Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,
says Clarke’s third law, yet it doesn’t feel particularly magical
when you’re trapped in a narrow tunnel, following pre-recorded instructions
played at you over and over again:
breathe in;
breathe out;
hold your breath;
resume breathing.

Perhaps it’s the emphasis placed on the word ‘sufficiently.’
After all, you are a child of the age of electronic gadgets,
so it takes more than half an hour of creaks and crackles
to make an impression on you. If anything, that bulky cube
with the narrow table sliding into the tunnel at its centre feels dated
compared to the latest smartphone glued to your hand,
and as an educated individual, you have a pretty good idea how it works.
Or maybe it’s a matter of definition, since ‘magic’ is still part of your vocabulary
but reserved for fireworks displays and first-date ambiance.

Whatever the reason, you might need some true magic
to escape the results of this scan.