The True Face of the Duma

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I'm still working away busily on the Darger and Surplus novel, in which they finally reach Moscow, determined to make their fortune there.

Two years ago, I went to Moscow to research the novel and scout out locations. And I am here to tell you that Moscow is a very strange place. How strange? Check out the above photo of the Duma, which is, as you surely know, the lower house of the Russian Parliament.

I swear to God, the photo is unretouched.

So what's going on? The unearthly face is a reflection from enormous billboards directly across the street from the Duma. The billboards showed what looked to be the cast of a science fiction television series, and probably a comic one at that. But, though we asked everybody we could about it, we could find out nothing. Nobody knew anything about them.

There are no facts in Russia, only dueling conspiracy theories.

The show, whatever it was, appears to have disappeared without a trace. The block-long billboards on one of the most prominent streets in Russia must have cost unspeakable amounts of money. For an explanation, I can only refer you to Victor Pelevin's Babalon. Pelevin understands Russia. I sure don't.

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