Diaboliad. Fatal Eggs

«Diaboliad. Fatal Eggs» — a collection of satirical science fiction about the Soviet 1920s, where bureaucratic absurdity and faith in quick solutions turn into anxiety, chaos, and destructive consequences. The book by Mikhail Bulgakov includes two stories and a cycle of travel notes, connected by time, social environment, and attention to the individual, who is crushed by bureaucracy, ideology, and the self-confidence of power. In one story, a harassed official finds himself at the center, while in another — a scientist whose discovery spirals out of control against his will. This prose combines social grotesque, fantasy, and precise everyday observation, making the humorous quickly turn dangerous.

In «Diaboliad», clerk Varfolomey Korotkov, after a service error, tries to restore his position, but each new step only complicates the matter further. Offices multiply, papers lose meaning, and the encounter with the Kalsonery brothers turns an ordinary office mishap into an almost nightmarish pursuit. In «Fatal Eggs», Professor Vladimir Persikov discovers a red ray that accelerates the growth of living organisms. His discovery is decided to be used for economic needs, and a chain of wrong decisions quickly spirals the situation out of control.