Alistair,

My neighbors are being hunted by a mysterious creature who lurks in the darkness. I haven’t told them that I can hear it whispering to me in the night; it wants help. It wants me to lure them out, to let them be found and taken away.

Is collaborating with the creature sketchy? Or just good sense?

Maybe Quisling in San Juarez

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Quisling,

First of all, you’re making some assumptions about this creature’s work. The mysterious is not always the malevolent. Perhaps this shadow-lurker is liberating the souls of your neighbors from humanity’s quagmire to be released in a higher plane. Did you ever think of that? You probably didn’t, did you? Maybe he’s on a rescue mission, spiriting away the occupants of a given postal code before the meteorite hits. There’s even a race of caring (if confused) demigods who are constantly trying to physically restructure our timeline so that everyone can enjoy their best possible reality. Any of these are possible. It’s also possible that it’s a werething who’s simply out to eat the innocent. I’ve seen that too.

On the plus side, making the right decision here doesn’t require that you know all the facts first. Regardless of whether your new friend is a goodie or a baddie, it’s in your own interest to at least make him think that you’re useful.

Alistair