‎Chapter 11: Sleepless

Samanael knocked on Leonardo's door again. She had had to pick him up several times in the last few days because he had overslept. He had been looking overtired for weeks, but by now it had taken on almost pathological proportions. She was worried. He simply had far too many projects going on at once. Spells he wanted to learn. Spells he had to learn for seminars. His search for an accessible source of Gallifreynium. To that end, he continued to search for a way to open a portal to Carcerus. Even though she had told him a hundred times that it was pointless. And then there was this strange, plate-sized flying disk that he spent every spare second tinkering with.

The door opened a crack. Leo peeked out cautiously: "Come in. But be careful! Only open the door as far as absolutely necessary."

He opened the door a little further and she was just squeezing through when something knocked against her leg. Reflexes from a century long past took over. She let out a shrill squeak and jumped back. A flying disk standing on the edge took advantage of the gap and whizzed away, flying spirals down the corridor. The device had become much more elegant since the first design she had seen lying around. A ring rounded on the outside and two counter-rotating rotors in the middle, one above the other and protected at the top and bottom by a grid. At the front was something like a small cabin, through the window of which she had seen something that almost looked like this... But no. Probably just an optical illusion.

"Damn it! I told you... never mind." He opened the door wide and let her in.

"What was that?"

"Autopilot test drive. I had set it to automatically avoid all obstacles. Unfortunately, the radio connection to the remote control failed right after that."

"And how do you fix a mistake like that?"

"You just have to press the reset button at the bottom of the flying disk."

"Then what's the problem?"

"The flying disk is adjusted so that it avoids all obstacles. Even obstacles that move towards it."

Samantha grinned broadly: "You can't catch that thing anymore?"

"At least I haven't managed it yet. The rudder flaps at eight points, both above and below, and the double rotor make the flying disk extremely manoeuvrable. The sensors are state of the art. Micro-cameras in all directions, infrared sensors to detect dangerous heat sources, and radar rangefinders and proximity sensors all around."

"How much longer will this thing fly now?"

"As I haven't yet found a way to power it with magic, it runs on a normal battery. It's not fully charged and the disk flies completely uncontrolled at high speed. That means the power lasts for... a maximum of two hours. Rather less."

"Then that will probably take care of itself."

"Not quite. The battery costs just under two hundred euros and I'd also like to catch Lom again. You can leave your coat on now. I'll just put my shoes on quickly and then we'll go."

"Lom?"

"Well, you know that these physical illusions only last as long as they are in contact with a living organism. That's why I have a lab mouse..."

"Oh! Lom. Living organism mouse. Right?"

Norman was visibly surprised that she had guessed that so quickly: "Yes."

"You're impossible. So let's go. Let's save Lom!"

"And my battery!"

*

"...And then the idea with the butterfly net! That was brilliant!" Leonardo gesticulated so wildly with his latte macchiato that a little spilled over the edge and ran down the glass.

"But it only worked after you created one with nylon threads, which then held. So this spell really is the most ingenious thing these magicians have come up with so far."

"I think so too. Have I ever mentioned that I only learned magic because of this spell?"

"Yes, you did. And you know that for a fact."

"That's right." The student with the photographic memory leaned back contentedly in the comfortable armchair: "I've got my battery, my lab mouse and I'm sure I've worked out the error in the remote control. It's purely a software problem that I'll correct the next time I try."

"What do you actually need that thing for? I'd bet you have enough other problems."

Leo suddenly became serious: "I... Let's just say I know someone who can do a lot of research for me. But in return, I first have to get these flying disks working for him. I don't have the parts to build them properly and, to be honest, many of them aren't even commercially available. Most of them would be custom-made. So the only way is with magic. And it only lasts as long as the mouse is in it. My... client is just a, well... how should I put it... he likes to have everything under control."

"A complete control freak?"

Leo sighed: "Yes. He absolutely can't cope if he doesn't know exactly how much energy is left in the batteries and how much longer he can fly. And that's exactly the kind of display he wants for the mouse."

"A fuel gauge for a mouse?"

"So far, I have a micro ECG and EEG, plus a feed level indicator and a water level indicator. But how good do you think the documentation on the Internet is about the normal pulse and EEG of mice? Completely useless! I had to find everything in the library from books! And that's a really frustrating job. I had to read a dozen books on mice until I found some experimental documentation that I could use."

"How far along are you?"

"Almost finished. I still have to write a program that also takes into account the age and previous illnesses of the mouse, then I'll be done."

"You're not serious, are you?"

"My instructions were very precise. But just a few more hours of leisurely programming work and then I'll be done." He yawned loudly, then slapped his hand over his mouth a little late and quickly shut his mouth again: "Sorry. That was probably one night too many."

"More than one. You look terrible. Swallows could nest in the circles under your eyes. And you haven't seen daylight for a long time with that complexion."

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"Big light bad!" He imitated the silly caveman voice of a goblin from an old fantasy movie surprisingly well.

"It's a wonder you're still fit enough to run that fast."

"That's no secret. It's the fitness training."

"You go to the gym? Tell me that again off campus."

"No seriously. Two hours of intensive training twice a week and an hour of back exercises every other day. That keeps me at a high enough level to spend most of the rest of the week sitting in front of the computer or poring over books. I can't work well with completely atrophied muscles and constant back pain. This is so much more effective."

