Project Ouroboros

by Makovetskaya, Kseniya

  — What is it?

  — A leg fixator. Very expensive.

  — And where did you get it?

  — Mr Aleph bought it.

  He wondered where Aleph got so much money, if it was so expensive that Mr Aine Soph wasn't still able to pay for it?

  — You know, — continued the doctor, — the fixator is so good that you can safely walk without crutches. Even in the shoes, but only in very free and closed: running shoes, boots...

  — Got it. It's good. Today I'll have to get out of here.

  — Soon you will cease to be a prisoner of this house — Mr Aine Soph was sitting in a chair in the hall for receptions, where there were still a few glasses of champagne, a few days later.

  — I really hope so.

  — But you will need to hold an official reception. You're the head of the oldest, richest and the most influential closed society.

  — What is the reason for the reception?

  — One of the valued members of the Order is running for president of Persia. We must support him and do everything so that he wins the election.

  — We'll raise funds for the election campaign?

  — That, too. I'll show you everything.

  — You promised to tell me what you were really striving for, when I'm ready to hear. I'm ready.

  — You yourself will understand what I want from you — Aine Soph watched El’Athar with his cold unblinking eyes, and he seemed to understand.

  — Aleph was given his salary? — Agent changed the subject.

  — Yes, and a decent bonus.

  — It was he who bought me the fixator.

  — The fixator is worth more than his salary and the bonus. But Tharsis and Rada seem to be involved.

  — I see ... — El'Athar frowned. — And the funeral?

  — Now we will go there.

  — You too?..

  — Of course.

  El'Athar frowned looking at an urn, issued in the crematorium. This tiny steel box — all that remained of his girlfriend. El'Athar did not understand what he was feeling. Some dull heaviness that seemed to pull him down, the body was numb. El'Athar wanted to say something, but could not. His mouth opened and closed like of a fish out of water. He did not think it would be so hard then.

  Aleph watched the agent trying to figure out what he was thinking. The boy did not know whether El'Athar had something to do with the murder of Tekhina and the fact that the investigation of the crime was hushed up, but the words of their last telephone conversation did not leave him for a second.

  — I think...

  — ... that it was me who pulled the trigger?

  — Do you mean, El'Athar, that you killed her?

  — I think no one will ever know.

  — Why did you do it?

  — I did not say I killed her.

  — So did you or not?

  Short beeps.

  — What does the Order do, except for financing "Enki"?

  — It controls all the political and economic systems of the region.

  — How did the Ophites gather so many influential politicians and businessmen in the order?

  — They have been doing it for two thousand years.

  — And what about Aine Soph? Does he control everything?

  — Yes. I think he and Mr Daath started all this together, but for different reasons.

  — Who is Aine Soph?

  — I do not know. Not a man for sure. But not Lamashtu. He is older than me.

  — Jack, haven't you thought that you were the same with him?

  — No, what are you talking about. I'm just a man. The only one in this whole company...

  — Then why you are more than two thousand years old, and not getting older?

  — I do not know... I almost do not remember anything. Only recently there began to reappear some scraps of memories and feelings. I'm not sure that my name is Jack.

  — But not El'Athar.

  — This is the name of a man whose place I have taken.

  — And Mr Daath? What do you think of him?

  — I believe that this is a project. A position. And these "Mr Daath" were numerous in the history of mankind.

  — Was the project created by the Ophite order?

  — No, Mr Daath created the Ophite order. He is about ten thousand years old. It seems that he has always existed.

  — Have you seen him?

  — No, it seems to me that even see Mr Aine Soph haven't seen him. At least nobody knows him in the face. He comes only in complete darkness.

  — And the rest of "Elohim", are they the same as him? No one has seen them too?

  — I have seen their faces, but could not remember a single one. They were somewhat identical and grey. I remember only the black suits, white shirts, ties and grey leather briefcases. That's all I can say.

  — Who are the "Elohim"?

  — The ones willing to take Mr Daath's place.

  — Like Aine Soph?

  — Yes.

  — Well, we've got that now.

  — Very good, as I am tired.

  — That's not all. Let's go back to the Ophites. What do they do in the "corner of Dr Moreau"?

  — Experiments.

  — More specifically?

  — I think they are trying to create a new Lamashtu, but most of the technology is already lost.

  — So that's why they needed Tekhina with her synthetic neurons?

  — Yes. And Aleph's DNA.

  — Is he the progenitor?

  — In some ways.

  — Tekhina was not killed because she sold the draft to the military?

  — She found out how Lamashtu were created.

  — And do you know?

  — Me?.. No, how could I. I only know that the DNA of other Lamashtu is a symbiosis of human and Aleph's DNA.

  — Is Aleph's DNA so different?

  — It is composed of the same chemical elements that we are and the whole universe is... But his DNA is closer to the DNA of, for example, a praying mantis. Or a cockroach... But still, the similarity is only 60%. The remaining 40% are not found on Earth.

