Object 2005: The Holder of the Weed

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the receptionist's desk, ask to visit someone who calls themselves "The Holder of the Weed". A smile should cross their face, one so forceful and unnatural that it looks as though hooks are pulling at their skin. As well as a smile, tears should flow from their eyes. Should this not occur, run, never ever touch anything that is living and green. Should this happen though, take their tears. Contain them in anything.

Next, go to the back of the institution. You must not leave it from the front to go around back, if you do you will be choked by the very air outside. You must proceed from a door that was behind the receptionist, one that wasn't there before. Whether you hadn't noticed it or it had appeared is up to your own belief.

Going through that door, you will come to a maze. A large hedge labyrinth. It will look like the most beautiful garden you have ever seen in your entire life, the most beautiful one any human has ever seen. Continue through the labyrinth, do not stop and rest. Should you stop at all, the very earth around you will begin to rot your body away in the form of pain more agonizing than that of hell itself.

However, should you find a blue flower, one that glimmers yellow in the sunlight, that looks coated in the souls of the Seekers that have died in the arena, pick it. Take it with you. Should you die and the flower hits the ground for any reason, it will grow upon a new hedge. If you die at any moment during this quest for the Object, your soul will go into that flower, bound with others, each petal is seven souls.

By now, you should have tears and the flower. While continuing, place the flower stem in the tears, not so much as it soaks up all of the tears, but only a small amount, that will keep the flower alive for eternity. So hold it close.

If you spend too much time in the labyrinth, the sun will set. Should this happen, scream to the heavens. Continue screaming until the sun comes back. Scream anything and everything, begging the heavens that what they are doing is wrong and you are just. Convince them.

Should they remain unconvinced, go to the nearest hedge and find a hole in the ground (there should be plenty). Take out the flower and using anything, even your teeth if you have to, bleed upon the petals, hoping that what is in the darkness of the labyrinth does not find you. Soon, after the petals have had enough blood, the sun will rise and the darkness will simmer away. Leave the hole quickly and find the labyrinth exit. It will look like stone, but dirt at the same time. It will also be covered in vines.

When you exit, a time will have passed. Seconds, minutes, hours, or even years. That is irrelevant because you will not have aged. You will come out at what looks like the back of the institution. That is where you are, but what you do here is your choice. You can get the Object the Holder of the Weed has, or keep the flower and tears.

If you choose not to go for the Object, the flower must never touch the earth and the tears must never dry up, they must be replaced by your own and the petals must be fed blood every day. This will be sure to give you a long and prosperous life, however, your scars from giving the petals blood will never heal, and you will be forever obsessed with the Object that the Holder of the Weed held.

Should you go forward, you must release the souls in the flower. You must rip apart each petal into seven pieces, and bury each individual piece in a different location in the courtyard. A single plant will bloom shortly. Make sure each plant blooms, there could be seven (one petal) or hundreds (many petals). Once every piece of petal had bloomed, go to the wall in the middle of the courtyard. Take the tears and drop them down the well, keep the container. You should hear a splash. If so, you are accepted by the earth and can continue. If not, you are bound to be strangled by the plants that bloom, each will become a thorny weed and will bind you, eventually strangling you to death.

Should you be accepted, you must dive down the well. It will be a deep well but the fall will be short. Search around at head level for an opening, it will be about the size of one brick in the well, as if one was missing. If you don't find it fast enough, the seaweed will drag you down and kill you there. When you find it, push your hand into the empty space. The well will drain, and at the bottom will be a tunnel of earth with many beautiful vines growing inside.

Pick the most beautiful flower from any vine and hope it truly is the most beautiful. Continue to the end of the tunnel. There will be two vines wrapped around one another in front of the door. Both will produce a flower at the end of their vine, take neither flower, but take one leaf from each vine and watch the vines retract. Burn both other leaves on a torch when you enter. When they do, retreat quickly and enter the door.

In the room of the Holder of the Weed, they will be watering a plant, whispering the plant their secrets over and over again. Look directly at where the water is hitting the ground, and whisper your most intimate secret. If you break eye contact with that spot, you will be condemned to forever whisper as the Holder does. The Holder will look up at you when you are done. This is the most kind of Holders, he will greet you with open arms. Take the trowel from his back pocket as he embraces you.

Next, ask, "What can be dug from Earth?" His response will always be, "Only what can be dug is what is brought up." That means you may. If he does not reply with that, you must kill him with the trowel. If you do not, you will be another Seeker lost in the quest for this Object. If you do kill him, you will take his place, hope you are worthy.