"You're full of surprises."

"Yes, but now that the adrenaline of the chase has worn off, I should really go to bed slowly."

"Sounds like a good idea. Then I'll make a detour to our favorite disco and see what's going on there."

"Everything ok there? You seem worried."

"Well, I'm there almost every night. But still, someone managed to slip LSD pills to some of the teenagers. One tried to lick the paint off the wall because he thought it was cotton candy and a sixteen-year-old took her clothes off in the middle of the dance floor... stop smiling! That's not funny at all!"

"You're right. I'm sorry. Did she at least look good?"

"Leonardo!"

"It's okay... it's okay...!"

"I can accept it if people drink alcohol. I don't mind if they smoke marijuana. But hard drugs or that chemical devil stuff? That's addictive. It destroys the body and the soul. And selling this devil stuff to teenagers! If I catch this guy..."

"Yes? Then what are you doing with him?"

"Then... well. I'll try to persuade him to find another source of income."

"Shouldn't be difficult. Most of the guests there are either students or their friends from the city. There shouldn't be much money to be made. How much does LSD cost on the black market?"

"Erik said he paid five euros for half a dozen tablets. There really can't be much profit in it."

Leo briefly estimated the cost of chemicals and laboratory materials and then slowly shook his head: "It can't be worth it. Even if someone uses the cheapest materials and can use a lab somewhere for free, they're still paying for it. And even if he only wants to attract new addicts, they can hardly pay anything later. From an economic point of view, it makes no sense at all."

"Then why is he doing it?"

"I have no idea. I'll take a little detour to the labs at the Faculty of Chemistry and see if anyone there knows anything."

"You do that. I'll see you tomorrow after the first lecture?"

"Okay."

"And don't do anything crazy."

He looked at her completely innocently: "Of course not."

"No, really, don't do anything crazy!"

"I have no idea what you're expecting."

"Me neither. That's the worrying thing."

*

Leonardo was sure that only real freaks could still be in the lab at this time of day. Students for whom chemistry was also a hobby. In other words, exactly the kind of researchers he was. And he had been right. He tucked the small metal vials more tightly into his pocket. The group of Norwegian students had been extremely accommodating when he had asked them about their current experiment. A means of suppressing his need to sleep. Simply perfect. Just what he had needed! A few minutes ago, he had wondered if he would make it to his bed. And now he could work through the whole night. He whistled loudly, and quite wrongly, to himself.

*

Odwin watched Leonardo through the window of the chemistry faculty until he disappeared behind another building. Only then did he turn away from the window and nod to the three chemists with satisfaction: "Excellent work. I assume that the drug will fulfill all the promises?"

"Once he has taken the drug for a week, he will be completely addicted to it. Then you'll have the university's most talented computer expert on your side. A huge tactical advantage when it comes to controlling the university."

"Indeed."

"Yes, since you grew up in a completely anachronistic world, that's your biggest weakness after all..." The student only noticed Odwin's increasingly angry look somewhat belatedly, broke off seamlessly and quickly looked for a new topic: "... ahm... Oh yes, the other new product turned out to be a bit too aggressive in the test. Almost thirty percent of the test subjects complained of nagging headaches and the feeling of a slimy substance on their skin."

"Interesting. Dysaesthetic sensory disturbances and drug-induced headaches. We will add a little more norephedrine for the next batch and reduce the amount of methylamphetamine."

The chemistry student tilted his head thoughtfully: "Could work, but..."

"But?"

"The long-term health effects..."

"Irrelevant. We can still work on that. If I wanted a drug that had no physical side effects, I would turn to your colleagues at the Faculty of Esoteric Alchemy."

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to use magic? You should be more familiar with that."

Odwin shook his head vigorously: "I don't trust magic. My father, the other gods, all those oh so wise and powerful beings in my homeland. They all rely on magic as a solution to all their problems. Transformations, curses, artifacts. And they are all immortal. Immortal! Do you know what that means?"

The two students hesitated briefly, one was about to answer when Odwin interrupted him: "It means they live forever. You can't just wait for a place in the great circle of the mighty to become available on its own. You have to fight for it. And I won't be able to do that using methods that the others have been practising for millennia."

"But how are you going to gain power with it?"

"Worship. Like all beings from Asgard, we are bound by the cosmic laws that govern our home dimension. The Primordial God who created my home made it a much more obvious game board than most. Here, the personal power of each god is dependent on the number of followers who regularly pay homage to him. The cult I founded here is slow to grow. There are too many churches, cults, sects and mystics here. I don't even stand out here! In this university alone, I'm competing with three other demigods and five cults. My charm and my divine aura aren't enough here. With so few followers, my power is still too low to work true miracles. So I have to offer something else. Besides, every god needs a theme. No one is just Erik the god. But Erik, the god of war. Or Erik, the god of butterflies. All the really good old concepts are already taken."

"I understand! There is no other god of drugs yet!"

"There are gods of wine and gods of sleep, but there are no gods of drugs, especially party drugs."

The two students looked at each other briefly and then raised their arms in a gesture of worship, grinning: "Long live Odwin, god of party drugs."

"I realize you don't really mean it, but I appreciate the gesture." He waved them out of the room with a majestic gesture. Only when the door had closed behind them did he clench his hands into fists: "One day they will be serious. One day..."