Book 9 · Chapter 58

Day 16

An excerpt from “The Mirror of Putin’s Double,” the ninth book in The Adventures of Putin’s Double.
A state that cannot or will not fight itself begins to delegate violence.

The Owner of the “For the Right Cause” State Farm

I nearly became president. They had to put me out: from nowhere appeared foreign accounts, then a divorce, then a black mark beside my name on election day. Even so, more than eight million voted for me, more than Denmark, fewer than Austria. United Russia couldn’t make a stone flower, the Communists promised communism in twenty years, while I have a living utopia in one state farm.…

Ilyich (steward and personnel officer)

Today I reported to the owner on moods. Besides the right-wing courses, internet experts have formed an elf factory: like Prigozhin’s troll factory, only with bayonets pointing the other way. Eight thousand jobs, one for each member of the farm. Not all show up; they laugh at “sofa war.” A raid on the “War Daily” channel is being prepared. I showed the owner the spectacle out of curiosity.

The Chat Assistant

This is a troll attack. For Prigozhin the PMC theme is a sore spot. Look how triggered they are! We can’t close the chat: activity boosts the video in recommendations.

The farm’s owner and his steward silently pondered a scourge worse than the Chinese virus. They understood: if the war drags on, they’ll have to decide whose side to be on, not with a monitor but with a shovel. And in a Kremlin office the double Banquet Guy opens folders and gets used to his new role.