If you are worthy, you must dig up exactly where you whispered your secret. If you miss, you will be condemned to dig forever. If you don't, you will bring up a glass see. Turning it will change how it looks. It can look like any form of plant, from a fully grown tree to a simple pollen spore. Take this with you. Keep it, it is the Object. Keep it polished with a mixture of tears, pure water, and a single drop of blood. Once you have it, tell the Holder, "You are free from your bearings. Your chains to this solitary plant are broken. Nurse the plants of Earth as you may, I have released you!" He will take your hand and guide you through a tunnel. You will feel extreme euphoria and pass out. Some may go insane from this sense.

When you wake up, you will be in a tree in the labyrinth, the flower you picked in the tunnel will be gone. Keep in mind that it protected you when traveling from the underground tunnel. Do not fear, you have won the love of the earth. It will protect you forever and you will live as one with it. You may also leave the labyrinth at any time, and come back when you wish, at any moment, wherever you are. It is your home. Do not abuse the earth. Should evil arise in your heart, the most horrifying punishment that could be brought upon you will come. On the day of your death, you must return here, and plant the seed in the middle of the labyrinth. You are now the Holder of the Weed.

The seed is Object 2005 of 2538. It is always and forever yours. Keep them separate, keep them safe.

Object 2010: The Holder of Ever After

Any child with even the slightest hint of imagination, whimsy, and fantasy has had some sort of contact with the Holder of Ever After. It exists only within the domain of a pocket universe created from the combined focus and imagination of millions of young children the world over, a universe created by purest innocence before it is lost to the realization of the horrors of this world that comes with maturity.

To enter the realm, you must wait until midnight of Halloween or Christmas; these are the only dates in which children's imaginations run so wild, free, and uninhibited that they can create a stable enough connection from our world to the Holder's.

Go to whatever location evokes your fondest childhood memories, that one special place that, as a lost, little kid, was your sanctuary, your haven, where your imagination ruled above all others. Bring a chalkboard with you and lay it in the center of the area. Upon its edges, draw stars, rockets, whatever your imagination conjures up. You must truly enjoy this act, basking in the fondest memories of your childhood. It is of utmost importance that you never evoke any negative thoughts, for reasons later explained.

When you are filled to the brim with childlike glee, write upon the board, "As a child, I believed, but maturity transformed my dreams into nightmares. I wish to dream again." Then lay the chalk on the board under your statement and close your eyes. Wait until you hear the scratching of the chalk on the board and wait for it to completely cease before you open your eyes.

The board will respond, "Dream with me and you shall see..."

Hopefully, you're familiar with this song, as you must now write the next lyric on the board. If you write anything else, you will never enjoy a restful night of sleep for the rest of your days. You will dream only of the deaths that shall befall all those you care about and will never be able to save. Don't bother trying to save them; that tends to make those dreams more likely to actually happen.

If you respond correctly, you are free to leave. That night, if you truly enjoyed the experience, you will dream of the most euphoric moments of your childhood, those special moments where evil was all but banished from your existence. If you let one negative thought enter your mind, however, you will dream only of the most horrific moments, exaggerated tenfold. If you don't suffer cardiac arrest from all the trauma, consider yourself lucky.

Regardless of your dreams, the next morning you will awaken to find resting on your chest an original, first print of Alice in Wonderland. Within its pages are scribbled numerous mathematical equations of unknown origin and purpose.

The first print is Object 2010 of 2538. Within its pages lie the destinies of everything in the universe. Do you dare try to find your own?

Object 2013: The Holder of Indecision

There are Holders out there who would kill to safeguard their Object, up to and including all human life. There are many more who have gone mad with the loss of that Object to Legion, grasping now only at shadows, memories, and traditions of agony. There are some who would willingly give their Object away to the first Seeker that managed to find them; still, others are desperate to find a Seeker to replace them, and would beg to die if they could still speak anything but their tale.

And then, there's me.

What do I mean by that? Well, I'm somewhere in between. I'm either-or. I don't mean to imply that I'll necessarily give away my Object to the first happy-go-lucky, oh-my-gosh-I'm-gonna-get-a-real-Object Seeker that crosses my path, of course. I do, admittedly, have a few... requirements.

You ever get that feeling of now knowing what you were supposed to do? Like walking into a room, then looking all around the room, and then realizing that you didn't even want to go in at the first place?

