Nika stepped under the dome of the Aurora Circus, feeling the sawdust creaking under her soles. The tent was bigger than a church, and the lights painted golden circles on the canvas. From the dressing rooms came the smell of paint, varnish and roasted sweet sugar. The first day on tour was supposed to smell of adventure, and it smelled of nerves. Nika readjusted her gloves and squeezed the notebook with the schedule for the evening show. - 'You are our new assistant of lights and props,' Madame Kala announced. The headmistress had a star-spangled coat and a voice that silenced the noise. - 'Don't go near the Number Zero Box during the show, please. It's apparently a relic of an old risqué illusionist's Lum number from many years ago. It disappeared last winter, and the chest supposedly doesn't like curious hands. Nika nodded, but curiosity was already working in her like a hidden mechanism. After trying, she found an envelope with her name and a drawing of a star under the headlight. Inside lay a small metal key and a short sentence: 'Come before the premiere, alone'. The key matched the shape of the lock of the Number Zero Box, glinting just offstage. As Nika pressed it against the cool metal, Sofia, the acrobat, appeared next to her. - 'Don't move it now, Nika,' she hissed quietly from over her shoulder. - 'I saw it twitch once on its own in the middle of the night, without touching it. The main number starts in ten minutes, and then we have your light rehearsal. Nika put the key in her pocket, but the Box trembled as if she could hear every whisper. Suddenly the spotlights dimmed, the orchestra paused the piece and the audience held its breath. A rhythmic tapping came from inside, matching exactly the rhythm of the Kapellmeister's drums. Sofia looked pleadingly, but Nika had already slipped the key into the lock, feeling a slight resistance. The lock jumped, the flap swung open to the thickness of a finger, and a cool light spilled out onto the boards. The shadow of a hand shimmered in the glare, and Nika halted the movement of the key. Madame Kali's voice rang out from the arena, sure and loud, calling for silence. A new beam of light lit up at the top of the dome, straight for the Number Zero Box. Before Nika had time to close the flap, something from inside pressed harder.