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I’ve been waiting for someone else to comment so that I could avoid double-posting, but it’s been over a month, so I figure it’s safe to do so. I’ve been loving all of the twists and turns so far. Poor Wane has been getting his hopes squashed at every turn, so I’m hoping this next mission sees things improve for him (though it sounds like he’ll need to get through some formidable villains first). You did a great job of emphasising how existentially terrifying the idea of reprogramming is, and in just a few scenes you’ve managed to transform Mr Makuro into quite a menacing figure. My only criticism is the lack of description. Sci-fi is a great genre for crazy vistas and visuals, but there hasn’t been a lot of that so far. We’re nine chapters in and I still have no idea what Wane or the other heroes really look like. We don’t need entire paragraphs dedicated to description, but even just a line here or there about the colour, build, mannerisms, etc. of characters can help readers build up an image in their minds. I look forward to seeing where things go from here.

At the risk of sounding harsh: what fans? And where are they talking about it? I just had a skim of the main Hero Factory-related sites, and the only active username I see on most of them is yours. According to the changelog on HS01, you're the only person who's contributed to it in any way in months. The same is true of the Heropedia wiki. The Custom Hero Factory wiki has a little activity happening, but it all seems to be in relation to a single ongoing Youtube series. r/HeroFactory only has 369 members, weeks go by between posts, replies are in the single digits, and once again it looks like you're the most frequent poster by a vast margin. The only outlier is r/HeroFactoryLego, which has 3.4k members, and averages few posts a day, but that one seems to be used for general CCBS MOC-posting now rather than HF-specific discussion. I'm not saying that HF has no fans, or that it doesn't deserve to be remembered, but the general attitude of the wider community seems ambivalent at best. No one else seems to be anywhere near as fixated with the theme as you appear to be. Instead of sitting around making wistful posts hoping others will recover old content for you, why not create new content of your own, or engage with some of the existing fan content that's currently running? (Such as Master Inika's current HF story on this site).

The lack of such a button makes me quiver-wonder if staff can see the 20+? Accident-when-site-was-having-an-error clutter of empty entries. I thought the delete entry button existed before? 🙈😆

I mean I would say it's already been forgotten outside of this niche corner of the internet. I would even go as far as to say it was forgotten from its' inception as it was always an afterthought after Ninjago and Chima. I don't know if any numbers exist but I honestly believe a good chunk of people buying HF toys were those of us left over from Bionicle. From what I recall most actual kids at the time (defined as people below the age of 12) were more interested in Ninjago. Hero Factory certainly did last longer than most Lego themes but not enough to have a large fanbase today. Most people that have any interest in it today are mostly people interested in CCBS and don't seem to care for the very lackluster story and characters. That's what I seem to recall when I sold my collection of the stuff off. A lot of the costumers were people in it for the pieces. Admittedly these pieces were very good from a MOC perspective but other themes were also using them and Lego had wanted to simplify constraction since at least 2010 so I don't think it's right to credit Hero Factory specifically. The whole CCBS experiment has since ended and Lego no longer make anything resembling constraction in line with the original slizers theme. HF was just too bland and boring to make a significant dent in my memory.

IMO, Hero Factory just wasn't that good. It was tonally inconsistent and the TV specials got worse as they went on. I never got too many of the sets, but I think the Fire Villains and 2.0 Heroes were the best of them. Breakout had some good building techniques but I didn't care for the aesthetic as much.

I called LEGO Customer Service for the first time in 2006 when I bought Brutaka and his weapon pieces weren't included, and they sent me replacements for free. I called them again in 2008 over some of the new joint pieces breaking and also received complementary replacements (which also later broke, but that's not Customer Service's fault). They're not really there to answer the kind of questions you were asking.

Three more levels fully completed, despite needing multiple attempts for one of the minikits (certainly easier when its at the beginning of a level rather than the end). Also, don't worry too much about not affording those larger stud multiplier red parcels right away. Keep in mind there are three bonus levels, and while the first is that Young Indy story level, the other two are the "collect a million studs" type of bonus levels, so you'll definitely get there (even if you must repeat those bonus levels a few times to get the several millions of studs like I had to). Anyway, thanks for letting us know you'll be off for the next two weeks, so I'll look forward to what's next when you come back.

The customer service page clearly lists the topics they're responsible for. No Lego representative is going to answer questions about sets that haven't been officially announced, and digging up archived content from long-dead themes isn't LCS' responsibility. Complaining that Lego's customer service didn't adequately answer questions that don't fall under their purview in the first place is like complaining that a restaurant couldn't service your car. It's not their job.