  — Does it scare you, Jack?

  — I do not know how to treat this. What scares me is not the part of his DNA, but that he looks like my son, Alex.

  — Do you have a son?

  — Yes. And two daughters. When my wife started asking why I was not aging, I had to leave. Alex was ten years old then. I have never seen them again, I was back on Earth.

  — It was during the Galactic War, Captain Getterbørgen?

  — Yes...

  — All people who have not returned to Earth, were killed. Did you condemn your family to death?

  — No, I have left them some money so that they could also return. But I do not know whether they did or not.

  — And Sophie? You married for the second time.

  — It's been two thousand years later. And very briefly.

  — I understand. So you project your love for your son and the regret that you left him on Aleph?

  — At first, I gave into this feeling, although I did not quite understand what was happening, but then I began to remember, and it's... It's tough.

  — Aleph has become your friend.

  — Unfortunately. I'm better on my own.

  — But from him more good comes than trouble.

  — If he does not fail me, he would be the most helpful person I've ever met.

  — Let us return to Tekhina. Did she tell anything else?

  — No, we have not been close recently, and I could not find out anything. But I understand that she knew too much. A lot more than I do.

  — Your relationship failed, even though she loved you very much. And trusted you, and you...

  — ...And I could not save her.

  — So you did not kill her?

  — We are going in circles.

  — Good. Did you love her?

  — No of course not. Despite her genius as a scientist
in her life, she behaved as if she was eight years old. I was not up to it.

  — But you wanted to save her?

  — Yes.

  — Why?

  — Because if I didn't tried, I would never forgive myself.

  — Would you pity yourself?

  — Incredibly. And I admired her as a scientist.

  — Do you have a copy of her work on the neurons?

  — Of course, I feel offended.

  — What are you going to do next?

  — I do not know the whole truth.

  — But you know enough to understand what is happening.

  — The circle is closed.

  — What do you mean?

  — I feel like dying. My body is exhausted. But I have to understand what should I do when the circle closes.

  — Do you mean...

  — Soon humanity will not remain even on Earth. When all Lamashtu will be gathered they...

  — You want to say that...

  — The history of mankind will begin again as it already had many times before.

  — Cyclicism?

  — Something like that.

  Chapter 34

  — Mr Aine Soph.

  — Mr Daath.

  — I'm glad you came.

  — I'm always on your side.

  — I have no doubt.

  Mr Daath walked around the room in darkness. His silhouette was almost invisible, but one still could catch the contours of the black suit, a viper as if frozen smile and gleam in his eyes. He was recognizable, though no one could tell what he looked like, much less what he really wanted. For a second Aine Soph thought that he had recognized oriental facial features of the head of "Elohim," but most likely it only seemed so. Yes, definitely it did.

  Mr Daath continued to walk around the office, looking at the books on the shelves. It was obvious that he had always lived in the dark, and not just never to be seen. Aine Soph knew that the habitat of "Elohim" was called "Abzu" but was not sure if it was on Earth, or that such place actually existed. Maybe it was just a beautiful epithet. No one knew...

  — I allowed myself a little freedom — Aine Soph was ready for a difficult conversation.

  — You have decided to save him to use for your own purposes.

  — Yes.

  — Instead, you left your place in the Order of Ophites, opened El'Athar access to all archives.

  — Yes.

  — Do you understand what you are doing?

  — Absolutely.

  — I'm counting on you, Mr Aine Soph. We can no longer hold the balance.

  — So, you still want to ...

  — Yes. Soon this world will come to an end. I cannot do anything, even I am powerless here.

  Mr Daath smiled. This was not seen, but felt like some sentimentality settled in him for a moment. Or so it just seemed. Exactly, it seemed so.

  Aine Soph was gone, and Mr Daath was left alone.

  A call sounded.

  — Mr Daath? It's El'Athar speaking.

  — Yes, Mr El'Athar.

  — I think that the time has come for us to meet. You know where to find me.

  The communication was over.

  ***

  A month ago

  Message sent by the subscriber 10845-06 to the subscriber 00003-28

  "El'Athar, I really need to talk to you. Tekhina "

  "My work is becoming dangerous'

  "Why don't you answer?"

  "If something happens to me, it will be your fault. Moron."

  Message sent by the subscriber 00003-28 to the subscriber 10845-06

  "I'll come in the evening."

  "Thank you for coffee and breakfast. I'll think of something".

  — What did you see there?

  — The bones, a lot of bones... the whole cemetery.

  — Are they human?

  — Some of them are... some are synthetic.

  — How do you define it?

  — The colour. Human bones cannot be dazzling white.

  — What else is there?

  — Organs in formalin. But they are not human. Those are also synthetic models, they have no blood vessels or nerve endings. They look like plastic. There are a lot of details like that...

  — What do they want? The details to work?

