Zero and Other Fictions

by Huang Fan

  Du’s expression at recalling sweet memories began to fade and give way to one of revenge and pain.

  “Six months later, I saw Liana. She had arranged every detail. We met briefly in the train station of Central City. According to Liana, six months before, Mo Zhao had suddenly flown to New City—regional committee members could go anyplace at any time—and asked for her by name. Later she was taken back to Central City, where she became Mo Zhao’s woman. Our meeting lasted all of ten minutes and when we parted, Liana asked me to forget her and to move on. I was heartbroken! After that, I started to drink. There wasn’t a day I didn’t get stinking drunk until they finally sent me here.”

  The room suddenly seemed filled with sadness. Xi De looked at the middle-aged man before him with sympathy.

  “That’s the end of the story,” said Du Qun, forcing a laugh.

  They sat in silence for a while. Du poured Xi De another glass of green wine.

  “What about you?” asked Du.

  Being somewhat in his cups, Xi De told him about Zhen.

  “This is just one reason you are unable to pull yourself together, isn’t it?” asked Du, fixing his gaze on Xi De. “There’s got to be another reason.”

  Xi De was startled by Du’s perspicacity. He thought it over before replying: “Why are you so interested in me?”

  Du knew what he was referring to.

  “I’ve been interested in you since the first time I saw you,” muttered Du, while cautiously examining Xi De’s every expression. “I’ve had my eyes on you, your cold, sober look, the cautious way you keep your distance from others, the constant careful way you have with everything. Finally, I came to the conclusion that we are the same. Both of us harbor enormous secrets.”

  “What secret?” asked Xi De.

  “It’s a secret that makes you different from others,” said Du, standing up and walking to the window, “but it also makes you feel uneasy, and there’s no one you can speak with to get it off your chest. I had the very same feeling when I left Central City. Overnight, my ideals and any meaning were destroyed, but even more painful was that I had fought for a liar for so long.”

  Du Qun walked over to Xi De and regarded him in all earnestness and sincerity.

  “I’m the only person in whom you can put your trust.”

  It was clear to Xi De now. Du didn’t tell just anyone he met about his hatred for Chairman Mo Zhao. He also recalled the old professor’s expression when he mention Du Qun’s name. The wrinkled, age-spotted face was filled with sadness and deep concern. Perhaps the old professor could foresee the fates of these two students to whom he was closest.

  “I once mentioned what was puzzling me to the old professor. He mentioned your name and thought perhaps you—”

  “Why didn’t you come to see me earlier?”

  “I was confused for a while,” said Xi De, shaking his head. “After all, I had received sixteen years of Central Academy education. I had just taken my place in society and thought everything was wonderful. I didn’t have to exert myself in the least when it came to life, work, play, or thought—everything had been well planned. Wasn’t this the Heaven described by generations of thinkers? But on the verge of mindlessly throwing myself into the relentlessly turning wheels of this giant machine, I had second thoughts, something happened.…”

  “What happened?” asked Du anxiously.

  At that point, Xi De began to narrate how he had discovered Winston and his book The True Face of the Central Committee. Du listened, enthralled, the expressions on his face shifting, by turns smiling and gloomy, but never once interrupting his narrative.

  “Just think of what a shock it gave me,” Xi De finally said, “to discover what no one dared to believe: the great Max Kristen was a scoundrel, a cheat, and a mad idealist. And the Supreme Committee was a violent, cruel, and evil organization with blood-soaked hands.”

  “Notwithstanding the fact that you discovered the book through an unusual dream, it’s all quite believable. Xi De, do you believe what Winston said?”

  “Naturally I was skeptical at first, believing the book to be part of a plot or the product of a raving madman.”

  “And later? How did you deal with it?”

