The Holder Series

The Holder of Research

In any city, in any country, go to any laboratory or place of learning that you can get yourself to. Walk to the front desk and ask the secretary if you can attend the next class taught by someone calling himself "The Holder of Research." Should she drop whatever she is holding and look at you as though you were an alien, you have come to the right place.

She will motion for the nearest scientist to come over. Pray this person is a man, for a woman will subject you to experiments long thought proven... unnecessary. If it is a man, he will ask you to get into an elevator. Do so and press the button for the lowest floor in the complex. When you reach this floor, do not get off or you will fall into a bottomless pit. Instead, wait on the elevator for the lights on the buttons to turn red, and the elevator will descend six more floors. When it stops this time, wait for the scientist to get out before doing so yourself.

The scientist will lead you down a sterilized hallway filled with glass panels on each wall. Through these panels you will see people performing experiments, not unusual for a laboratory. What is odd here is that as you walk down the hall, the experiments you will see become increasingly primitive. You will see people attempting to prove the existence of black holes and you will see people trying to prove the earth goes around the sun. You will see those who split the atom and those who studied the stars to build the pyramids. Also, as typical of these adventures, do not be surprised to see a demon or two walking down the hall. If you see a demon, acknowledge him with a wink or a nod; the inhabitants of this hall do not like to be ignored. And there's always demand for new subjects.

You will know you have reached the end of the hall when you can see through the panels people wearing animal skins disemboweling one another to learn about the human body. Beyond that, you will find a metal door, which your guide will push open for you. This next room will be of the future. Impossibly white and clean, you will see sickening monsters preserved in tanks on the wall. And despite the fact that this room should be underground, you will see windows that indicate it is several stories up. Sitting at a desk in the middle of the room is a small, bespectacled man in a lab coat, scribbling names, dates, numbers, and results of experiments into a diary at blinding speed. Wait for this small man to notice you before you say anything. He will ask you, "Have you met my colleague, the Holder of Science?" This is a trap. Whether you have met the Holder of Science or not, answering this man will only get you thrown into one of the tanks on the wall, in which you will be turned into a monster. Instead, produce an Object. Any Object will do.

At the sight of an Object, one of the tanks on the wall will shatter, revealing an enormous monster. It should be humanoid in shape, but with horns, four arms (three small, one impossibly huge), and a bulk no human could possibly possess. It will have five eyes, all strewn about its face in a mad manner, and vicious, curved teeth. One leg will be thin and spindly but still muscular, the other will be swallowed up in a mound of flesh. If this is the monster you see, you are safe. If it is any other, be prepared to take his place in the tank.

The correct monster will slash the small man's throat with his largest arm, then throw his corpse out the window. You must ask the monster one question, and one alone. Ask him, "How can science stop them?" He will then tell of every wrong that has occurred with the advancement of science used as justification. Just as he is about to answer your question, however, there will be a banging sound on the door: They've found you. The monster will ask if you want him to help you escape; take him up on his offer, for he can handle Them on his own. He will shove the small man's diary into your hands, then flip you through the window just as They break down the door.

You will wake up on the lawn of the laboratory. Next to you will be the diary, open to the second to last page, which reads:

Dear Seeker,

I am sorry I was not able to help you further.

Best of luck,

And then a name not of this earth. The Diary is Object 165 of 538. Its final page contains the one way science can stop them.