still can't promise that our plan will be a full success, but I hope you've had a little encouragement from this that it might just be possible."

It's hard to deny just how encouraging it is to see a spell work instantaneously—and with nothing more than a click of a button. Of course, there was more preparation that went into it beforehand, but it's still so different from the way you've used magic before that it almost feels like…well, a magic of its own. And no matter how much still might be uncertain, you feel a little more confident now that you've seen just how well this machine can work.

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