There was absolutely nothing there. I turned back to continue talking to 08-003 and he was gone. I was startled at the disappearance. I looked around for a minute, but I really could not see him. I stopped and then smirked. "I get it. This is your own personal magic trick. I'll close my eyes and count down to 1. When I open my eyes, you'll return to me." I covered my eyes with my hands and counted down from 5. When I got to 1, I quickly dropped my hands to look in front of me. 08-003 was there again. It was the end of the trick. He was over it already. Seeing him look blankly at me, I clapped and said "Wow. The disappearing trick might be better than pulling things out of a hat. 08-001 might have a new rival in magic on his hands." 08-003 scoffed and smirked at me. "That wasn't even scratching the surface of what we can do. You'd be totally stumped." he promised. I shrugged. "Maybe. I have no clue how you managed to do this trick. Hat's with false bottoms or secret markings on cards are not new to me." I said. He tilted his head. "Yeah. Humans would do that. We don't." he said firmly.
If that was not the case, there could only be one answer. "Okay. I get it now. If there really is no false bottom or secret markings, then it has to be your nanites." 08-003's eyes widened in shock. "Shut up! Why the hell would you say that!?" he snapped as he tried to cover my mouth. I had hit the bullseye. "C'mon. You just told me." He glared at me. "No I didn't. I'd never tell a human our secrets." he spat. It was my turn to roll my eyes. "It was a process of elimination. I told you how human magicians do it. I'm not an idiot. None of those tricks fooled any of us. We just thought that since it was Jake that taught you, you'd do it the human way. The only way that a ball could suddenly appear in the hat would be if it was there the whole time. If there really is no false bottom in the fat, I guessed that the whole hat was made of nanites. It would be extremely easy for you to convert the inside material into a ball." "How could you know the hat was made of nanites?" he asked. I smiled. "You've all been to my clan before. I know how tall AEP units can get when they want. 08-001's a pretty short boy."
Glaring at me, 08-003 said "I really want to wipe that out of your mind. You don't deserve to know this, human." I sighed deeply. "If it really bothers you, I can keep it all a secret. Jake is part of Hunter's family. I think that having this close of a bond with Jake and each other shows how nice and kind you all can be. 08-003 flashed me his sharp teeth. "I could kill you in an instant. Shut up." he frowned. I pat him on the head like he was a rowdy kid and said "I will. We still have that deal of ours in place." He slapped my hand away. I stung an awful lot, so I covered the area of impact with my other hand. 08-003 stuck out his tongue like it was gross. "You think you can use my body for your sick pleasure again?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Depends. How are your clan coffers looking!? Fighting a war on so many fronts has to be expensive." I said. He just sucked his teeth and waved me off. "You've already funded Sonic Clan several times more than that." I smirked. "Exactly. I don't want Sonic Clan to fall into the Conqueror faction's hands. I might send them to Electric Clan's transmission hub."
