She is

I give Blake a pitying look, "For the third and final time, Blake, there is no such bloody thing as magic!" I shouted and stalked off toward the shelves. Maybe there was a manual for this thing somewhere.

"Come on, man!" Blake shouted after me, "What could it hurt to try?"

"Sandy!" I shouted back, "Smack Blake for me, and tell him he's being an idiot..."

I cracked my neck, enjoying the moment's peace as I walked away from Abbot and Costello. Magic. Of all the retarded ideas. I stalked into the book area, looking for something useful. There had to be a manual in here somewhere for trick rings. "Aether and the Mind... Alchemy for Dummies... Astrology... Animism... this is just the As?" I mused. These shelves seemed to go on well past the size of the store as viewed from the outside. "It must actually be using part of the neighboring space..."

"Hey Cal, come here a moment!" I heard Sandy's voice echoing through the stacks. Holy shit, how far had I walked?

"Just a second!" I called back, intending to press on to the next intersection and see if I could find the Rs for rings, or the Ms for manuals... but I found myself walking back toward the register as if on autopilot. I tried to stop my feet. They didn't stop.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!" She shouted, her tone joking. My feet didn't take it that way, though, as I broke out into a sprint. I skidded to a halt on the opposite side of the counter from her, "Hey, I was just kidding. You didn't have to run."

"Yeah, about that..." I said slowly, scratching the back of my head, "I uh... I think we have a problem."

"No way..." Sandy said slowly, her expression processing from astonishment to amusement to a rather disturbing looking grin.

"Sandy..." I said slowly, "Now just hang on a minute..."

"What's the matter, Cal? Don't you trust me?" she asked sweetly. Too sweetly.

"Not on a bet," I said slowly, "But we don't know how this all works. If I understood the paper correctly, you probably have to tell me to take it off,"

"Alright," she said slowly "Fuddy duddy," then she paused, thinking for a moment. Then she took a deep breath "Forget that you're wearing the ring. Instead, you should believe that I told you to remove it and you did, and the ring on your finger now is just a normal one that you always wear." she said slowly, "From now on, when you obey my orders, believe it's totally normal. Don't think that it's frightening, or that you are under control, think that you are obeying me because I know what's best."

"That's better" I said, satisfied. I thought I slipped the ring off of my finger, though I'm not sure where I put it after that, "Whether it's magic or some kind of advanced technology, the stuff in here is powerful. We'd better get out of here before we blow ourselves up or worse."

"No," Sandy said, shaking her head, "This is the opportunity of a lifetime. We're not leaving, don't suggest it again."

I shrugged, "Okay." Sandy knew best after all, "But if we're not leaving, we should be careful. The items behind the counter are clearly dangerous and not very well labeled. Even if they are the best things here, there should be plenty of items in the rest of the store that are safer."

"That's a possibility..." Sandy said slowly, though it looked like she might be thinking of something else too. I shrugged. Whatever she wanted to do was fine with me. Sandy knows best.