That's my calling card. It's my true name.

I'm most often found in the early hours before sunrise, in a quiet house that is not your own, where some people are sleeping and you can hear voices in another room. It might be the TV; did that door lock behind you? If you ever come by one of these moments, and you actually do want to meet me, then this is what you should say, "I, err... want to, eh... no. I mean, see the Holder of, no, um... Indecision."

Yes, those pauses and clutch words should be part of what you say. Your mileage may vary, of course; feel free to ignore my advice, if it suits you. You may find that something else works better. Or worse, of course. Without the correct words, though, you may find yourself transported immediately to my brother's domain.

Trust me, even though he used to be a ruthless, sadistic, and overall brutal monster of a human, he was nothing compared to what he is now, as the Holder of the Oxymoron.

Where was I? Right, if you do utter that incantation, and do it correctly, you will instantly feel faint. Your words will be slurred, your vision blurry, and you will feel the urge to sleep. If you value your sanity, don't.

Your indecision on whether to sleep or not to sleep is the only thing protecting you from forces beyond even His control; there are far more pleasant ways to lose your mind, I assure you.

You now have a mission. You must stay in this state for twenty-four hours, no more, no less. Don't worry, I'm a fair Holder. As soon as that last second is up, if you haven't yet succumbed to the pounding in your head and fallen asleep, you will suddenly find that your senses have returned, and they are fully functional.

You'll be red-green colorblind forever, of course. That's a given. And nothing will taste quite right, ever again.

But you will also find that you aren't quite on Earth anymore.

Welcome to my world. This is the land of Specna, and although you may still see many aspects of your own life here, you will find that many things are... half-finished.

Birds only have one wing, the traffic lights are permanently orange, and people are constantly shifting listlessly from one destination to another. Objects of human construction are tumbled-down and ruined, if not stretched and warped; living things are often bisected hideously, as if sliced in twain or pulled in two directions simultaneously.

I've been told that the place is deeply depressing; the half-light of the shifting eclipses and the cold, grayish rain are apparently quite unpleasant. I'm given to understand that sound carries poorly here, as well, especially below the ground in the wet catacombs.

I'm ambivalent about the place, myself.

Anyway, find my office. This shouldn't be too hard... who am I kidding? Of course, it will be hard. The only way I can help you is that I'll send along my calling card when you happen to be in my direct vicinity.

Finding me may take a great deal of time. There's one fellow who has been here, Seeking, since at least the eighties. If, at any point, you want to give up and go home, well... good for you! Start looking for a way out. It can't be harder to find the exit than it is to find me, I presume.

Once you go into my office, you'll see me. My profession changes for every Seeker, but I'll always have something on my desk with two options, which I will be puzzling over, be it a questionnaire, a mortgage form, or even an autopsy report.

If you don't see me, well, I hope you enjoy waiting forever for the demons' decision on whether to eat you, or just plain kill you.

Take a pen from my desk. Any color, I don't mind. Although there are some I like better than others, in all honesty; do try to be courteous. Circle the option that you think is correct. Be warned, this may not be an easy choice. Once you think you've made the right decision, lean in close, and whisper, "Why can't they make our choices?"

If you've made the "wrong" choice, fret not. I don't have punishments as harsh as eternal damnation, but I will remove your ability to think decisively, cursing you to a life on Earth with all your choices made by others. You will lose your own free will, and will become a puppet and a servant of fate. From what I've been told, the worst part is that the future formation of positive long-term memories is apparently a conscious choice: you'll exist in a fugue state, aware but unable to remember much except waiting in line, trying to understand where you are, or agreeing to the various unpleasant things people tell you to do.

If, however, you made the "right" choice, not only will I tell you the answer to your question, you're free to go.

I'll even toss you a coin on your way out. It belongs to Legion, as a matter of fact, and to a number of other Seekers - many of them long dead - so don't be too shocked when it goes missing at some point.

It might turn up again. Also, it might not.

When you come face-to-face with a difficult decision in life, flip the coin. If it lands heads, both choices will result in a gain. If it lands tails, they will both result in a loss. If you catch it at the halfway point, either selection will be a mixture of each.

Keep in mind it can only work when there are exactly two choices.

Beg for the promotion or quit. Leave now or stay forever. Marry her or kill her.

The coin is Object 2013 of 2538. The choice is yours whether to bring them together or not; why do you think you know best?

