2175 C.E.

VII: Gennady Semyonov

Personal Journal: Theresa Mwangi: Translated by Ibrahim Wassume

08/21/2175

The vice president came to me and made a very strange request of me today. We have had the shell of Gennady Semyonov in captive for the past week, and he has been restrained to prevent him from injuring himself or others. Well, today, Yong An-Hong came to me and asked for an opportunity to speak with him in private. He was vague with his reasons, a I have noticed he often is, fearing that too many words from him would betray him. This is the eternal curse of politics, as I have often found myself, for I had a great role in my late husband's political life. He said only that he wished to see the demon for himself, for like the bird that smells the cat, he has not himself encountered the Zaha-Katchem for what they are, only by their sound, their smell, their shadow upon the wall. I cautioned him that Gennady Alexandrovich may not provide the clearest insight, but I allowed the visit. Perhaps he may have more luck in interrogating my former friend and ally than our people have.

Official Transcript: Security Camera Footage: Kinshasa Security Center: 08/22/2175

[Begin playback at 1030 local time]

[Gennady Semyonov is restrained in a straightjacket and seated at a table. He rocks back and forth and mumbles incoherently. The door opens and a guard escorts Yong An-Hong into the room. Semyonov looks up at him silently as he enters. Yong stands and stares]

SEMYONOV: I wondered if I would see you.

YONG: You speak English?

SEMYONOV: As do you. (gestures to a chair opposite) Please, do have a seat, Mr. Vice President.

[Yong watches him for a long moment. Then he obliges]

YONG: I have heard you have not spoken to anybody since you came here.

SEMYONOV: I was waiting for you to come! And don't be surprised; of course we always knew you were here. You didn't escape our notice.

YONG: Whom do you speak of? Your allies within the Russian dissidence movement, I presume?

SEMYONOV: I think you know whom it is I speak of.

YONG: The Zaha-Katchem then? Are you in contact with them now?

SEMYONOV: In contact? I am Zaha-Katchem. Gennady Semyonov is no more. I am what remains.

YONG: Then you are like a snake that has fitted itself in the skin of another snake?

SEMYONOV: Maybe. Maybe there is no skin. Maybe there is no snake. Maybe all is one endless string of energy and consciousness, the abnegation of skins or snakes.

YONG: The Zaha-Katchem often speak this way. It is what they claim to be the bridging of minds and other things that they claim beyond human comprehension. It is a hard thing to believe, and an irony that they can say such things while leaning upon the crutch of their significant technological power.

SEMYONOV: You doubt that we can do as we say we can?

YONG: Humans have experimented with what you might call telepathy since the twenty-first century. Devices were created that could command objects with brainwaves as early as the 2000's.

SEMYONOV: And you think that we employ similar devices?

YONG: The technology has not been fully developed on Earth since the creation of the Interlink; it was considered unnecessary, although there are those who still experiment with it.