The following Saturday.

Most of the technically oriented students had had little to do on their first day. Some spontaneous LAN parties over the university network had started shortly after lunch and some were still in full swing. Leonardo got up from his office chair after almost four hours of Counter-Strike with a completely cramped back and aching mouse fingers. His vertebrae made soft, ugly noises as he stretched extensively. He searched his den for something nutritious to no avail. Then he slipped on his jacket, walked down the stairs of the dormitory and made his way to the nearest kiosk.

He had barely stepped out of the door of the dormitory when he bumped into a few fellow students from his first semester. Mark, Luke and John, also known as 'The Incomplete Gospel'. With their plaster-wrapped glasses, sleeveless wool vests and pen holders in their vest pockets, they looked like the proverbial nerds. An effect that was completely intentional in this case. After years of being confronted with the corresponding prejudices as nerds, they had at some point decided to dress and behave accordingly. Leonardo had never understood why the three of them had managed to be considered absolutely cool ever since. "Hey Leo! Move your clubs over and lend a hand!". Markus waved at him encouragingly. The three of them had provisionally wrapped a vaguely round object almost two meters in diameter with blankets and were driving it along the path on a much too small, wobbly ladder wagon. While Markus pulled in front, the other two in the back were busy preventing the load from falling off. Given the trouble they were obviously having, the thing was probably not only unwieldy but also quite heavy. The loud squeaking, overloaded wheels of the ladder truck also spoke for themselves.

Leo waved back in amusement: "I hope you haven't stolen another floating mine. You wouldn't make it off the university campus."

"If you help out, you're welcome to take a look at our project later."

"I don’t need to be told twice." Leonardo sprinted the short distance over and looked for a spot next to the wagon where he could hold the load securely. "Feels massively heavy. What's under there?"

Markus briefly wiped his fingers through his short, hydrogen-white hair, lowered his voice, leaned over to Leo and lowered his voice: "After the café was such a success, we thought we'd set up another alternative location in the city. One where we can also drink a little alcohol. The guys from the Hacking Team convinced the city council that the old power station had been successfully sold. They were so happy that they didn't have to pay the demolition costs that they didn't realize until now that we had simply transferred the few thousand euros, they were still demanding pro forma for the site via a few detours from their other accounts."

"Great idea. Now that all the machines have long since been removed and scrapped, there's plenty of space. I assume you've also provided electricity and water there?"

"Of course we did. We simply tapped into the old lines and suppressed the corresponding warning messages and displays at the local power company. Of course, we can't just order a technician to connect the power lines. And we had to rebuild a few things."

"I can have a look at the wiring. But now let's talk about it! What nice things have you hidden here?"

"You know the elephant graveyard, don't you?"

"The underground warehouse at the northern end of the university campus, where all the decommissioned spaceships and the like are supposedly stored?"

"Exactly. And now guess who our dear janitor let in there." He grinned proudly.

"Not really?!? How did you get him to do that? I mean, old Schickelgruber is all right, but he could get into real trouble for that. He's not doing this out of the pure joy of his heart, is he?"

"I simply offered him to take his coffee breaks in our Café Fraktal in the future. He has peace and quiet there and much better coffee than in the normal cafeteria."

"You let one of the university employees into our café? Are you stupid? Do you want them to close us down?"

"He already knew about it anyway. Two weeks ago, I happened to catch him repairing our water connections at night. Apparently, we interrupted the water supply to one of the toilets on the second floor when we tapped into the pipe. He said that as janitor he regularly visits the last corners of the university and of course he noticed the steady stream of students in an unused classroom. But he didn't want to disturb us, so he always repaired everything late at night."

"But now let's get back to the actual topic. What exactly did you steal?"

"Stealing? Us?!? What an incredible insinuation!" He looked around briefly and made sure that no one else was within earshot. He stopped the rickety vehicle, walked over to Leo and spoke quietly and conspiratorially: "You remember that huge chunk of metal that Soran had in tow with his space fighter and was supposed to be taking to his home base? The thing that probably interfered with his hyperdrive and caused his unexpected dimensional plunge and crash landing in the middle of our basketball court?"

"Sure. He claimed at the time that it was the remains of the battle bridge of a destroyed enemy battle cruiser, which he was supposed to take to his home base for analysis. But no one has ever figured it out."

