Official for Special Assignments

A clumsy machine of the Russian Empire, rolling through the entire nineteenth century in its usual ruts, grows more and more squeaky and cracked as it quietly protests—against various potholes and long uphill climbs—on a winding road from the dark and hungry past toward a possible bright future. Or maybe a bloody one… However, on the second path, more and more obstacles appear, while on the first there are fewer—thanks to the efforts of modest Prince Agrenēv, who scatters stones of necessary actions with a generous hand, calculating that in time he will gather a rich harvest of changes so needed by the country…