  “Although reason told me that I couldn’t have complete faith, my thoughts did undergo an unconscious shift. I began to come out of my ‘inherent life ’ and to examine the outside world with curiosity and alertness. Then one Sunday, I couldn’t resist going to see the old professor.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He believed that Winston had done everything in his power to cross space and time to locate a redeemer and what he found was me, a pure and innocent but confused child.” Xi De laughed. “But the professor believed that Winston’s accusations were for the most part true, because the detonations of nuclear weapons in various places in those days seemed to be planned. He also mentioned an anti-Nanning organization in those days.”

  Du appeared to sympathize and understand as he listened to Xi De describe his confusion and uneasiness with regard to the entire system, the impact his vacation and Zhen had had on him, as well as his impressions of the lower-class residents of the industrial city.

  “The new society is not all it is cracked up to be superficially, right?” asked Du.

  Xi De nodded.

  “All right. I’m going to take you someplace where you can learn a lot more, for which you are qualified.”

  21

  It was the basement of the building. Du Qun led Xi De along the exposed water and ventilation pipes, coming to a halt before a large, rusty compressor.

  “This is an old-style emergency electrical generator. It’s no longer used.”

  Du felt around on the wall and pushed on a depression, which started a loud rumbling. It was a door.

  “This is an old atomic bomb shelter built a long time ago.” Du led Xi De down a flight of steps as the door closed behind them.

  They found themselves in a small metallic room. Du flipped a switch and immediately the room was filled with a bright light. Xi De saw several old machines and a small screen on the wall.

  “Have a seat here,” said Du, as he turned on an old projector. “Let’s watch a film clip first.”

  The room grew dark, and one image after another appeared on the screen.

  “That’s a nuclear device exploding in an Indian state as photographed from the air.”

  After the explosion, all the buildings had been leveled. The camera panned upward, the background growing dark, and finally came to rest on something that resembled a wheel.

  “What’s that?”

  “That’s a space station. See the letters U.S.A. written on it? It was photographed accidentally by a Japanese commercial satellite.”

  “What is that large disclike object protruding there?”

  “That is Nanning.” A burst of blinding light suddenly shot from the disc. “It’s exploding the nuclear weapons on earth.”

  Xi De watched, amazed and speechless.

  “Let’s watch it again.”

  A group of people armed with automatic weapons appeared onscreen and were firing on a building. At that moment, in the lower left-hand part of the screen appeared a gray armored vehicle, on top of which was mounted a needle-or pipelike object; then there were bursts of bright light.

  “Using a ‘blitz weapon,’ this instance of anti-Nanning violence was wiped out in ten seconds.”

  Du turned off the projector. In the dark, Xi De listened to his solemn voice, totally lacking in emotion.

  “This clip proves everything you already know: the new society was built on a bloody massacre. But history tells us that during any revolution blood will flow, and some people will always have to be sacrificed in the founding of a new system. If the new system is good, then settling old scores does nothing to help the situation save to satisfy the ethical feelings of a few individuals.” Agreeing with his point of view, Xi De nodded. “But the issue here is not the bloody means by wh
ich these people were eliminated, but …”

  Du paused at this point to turn on the light. In the bright light, Xi De’s young face was flushed red.

  “Have you heard of the Defend the Earth Army?”

  “Yes, in the Steel District. It seems to be an organization bent on stirring up trouble.”

  “Not many people really understand what the Defend the Earth Army is all about,” said Du, sighing. “I’m the commander of the Defend the Earth Army in the Third Industrial City.”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s hard to believe that the organization predates the Supreme Committee. As for it being bent on stirring up trouble, as you say, that is just a few marginal elements of the Defend the Earth Army, a few bored and disgruntled lower-class people we have been able to manipulate. The genuine members of the Defend the Earth Army are scattered throughout the middle and upper classes, where they are well concealed. The membership of the Defend the Earth Army is declining because talent is hard to come by and very few are willing to accept the beliefs we hold,” said Du. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions now. What the heck is the Defend the Earth Army? What are we defending? What on earth has to be defended? Are we defending the earth against aliens?”

  Du seemed to savor the unparalleled astonishment and confusion written all over Xi De’s face. After a while, he took a stack of photographs out of a drawer.

  “Have a look at these photos first.”