"Exactly. The interesting parts can't be broken open because they dissipate the mechanical or thermal energy into the interior and store it. The prevailing theory is that any part secured in this way would detonate in a nuclear explosion even before the outer shell is breached."

"That's why they locked it all away."

"I've now looked through the old records. The thing we stole is a kind of holographic display. We can't create holograms without a suitable computer or interface, but if you send in randomly modulated signals, it's a really cool laser show!"

"And the chances of us blowing up the whole city in the process are minimal." Leonardo's enthusiastic answer was clearly meant to be honest, which would certainly have shocked any reasonably sensible listener. Fortunately, no one was present.

With renewed enthusiasm, Leo and the other students braced themselves against the ladder truck until they reached the university gate. A short distance from the gate, Markus had already called another ally, who then drove out of the parking lot in his rickety old Mercedes Sprinter and was waiting for them in front of the gate in the bus parking lot. With some joint effort, the five students managed to heave the heavy, shrouded metal ball into the loading space. Just as they had finished, Norman came jogging up from the direction of the university. Although he had set a good pace, he was hardly breathing any faster: "Hi Leo, can I help you with something? That just looked really close a few times. I called out to you to wait until I got there, but I guess you didn't hear me over the noise of the engine running."

Leonardo looked almost angrily at Norman's strong upper arms and then slammed the door of the Sprinter shut: "Great. Couldn't you have come by a few minutes earlier?"

"I didn't know you needed help. All you had to do was call me. I have my cell phone with me."

"I can't always think of everything. It doesn't matter. Anyway, we have to get going. We still have a lot of work to do." He was about to get into the passenger seat when Norman stopped him: "Wait a minute, are you going to drive off like that?"

"Why?"

"Aren't you going to attach that weird metal ball?"

"What's the point? My three colleagues in the back of the car just hold on to them while driving."

The blonde student simply looked at him, waiting. Leo became uncertain. "Or not?"

"If this thing is as heavy as it looked when you heaved it up, you won't even get through the first bend before your three fellow students are crushed."

"Really? Well, maybe I should have calculated the inertial load beforehand..." Leo ran his hand meekly through his short black hair.

Norman patted him on the shoulder encouragingly: "Don't worry. We'll manage. Surely the crate has a tow rope with it? Great. Give me that, I'll make sure the thing doesn't move an inch. And then I'd better come with you and help you unload it. Okay?"

Without any problems, they brought the now secured load to the old power station. Once there, other helpers were already standing by, making it easy to move the heavy equipment into place.

Despite the constant, cheerful jokes and silliness, the work progressed quickly. The room that the students had chosen as their dance floor still looked like the old factory hall, which in principle it was. The large generators had long since been dismantled and removed. The valuable copper cables, as well as most of the pipes, had ended up at a scrap metal dealer. To make maintenance work easier, there was a balustrade secured with a metal railing at a height of three meters. Two students with welding torches were working with more enthusiasm than skill to repair wobbly spots on the railings and stairs. Others were attaching black fabric panels with fluorescent, abstract patterns to strategically placed points along the walls and ceiling.

Norman surveyed the room with interest: "Where exactly is the sphere going now?"

Markus pointed to an old crane that could be moved along a rail on the ceiling: "We hook it onto the crane, drive it up and then park the thing right at the center of the ceiling."

Norman nodded in agreement: "But you should connect the power cables first. That will save you a lot of climbing."

"We would have figured that out ourselves." Markus didn't say "smartass", but everyone present could clearly hear it in his intonation.

A little later, the metal ball glittered on the ceiling. The black cables hung openly across the ceiling, but Norman was sure that they would no longer be visible against the dark background as soon as the main lighting was switched off and the room was illuminated by the disco lighting.

"And what exactly does this thing do now?" Norman searched the ceiling in vain for the usual spotlights, disco balls and laser projectors. The smooth metal sphere looked a little lost on the ceiling on its own.

"Watch and be amazed!" Leo turned around and signaled to the DJ booth with a raised thumb. Norman had no idea what the balcony halfway up the wall had been for in the past, but it was perfectly positioned for the DJ booth. Lukas, who had obviously just been waiting there for the signal to start, flicked a few switches. The lights in the large hall went out. For a moment there was complete darkness, then small neon tubes, nightlights and light panels lit up everywhere, illuminating the stairs, corridors and doors sparingly but clearly. Then the large metal sphere began to shimmer slightly greenish. In fact, the shimmer seemed to appear around it.

