The Art Of The Houdini Scientist, And The Other Soulless Zombies Who Were Never Here. . ‪.‬

Houdini Scientist: Noun.

1) A young inventor that hides the secrets to her science behind elaborate misdirection and an illusion of incomprehensible complexity, like a magician would.

2) Just another soulless zombie trapped in a secret base that officially doesn't exist.

3) A girl that will save the world, if she can save herself first.

* * *

"Some savants can play concert-level piano at the age of five, without ever taking a lesson. Others can do advanced math in their heads,
draw a Picasso with crayons, or recite every word they've ever read or heard. Her piano was a lathe, a plasma cutter, and an automated mill. And the songs she played shook the world."

* * *

In the control room of a secret mountain base, a dozen engineers crowded around a wall of monitors as the girl on the screens connected the final pieces of a month long, multimillion-dollar project.
"They can't seriously be thinking about turning that thing on, can they?" the new engineer said.
"Believe it."
"She's what, thirteen?"
Stepping closer to the screen, the lead engineer just shook his head, "I've seen her like this before. Almost a trance the—"
"Have you looked closely at that thing?" He pointed to the array of ducts, pipes, and tubes that fed an enormous ring bolted to the ceiling, dripping with frost. "Staring up, it almost looks like a—"
"A Stargate, right out of the TV sho—"
"And they're prepared to let a teenage girl not only build one, but turn it on? Are you crazy?"
Right then she hesitated, held out her hand as if conducting an orchestra, and pointed to the camera.
"God help us," the lead engineer said, sending more power than the entire US grid surging through the alien-looking device.
Booooommmmmm!!!
They plunged into darkness as a muffled explosion rumbled through the base. "Richter 3.9!" someone announced, lights flickering on.
"Get me eyes in that chamber!" the XO said. "I want to see what kind of rabbit she just pulled from our hat."

A much calmer eleven years earlier...

The newly transferred major showed his badge at the gate...

The Art of the Houdini Scientist is a prequel to The Hummingbird Series (Patent Mine, Hell from a Well, The Heredity of Hummingbirds, and Mourning After Dawn) and Daughters of Immortality

Prequel, in this case, literally means it was written years after "Patent Mine" but takes place (within the storyline) before "Patent Mine". Because of this it naturally, and unavoidably ends where the other begins. The books in this series can best be thought of like seasons on TV shows, with "The Art of the Houdini scientist..." as season one.