  Xi De took the stack of old, yellowing photographs.

  “They’re all flying machines. Why?”

  “Right, but in those days they were called flying saucers.”

  “When were these taken?”

  “Fifty years ago.”

  “Jeez,” said Xi De, raising his voice, “they look just like the ones today.”

  “These photos were collected by several aerospace scientists, the founders of the Defend the Earth Army.”

  “You’re saying that they thought aliens from outer space wanted to invade the earth?”

  “They’ve already invaded.”

  “How’s that possible?”

  “We have reason to believe that Nanning is a scheme of theirs.”

  “That’s inconceivable,” said Xi De, standing up. First it was Winston, then the old professor’s story, then the encounter with Du Qun, and at last this unbelievable, if not mythical Defend the Earth Army.

  “Have a seat, Xi De, and listen closely to what I have to say,” said Du, his voice becoming low and filled with emotion. “I am now going to reveal to you one of the greatest mysteries of human civilization. We have lost a lot of people assembling this information, but the sacrifices have been worth it. In spite of everything, they were willing to risk untold danger, even to secure a brief written passage, offering their lives as if they meant nothing. I have photocopies of everything here, which you can look at in a moment.”

  When Commander Du began to recount his historical view of human civilization, the air in the room seemed suddenly to take on a chill and grow still. The four walls reflected the bright and silent lamplight, and it felt as if thousand of eyes were staring coldly. A shiver ran up his spine as Xi De was overcome by an atmosphere of absolute terror.

  “In the past, there were a number of ways to explain human history. One was the religious view of history, which held that the development of humanity was part of God’s divine plan for the universe, an as yet unsolved riddle. The second was the political view of history, which held that the decisive forces in the past were the kings, nobles, lawmakers, and soldiers. The third was the heroic view of history, which was closely related to the political view of history, because in general, the heroes of history came from among the great nobles, kings, generals, lawmakers, founders of nations, pioneer reformers, and revolutionaries. The fourth was the ideological view of history, which held that ideology was the main reason for historical progress and that the material conditions of society were arrived at by means of certain galvanizing ideas. The fifth is the economic view of history, which held that human life was supported by goods and labor and that the exchange of goods and labor was the basis of all social development and structure.

  “But what I want to say is that all of these ideas are possible explanations derived from limited information. What’s the truth, then? What are the origin and future of humanity? I will reveal this ancient mystery now.

  “Long, long ago, when the earth was just a dull clod lying idly by, all sorts of strange animals crawled over its surface. It is clear that had it not been for outside interference, the animals would have maintained their original forms to this very day. Take, for example, the apes and lions in the forests of Africa. Despite the vastness of time or even the brilliant theory of the evolution of species, the apes would still be apes and the lions, lions thousands of years hence as they were thousands of years ago. The ants of today are identical to those of hundreds of thousands of years ago. If there was no outside interference, then why is it that one species of ape—man—evolved at an astonishing pace when all other species seem to have been fixed and not evolving? Well, what do I mean by outside interference?

  “At one end of the universe is a planet on which lived a form of intelligent life. One day, tens of thousands of years ago, the planet dispatched a fleet of spaceships to cross the Milky Way on a mission. One spaceship, owing to mechanical difficulties or some other unknown reason, found itself lost on earth. When the aliens disembarked, they discovered that they had landed on a beautiful, though hopelessly primordial planet. Their ship was beyond repair, and the fleet had abandoned all hope of locating any survivors and was on its way home. Under these circumstances, the lost aliens had to think of something in this ridiculous place. Fortunately, the primordial planet produced countless species of animals and concealed rich mineral deposits. But the lucky survivors and their advanced instruments were not able to come up with a means of returning home to their highly industrialized civilization. What were they to do?