Lukas used the loudspeaker system to give his voice an impressive volume. It boomed out from all directions to the students, who had all gathered on the dance floor in the meantime: "Phase one ok. Holoprojector accepting power supply. Transformer and converter in the green zone. I'm now sending randomly generated signals to three of the data inputs."

The room suddenly seemed to explode in a veritable storm of light. Shadowy, wildly flickering shapes of colored light almost completely filled the room and made any orientation impossible. Shortly afterwards, they disappeared again and only the slight greenish glow of the sphere remained. Norman, Leo and the others present blinked for a while until the colorful shadows on their retinas had also disappeared. Luke's voice now sounded a little more subdued: "Ok, that was probably a bit too much. I'll try it with two constant signals and a randomly generated signal on the third channel."

Norman squinted his eyes as a precaution. However, as he soon realized, this was not necessary. The ceiling was filled with tiny fixed points of light. It was as if someone had taken down the roof and extinguished the light in the whole city to allow a view of the starry sky. Norman applauded: "Wow, that thing projects the current starry sky onto the ceiling." Lukas objected: "What? You can't see a starry sky like that anywhere on earth. I've been taking astronomy as a minor subject for two semesters and this doesn't contain any known constellations. At least not as seen from the solar system." He raised his voice so that he could be heard at the control desk: "Set the second signal to a higher value. And the random signals to the first channel."

The stars swirled wildly for a moment, then the starry sky stabilized much further down. The lowest stars were now almost three meters above the dance floor. Between the stars, much larger light formations appeared in a variety of colors. Spheres, vaguely cube-shaped objects and one or two asymmetrical, somehow displaced-looking things. Lukas made some technical comments about the signal modulation, which Norman couldn't understand, while he fiddled with the settings. As far as Norman could understand, he was trying to make the signals dependent on the music being played. After a few minutes, the small light objects flashed in time with the music playing softly in the background and laser-like flashes of light flashed through the room. The students spontaneously patted each other on the back and shouted wildly to Lukas that he should save the current setting and then leave it alone. The lights were then switched back on as normal and everyone dispersed to complete the remaining repairs and alterations. Although he made an effort, Norman could only provide a little help as he had not been involved in the previous planning and therefore had no idea what needed to be done and how. His options were therefore soon limited to carrying heavy objects and furniture around. After almost three hours of work, Leo and the Incomplete Gospel declared the preparations complete. The opening was set for 9.00 pm. Markus assigned a few more people to get large quantities of drinks on consignment from the local drinks dealer.

*

When Norman turned up at around 9.30 pm in his tightest black jeans and the coolest neon blue shirt he could find in his closet, the opening party was already in full swing. The entrance was at the back of the building in a dark side alley and was neither illuminated nor marked in any way, as no license had been obtained to operate a disco. Similar to Café Fraktal, the entrance area had been designed as a sound barrier to prevent neighbors from complaining about the loud music. The generator hall, now the primary dance floor, had always been well insulated. He was surprised to meet Horst just behind the entrance door, leaning against the wall with a video game that looked far too small for his huge sausage fingers and swearing quietly to himself: "Na spring scho schnella, du kloina dommer Klempner..."

"Hi Horst, what are you doing here?"

"Leo said, every good disco needs a bouncer."

"And he bribed you with a Gameboy?"

"Jo!" Horst was already concentrating on his new toy again. Norman was still wondering who Horst would stop, but then just gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walked past and pushed open the next door, which was a little stuck. The noise that rumbled towards him came almost without warning, causing him to jump back involuntarily and hit his back painfully against the door frame. He looked at the inside of the door in disbelief. It almost looked as if someone had attached a couple of old mattresses to the already solid metal door... Okay, they had attached mattresses to the door. He shook his head in disbelief. As he continued down the corridor and slowly approached the dance floor with all the speakers, he seriously considered turning around and grabbing his old earmuffs. When he'd had to stand in for his colleague with the jackhammer, he'd thought it was loud. But what these lunatics had done in here was bordering on assault. The techno sounds were booming from the walls and the bass was strong enough to make his stomach vibrate. As he stood still, a little indecisive, he was overtaken by other new arrivals. A group of five almost identical-looking girls in extremely short miniskirts, all with short black hair. He vaguely remembered having seen them at university. They obviously went to techno discos a lot, because they didn't seem to notice the volume at all. Norman mentally said goodbye to his hearing, straightened his shoulders and was about to follow them when another, much more familiar figure approached him.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Hi Sam!" Although he could barely hear himself, Samantha seemed to understand him. She looked at him scrutinizingly for a moment, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic container, from which she took out what looked like a piece of absorbent cotton. She held it out to him, plucked some of the cotton aside to show him the waxy mass underneath and pointed to her ears. Norman indicated a submissive bow and then quickly put the earplugs in his ears. The subjective volume immediately dropped from unbearable to pleasantly penetrating. Sam waved to him once more and then disappeared again to catch up with the group of five and also provide them with ear protection.

