Chapter 10 Chapter 10: The Strange Gathering of True and False Prime Ministers

Before we knew it, we were looking forward to the last day.We heard no more from Bill.It was known from the passenger manifest that he had been to Earth on the first day of his total downfall, which was not even revealed in Kwarog's speech. Penfort's health is improving by the day, and it looks like he may assume his duties after the election.However, he remains partially paralyzed.We kept this under strict secrecy and asked him to go on vacation at the end of the election.Holidays will be spent on: The Tom Paine, where it is safest. Roger had to mess with some fingerprints.It will take a year or more for this to happen without incident.

Election day, I was as excited as a puppy playing in a closet.Although I still had to do a skit, the performance was drawing to a close.We recorded two five-minute talks for the All Empire Broadcasting Network.The first speech was very successful, it can be said that it was a success, and the second one I lost a game boldly.That's the end of my job. The last scene was performed internally on orders.Mr. Penforte wanted me to be summoned once before he agreed to my departure, and I was to play him during his interview.I don't care.Now that all the risky impostors have barged in, I don't feel terrified of visiting him.I played him in person to please him, a two-act parody of my acting career, so to speak.But what should I say?Regardless, realistic pretense is the essence of comedy.

The Penfolds will gather in the living room above.We'll be there to toast or swig the victory.Then vowed to do a better job in the future.I wish I could be spared the last act, but I still have to prepare. Using the patient's wheelchair, they took Mr. Penfold up to the elevator.I ducked before entering the room so they could put him on the couch first.I'm going to get in like I'm on a real stage. I was almost dumbfounded when I saw him.He looks exactly like my biological father!We are also about the same age, but he looks older than me, and his hair is also gray. He looked up as I entered the room, and gave me a gentle, indulgent, friendly smile.This smile I have learned how to display.Penfolds then raised his hand as a signal.I got up to him and gave him the same smile.

"I'm very glad to finally see you." He didn't speak clearly, but his spirit and spirit were very strong. "It is a great honor to meet you, sir." He looked me up and down, and then said with a smile, "It seems you've seen me before!" I kept my eyes on the ground. "I tried, sir." "Tried it! Then you succeeded! Hey! It's a strange thing to be able to see your own image!" Suddenly, it dawned on me that he didn't realize he was going to show up.And my appearance is "his appearance". He continued: "Sir, would you please walk a few steps for me to see? I want to see myself—you—both of us. Just this one time. I want to know what the audience thinks."

So I straightened up, walked up and down the room, talked to Penny (the poor girl was looking at me and at him with a very perplexed look), and picked up a newspaper and read it. , grabbed my collarbone, touched my chin, took out the bodyguard from the armpit, and kept fiddling with it in his hand. He looked at me with a kind of happy eyes.So I did it again after the show and clapping.I stood in the middle of the carpet, imitating the end of his best speech, I didn't recite his original text word by word, I just gave the gist according to my understanding, and I talked loudly, with a loud voice, just like his gestures when he used to make speeches Same——Finally, I end with his exact words: "Slaves cannot be freed, they can only be freed by themselves, and likewise, you cannot make a free man a slave, the most you can do is kill him !"

There was no sound in the hall, it was strangely quiet.Then someone applauded briskly.Suddenly Penfort beat the couch with his good hand, too, and exclaimed, "Brilliant!" That's the only real applause I've ever gotten for playing this role, and that's enough. He told me to pull a bench next to him. Then he asked me what I plan to do in the future.I told him, I have no plans yet.He nodded and said, "We have a job for you here, a job waiting for you." He didn't say anything about the job or how much it would cost, but I was proud of it. At this time, the election results began to be broadcast.Attention turns to stereoscopic televisions.Key election results reports are starting to arrive.All were kept quiet, lest Roger's pencil and Tucker's slide rule would do their work.After a long while, Roger pushed back the seat. "Well, sir," he said without looking up, "we're elected. We have at least ten more seats, maybe nineteen, maybe more than thirty."

Penny turned up the volume on the TV again.The announcer stopped talking after a while.Someone handed him a sheet of paper and told him to read it.He turned and said with a broad smile: "Friends and fellow citizens, allow me now to read to you the Chief Minister's statement!" The image on the TV instantly became my victory speech. I sat there, basking in bliss.With mixed feelings in my heart, all kinds of beautiful pictures appeared in front of my eyes. I only heard my voice continue to come out from the TV: "Let us move forward hand in hand, and let freedom fall to the earth..."

Suddenly there was an unusual sound behind him. "Mr. Penfold!" I called. "Doctor, doctor, come quickly!" Mr. Penfolds extended his right arm to grab me.He was anxious to say something to me, but could not.His prodigious willpower failed to make his frail body obey. I put my arms around him—he was unconscious and breathing hard.Before long, his soul returned to heaven. They put his body in the elevator and drove down.Tucker moved with Dr. Capek, and I couldn't get in.Roger patted me on the shoulder and walked away.Penny followed them downstairs.I walked alone to the bubble balcony, and I needed less fresh air, although the air there was also drawn in by an extractor, but it was always fresher.

