Project Ouroboros by Kseniya Makovetskaya

first it seemed that it was a good excuse to spend time outside of work in the company of a new friend, which she considered attractive enough to be interested in him, but, to her chagrin, the special agent wasn't interested in her as a woman, absolutely wasn't.
    — A horrible musical, however, the audience as well, — commented the theatrical evening Tekhina as soon as they went out. — God, fresh air finally!
    — You're right, of course — agreed El’Athar. — Let's walk?
    — Yes, I vitally need oxygen.
    — A good bar has opened on the coast, with great drinks.
    — It's not too far? I'm wearing new shoes. I haven't bought the shoes with heels for five years already.
    — Yes, you have wasted money for nothing for this musical.
    — Who knew... But it's all right. I'll have to go to the movies in a cocktail dress now — Tekhina smiled, trying to keep up with the fast pace of the agent. She paused for a moment to dissolve the hair from a braid before, and looked forward. — Will it be long?
    — We're almost there. So, next time we go to the movies?
    — Yes, maybe, at least, that experiment would be successful!
    El’Athar veered off the sidewalk to the track paved with marble tiles. It led to a bar styled as a bungalow, with a long shiny bar, a dance floor and open-air tables around it.
    Tekhina looked around in surprise. It was the end of the working week, and there were a lot of people: empty seats weren't visible. But El’Athar confidently walked up to the bartender and ordered a beer and a "good cocktail for the lady".
    — Come on — he came back with a dark ale and a turquoise cocktail, which, according to the bartender, should be "incredibly delicious."
    El’Athar confidently led Tekhina along the coast. The warm evening breeze, the mysterious whispering palm leaves, calm sea, which reflected the city lights — all granted some peace after not such successful visit to the theater. The air smelled of salt water and magnolias. Tekhina and El’Athar leisurely strolled, moving away from the music and the bar.
    — Look, — the agent pointed at a lone free bench under a palm tree — it is the best you can come up with right now, right?
    — Yes, it's fine. — She sat down, took the cocktail out of his hands and looked at the sea. — May I ask?
    — Yes, of course — El’Athar sat beside her.
    — What did you feel when you realized that you have to kill people from the ministry?
    — I was annoyed. I always trying to work so that as little as possible of people knew about me, and now everyone in the "Enki" seem to realize what I was doing.
    — No, not all. Only our small department. Dingir, his parents and me. They are here ... on a special account, or something. Since the creation of the centre, before Tiamat. I just ... I feel uncomfortable. They look like it thirty years haven't passed since then. Like there wasn't this terrible break. They are still twenty-five, and they are still as confident. When they are close, I feel as if...
    — ...something was wrong with them? — ended her sentence El’Athar.
    — Yes.
    — I get the same feeling when I look at the Director General.
    — They are somewhat similar — Tekhina shrugged.
    — Yes.
    — And Lamashtu? A strange feeling, too, but another one.
    — I do not feel their presence. Nothing that you feel when you live next to a man — El’Athar was finally able to articulate his thoughts.
    — I made a complete examination and released them under the responsibility of Dingir.
    — And that — the findings — were useful?
    — I've been working on... the problem of creating an artificial nervous system, and each time it seems to me that everything is perfect — an experimental model refuses to function. And I cannot understand what's going on.
    — You thought Lamashtu would help?
    — Yes...
    — And when you realized that they are by all indications ordinary people, you've decided to let them go?
    — Yes...
    — Besides — without the