  “After many discussions, a large, long-term and time-consuming, nearly perfect plan was decided upon. The first step in this plan was to start from the very beginning. They selected several species of apes and operated on these simple beasts surgically. Thus a controlled mutation occurred: a simple Homo sapiens prototype was implanted in the mind of a remote human ancestor. After that, the birth of the true human, able to reason, assess, engage in animal husbandry, and make tools followed. With environmental adaptations, man began to migrate and establish villages, and finally inhabited all parts of the world. In response to special regional conditions, unique cultures appeared. As populations increased, culture continued to develop until it reached a certain stage. Competitive behavior resulted from increasingly frequent contacts among populations and the overlapping of living environments. The early competition acted as a constructive stimulus. Perhaps the aliens intended to produce this stimulus in a surreptitious fashion by, for example, implanting certain suitable ideas in the subconscious of a few exceptional individuals.

  “When the stimulus reached the point of explosion, war occurred. Although war brought disaster, reduction in population, and material destruction, it also indirectly achieved the goal of allowing the new to supersede the old. In order to reduce the destructiveness of war, the aliens then created the various faiths as well as idealism in the guise of religion. Naturally, this was through a number of famous wise people. These chosen earthlings came up with towering theories overnight. We can point to a number of ideas that changed the course of history as proof. The process of producing these ideas is mysterious and difficult to explain. The founders of many religions, for example, claim that their original ideas came to them in their dreams or through divine inspiration. Many important scientists have also explained that their discoveries happened unexpectedly, through a stroke of genius or a brainstorm. Therefore, on the heels of a major war, a leap in human civilization can take place. Time advances, and sometimes, in order to solve a problem or simply to check the reco
rd, the aliens have appeared at a certain point in a certain age. Contemporary witnesses often record in their histories, ‘the god visited’ or ‘celestial phenomena occurred,’ or ‘Apollo stood on the western horizon,’ ‘amid thunder, God led Moses across the Red Sea’ and the like. In recent times, with increased population and mobility, each unique culture reached maturity, the Greek, Egyptian, and Islamic, for example. Through the blending of these formed cultures and through cultural cross-fertilization, a living, moving modern civilization was produced.

  “The aliens occupied a controlling position, but out of view behind the screen. They created regional conflicts and brought about the unification of many important factors such as blood lineage, language, religion, and custom. Then, selecting representative peoples or those with potential to develop, they helped them to achieve certain things culturally, such as the improvement in production preceding the industrial revolution, or relying on Bacon to help bring about the scientific revolution. The outbreak of the First World War helped to increase the speed of industrialization of several advanced countries. This was followed shortly by the Second World War, and the resultant losses and damage from the conflict, which dwarfed the first, were astonishing, but also allowed the second wave of industrialization to reach its peak. In the thirty or forty years after the war, scientific and technical developments surpassed all those from the previous history of humankind. But then a huge problem reared its head: when industrialization reaches a certain level, world wars will always end in common ruin. At the same time, population pressures, environmental degradation, and the breakdown of reason all served to propel us toward global Armageddon.

  “At that time, in order to reduce the stimulus on man, the aliens stopped appearing and designed Nanning. We have reason to believe that Max Kristen was not an earthling. After Nanning began to play its given role, the earth at a given time lost 90 percent of its undesirable population and 80 percent of its second-class construction. Then came the final stage of industrialization, which was unlike the previous three stages in that it was better planned and more precisely controlled. Its goal was the establishment of a pure and highly mechanized civilization, in which machines would gradually replace human beings. According to reliable data, the world’s population is declining annually. We have learned of some factory workers being eliminated. They suddenly and mysteriously vanished. Many technicians replaced by machines also disappeared, their whereabouts unknown. These are frightening circumstances. We believe that if people do not do something quickly, a day will come, and in the not too distant future, when the whole human race will disappear from the face of the earth. The only thing left will be a hightech factory controlled by aliens or machines that will be capable of producing the means of crossing the Milky Way. We believe that the aliens do not possess the ethics, character, or goodwill that they gave the people of the earth. As far as they are concerned, humanity is just an incubator to produce machines; we are nothing more than white rats in a lab. This is an age-old hoax—the meaning of human existence is nothing but a bad joke, and God’s will is … just a pat on the backside when everything is accomplished.”