Chapter 2 - In Café Fraktal - [One week after the end of volume 2]

The next evening at Café Fraktal

A dozen students listened intently to his every word and gesture. Norman held his left hand firmly on the table, the other close to it. Then he pulled his right hand up in a tearing motion: "And then Ratsch! I tore away the stuck wax along with the hair. And voila, smooth as a baby's bottom."

The audience all winced in sympathetic pain at first, then burst out laughing . Rodrik patted Norman enthusiastically on the shoulder: "And these whippersnappers really believed that you have to have your hair removed before sex? With hot wax?"

"I could have told them pretty much anything. They probably don't have the internet or any literature . And they probably didn't have anyone to explain the more interesting details to them either. In the end, I was able to tie two of them to the torch holders on the wall for alleged bondage games before the other two became suspicious. Then I grabbed the key to the outside door . Of course, they had locked it so they couldn't be disturbed. I then overpowered the last two without further ado and tied them to the wall as well. They had no chance of stopping me either. In my demon body I was even stronger and faster than usual, these unathletic boys didn't stand a chance."

Rodrik interjected, "Then they didn't bother to limit your physical abilities as part of the incantation. Pretty sloppy."

Leo's friend Archeron had already secured one of the most comfortable armchairs early on and, during the story, enthusiastically popped some popcorn that he had freshly made in the waiting microwave. He threw another handful into his mouth, ignored the falling crumbs and said: "Come on, Norman. They must have been suspicious beforehand. Mages are already above-averagely intelligent by profession. I could believe that if they had been Germanists or social pedagogues..."

Some students from the aforementioned degree programs protested loudly.

Norman shrugged and took a sip of his Coke: "As soon as they got suspicious, I just waved my bare breasts around a bit. You could literally see the blood supply to their brains being diverted to other regions."

Marie, the math student, whispered something approving in Archeron's ear, not very discreetly. Then she turned back to Norman: "Wasn't that embarrassing, jumping around half naked?"

"Why should it? It wasn't even my own body. And even if it was..." Norman just shrugged his shoulders.

One of the students sounded suspicious: "Wait a minute, if they were magicians, why didn't they defend themselves with magic?"

"They tried, of course. But somehow, they were unusually slow. First they took a few deep breaths, then they waved their hands around funny and then very slowly quoted incomprehensible stuff. I didn't want to wait to see what would come out, so I kicked them hard between the legs one after the other. It turned out that this disturbed my concentration enough when casting spells."

A loud hissing and hissing could be heard in the background of the room. Norman turned around in alarm, as did many other people present who recognized the noise. Marie Johansson was standing at the completely oversized machine, which Leonardo described as a coffee machine. She watched a pressure gauge intently, then opened one of the valves and milk foam rushed into a 5-liter jug below. She used a ladle to scoop some of it into a latte macchiato glass and then pressed a button to pour in hot milk and espresso. A delicious coffee smell drifted through the air. Then she put a few coins in the bowl for the coffee fund, threw a few more sugar cubes into her drink and came back to the rest of the group. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed the many curious looks: "You look like you've never seen anyone make a latte macchiato before."

Leonardo grinned: "At least no one who doesn't get splashed full of cream the first time, explode one of the flasks or put their normal glass directly under the spout instead of the large jug. I'm impressed!"

"You're easy to impress. From the amount of milk in the container with the immersion heater, it's obvious that a 0.2-liter glass is not enough."

Leo looked at Norman: "Shall I get us another cappuccino or shall we call it a day?"

"I'd suggest we pack it in for today. I still have to discuss with my dean tomorrow about where I can get back in the semester. I've missed half the semester, there's no way I can catch up. But I don't feel like waiting until the next one starts ."

The two of them exchanged a few joking remarks with the other students and then hurried off.

The area was only sparsely lit by the discreetly distributed cast-iron lanterns. As at almost any time of day, there were also a few other students out and about. A larger group had just emerged from one of the university buildings, obviously having just finished a lecture. Leo mentally crossed his fingers that he no longer had a night class. That would have made his lack of sleep even worse.

"Which dean do you have to go to? Majere?"

"Unfortunately. I don't think any other faculty wanted the mystical architecture course."

"Shouldn't be a problem then. I'm sure he's grateful that you looked after his daughter in Carcerus."

"Sure. But he also thinks I slept with his daughter. You can imagine that he has somewhat mixed feelings about me."

"Did you?"

"For the umpteenth time, no! The three of us, alone in a foreign country? It would have been more than unfair to take advantage of such an exceptional situation. Besides, Horst was with us the whole time."