When he entered the room with the dance floor, he was surprised that it was already so busy. Normally, he wouldn't have expected such a rush until 11 p.m. at the earliest. He was used to it from his, admittedly rare, visits to discos. Not many people could fit into the room now. There was almost no free space left on the balustrade. There were simply too many people having fun watching the crowd below. The lighting in the room created a gigantic atmosphere and he could make out a few visitors who were simply leaning against something and enjoying the twinkling starry sky. For now, he just let himself drift through the crowd, looking for other familiar faces. When he didn't spot anyone he knew more than casually, he left the dance floor and, like many of the other guests, wandered through the aisles. After a short time, he found himself in the changing room where the employees used to change into their work clothes. After the numerous metal lockers had been disposed of for scrap metal, the room was surprisingly spacious. About the rear third was kept clear by a barrier of beer tent tables. Behind them, some volunteers were serving drinks. He was also pleased to see Jane's wild golden mane. Maybe he could finally strike up a conversation with her here. Before he could push his way through the denser crowd right in front of the drinks counter, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Leonardo was standing behind him, looking very smug. He said something that Norman couldn't understand, although the music was much quieter back here. Leo tapped his right ear, in which Norman could now make out a kind of hearing aid with a tiny flashing diode. He understood what the hobby inventor was trying to tell him and pulled his own hearing protection out of his ears: "Hi Leo, are you okay?"

"Runs much more perfectly than I expected. However, I'd better find someone soon who can do some kind of all-over cleaning magic. Otherwise, soon no one will dare to use the men's room. After all, it was never designed for such a crowd and we couldn't find a volunteer for the loo attendant position. I'll see if we can divert enough of the university's party fund to pay for a professional cleaner."

"Why are your ears flashing?"

"Sound absorber. I already made one last year. Most of the parts are already available to buy, I just had to rework the software. If I want, I can fade out the music completely or turn it down without dampening the frequencies of human speech."

"Practical. But don't hold it against me, if you don't need me right now, I'll try to get further behind the bar to say hello to the goldhead there."

"Jane? Are you stupid?"

"Why? She's the hottest chick at the university. Besides, she makes a nice impression."

"Too hot. Her last boyfriend's place burnt down shortly after they broke up. And a couple of students happened to see them outside the house. It was just pure luck that there were no injuries. That was just before the start of the semester, so less than two weeks ago."

Norman thought back to the house fire where he had met Jane. "You mean the fire on the first of April? I saw it then too. It was practically on the way to the university. I mean, there must have been dozens of students there by chance."

Leonardo seemed to think little of his attempt to convince himself. He mumbled something noncommittal, but it was drowned out by the music.

"She's hardly likely to have thrown an incendiary grenade or anything like that. I read the newspaper article the day after. The fire department couldn't find the cause of the fire. And since I know this place, I'd say that means magic, right?"

"Jane is in the same faculty as I am now. I took the liberty of downloading the list of participants in my lectures..."

"You can do that?"

"Let's say I can do something like that. It's not a standard function. Let's move aside a bit, so she doesn't see us." The two detached themselves from the wall and retreated into one of the side corridors. Without having to discuss it, they stayed away from the corners that were too secluded, as these were usually occupied by couples who didn't like to be disturbed during student parties. Leo pulled his PDA out of its case, which he had recently started carrying on his belt, ready to hand. A few seconds later, he had started a few prepared programs and shortly afterwards had access to the desired data. "Here it is already. This is her lecture plan. And she has the same standard courses in elemental magic as I do. There's even a note here that she's already had private lessons and can therefore cast her first spells. Guilty!"

