The Holder of Help

In any city, in any country, go to any school or educational facility you can get yourself to. Be sure you bring a watch or other timekeeping device with you. Go to the northernmost entrance and wait until 10:49 PM to open the door. If you open the door at the wrong time, whatever manner of security that is employed will catch you and dismiss you from the grounds. Two days later you will be charged for the murder of a small girl and executed without a trial. When the correct time comes, open the door; it won't be locked. Do so casually; you don't want to appear threatening. There will be a girl waiting for you in the middle of whatever room you entered. She looks like a normal school-age girl. This illusion is not meant to harm you, but she can still easily outmatch you if you attempt to harm her.

The girl will run to you and embrace you as if you were family. She will cry about how she has left her homework in her classroom, and she will be punished severely if she doesn't finish. Agree to help the girl find and finish her work, and she will begin leading you to the classroom. Regardless of the layout of the building, you will be walking down an impossibly long hallway. You will hear the soft scratching of pens and pencils. If at any point this sound stops, whisper softly, as if you were talking to the student next to you during a test, "I do not have the answer you seek." Say anything else, or nothing at all, and you will be used to make new pencils for the studious demons, feeling the pain of constant use and sharpening for all eternity. If you truly do not know, they will ignore you and continue taking their test; after all, time is a factor. You will eventually reach the classroom. Consulting the clock will tell you it is 6 A.M.

The girl will take her seat in the back of the classroom and retrieve her homework. You have two hours to complete the one-question assignment, as class starts at 8 A.M. sharp. This is not as simple as it seems, for the question is immensely difficult and different for every Seeker. Whatever outcome, you must be present for class at 8. May Hell pity you if you are absent.

The teacher will enter the classroom and begin to lecture. He will mostly talk about how help has harmed the world. He will tell you about the weak who pulled the strong down with them. He will talk about those who took advantage of people willing to help. He will tell you about those who did harm while meaning only to help, particularly in the case of the Objects. When he finishes, you will notice an unnatural darkness forming outside, clearly visible through the window. It will disturb the children and cause them to seek comfort in the teacher. He will simply ignore them, for he is not the Holder of Help. He will simply tell the children that it's time to hand in their homework.

The children will be called to the teacher's desk one by one. The teacher will find every answer displeasing, and he will send them outside into the unrelenting darkness. Though their screams of pain will draw your attention, to look at them is to join them. Eventually, the only people remaining in the room will be yourself, the teacher, and the girl you accompanied. The teacher will finally call the girl up to his desk, go with her. If your answer is wrong, or incomplete, the teacher will in an instant force you to fully comprehend every question you have ever gotten wrong. Your brain will likely destroy itself because of this information. If you are unlucky enough to retain your mind, you will be fully aware of the horrors outside the classroom.

If your answer is correct, the teacher will become frustrated at you. Because of your aid, his own safety is in question. The girl will demand that her teacher give her the other answer, the answer that can save her classmates. The teacher will refuse - now is not the time to reveal his secrets. The girl will collapse in the corner and give into tears. At that point you will realize she was the Holder of Help all along. Go to her, console her, and ask her if there is anything you can do. Silently, she will hand you the piece of homework you helped her with, saving her from the horrible fate of the other children. Take it, as it would be rude to refuse her help. The scene will swiftly and silently fade from your vision.

You will awaken at the police station nearest to your home. A nearby poster will inform you that a class of students from the elementary school you attended has gone missing. You will be holding the piece of homework, but you will not remember what was written. No harm will come from looking at it, but it is written in the Language.

This piece of homework is Object 301 of 538. By helping one, you hurt many more.