Project Ouroboros Read Free Page A

second — in the stomach.
    There wasn’t a third one for some reason.
    Legs failed and he fell, curled into a ball right on the pavement, clutching a flute in his hands – only for it not to be taken. It hurt to breathe, the time seemed to have stopped and everything swam before his eyes: the theater building, frightened faces... even dark grey sky after the rain looked blurry and dim.
    The crowd was standing around Aleph and deciding what to do. Someone seated him and threw a coat on his shoulders. Someone carefully folded the instrument and the stool into the backpack, and someone else took him by the hand and led along. People were excitedly screaming at each other, but gradually their cries became silent and it was becoming quieter.
    — Where are you taking me? — Aleph asked his companion as they had walked far enough. He was breathing hard, and he could hardly stand on his feet, but the saviour dragged him along struggling.
    — Home with me — a dry woman's voice said. — You need a break. The main thing is that we aren’t stopped by the police because of your horrible look.
    — I have never been stopped by the police.
    — Do you have a house?
    Aleph remained silent.
    — What do you do in this city then?
    He said nothing again.
    — Well, we’ll figure that out later. My name is Ea.
    — Mine is Aleph.
    — A good name. Do you know what it means?
    — I am the first of the twenty-two.
    They were walking down sonorous and cold pavements on and on, but the musician was suddenly struck with a thought, on which he lost breath and everything inside shrunk from sticky fear. He really didn’t know what he was doing in Anshan and how he had got there. My God, he didn’t remember anything at all! As if... as if he didn’t exist before his arrival in the capital of Elam.
     

Chapter 3
     
    Dr Tekhina Ami accustomed to the university quickly. Despite the irritation arising because of quite a negative first impression, she was accustomed to the technician as well and tried to assign him interesting work, which she could have done herself. It seemed that everything went well. The university administration was satisfied with Tekhina, and she confidently settled in the laboratory, started working intensively on the theoretical developments in the field of purified protein nerve impulses that were to be the main basis of her research. The ability to speed up the transmission of nerve impulses of the human brain interested her in the first place. There was some progress, but lectures on biochemistry and biotechnology took a lot of her time. After just a month Tekhina realized that she should find additional funding, as in the training university laboratory, even if it was instrumented with the best modern equipment in the world, managing those was usually done by the clever laboratory assistant, most of the experiments were still unavailable. And the cost of the consumables in adequate quantities was too high. To top it all one could only dream of the freedom of action.
    — So what are you going to do? — asked Dingir after rector refused to increase Dr. Ami’s funding, justifying his decision with strictly limited budget.
    University was not exactly a rich institution. Discounts and bonuses for students, rather high salaries for teachers created a beautiful outer shell, inside of which there was a gaping void. There was barely enough funds to support the normal departmental work.
    — I think we should try to find a sponsor — Tekhina sat in a chair near a huge desktop, from which the neon glow came, drinking coffee. — Although I do not know anyone in this town who might be interested in the artificial physiology. There are no international corporations or military organizations. It’s a huge half-empty city, inhabited by mid-level professionals and nothing more.
    — I'll ask my parents, maybe they have some advice — Dingir thought. — But in exchange for the information, I want to push my condition; I will