Norman took the PDA and took a quick look at the timetable. "She has basic elemental magic and the lecture for beginners in fire magic. If she can make a house go up in flames, why is she learning to light matches?"

"Let me see that. Well, that really makes no sense. The lecture really only makes sense for someone who hasn't had a fire in their life... Damn. But... Maybe she's just taking the class to distract from your actual knowledge? As an alibi perhaps?"

"Who would suspect them?"

"Ahm... Me?"

"I certainly don't think she's the arson type."

"You don't know her at all!"

"And you?"

"Granted, more of rumors..."

"There you go. Besides, how did she get behind the bar anyway? You or one of your friends must have invited her."

"That was Markus. In that case we had almost no choice, she's the only student we could find who had already worked with food magic."

"So your private lessons weren't entirely unsuccessful after all, were they?"

"Come to think of it, with the repertoire she's already shown, she can hardly have learned anything else. Unless she's super talented, has a photographic memory like me or started much earlier than usual."

While he was still thinking, Norman gave him a companionable pat on the shoulder, turned around, walked down two aisles and then squeezed his way through the crowd towards the bar again. This time he noticed that an area in the room behind the bar had been partitioned off with a black curtain, from which the drinks were carried out in glasses or large jugs. In the time it took him to get to the counter, he was overtaken by a student who was balancing a thirty-liter plastic canister of mineral water on his shoulder and disappeared behind the curtain. Arriving at the bar, he spotted Lukas, who politely but firmly prevented anyone he didn't know from passing through. "Hi Lukas, do you need any help?"

"I don't think so at the moment, but ask in the back." He waved him through.

Behind the curtain, two more tables were set up out of sight of the guests. On one of them, the student had just put down the heavy canister with some relief and then stretched his back extensively. He was obviously hoping for some sympathy from Jane, who was the only woman in the bar area at the moment. It even seemed to work for a moment: "Fantastic. I thought I was going to have to start working with tap water. And I can only make very bad beer from that. Now be a darling and get a few more liters of fruit juice for cocktails."

"I actually thought I could rest here for a moment. Maybe keep you company for a while..." She slid behind him and put her arm around his shoulders. "A strong guy like that won't tire so quickly." She snuggled close to him and would have whispered in his ear if it hadn't been so loud. As it was, she had to use a volume that Norman could just about understand. "Get me the fruit juices I need and when you get back... Well, I'll find a way to return the favor." With one last slap on the butt, she sent him on his way. As soon as he had disappeared into the crowd, the seductive smile disappeared from her face to make way for a concentrated, business-like expression. When she noticed Norman, she turned around, visibly annoyed: "We've got enough people in the bar. For the life of me, I can't convert this stuff any faster."

"Don't worry, I just wanted to say hello."

"Do I know you from somewhere? Oh right, that weird guy at the fire before the semester started. You didn't look like you belonged here. What's your name again?"

"Norman. Norman Zimmermann. I'm studying..."

"Architecture! Of course. I've heard of you. The student who can't do anything." The spark of budding interest in her eyes died out. "Too bad. If you weren't a complete failure of nature, I'm sure there'd be something to be done with such a burly fellow."

"If someone as smart as you were to deal with me, I'm sure you could find something special."

"Tempting. Maybe I'll actually make the time one day. But right now, unfortunately, I have to do some work. I want to be out of here by the time that pain in the ass from just now shows up again."

She turned back to the table with the transparent mineral water canister: "If they wanted to drink wine here, that wouldn't be a problem. There's a single line for that. But most of them want to drink caipirinha and for that we need liters of cachaça. But I can manage that too."

She murmured softly in a very melodic language and touched the canister. The water in it bubbled up briefly and seemed to become a little oilier. She took a small glass, tapped a little liquid with the plastic tap and sipped it carefully. Norman found himself staring at her full, sensual lips. When he realized it himself, he focused on her eyes again. Which were staring right back at him at that moment! She smiled briefly at him and then turned her attention back to her glass: "So far, it's only lightly fermented sugar cane juice. I still have to increase the alcohol content and distil it to the required concentration."

