One of her teachers once said to her:
"Mayra, I know that it looks like the problem cannot be solved. But try a different approach. The direct route is not always the easiest!"
These two sentences actually contradicted each other.
The direct route is logically the shortest and therefore the easiest.
Unfortunately, one had to take into account in such a calculation that obstacles could arise. If you stick to the image of a path, it would be stones, fallen trees, flooded sections of the path and buried paths.
It's the same when solving a problem. The direct route is sometimes blocked.
If you want to solve a problem and have to go a lot of detours, then that is nothing more than science.
Conclusion: If the path is blocked by obstacles, then you either clear them aside or you take another path to get to the goal.
This is exactly where Mayra was.
Two black eggs had been brought to her laboratory a week ago.
She should examine them and find out what kind of eggs they were.
The first thing Mayra did was google the term "black egg" on the internet.
She found some great pictures about black holes and an entry on a magic trick tool, nothing useful.
She hadn't seriously expected to find anything either, but sometimes you found amazing things on the Internet.
So the next point was to examine the eggs.
Ordinarily she would have little interest in something as mundane as eggs, but these two caught her eye.
The first time she held one of them in her hand, she had become frightened.
She didn't know why and that made her even more uncomfortable.
The feeling was just as unfounded as the fear of spiders, yet millions of people are afraid of spiders.
She still had a bad feeling about one of the eggs, but when she touched the second egg she felt downright secure.
"Crazy!"
She had to interrupt her own train of thought so as not to get further entangled in her own confused feelings and thoughts.
"Excuse me, did you say something ma'am?"
Mayra knew that it was just Jack, but she couldn't quite prevent a startled flinch.
"Oh, I have to apologize! Did I scare you ma'am?"
The twist she used to turn to Jack was a little too strong and she almost fell. Fortunately, she could still catch herself on the edge of the laboratory table.
With a slightly embarrassed smile, she tried to calm Jack down.
"No, no! You didn't scare me! I was just a little lost in thought and earlier I was just talking to myself."
But Jack's worried expression suggested that he hadn't missed the near fall.
"Are you sure you are all right ma'am?"Mayra immediately regretted her violent nod, and colorful flashes of light suddenly began to dance in front of her eyes.
"I think you should lie down ma'am. When was the last time you slept?"
"When was the last time I slept? I don't know. I think Monday."
The worry lines on Jack's face deepened.
That was clearly the wrong answer, Mayra reminded herself.
She actually liked Jack a lot, but right now she just wanted him to go away.
"By Monday you mean the Monday of last week, ma'am! If you had slept a little today, you would not be so exhausted!"
The information received slowly seeped into Mayra's brain.
"Does that mean it's Monday today? That's a joke! After a week of sleep deprivation, nobody is working in a laboratory!"
"I know that, ma'am! I know that. I'll bring you down a lounger so you don't have to go upstairs, I don't think you can do that anymore! What did you actually examine ma'am?"
With a nod of the head, for which she was rewarded with more twinkling stars in front of her eyes, she pointed to the two eggs.
"They brought it to me the other day and I just can't get any further! I'm not allowed to break it open and should still investigate what this is about. I've tried everything for the last ... week ... to be able to look inside. Are you sure?" is it a week? "
"Yes, definitely ma'am. You tried to look inside? Then what?"
Mayra resisted the urge to nod and continued her report.
"I've tried x-rays, computed tomography and a number of other things, but nothing seems to be able to see through that damn bowl. I've already made a dozen guesses and then discarded them. The only thing I can say for sure is that it's not a chicken egg." is and that's all! "
Jack had used the time she had wasted explaining to put her on one of the swivel chairs and, without waiting for her to object, to give her a bottle of water.
"Have a drink here. I'll be right back ma'am."
Mayra knew almost certainly that Jack hadn't been listening to her. Still, she was somehow grateful to him, he was worried.
When the elevator doors closed behind Jack, Mayra turned back to the eggs. Or at least wanted to.
It was only now, when she was sitting, that she realized how tired she was. Before she could admonish herself not to fall asleep, she was already slipping into the world of dreams.