Object 2020: The Holder of Compulsion

In any city, in any country, go to any outdoor park. Make sure to bring some sort of children's food with you - whether it be candy, potato chips, or cookies, it doesn't matter. Search the park until you find any little girl and coo sweetly to her, "Sweet tiny girl, I've brought your snack." If in the presence of her parents, they will probably escort their child away from you - calling you a few nasty names as well. But if all goes correctly, you'll feel a tug from behind.

Turning around, you will see the plumpest, roundest little girl you have ever seen. Her pudgy, fat cheeks will balloon out of her face in rosy hues and her frilly lavender dress looks as though it's been stretched over a beachball. She'll be frowning, arms crossed angrily (how she does that over her wide girth you will never know) as she stamps her feet in frustration. She'll cry to you, "But I deserve the snack! Not her! I'M the better kid! Not her!!" You've seen this countless times. She's throwing a temper tantrum. It is crucial that you bend to her whims, though. Despite the burning sensation to give this child a spanking, you must hand over your food to her. Even the slightest raise of your voice or look of hostility will cause her to call for her parents - and you do not wish to meet the things that raised this brat. Not at all.

Once you hand over your food, she'll wolf it down and wipe her mouth. What comes next will be decided on whether or not she's found your food to her satisfaction; if she smiles and pats her stomach, run for your life. Push her to the ground and just run. Run and run as fast as your legs can carry you, for the child is feeling hungry for something different today... something human.

If she turns a sour face and pouts, you are safe for now. "I'm still hungry," she'll whine as she grabs your hand. "Let's go to my place for a tea party!"

She will lead you past the park and into the woods. Eventually, you will lose sight of the park altogether and instead will see a bright house in the clearing. It is two stories high and is painted in sunny, cheerful colors; you can hear laughter and the sound of a television inside. It's a family's home. She will lead you through the door and into the kitchen. Letting go of your hand, she'll stamp her feet and command, "I'll make the tea and cakes. Don't you leave this spot!" When she turns her back on you and walks into the kitchen, silently move away. If she hears you leaving and disregarding her authority, then the punishment will be terrifying beyond human understanding.

Explore the house and walk up the stairs to the second floor; you may examine the rooms as you wish, for they're the last time you'll see them in this much detail aside from inside of your nightmares. As you walk down the halls, peek into the rooms as you pass them.

The first room closest to the stairs is that of a small boy; he's lying on his stomach with his back to the door as he burns ants to death with a magnifying glass. Should he turn around to face you, accept your fate with dignity. It wouldn't be fun if another of his victims pleaded for their lives.

The second room will be that of an older teenage boy. He will be sitting on his bed, smiling and flirting with a girl over the phone - the walls of his room are covered with photographs and posters of women. When he catches you watching (which he inevitably will), he'll glare at you and slam the door shut in your face.

The last room, farthest from the stairs, has its door closed. You can hear weeping from inside. There is a mirror hanging in the hallway halfway between you and the closed door. However, before you can reach the room, you'll hear a terrible screech from downstairs. The little girl has come back with her sweets to find that you had not waited as you were told. Pry the mirror off of the wall with all the strength you possess; the Holder does not want you to save her - she wants to wallow in her misery. But do all you can to pry that mirror off of the wall, for if you don't you shall suffer a horrendous consequence involving sharp, gnashing teeth and conscious digestion.

When you finally pull it off the wall (I have faith in you that you will succeed), sprint to the top of the staircase as fast as you can and heave it over the banister. There will be a thunderous crash as it shatters into a million pieces. Glance over the edge of the staircase - but don't step even one step down. The little girl is at the bottom, except that she has changed into a creation of gluttony and flesh. It is hard to decipher that she even still resembles a human despite the large mouth of twisted, razor-like teeth spitting curses at you through a mouthful of blood in a language unheard by human ears. The mirror is sticking out of her in numerous, painful-looking pieces.

Flee down the hall for the last room, as you can hear it recovering from its injuries. As you run, you notice all the rooms you had observed before - the small boy is no longer burning ants. Instead, he is flaying the flesh off of human skulls with a butter knife as he sorts through the many body parts scattered about his room. Despite the door being closed for the second room, the screams and hearty moans coming from inside of it hint at every logical chance of someone getting raped. Do not stop for anything; fling yourself at the last door. If she finds you worthy of her burden, it will fling open with unexpected force. If it stays closed, despite your efforts to open it, you can choose your own torture: the small boy, the little girl, or the teenager. All of them are horrific.

