“It’s hard to be a god” in reverse. Not another planet, but our Earth. Not the Middle Ages, but Russia, late 2000s. But there is an agent of another civilization - enlightened and humane in its own way - here. He disguises himself as a popular metropolitan journalist, and his task is to hinder our scientific and cultural development, to extinguish all high impulses. Not out of malice - but out of consideration for the safety of his home world. He is a good, decent man, and it is unpleasant for him to do his dirty work. However, he puts duty above all else...The text is presented in the author's edition.