Object 520

The Holder of Conformity

In any city, in any country, go to the nearest school and ask the receptionist to see the Faceless Ones. A look of surprise should play across her face, and she will get up to escort you personally.

As she leads you down the hallways, the doors on either side will begin to grow more and more shabby and ill-kept. A red glow, subtle at first, but growing more and more intense with every step, will begin to permeate the world around you. If you should be stupid enough to look into the windows of any of the classrooms along the way, your eyes will pop out from your head, your hair will be set ablaze, and your skin will melt off your bones.

Continue to follow the secretary to the end of the hallway. Here, she will open a single door, and step inside. Follow her in. Inside, there will be a classroom filled with students. Each and every one will be plagued with some horrible deformity on their faces. Noses misplaced, teeth missing, eyes dangling from sockets, skin that writhes like worms dwell beneath it, all of these horrors will confront you and more. But the most auspicious person in the bunch will not be the students, it will be the teacher. The teacher will have no eyes, no nose, no mouth, just a blank face. And before your very eyes, the skin will begin to slough off, only to be replaced by a new sheet of raw skin, again and again.

The teacher will talk, though you have no idea how. He will tell of every lesson learned by man, of every experience that should have taught humans a lesson. He will then talk of how humans never learn, how they continue to follow each other much like sheep. His voice will rise to a horrible crescendo. At this point, you should cover your ears and scream that you are different, for if you don't your eardrums will rupture, your brain boil, and your face horribly deform. Only then will you join the students sitting in the classroom for eternity. However, if you are vocal in your protestations, and the teacher is disrupted, he will reach into his desk and hand you a mask with no markings. Take this mask and leave the classroom immediately.

As you leave, you will see that all the children's faces have molted, and two dozen sheets of skin now lay on the floor. They will turn once more to watch you leave, all of them staring at you without eyes, without faces, and without pity. Your last sight before you exit will be of one final desk, your desk, should you ever have the stupidity to return.

The mask with no markings is Object 520 of 2538. May it help you blend in where you should not be seen.