"I'm sure he would have understood a subtle hint that he should occupy himself somewhere else for a while.... Okay.. . On second thought, he probably wouldn't have."

"Let's change the subject. I'm not asking you if you started something with Samantha while you were here."

Leo suddenly stopped. Norman also stopped a few steps away and turned to Leo: "Did I say something wrong?"

"I was with her almost every day. In the café . Even at my place."

"So?"

"I never once tried anything. I was alone with one of the prettiest students at the university and I didn't even... well, asked her out for coffee. Or to the movies. You know what I mean..."

"Why not?"

"It just never occurred to me. I never once recognized her as a woman. Maybe it's because she's an angel."

"Well, she's really very nice."

"That's not what I meant... But let her tell you that herself."

"Where is she anyway? I was hoping she'd come too. She has a very good moral compass. I'd be really interested to hear what she has to say about my little action."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Leo pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and typed on it for a moment: "I haven't seen her since last week. Since we met at my place after your return from Carcerus. I'm not surprised, we were always busy in the forest before the battle. I had a lot of catching up to do. Especially several hours of sleep. I'm sure she must have left a few things behind. After you told your story, she went off to do something. She received my WhatsApp message that we were meeting at Café Fraktal, but hasn't read it yet. That's strange."

He tapped a little longer on the display. "She hasn't been to any lectures today. In fact, she's been missing everywhere all week. Something's wrong, she's never missed a lecture before!"

"Not even the boring ones?"

"Not a single one."

"How does your computer know that? I can't remember anyone writing down who was in the lecture. I've never had to sign in anywhere either."

"That's simple. An RFID chip is built into the key cards. And there are sensors in the door frames of most lecture halls that recognize which key cards go through. But don't tell anyone. It's probably supposed to be a secret. I only discovered the system by chance when I was once again searching the university database for clues as to where this darn Gallifreynium comes from."

He tapped the display again briefly and then frowned: "Hey, according to the database, you've never been to a lecture. Even with half a year in the dungeon dimension, that's a record-breakingly bad average. You've been to lectures with me a few times. So that can't be true ..."

"I never take my key card with me."

"And how do you get back to your room...? Oh yes, that's right. You live with that crazy psionic guy who doesn't believe in locks."

"He doesn't understand the concept that someone could take something that doesn't belong to them. And if he did, he'd assume it was an emergency and he'd get it back. I once saw his car, the little orange VW Beetle. He never locks it and he leaves the ignition key in the ignition. It's from another world. Literally. I didn't want to question him. He always gets so sad when you ask him where he's from. I think he really misses home. All telepaths. Everyone knows everyone else's thoughts and feelings. Must be nice..."

Leonardo nodded a little doubtfully.

The two reached the elongated multi-storey building where they had their apartments. Norman stopped to take a look at the doorbell. There were almost a hundred names on variously neatly labeled slips of paper next to the respective room number and the doorbell button.

Leonardo nudged him as he walked past: "I know your room number. If you're not too tired yet, you can tell your story again."

"I don't know... I don't want to wake them up."

"Sam doesn't sleep. Trust me. Come on, she's on the third floor. Right at the back in the left corridor."

They went upstairs, but then Norman hesitated with his finger just above the doorbell, "Are you quite sure..."

"Yes, I am. There's even a light on in the room. You can see the glow shining through under the door." Leo reached past Norman's hand and tapped the bell energetically.

The ringing was clearly audible in the corridor. The two were waiting.

"Maybe she fell asleep in front of the TV?"

Leo shook his head: "Impossible. Sam never sleeps. And even if she did, the doorbell would wake her up in that tiny room."

Norman raised an eyebrow suspiciously and decided to ignore the comment about a student who never slept for the time being.

Leo concentrated briefly and muttered his favorite spell : "Create RFID tracking device."

The air flickered above his hand and a tangle of electronic components appeared. "I don't have time for a suitable case right now."

He pulled a short USB cable out of one of his pockets and connected the tangled mess to his smartphone. He moved it back and forth a little, keeping his eyes fixed on the small screen. "So at least your key card is about two meters in this direction."

He pointed to the door. Norman rattled the door knob. It didn't move.

"Locked." He knocked hard on the door three times and waited. Nothing happened. Leo removed the cable and carelessly dropped the tracking device. While still in flight, it dissolved in a slight sparkle.

"Everyone only has one key card?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"And hers is behind it? The light is on and the door is closed. Something's not right here. Can you pick locks too or should I kick the door in?"