I was literally petrified, as if my heart had stopped beating.I actually saw how I pretended to die.I don't know how long I was on the balcony.Finally I heard Roger calling me from behind: "leader!" I turn away. "Roger," I said hastily, "please don't call me that." "Chief," he insisted, "do you know what you must do now?" I feel a little at a loss and don't know what to borrow. "What do you mean?" "Boss, a man's dead—but the play must go on. You can't just go away." I felt dizzy and a little confused.His expression became elusive.I don't know what he is talking about, I just feel him shaking near and far in front of me.

"What do you mean?" "...they took away his chance to finish his career. So you have to carry on his legacy and get the job done for him. You have to try to keep 'him' alive among people." I slowly understood and shook my head, but it took a lot of effort to say: "This is ridiculous, ridiculous. I'm just an actor, I'm not a politician, I don't have that ability!" To my surprise, what I heard was me speaking in Penfold's voice. Roger looked at me. "The way I see it, you've been doing pretty well so far!" I'll change my voice right away. "Roger, please be quiet, and then you'll see how childish it is. Yes, the show has to go on. It's not what you say, but you're going to continue the show. The election has been won." .Now you can immediately step up to the job and implement the established policy."

He looked at me and shook his head sadly. "If I can do it, I will do it. But I have to admit that I am not suitable and I have no ability to do it. Leader, do you remember that you have to settle the changes of the situation. If you don't continue to do it, he —everything that Penfort lived and fought and died for is ruined.” I didn't argue with him.He may be right. "You can do it!" he said with forceful emphasis, leaning towards me. "We know as much as you do that it's dangerous. But there's always plenty of time to prepare before you step into your role. And we're here to help." I didn't answer.He went on: "The chief," a figure like his was not formed by one person, but by a group of people—a group of people who shared a common belief.The team leader is gone, but the team is still there.Choose another one now. " Dr. Capek is on the balcony.I turned around and asked him. "Do you agree with that too?" He nodded. "yes." "It's your duty," Roger added. "I'm not as high-minded as he is, but I'd like you to do it just as much. Now, Roger, let's go and let him think it over in peace. It's up to him to decide." They are gone.The only thing that made me feel relieved was that I finally didn't call me "chief" when I left. "Hello! Tucker." Seeing Tucker walk in, I felt a little relieved. He was silent for a moment, "Brother, we've been working together for a while. I know you well. I'm willing to support you with any means, pistols, money, or fists, anytime, anywhere, and I'll never ask why. If you I don't blame you for deciding to quit now. I will respect you as much as I always have. You have done a noble job." "Thank you, Tucker." "Just one more thing. You should remember that if you don't, Penforte's political enemies, the scumbags will--win and people will suffer." He went into the house. I feel distraught.After this, I couldn't help feeling sorry for myself, and the more I thought about it, the more unfair I felt.In order to play and replace someone else, they asked me to change my name and surname, maybe a few years, maybe even longer, and even bury the original me, let the society forget me, let the producers and agents all forget me-even Might make them believe I'm dead. This is too unfair, this kind of request is too much, and I will not even be myself if I live any longer. I look up at the stars.My "Mother Earth" is still so serene, beautiful, and unchanged in the sky; Mars, Jupiter, and Venus are in front of me, and of course I can't see the lonely immigrant city on the distant Pluto. Penfolds once called them a "world of hope." Yet he died.Just when he was in his golden age and at the pinnacle of his career, they took away his right to live. Now, they, believers in his cause and the people at large, want me to bury myself to recreate him, to bring him back from the dead. Can I do this?Is it possible for me to live up to the lofty standards of so many people?In my present position, what would Penfort do? At this time, I noticed someone walking behind me.I turned around and realized it was Penny.Then he said, "Did they call you? Are you going to persuade me?" "No," she said only one word, and fell silent.It seemed she didn't want to hear my answer either.We faced each other in silence for a long time without saying a word.Finally I said, "Penney, if I'd do it—will you help me?" She turned suddenly and stared at me. "Yes, oh, yes, Chief! I will help you!" "Then I'll give it a try," I said modestly. So far, I have gone up and down three times.Perhaps this term will be the last of my life. But we are moving forward, and as long as the people want to go to other planets, we must move forward. In order to clarify the messy past, I wrote down all the above experiences one after another twenty-five years ago.Before I die, I want to tell people the truth.I will not forgive myself.A quarter of a century has passed, and it is a pleasure to reread the young man's foolish, impassioned words.I remember him, but it's complicated for me to experience myself being him for a while.My wife, Penny, says she probably knows more about him than I do—because she never loved anyone else.What a change the passing years have made! However, I found that I even "remembered" his early life very well, better than I, Penfort's real life.He's a pretty poor guy. —Lawrence Smith, or as he likes to call himself "The Great Lorenzo."Does remembering this make me insane? Insane or not, I realized that he did exist at one time, and that I—Penfort—was probably him!It is said that when he died, he looked exactly like the character he played.Now I still have a yellowed newspaper clipping in my hand.It said he had been found dead in a New Jersey hotel after taking an overdose of sleeping pills—apparently he must have been in a depression.His rep later issued a statement saying he had not acted for a long time before his death.In my opinion, there is no need for them to talk about his experience after losing his job.The dates of the clippings reveal that he was definitely not in New Batavia during that year's tumultuous election. I think this clipping should be burned. However, among the people who are still alive today, except for Tucker and Penny, who else can know the truth of all this?Unless some of those who murdered Penfort are still alive!