  — Yes. And for this they need my studies.

  — Now everything is clear to me. They want to make new Lamashtu.

  — This technology has long been lost.

  — Research centre "Enki" existed long before humans returned to Earth. I think that they could keep something.

  — They have created Aleph, too, once?

  — No.

  — Are you sure?

  — Yes.

  — Do you know something?

  — All I know is that he is much older than we can imagine.

  — I'm starting to be afraid. Lydia is behaving very strangely. She has always been detached and stiff, but after the death of her husband she became completely reserved. I do not know what's going on in the department where I work next door.

  — I'm still interested in one important point. If your work is so important, why did not they give you money for pilot studies?

  — I do not know... You tell me.

  Lydia Lugal came to work very early, opened the rooms of "corner of Dr Moreau" and put things in order there. She did not allow the cleaning staff of the department to come into this sector, and did everything herself. It was a position of principle, rooted over the years, and nobody paid attention to it. Most of the rooms and laboratories of this sector have been closed, even for employees of the department.

  Lydia looked through Tekhina's workplace. Yeah, it was necessary to allocate a decent amount of time trying to clean all this stuff on her desk. Thinking that Tekhina Ami will never come back, she felt nothing but relief. Lydia never liked the arrogant blonde in glasses, around whom a special agent was hanging, popping his nose everywhere.

  Dr Lugal noticed a movement in the office of her husband. Dingir? — Only he had duplicates. But he should be at the university, so it was all very strange.

  It was hard to stand for El'Athar even with a good fixator, and he briefly thinking about the ethics of his behaviour, sat in a chair that belonged to the late Trier Lugal.

  — What are you doing here? — Lydia was not so much surprised as indignant at what was happening. This type, again! There was no escape from him, even after the death of his girlfriend.

  — I need to know on what actually Tekhina Ami was working. After all, all the mysteries of "corner of Dr Moreau" are not even known to Mr Director-General. No one knows but you.

  — And why do I have to tell you anything?

  — Because you have no choice, my dear Lydia. I have a usual gun, always at my belt, but I did not take it today. I took my favourite one. A thing totally impractical, but in this case, just perfect — El'Athar unbuttoned his jacket, pulled out a huge silver revolver from the holster and put it on the table. — This is an antique. It is very old and it shoots normal bullets.

  Lydia said nothing.

  — You know, there used to be a game — "Russian Roulette". This revolver have five blunt rounds and one real bullet. You cannot see where it is. And you do not know how many attempts you have to tell me the truth. Do not worry, I'll pull the trigger as many times as required.

  Lydia sat down in front of him. She remained silent.

  — We can do so — El'Athar sat comfortably in the chair — I will speak, and you will agree with me.

  Silence again.

  — So — the special agent took the gun in his hand and pointed it at Lydia. — You worked on creating new Lamashtu?

  Silence.

  El'Athar pulled the trigger. A blunt round.

  Lydia started to get nervous.

  — Should I repeat my question once again? — asked El'Athar without removing the gun.

  — No. — Lydia closed her eyes. — My husband really wanted to repeat the achi
evement of the founder of the "corner of Dr Moreau" and create a biorobot. He wanted to use the achievements of Dr Ami, without involving her in the process of creating it. He asked Mr Director-General not to fund her experimental studies, because he wanted to do it himself.

  — To steal Tekhina's work?

  — To take advantage of it.

  — And you?

  — And I ... I just wanted a little more time.

  — So, it didn't work out? Just a pile of bones and organs.

  — They are not viable without the work of Dr Ami.

  — They all look like Aleph?

  — Yes...

  — I see. Who created him?

  — I don’t know. But it was not "Enki".

  — What are Lamashtu programmed for?

  Silence again.

  — You do not want to answer, Dr Lugal?

  Another blank shot.

  — Should I repeat that? — El'Athar looked more determined than ever.

  — People should not have returned to Earth. But Mr Aine Soph and Mr Daath decided otherwise. I do not know how they did it.

  — From time to time there is a restart of the universe?

  — An update more likely. This is called the Correction. All people should have died in the galactic war. Until the last one. To leave the universe alone for a while. Then the evolution would have done the trick. And everything would have started again.

  — But instead, project "Ouroboros" was launched?

  — Yes.

  — What does it threaten us?

  — The Ultimate correction, which would result in not only people's deaths but the whole universe as well. And a new one will arise in its place.

  — A Big Bang?

  — Once scientists named the previous Ultimate correction like that. I wonder how they would call it next time...

  — And what about Lamashtu? What is their role?

  — They are keys to the Correction. They were created in order to start it manually. By people.

  — And Aleph?

  — He is a key-keeper. He is the ultimate correction.

  El'Athar pulled the trigger again.

  A shot rang out.

  Chapter 35

  Silence. Somewhere in the distance the ticking of the old cabinet clock could be heard.

  Tick-tock ... tick-tock ...