One, two three, four, five, six.
The Toa stood in a row. They were the six the leader had chosen, along with six Matoran, six Vortixx, and six robots, two each made in the image of each group.
The Toa of Water gave a quick glade to the Toa of Fire to her left. He was trying to stop his friend of Air from falling onto his shoulder. Following him were Toa of Earth, Ice and Stone. The Matoran were organised in the same pattern, and the Vortixx in height order.
Their captor had their face shrouded in a thick veil, and a Vortixx wondered if they could see out of it. She raised a hand and stepped forward. "Yo."
"What?" snapped the decidedly female figure. "And get back in line, or I'll have to mutate you."
"The name's Valda," she continued, folding her arms. "What are we even here for?"
The veiled woman clicked her fingers. A Boggarak scuttled to her heel. "Are you sure you want to find out?"
Valda shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
She grinned as the person now ordering the Visorak in their language shook with anger. When pincers poked her back, however, her face fell into a state of shock.
"Take them," she heard the woman hiss in something that only just sounded like Matoran before she was swept away.
00110010 00110100
A flickering light told Valda that she was now awake. The veiled woman was now gone, but was replaced by protosteel shackles and a small, grey character who looked a little like a Matoran. The four groups of six were sat next to the wall on a stone bench.
"Oh, my!" they exclaimed, clapping their hands. "Friends!"
The Toa of Stone raised an eyebrow. "Friends? I do believe that is an incorrect term."
The Matoran (Was it a Matoran? Something seemed off about it.) frowned. "You don't have to be my friend," it pouted. "It may be optional, but I highly recommend it."
"I'll pass."
"Are you sure?"
With a quick glance at Valda, he replied, "Sure, why not?"
The echo of a Vortixx were his last words.
The Matoran looked up to see what would be the veiled woman, but she had removed it to show a grubby blue Komau. "Great, Flute!" it grinned. "I wish he had come to his senses, though."
"That'd be unlikely," she replied cooly. "Toa of Stone are as dense as their element. Let this serve as a warning to the rest of them to not speak out."
The Toa of Earth looked at his friend's corpse in shock, before moving to remove his mask.
"Uh, uh!" the Matoran said. "We're playing a game now. The rules are that you have to play it, and I choose the rules! Another rule is that you can't touch a dead player."
He stood suddenly, pulling the other Toa into awkward positions. "What am I able to remember him by, then?"
The Matoran tutted. "Another rule is that if they die, then they never existed."
As it was, the Toa of Stone's shackles were now empty. His brother slumped back down onto the bench. "I'll be your friend."
Valda watched him intently, quashing the desire to comfort that lost her many jobs.
"Hey, Vortixx!" grinned the Matoran suddenly. "What's your name?"
Valda looked up, but he was addressing the short male on the other side of the row. He looked into the Matoran's eyes, and Valda realised suddenly that they were black pits. She made a mental note to never look at them again when her fellow Vortixx stopped speaking.
"Is he dead?" asked the Ta-Matoran. The six Matoran had been silent, along with the robots. Now that they were being stared at, they fidgeted uncomfortably, and the Po-Matoran burst into tears.
"This is a happy place," it smiled widely. "You can't cry here." As the wails intensified, the Matoran's eyes narrowed. "Stop it. Stop crying now. I don't want to kill you. Actually, maybe I should. but then I'd have to kill that Vortixx and one of the robots."
Flute grabbed the short Vortixx, who hadn't moved since. "This one?"
"Yep!" he replied. "Can you decapitate this one?"
Valda closed her eyes and hoped for the slaughter to stop soon.