"What do you want?"
Claire's voice remained calm and cool, but her fingers slid down to her sword belt.
Her position was bad for a quick evasive maneuver, so she hoped he'd get some benefit from a conversation with her this time.
She was sprawled on a children's slide, looking at a tree on the other side of the playground.Two squirrels were fighting over an acorn on the tree.
"You can be really scary, Claire. How did you know me this time?"
Claire didn't even bother to get up and face him, just the fact that he was talking to her made it clear that he wanted something.
"So you want something from me? Have you tried to implement your sick plans again?"
She could literally feel that she had hit the mark, she didn't even have to see him for that.
"You're in a particularly good mood again today, eh? Let's go to a bar and have a drink there, because of the old days. We can argue another time."
Claire closed her eyes for a moment and thought about the quickest way to get rid of him.
"So you tried and of course you backed the wrong horse again. So what exactly happened? Has that druid over there had anything to do with it?"
Claire wanted to slap herself. She couldn't get rid of him with such reactions. But maybe there was something to the reverse psychology thing.
So she would have to say exactly the opposite of what she actually wanted. Then she would have made a good start.
But she also sensed that she had provoked him quite a bit. It would probably be better to take it easy. Which was easier said than done. She hated this guy, he reeked of blood, death and burned flesh. She had hated him even then, but she didn't want to think back to that time, it would only open old wounds again.
"Why should I answer your questions if you don't even answer my questions?"
In the meantime Joshua had circled the slide and was now standing in front of it.
He looked slightly nervous and seemed to let his gaze wander regularly over the square.
"Because you need me! Isn't that so?"
It was really hard to hold back when you hated someone so much.
Joshua's face twisted briefly, but he controlled himself. Still!
"Okay! What's your price?"
His voice had changed a bit, his tone was clearly annoyed.
"My price? You should know that I am not for sale. I may be a warrior, but I don't work for everyone. How did you always put that?" Only pursue someone else's goals if you include yours get closer to your own goal! 'It was something like that, wasn't it? I was allowed to experience first-hand what that means for you! "
"You're still pissed off about it? Is that a joke? It's been over a year now!"
"If you see it that way, then you can go!"
Claire privately admitted that she was reacting a little too emotionally.
A year was a long time for warriors, and not because they had a short life expectancy, but because so much can happen in one year.A warrior suffered as many casualties in one year as a person in his entire life.
No sooner had a warrior befriended another of his kind than they were facing each other again as enemies.
The mercenary culture of the Warriors was not suitable for a permanent bond.
Friends came, friends left, and most of the time their blood dried on Claire's own blade.
For a warrior, a dispute that had been over a year had long since become statute-barred.
But in this case, Claire knew that, at least for her, it wasn't.
"Stubborn goat, but whatever you want! I'm going!"
With one determined movement, he made his way to James.
Claire was happy.
This guy always made her fall back into her old patterns.
She had vowed never to act so emotionally again.
Everything would probably have turned out differently back then if she hadn't been so stupid.

"She refused, didn't she?"
Joshua just nodded and made a dismissive gesture.
"We don't need them. Besides, we couldn't pay them either way.
That stubborn goat didn't even listen to what I had to say. Instead, she pulled out an old story.
Women! Why are they so resentful? "
Joshua didn't even stop at James, just kept walking.
"Joshua! Where are you going?"
The brown-haired one stopped briefly.
"I'm going to the ´Sunny´. I need a sip now. Are you coming with me?"
James shook his head and looked reproachful.
"You are thinking about drinking now? You realize what kind of situation we are in, or am I wrong?"
"Oh, lick me!"
Without stopping again, Joshua made off.
James paused a moment and considered Joshua's behavior.
This morning he had said that they needed support and that he had some contacts that could help him get some decent fighters. When he heard from Claire, he immediately went to find her.
It was clear to James from the start that the two of them knew each other, but apparently more had happened between the two of them than he had initially thought.
Joshua had acted like he had been given a basket.
James and Joshua didn't know each other very long, but they were sure that something was wrong.
"Oh, damn curiosity that will one day lead both