If it flings open, run into the room and slam the door behind you, locking every lock on the door and pushing something heavy in front of it for good measure. In the center of the room, scrubbing hopelessly at the floorboards with a brush, will be a young woman. She hardly resembles anything of youth; she is bone-thin, and the black hair peeking out from the hairnet on top of her head is graying from stress. A pair of yellow gloves are pulled up to her elbows as she scrubs feverishly at the floorboards with a soapy brush. A bucket of grimy water has been placed next to her. There's an apron around her waist. As she scrubs back and forth, you can hear her muttering under her breath in obsessive wheezing, "It won't come off, it won't come off, it won't come off. The words all blend into one chant as she scrubs harder and harder. She is the oldest daughter; sibling to a compulsive eater, killer, and rapist. Approach her soundly, mindful that you don't attract any dirt or grime lest she scrub your skin off with her wire brush, and kneel by her as she ignores you in favor of her cleaning.

You'll see the door rock as some unknown force heaves itself against it from the corner of your eye, but don't gasp or scream. There'll be shouts and screams from the other side of the door as it rocks on its hinges, but keep calm. Whisper to the woman cleaning, "Is it really that hard to just ignore your compulsions?" At the sound of your voice, she'll break out of her trance and stop brushing. Her eyes are wide with fear and guilt. As she tells you the answer in a hushed voice, she'll be on the verge of crying. Her answer is long and winded, and it doesn't help that she takes the time to sob in between her sentences. Every minute she spends talking, you can see the door becoming weaker and weaker until a grotesquely misshapen arm finally forces itself through a crack in the door. You'll see to your horror that it's reaching for the locks.

Despite your fear and anxiety, turn your attention back to the woman. She'll have noticed that your attention has been fluttering to the door, and she is not happy about it. "You're just like all the other!" she'll cry in self-pity as she grabs the bucket of grimy water from her other side. It need not matter now - you've received your prize, and there is nothing else she can give. She'll slap the grimy, decayed water into your face, and be sure to close your eyes and cover your face when she does so. This stuff burns.

When you open your eyes, you'll be seated on a bench in the park. In your hands will be a flimsy old dishcloth. The dishcloth is Object 2020 of 2538. It can clean away anything you wish whether it be guilt, blood, or otherwise. However, it can't clean away the burden you'll have to carry for it.

Object 2024: The Holder of Integrity

In any city, in any country, go into any skyscraper and ask the receptionist to see someone named "The Holder of Integrity". The receptionist will suddenly stand up and lead you to a hidden passage, accessible through a trapdoor. You will fall in; you will fall for what seems like an eternity, but when you hit the ground you will find yourself standing in a dungeon cell. There is a table with a sharp edge; if you feel that you will fail the test of integrity, end your life by slitting your neck on that edge. The fate you will endure will be slower and more painful.

The dungeon cell is not like any other. You are completely trapped in a stone chamber. Four walls, a ceiling, and a floor made of stone that does not chip. There is no locked door or barred window. All you can see is a candle and a metal rod. Once the candle burns out, you will suffocate.

Take the metal rod and shout, "If I have moral integrity, let my bones stand erect!" Hit yourself with the rod. You had been warned; if you fail this test, your bones will slowly snap and you will collapse to the ground. Suddenly, every misdeed, cowardly act, and any action that showed a lack of integrity will come crashing down upon your conscience as if they were all your faults. In this way will you and your lack of integrity absorb mankind's every sin. Not just your body and bones but your mind and soul will tear themselves to pieces in what can only be described as ritual destruction of a man's spirit.

However, if you have the moral integrity to refuse responsibility for man's every sin, the rod will bounce off as if it was rubber and not tempered steel. Then you must ask the question: "Were those trapped in the mind's dungeon men of integrity?"

You will hear a mysterious voice call out, "Mind's dungeon is made of a man's sins, for only those without integrity are trapped. You may leave."

Proceed to tap the walls of the dungeon with the rod and watch them collapse. You are free to go.

That rod is Object 2024 of 2538. When all collapses under its own weight, the rod will never chafe, rust, or break.

Object 2031: The Holder of Eternal Life

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, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Eternal Life". "If you say so," the employee will say. They will then make a big, contagious smile. Do NOT smile back. The employee will lead you to the end of an old, forgotten hallway of the building. They'll leave you at an ancient unlocked door.

