Daniel’s Week: Work, Research, and the Mystery of the Lockup
Day One: The Return to Reality
Monday morning hit Daniel like a brick wall.
After a weekend of mind-bending magic, swapping body parts, and narrowly avoiding (simulated) doom, he found himself sitting at his desk at the bank, staring blankly at spreadsheets.
Collections. Again.
Compared to their weekend, his usual work routine felt numbingly normal. The most excitement he had was an irate customer trying to argue that a direct debit reversal was “basically free money.”
Still, while he outwardly played the role of a professional, his mind kept drifting back to the lockup.
The magic was real.
And the more he thought about it, the more one question gnawed at him: How big was that place?
Day Two: The First Clue
By Tuesday, Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about the lockup.
It had seemed large inside—far too large. He hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but now, sitting at work, he started doing some mental calculations.
How many illusions had they found in there? How much space had they used?
So, after work, he drove past the storage facility. From the outside, it looked… small. Just a row of identical metal doors, no different from the others.
He even checked the site’s website—each unit was supposed to be roughly the size of a garage.
But inside? It was practically a theatre.
That didn’t make sense.
He decided he needed to measure it properly.
Day Three: The Floor Plan Doesn’t Add Up
Wednesday night, Daniel returned to the lockup alone. He brought a tape measure, a notepad, and his phone’s flashlight.
Starting at the entrance, he measured out the dimensions of the space—walls, corners, the distance from the door to the back wall. Then, he compared it to the numbers listed online.
His stomach tightened.
According to his measurements, the lockup was over three times larger on the inside than it should have been.
And that wasn’t even including the wardrobe, the hidden compartments, or the “extra” rooms that seemed to appear when they needed them.
Day Four: The Research Begins
Thursday night, Daniel buried himself in research.
He checked old maps, property records, anything that might explain what was going on. Had the building been expanded? Was there a basement level? A hidden section?
But nothing added up.
The storage unit had always been listed as the same size. No record of renovations, no weird history, nothing.
And yet, when they were inside, the space seemed to shift to accommodate whatever illusion they were testing.
He started flipping through the magician’s book again, looking for any mention of the lockup itself. If the previous owner had stored all these props here, maybe they had noticed something, too.
Sure enough, buried in the notes at the back of the book, he found a scribbled message:
"The stage adapts to the performance. Do not question it—simply perform."
Day Five: The Bigger Question
By Friday, Daniel couldn’t concentrate at work. His mind was locked on that one sentence from the magician’s book:
"The stage adapts to the performance. Do not question it—simply perform."
What did that mean?
Was the lockup not just storing the illusions but shaping itself to them? Did it only expand when they were actively using the tricks? If so, was there a limit?
He considered testing it further, but he hesitated.
Something about that note felt like a warning.
He remembered the moment they first stepped into the lockup—how, at first, the space seemed normal. It had only started feeling bigger once they started opening things, testing tricks, performing.
The act of using the magic was what made the space change.
And if that was true…
What happened if they pushed it too far?
Day Six: A Trip to the Magic Shop
On Saturday, Daniel took a detour to an old magic shop he’d been to once before. It was a cramped little place, tucked between a barber shop and a closed-down record store.
The bell jingled as he stepped inside, and the owner, an older man with a neatly trimmed mustache, looked up from behind the counter.
“Back again?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
Daniel hesitated. He didn’t know how to phrase what he wanted to ask. Instead, he started browsing the shelves, filled with classic tricks—cups and balls, trick decks, rope illusions.
After a few minutes, he finally said, “Have you ever heard of a lockup that’s bigger on the inside?”
The shopkeeper paused.
Then, slowly, he put down the deck of cards he was shuffling.
“That depends,” he said carefully. “Are you asking about a trick… or something else?”
Daniel met his gaze. “Something else.”
A long silence. Then the man nodded.
“You should be careful,” he said. “Some stages aren’t just for performances. Some performances create the stage.”
Daniel frowned. “What does that mean?”
The shopkeeper studied him for a moment before answering.
“Tell me,” he said, “when you first stepped into that space, did it already look like a magician’s workshop?”
Daniel shook his head. “No. It looked like a storage unit full of old props.”
“But now?”
“…It feels like a theater.”
The shopkeeper gave a knowing smile. “Exactly.”
Daniel swallowed.
“So what happens if we keep performing?”
The shopkeeper’s smile faded. “Then you might find yourselves on a stage you can’t leave.”
Day Seven: A Warning for the Group
Sunday night, Daniel sat in his apartment, staring at the magician’s book.
He hadn’t told Veronica or Elizabeth about what he’d learned yet. He wasn’t sure how to bring it up.
Would they even care?
Veronica had loved the feeling of the catsuit, of moving like a thief in the night.
And Elizabeth had thrived in her transformations—switching legs, stretching into impossible shapes, embracing the impossible.
Would they want to stop?
And if they didn’t stop, what would happen?
He ran a hand through his hair, sighing.
Tomorrow, they’d all be back at the lockup.
And whether they realized it or not…
The stage was already being set.
Chapter Twenty One: What did the ladies do this week?
Chapter Twenty: The Captured Cat gets wet.
Chapter Nineteen: Veronica becomes the Captured Cat.
Chapter Eighteen: The Living Dummy
Chapter Seventeen: Spilt switch and back again.
Chapter Sixteen: The Heist goes wrong, oh my.
Chapter Fifteen: Preparing for the Heist
Chapter Fourteen: Introducing The Transposition Trick
Chapter Thirteen: Stretching, Spikes and Shackles.
Chapter Twelve: Blades and Misalignment
Chapter Eleven: Veronica finds her suit
Chapter Ten: The Lockup. Veronica gets a glow up
Chapter Nine: Compacting Veronica
Chapter Eight: Pancakes and inflating balloons
Chapter Seven: But wait, there's more!
Chapter Four: One becomes two, two become one
Chapter Three: Restoration of a Lady