She put her hand on the canister once more and mumbled quietly to herself. Bubbles rose everywhere in the liquid, the contents shrank considerably and air flowed in through the open valve at the top, whistling softly. Jane took a new glass and tapped a finger high from it. She held it out to Norman: "I don't take high-proof drinks very well. So you can make yourself useful and have a taste." He took a quick sip, downed the rest in one go and then nodded approvingly: "Excellent. All that's missing is ice, limes and brown sugar."

"Thank you, but I know the recipe for caipirinha. If I add sugar to sugar cane schnapps again, it will only make a mess. After all, I'm not a biochemist. And I can't make fruit with the best will in the world. Someone would have to bring them soon. I've done enough work for today."

She casually pointed her thumb at a whole row of canisters from which drinks were being poured. "Grab a drink and let's get out of here before that pushy guy from earlier shows up again." After getting an overview of the currently meagre remaining ingredients, he quickly mixed the Coke he had bought with the liquid from the canister labeled "Whisky" and threw in a few ice cubes. Then he laboriously made a path for Jane through the crowd at the counter. Keeping close behind him, she steered him with occasional hints into a side room where the music was muffled and a dozen or so students were lounging around on old worn-out sofas. The entrance was deliberately a little hard to find and Norman recognized almost everyone present by sight from the afternoon's set-up. Jane looked for a free seat and made herself comfortable. Norman sat down next to her, a little unsure.

"That was pretty impressive what you did there. I thought you had just started your studies?"

"My father is also a magician. He didn't actually want to teach me anything before I actually started studying, but after he caught me using one of his grimoires again despite all his threats, we agreed on a compromise. He promised to teach me all the spells of a certain school that I was interested in, and in return he could choose which school."

"School?"

She rolled her eyes snidely: "Fire, water, mind control, teleportation and so on. There are tons of interesting spells in almost every category. I would never have gotten involved if I'd thought he'd choose food spells of all things."

"So the spells you know all have to do with food and drink?"

"Cold food and drinks. For hot things, I'd need some background knowledge about fire magic. I can't wait until it finally comes up in class. I chose all the drink spells so that he could teach me some water magic. At least I was able to persuade him to do that. But enough about me, what else are you doing?"

"The usual. Discos, movies..."

"If you weren't here now, what else would you be doing?"

"Today? That's easy. Today is a 'Bread for the World' charity event. I'm normally always there to help out."

"It never hurts to earn a little pocket money."

"No, no, all the profits go to Bread for the World. All the helpers work on a voluntary basis."

"You still support this nonsense? Famines regulate population density in a completely natural way. If you supply the population with extra food, it will only continue to grow and the problem will be even worse the next year. Besides, you don't know anyone there, so why should you care?"

Norman looked at her as if she had strangled a small kitten without warning: "You're not serious, are you?"

She held his gaze for a moment, seemingly pensive, then her face twisted into a broad, warm smile and she giggled seductively: "No, of course not. I also donate a little something now and again."

She had already fooled a lie detector once for fun, the naive guy in front of her wasn't even a challenge for her skills. "So now tell me. What skills do you really have? And how did you manage to hide them? There are less than half a dozen students each semester whose abilities aren't known to practically everyone after the first day. The temptation to finally be able to show them off is simply irresistible. I find that kind of willpower very... attractive. But in the long run, you can only reach your full potential if someone helps you to use your gifts. I know a little about almost everything, and I can certainly provide everything else." She leaned forward seductively and looked at him expectantly.

"Well... Honestly, I have no idea. If I can do anything mystical, I don't know anything about it."

For a moment, he thought he could read something like disappointment in her face, then she suddenly focused on something behind his back and grimaced in disgust. He turned around, but couldn't see anything unusual about the group of teenagers who had just walked past. When he looked at her questioningly, she inconspicuously pointed to a student walking at the end of the group. Norman didn't notice anything special: "Seems to have had a bit too much to drink. For such cases, there's a room in the basement with insulated mats and blankets so you can sleep it off in peace."

"He's not just drunk. Look at the dilated pupils and the expression on his face. He's on drugs."

"Unfortunately, there are a few of them at every party. I really have no idea why anyone would voluntarily drone on like that, but..."

"Do you know what a mage or, even worse, a telepath can do if he gets out of control?"

Norman pointed vaguely at some not particularly sober-looking figures.

