Zero and Other Fictions by Huang Fan

Author:Huang Fan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction/General
ISBN: 9780231528054
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011-09-06T10:00:00+00:00

At this point, Xi De paused for a moment to think. The mysterious constructive element mentioned in the textbooks was then, in fact, nothing more than a detonation device.

It was only six months after I joined the secretariat that I learned the secret of Nanning. At the time, more than two hundred people were employed there, one third Germans, a small number of Asians, and the rest Americans. Max Kristen was Swiss, though this was doubtful. Strangely, there were no Jews or blacks. Owing to intelligence considerations, I have no way of ascertaining the composition of the Supreme Committee or executive organizations. The duties of my job— global racial analysis—were very complicated. I had to assemble materials on the bloodlines and cultures of more than one thousand races and then organize, arrange, analyze, evaluate, and submit the results to the committee.

Three years after I joined the secretariat, Pakistan detonated its first atomic bomb. The UN immediately announced sanctions. Rumors emanated from all parts of the globe, but none implicating Nanning. Afterward a series of mysterious nuclear detonations occurred periodically. The world succumbed to extreme hysteria and all countries grew suspicious of one another. The UN, for its part, seemed to be half in a stupor, and all international activities ground to a halt. In addition, natural disasters, earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, and plagues came in quick succession, due to environmental degradation. The Soviet Union was on the point of collapse. The United States was accused of being responsible, but there was no sufficient proof, so it flatly denied any responsibility. But what was its response to the unending series of human catastrophes? According to The New York Times, the leading newspaper of the day, “The White House called for all Americans to remain calm in the midst of the chaos.” The American president appeared frequently on television, accompanied by a number of high-level technical consultants, who criticized the disasters caused by the “small nuclear states” as “serious technological errors.” They believed that the manufacture of nuclear weapons was not difficult, but there was much to learn in the management of them. Then Max Kristen appeared at the president’s side. I recall it was the first time he spoke publicly. His speech was moving and rousing. The following day, all newspapers without exception carried his speech and heaped praise on him. In those days, Max Kristen was Chairman of the White House Committee on Science and Technology. However, rumor in the secretariat had it that the president was already under his control. Max Kristen declared that the series of disasters represented a turning point in the history of human civilization. A ray, emanating from somewhere deep in the universe, had detonated the stockpiled nuclear weapons. It was a warning to humanity about the careless use of these ultimate weapons. “We sorrow for and are deeply grieved by the plight of the people in the disaster areas. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to look ahead to the future and to continue the as yet uncompleted mission of humanity.

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