"The locks are connected to the university network and are connected to an in-house network. So that the administration can recode the locks to new key cards for each new resident. When I program the lock to my key card..."

"I'm no expert, but you're doing pretty little for hacking into a protected and encrypted network right now. Let me put forward a wild theory... Could it be that you've made up with the artificial intelligence we met in the IT room?"

Leo grinned and held out the display of his smartphone to him. The usual background image, a starry night sky, disappeared and was replaced by plain text: "Hello Norman Zimmermann. My name is Zunylamien17. In the meantime, I have classified your derogatory comment as an ill-considered statement, made without conscious thought by a person with insufficient background knowledge to assess the underlying facts."

Norman looked up at Leo in confusion. He translated generously: "He forgives you. You're stupid."

"Oh. Thank you. I assume you've already reprogrammed the door?"

"Sure."

Leonardo pulled out his key card and slid it into the scanner slot. A small LED lit up green and the door clicked. He casually pulled the door open outwards without looking into the room and made an exaggerated, inviting gesture. Before he could turn back to the now open doorway, Norman carelessly shoved him aside as he brushed past him, "Samantha! Can you hear me?"

It took Leonardo a moment to grasp the situation. Samanael was lying on the floor, her legs just in front of the door. Stretched out long and motionless on his back. There was a brown dried stain on the floor around his head. Dried up blood? Norman was checking his pulse on the carotid artery. A few seconds later, he looked back at Leo: "No pulse, no recognizable breathing, but she's still warm. Call an ambulance. Now!"

Leo frantically typed the emergency number into his cell phone, while Norman sat up, crossed his hands over Sam's chest and then began a systematic and practiced chest massage and mouth-to-nose resuscitation.

"University emergency call center. Please state your name, location and the nature of the medical emergency."

Leo briefly took the smartphone from his ear to take a look at the display. Then he quickly put it back to his ear: "I've dialed the emergency number, shouldn't I come out to the police?"

"We are better equipped to deal with the usual emergencies on our premises. Do you need help or should I put you through to the telephone helpline?"

"No, it's all right. It's about Sam... Samantha Jones, room 326, third floor in dorm building D. She's just lying there. No pulse. No breathing. Possible head injury. My buddy's already started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

"Who exactly started the first aid?"

"Norman Zimmermann." He heard a rapid clacking of keyboards in the background.

"Volunteer fire department... Current first aid training refreshed last year. Good. Let him continue. Caller ID says you're Leonardo Darwinzki, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Don't touch the patient."

"Thank you for your confidence in my abilities. What exactly are you finally doing now?"

"I'll clarify what's going on. My colleague, who is also listening, is already organizing help. She should be arriving any minute."

Leonardo turned to the window and looked out. The campus lay there, peaceful and deserted. There was no one to be seen far and wide. Behind him was the rhythmic sound of Norman's chest massage and the soft murmur of him counting along. While Leo was still wondering whether he could improvise a mobile defibrillator with illusion magic, a door was pushed open at the other end of the corridor. A student came tumbling out somewhat clumsily, trying to zip his pants properly while still running. Still barefoot, he ran along the corridor, looking at the door signs. When he saw Leonardo, he headed straight for him: "Hey! That chick from the student secretariat just rang me out of bed and mumbled something about an injured person. Is she with you? I can help. I'm studying medicine and healing magic in my last semester. Have you used magic yet?"

"No. I can't do any healing spells. But Norman is already there with first aid."

The student watched Norman for a few seconds, then beckoned him to stop and step aside. He placed a hand on his stomach and murmured quietly to himself, "The spell stabilizes the oxygen saturation of the blood and created a slow blood circulation. That will stabilize her for now. Watch out for blood leaking anywhere. He stroked his hand in surprise over the spot he had just placed it on, picked up a crease and put his finger through a two-fingered slit. He carefully pushed the T-shirt up and looked at the skin. "Looks like there's a freshly healed wound. There's a cut in the T-shirt, but there's no trace of blood."

He looked at the body systematically, stroked the encrusted mass on which Sam's head was lying and finally turned his head carefully to the side. "There's a laceration here. Also freshly healed. This here on the floor is crusted blood. It must be at least half a day old to be this hard. The head wound has been healing for three or four days. The stomach wound rather longer. Unless the healing was accelerated by magic."

Leo tapped him impatiently on the shoulder: "All very interesting, but what is she missing?"

"I'm capable of multitasking. My analysis spell has been running for a long time."