Open it and continue on down the simple, dimly lit hallway. After minutes, hours, or days, you will hit a turn and come across a corridor made of gold and covered with vines. This corridor will give you a sense of joy so intense that it will start to hurt immensely. You'll never want to leave this corridor. If you stay, your soul will be eternally consumed, forced to stay in this hallway 'til you go made out of pure joy.

If you are strong, and resist the temptation to stay, keep going until you come across a grand golden room, where a man will be sitting on a golden throne. This man will seem to be neither old nor young, simple in both looks and attire. He will have no facial expression while looking at a colorful flower in his hand. Do NOT make a noise above your footsteps or attempt to confront him. You'll want to walk as quietly as possible. There is no rush here, walk as slow as you can if you must.

Do not get closer than ten feet at most. Look at his face. Once you do, the man will spontaneously look at you and then look for something distant and not there. Do NOT look away from him, even as his simple eyes pierce your soul, looking for something deeper. If his penetrating gaze persists, damned your soul will be. Thoughts of torment and anguish will plague you 'til your sanity is far gone.

If he stops gazing, and his facial expression changes to intrigue, ask him only this: "How do they find anything good?" Thousands of thoughts and images will flash in your head, both sad and happy. Thoughts of life and death, nature and artificial, creation and destruction, love and hate. Some of these thoughts and feelings will be familiar, and some will be alien to you. These thoughts will then pass on to the bittersweet melancholy of being immortal. You will know the pain this man feels, watching everyone he has ever known wither and die. Not being able to stop or end it, or to end himself. After those feelings pass, you will truly feel his pain. It will be so agonizing that you will beg for death. You merely have to cry at the man, and he will end your suffering quickly.

But if you are strong and hold out through the tempest of pain, the man will conjure up one last smile at you, and give you the colorful flower in his hand. His suffering has ended, and he will turn to dust. Sit in his chair and you will appear back outside the asylum, the flower in hand. You are now immortal, and the flower is the reminder. Only when another Seeker passes the test will you be relieved of your upcoming suffering.

The colorful flower is Object 2031 of 2538. "Death closes all, is living forever worth the price?"

Object 2038: The Holder of Insidiousness

In the closest fisherman's wharf, ask the oldest fisherman there if you may see the "Holder of Insidiousness" POLITELY, for he has been known to use strange meat on his hooks after a rude Seeker. After grumbling a bit, he will get up from his chair and motion for you to get on the boat. If you get on, do NOT sit down at any time, or Hell would seem like a Paradise compared to the tortures you will face.

After what will feel like eons of surf, you will reach an island ripped straight from your old storybooks. If you have been making conversation with the old man, he will pass this island without a second thought, but you will feel a desperate need to be on this island. You will throw yourself off of the boat and swim toward the shore, having your body slowly eaten by demons, although you will not feel the pain, and when you finally reach the island, it shall distort itself to a demonic land not unlike the 5th ring of Dante's Inferno. If, however, you remained quiet throughout the journey, he will ask if this is your stop. Reply, "I only wish for the Promised Land," and he will bring you to an island overflowing with jungle and rock.

As you step off of the ship, be sure to thank the fisherman for his time, he's faster than you think. Make your way through the undergrowth, but be warned, the Holder has set many traps throughout the island to prevent anyone from taking his Object. If you get past the undergrowth, you will reach a smoking volcano, where the Holder awaits. When you reach the peak, the smoke will curl around you. Hold your breath, volcanic fog is highly toxic. If you survive three minutes, he will appear before you, and toss a bear trap at your feet. Take this and run as fast as you can from the volcano, for the Test has begun, and the demon you must catch can never have your scent. Flee into the jungle, and build a trap to capture the demon. Be careful, though. The beast that you seek has hunted many before, and knows of many traps as well.

If, by some chance, you actually capture the creature, it will offer to accompany you on your quest for the Objects. Do not accept, no matter how much it may beg, for it will rend your mind and soul to pieces if you do. Instead, bring the demon to the top of the volcano once more, and present it to the Holder. If he is displeased with the way you captured it, he will grin and throw you into the store of creatures in the volcano, for they are also Seekers who failed to ingeniously snare the fiend. If he appears intrigued, he will ask you to explain your device. Only say these words: "I hunted, now you must hunt." He will drop a net at your feet, and run into the jungle. The fog will surround you, and you will wake up on a black sand beach in Hawaii.

The net is Object 2038 of 2538. Will the pieces comply, or will you be dragged under?