The Holder of Light

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, close your eyes and ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Light" You will be led to a single door leading to a long, winding hallway, and then told to open your eyes. Open the door. The hallway beyond it will be pitch black, but narrow enough for you to feel the walls with outstretched arms, and guide yourself forward.

If, at any point during your trek down the hall, it is suddenly bathed in light, shut your eyes immediately and quickly make your way back to the door you came in through. If your eyes stay open for more than a second, what you see will force you to instinctively tear them out.

If, on the other hand, the lights stay off long enough for you to navigate the entire corridor, you will reach another door. Look down: if you can see any light escaping from the crack beneath the door, flee immediately, for what you seek is not there. If no light escapes the next room, then carefully turn the doorknob and enter.

The room beyond will be completely dark, aside from a single, dimly-lit candle at its center. The faint light it emits will reveal the outline of a cloaked, motionless figure huddled over it. There is only one question that he will respond to "What can protect us from Them?" Say anything else, and the man will tear out your eyes, and force you to take his place under the cloak for the rest of eternity.

If you ask the proper question, a piercing scream will ring out from the candle, and a series of lights will illuminate the room, revealing images of the most horrifying thoughts, fantasies and memories experienced by sentient minds throughout history. Most people cannot handle this event, turning violently insane or perishing instantly at the sight of such horrors. If you should somehow manage to survive the ordeal, the cloaked man will rise slowly and put his hands to your head, turning your gaze to meet his youthful face.

Stare directly into his empty, gaping eye sockets, for if you look away from that terrible sight, you will be stranded in this room, forever forgotten by time itself. Do not turn to look as he opens your right hand, and places a small, round object upon your palm. As that object touches your hand, you will find yourself able to ignore even the most fearsome agonies -- unless you are in the process of obtaining another Object, for the pains you feel then are far beyond any worldly suffering. Know that even this newfound power will never help you cope with the the horrifying images you have witnessed in that room. They will be burned into your memory for all eternity.

The eye you hold in your hand is Object 5 of 538. The awakening has begun; they must not be brought together.

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