Leo looked at Norman for help, but he just shrugged his shoulders. All they could do at the moment was wait and see. Flickering lights reflected in the window of Samantha's room caught Norman's attention. He rushed over and saw an ambulance with its blue lights on speeding from the university hospital straight towards their dormitory. At first glance it appeared normal, but as it thundered straight across lawns without leaving a mark, it must have been hovering above the ground. That reminded him that he really needed to get one of those hoverboards. They were rarer on the university campus than he had actually expected. Leonardo had once explained to him that they were often confiscated by lecturers and also frequently 'borrowed' by other students without being asked. The few who were able to build one of these little marvels were usually in the upper semesters and left the university quite soon. And then, of course, there were the gardeners who, according to Leo, were just waiting to use a careless boarder as a flying target.

He winced as he realized that he had just been distracted by much more important things.

However, he quickly realized that he couldn't do anything useful for the time being. Two nurses rushed up the stairs, first turning in the wrong direction and then frantically turning back. Doctor Ferguson came up close behind them and overtook them with a snide noise. She approached with energetic, quick steps. "Okay, Dennis. Glad to see you're already on the scene. So? What's wrong with her?"

"Honestly... I have no idea."

The doctor raised an eyebrow disapprovingly: "I think I'll have to adjust your last grades downwards. Way down."

"It's not my fault, there's no point here! Okay... No pulse, no breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was already in progress when I arrived. I cast the stabilization spell. Now come the weird facts: The patient shows two freshly healed wounds. A laceration to the back of the head. No fracture of the skull, just a superficial injury. The blood matches and belongs to the wound, but is at least half a day old and firmly encrusted. According to our first aider, the body temperature was still normal. I performed the anamnesis spell. The body temperature is a constant 37 degrees. The blood saturation was normal, which is too high despite the cardiopulmonary massage. Even if it was really done correctly. A potentially serious stab wound in the solar plexus is freshly healed. No bleeding into the tissue, no internal bleeding at all, not even a bruise on the surface. The stab wound should have healed practically the moment the weapon left the wound. Now comes the really crazy thing: the life energy in this body is completely intact. That speaks for an uninjured person who should get up at any moment and dance away. There is nothing that speaks against it. No injuries, no pathogens, nothing."

The doctor snorted disapprovingly and pushed him aside. She cast a spell and held her hand a few centimeters above Sam's body. She started at the stomach wound and then slowly moved upwards to the head. The hand paused above the forehead and Dr. Ferguson frowned in confusion: "Does anyone know the patient?"

Norman and Leo raised their hands.

"Was she... I don't know how to say this politely... Was she mentally handicapped? Retarded?"

Leo laughed involuntarily: "What? Not in the slightest. In fact, she was damn clever. And talented in many areas."

"That makes no sense. The synaptic network in this brain is practically non-existent. I would expect something like this in a newborn. And even then it would be worrying."

Norman looked at her worriedly: "Has she suffered brain damage? How?"

"No. You can't create something like that afterwards. Not even with magic. At least none that I know of. This woman must not have been able to speak or eat with cutlery."

"I don't want to rush, but can't you just do some magic to make her better?" Norman looked at the doctor, Dennis and Leo in turn.

Dr. Ferguson stood up again. "We first have to find out what's wrong with her. Physically, she's fine. No toxins, pathogens or injuries. The brain isn't developed, but that can't be a new phenomenon. She should be up and walking around."

Everyone was now standing around Samantha, who was lying on the floor, and was silent and contemplative.

"Could it be that the brain has been replaced?" Norman winced as everyone looked at him disparagingly. The doctor rolled her eyes: "That's complete nonsense. You can keep a brain alive outside the body almost indefinitely with certain magical means, but that's pretty useless because you can only put the brain into the same body you took it from. Human bodies are not standardized machines where you can simply plug in parts. The exact position and arrangement of the nerve tracts, tendons, muscles and blood vessels is different for every person."

"If they cloned her own brain, it would fit, wouldn't it?" He didn't want to give up so easily.

"Not perfect. Besides, I would naturally recognize surgical scars or magical transplant marks. You don't clone individual body parts either. You always clone whole people."

Leonardo was quicker this time: "Then maybe they cloned her completely, kidnapped her and left the clone lying around. That would explain the undeveloped brain."

The doctor whistled thoughtfully through her teeth: "That would be possible. I don't know who would have access to clone tanks outside the clinic, but it would be possible. But we can only find out in the lab with a DNA test. We'll take them with us."