"Oh, alcohol isn't quite so bad. Alcohol usually stops the necessary ability to concentrate before someone loses too much of their inhibitions and sanity. The right, I mean, the wrong drugs can leave him with all his faculties and cause him to go completely bonkers. Alcohol is easy to recognize. It is almost impossible to distinguish drugs from medicines or chemicals for experiments. It's often the same thing."

"Don't they know that?"

"Has that ever stopped a person from throwing something in?"

Normen sighed: "No, not really. Should we try to find out where he got the stuff and throw the dealer out?"

"Sounds like a great plan." The two of them set off and walked inconspicuously behind the stoned man. They spent the next half hour in his line of sight on the dance floor, where the volume of the music prevented any conversation. When he retreated back into the corridors, they had barely made it two intersections when a soft ringing sounded. Jane glanced briefly at her wristwatch, an elegant, mechanical ladies' watch. She grimaced in disappointment: "So late again! I'm afraid I'm about to be picked up." She turned around and headed for the exit. Norman stayed behind in surprise at first, but then caught up with a few quick steps: "So early? It's not even midnight yet!"

"You can't talk to my father about that."

"I could drive you home..."

She looked at him in disbelief for a moment and then stared thoughtfully in front of her. From the way the corners of her mouth twitched, he deduced that she was probably imagining something highly amusing: "I was almost tempted to accept your offer. Just to see my father's face. But I think we'd better not. You know what, you can drive my roommate home. In case she comes home for a change."

"Who do you mean?"

"Well, that Samantha. I thought you knew her?"

"Sam? Fleeting. I didn't even know you two shared a room."

"Not by choice. I'd prefer to just stay in my room in the city with my father, but the school rules are merciless in that respect."

"Do you get along well?"

"I find her very pleasant. She's practically only at home to put her books down for a moment and then leaves again straight away. Even at night, she's only been there twice to sleep. She's probably found somewhere else to sleep. That is, if she gets to sleep there much." She made a very definite gesture with both hands, which, to his own surprise, made the blood rush to Norman's cheeks. Jane continued, ignoring his blush: "Since I haven't found out who she's with through the usually well-informed channels, i.e. the most notorious gossips at the university, it probably changes every night." She looked at him with a suddenly completely innocent, virginal look: "Shocking, isn't it?"

He swallowed and then shook his head, as if to get his brain working again: "She never really made that impression on me."

"Well, how you can be wrong."

They had reached the exit. The silence that fell upon them as they passed through the two soundproof doors was stupefying. For a moment, the conversation faltered. Norman opened his mouth to say something when a night-black limousine rounded the corner and pulled up right next to them. The darkened side window rolled down silently and the driver's face became visible. It was Professor Majere: "Get in, little one. I've got a late-night demon summoning to do." Then he recognized Norman next to her and raised an eyebrow: "Mr. Zimmermann, how nice to see you here. I hope you had a good chat with my daughter."

He gulped, "Daughter?!?"

"And kind enough of you to take responsibility for ensuring that no students under the influence of drugs or alcohol turn up on the university campus tonight. Or marauding through the city. I appreciate so much self-sacrifice." The window went up again.

Norman wheeled around to Jane and whispered so quietly that he practically only moved his lips. Somehow he wasn't surprised that she understood him without any problems. He'd had the feeling all evening that she understood him much better than she should have. Maybe a little magic? "Majere is your father?"

She answered just a little louder, so that he could just about hear her, but Majere probably couldn't in the closed car. She smiled in mock surprise: "Didn't you know that? I hope you have a nice evening." She gave him a mischievous wink and then got in before he could think of a suitable reply. The engine of the limousine made only the faintest hum as she accelerated and turned the corner with a sporty turn. Norman stood alone in the sparsely lit alleyway. As he turned around, the door opened and an obviously drunk student, whom Norman vaguely recognized by sight, staggered towards him. Norman sighed resignedly and stopped him: "Do you want to go back to university like that?"

"I'm not drunk!" Norman just shook his head and offered his shoulder: "Go on, lean on me. I'll take you to our sobering-up room in the basement."

"But I'm not drunk at all!"

"Of course you're not." Despite his almost reflexive denial, the student leaned heavily on Norman and otherwise allowed himself to be taken downstairs without resistance. When Norman came back up, the next group of students were already running into him. Inside, he asked Horst to help him stop all the stoned or drunk students. It was going to be a long night...