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[Alexandr Korol]

On one hand, it feels right to say that places of power exist everywhere, and they’re spread across the world. These are the very grid lines and intersections I’m talking about. So, even if we base it on the idea that I’ve been trying to decode the matrix since the beginning of “Alternative History” until now — and in the second volume I’m already physically assembling it — there really are geometric shapes, those proper polyhedrons, which must be correctly aligned and laid out. And all of this represents the structure of everything, and yes, these intersecting lines form points — places of power. But! But! That’s only one side of it. Now, here’s the thing: we see traces of ancient civilizations left on Earth, but why aren’t they all in one place? Why are they spread across various locations? We’ve heard about the massive complexes of Mayan pyramids, we know of Ancient Egypt, and many other such sites. Why did they emerge in different places? So, I’ll put it this way: at that time, when I was still basically a kid — well, not a kid, but about 20 years old — I saw it all as if this ray... but again, that’s just how I expressed it, maybe it’s not exactly like that. So I was just sensing it, and at that time, imagine how limited my vocabulary and examples were, considering I was a child of the former USSR — meaning it had always been drilled into my head that America was the enemy. And now, imagine me in 2010 — how did I see the world through the eyes of that child? I understood that there was America, making films, music, and seemingly dictating everything, as if its culture was spreading across the entire world to the point that I myself had become a product of that foreign culture, even though I was born in Russia, in Saint Petersburg. And I began to see how more and more of what my grandfather used to call “imported stuff, Western trash” was being promoted — all those bad films, vulgar things, and so on. Logically, I witnessed all that. Maybe some of you didn’t and won’t understand me, but some of you will. And I’m sharing this now for those who will. And back then I saw a picture forming in my mind: since Russia has a future, and I always cared deeply about why the royal family fell and why the Russian Empire collapsed — because Russia should be great — and now it seemed like America was in charge. But again, I didn’t really know much about countries. So you see, maybe in a couple of years I might have said that England was in charge — and why not? After all, it had half the world in colonies, and maybe it created America, and also Canada, and also Australia,