Interviewed: SCP-2788

Interviewer: Dr. Wang

Foreword: Interview conducted immediately after SCP-2788 entered containment.

<Begin Log>

Dr. Wang: Secretary ██, now that you've entered our custody, I'd like to ask you some questions about your life history for our records. Do you know when your earliest memories took place?

SCP-2788: Well, I don't have an exact year, but it must have been around when the Hongwu Emperor conquered Nanjing. At that time, many refugees were fleeing the chaos in the north, and some of them settled at Huaxi.

Dr. Wang: You've claimed to Agent Cheng that you have played various different roles on the behalf of the inhabitants of Huaxi Village in the past. Who or what were you during that time period?

SCP-2788: The villagers worshiped me as Tudigong in those times. Before they plowed, planted, pruned, harvested, or did just about anything, the villagers would always seek my divine wisdom, because they knew that if I granted it to them, the harvest would be good. They thought that it was some kind of magic, but in reality it was just sound agricultural advice. There was nothing I knew that any literate man with the proper resources could not have figured out for himself, but the villagers turned towards me for direction because of their ignorance and superstition. It was a truly dreadful chore for which I never received the gratitude I really deserved.

Dr. Wang: For how long did you remain in that role?

SCP-2788: Until the Qing issued the queue order , as I recall, when the villagers joined the people of Jiangyin in rebellion. That was when I became known as the Silent Wind, a rebel whom the Qing could never hope to discover or apprehend. I was able to lead some successful ambushes, but the rebellion was a losing proposition from the very beginning. The Qing outnumbered us at least ten-to-one, and after they took off a few heads, the villagers were sufficiently cowed and I went back to being Tudigong.

Dr. Wang: What happened next?

SCP-2788: Huaxi continued to enjoy peace, until the riben guizi invaded. Fuck their ancestors to the eighteenth generation! It wasn't just Nanjing that they butchered . Huaxi, too, suffered their brutality, and I saw hundreds of my people slaughtered before my eyes. Becoming the Silent Wind once again, I considered rallying the villagers against them, but then I thought back to when the villagers rebelled against the Qing, and realized that rebellion would just mean that more of the villagers would die. Thus I resigned myself to consoling the survivors and informing them about Japanese troop movements. I wish that I could have done more and fought the Japanese myself, but it just wasn't possible.

Dr. Wang: Nevertheless, you must have saved several lives. You should be proud of what you were able to accomplish, considering your circumstances.

SCP-2788: I would be, if it wasn't for what happened next. After the war, when the Communist Party took over, I became the cadre you see today. For the first few years, all was well. I was able to carry out land reform and help out the peasants of Huaxi, like I had done before as Tudigong. Things changed, though, when Mao announced the Cultural Revolution. Before I even realized it, I became a young member of the Red Guard. I smashed the idols of Tudigong that had been erected in my image, denounced the faithful priest who kept singing my praises, and spat in the faces of old men who I had helped before and during the war. I am now ashamed of what I had done, but it was what the villagers wanted me to do!

(SCP-2788 pauses.)

SCP-2788: Or at least it was what most of them wanted me to do. I did what I could to protect them from the Japanese, but there was nothing that I could do to protect them from themselves.

Dr. Wang: Am I correct in my assumption that you resumed your current form after the Cultural Revolution, and that you gained your business knowledge following the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping?

SCP-2788: Yes, that is correct.

Dr. Wang: In that case, I have covered everything I wanted to in this interview. I hope that in the days to come, you can take advantage of your containment and see it as a well deserved retirement. With how hard you've worked for the inhabitants of Huaxi Village over the years, getting some rest might do you some good.

<End Log>

Closing Statement: After the interview, SCP-2788 requested to purchase a collection of history books, claiming that it wanted to "come to terms with China's past." The request was approved by the active Site Director.