IC: Jeizmel, Tajun Streets As Vraek had noticed, evening was rapidly drawing in; and down here below surface level the shadows were already long. Getting work would have to wait until the next day; for now, Jeiz figured her more pressing concern had to be finding a room at an inn. From there, maybe she could talk to the owner in the morning, see if they were hiring any extra hands during the tournament season; and so with that thought in mind, Jeizmel glanced around for the nearest signs pointing in the direction of the Arena. She pointedly ignored the various rustles and sounds of the oncoming Tajun night, the subtle hints in the shadows that pointed towards petty crimes being planned to carry out once the cover of darkness fell. Wasn't her business, not here so far from her treasured home of Iconox... still, Jeiz fingered her new bracelet, wondering if even here she couldn't do something. Waiting tables in some bar might pay her way through life, but wouldn't be satisfying; maybe Tajun had some kind of law enforcement that she could hook up with, do a bit of good for her living even in this cesspool of a town. A thought for the morning. She scampered through the last fading slivers of daylight. The Arena Hotel was probably way out of her budget, if they even had free rooms this close to the tournament which she doubted; but surely there were other less-prestigious places to stay around, too. Just had to find one. ooc: Jeizmel is open to interaction!

Hi, guys. When you are wondering about something or you need something, you would ask Lego Customer Service to help you with something. However, there can be some unhelpful situations. Here are my experiences: 1. When Bionicle was 19 in 2020, I asked LCS if they got any plans for Bionicle’s 20th anniversary. However, they said nothing about it (Bionicle’s 20th anniversary sort of wasn’t celebrated), but they said “what you said would give our designers good ideas” (I don’t think that’s helpful much in my opinion). They also told me to focus on today’s themes like Ninjago. 2. A few months ago, I asked LCS if they would be willing to share Hero Factory’s preserved online and print content to the fans. However, they said they can’t do that. They keep changing people. They still want me to focus on today’s themes. Basically, the people that I talked to did not help me much with Bionicle’s anniversary and Hero Factory’s preserved online and printed content. They should focus on the past things again, so legacies will be preserved. It doesn’t hurt to do it, does it? This is a good reason why we have to ask Mask of Destiny and other Bionicle fan communities like them to contact the guys who worked on some Bionicle works and Hero Factory, and these guys could hopefully uncover the mysteries of some of Bionicle’s media (last year, Mask of Destiny contacted a guy named Peter Mack, who worked on the Mata Nui Online Games and the online animations), like Bionicle: The Legend Reborn’s soundtrack, and restore Hero Factory’s lost stuff. Anyway, have you guys contacted Lego Customer Service before? Did they give you the same problems, or did they help you a lot on a certain situation?

Hi, guys. Hero Factory is best known for keeping the constraction category alive for Bionicle, after Bionicle G1 got cancelled in 2010 and G2 happened in 2015. In my opinion, despite the theme having some flaws here and there, it’s a good theme. I forgive it, and I’m still a fan of it. Today’s fans are still talking about it. The CCBS is praised. Their YouTube videos and Reddit topics show that. So, Hero Factory shouldn’t be forgotten. Even all of its TV episodes are shown in YouTube (not the best quality, but yes). Even Christian Faber is not forgetting HF, and has been showing some HF concept art. I hope Mask of Destiny will consider boosting up the memory by finding the guys who worked on HF and ask them for the archived stuff. Most of HF’s material is preserved. Some are not in best quality, but yes. There are a few stuff that aren’t preserved, like that summer Brain Attack Hero trailer and some wallpapers.

Bionicle is never forgotten, you’re right. As long as we stay being fans, Bionicle is never forgotten. As for the Bionicle games and Lego Dimensions, gee. That’s a bit insensitive. They are good times. The MNOG is a classic. I wish The Legend of Mata Nui could have been made. Lego Dimensions, it’s a good game, though I wish a lot of things were consistent. Plus, it should have gotten a sequel and go beyond what it has (many Warner Bros and Universal franchises are in the game), like Disney-owned stuff and many more Lego themes.

look at that, there's no delete button for blog entries that you only uploaded to see if your blog still works guess this one is staying up oopsa doopsa

IC: Mard & Ahmoa - Training Ground, outskirts of Atero Play it cool, Ahmoa thought, planting the handle-end of the axe in the sand and crossing his hands atop the blade. "You're right on one count, ma'am, but sadly mistaken on another. We follow the Grand Tournament season as closely as we can, we could be said to be "fans"; alas our position does not afford us the luxury of travelling to see the bouts themselves." Play it cool, Mard thought, awkwardly hugging the bundle of javelins to his chest and trying not to let any spill. "Yeah, we don't own this joint, we're just staff. Our boss, that's the lucky sonovabitch who jets all across the desert for the Gee-Tee. And every other damn fight. 'Business trips', my be-hind." Mard had no fear of admonishment for his comments, given the target of them was scarcely present for anyone to report them. Ahmoa was caught halfway between rolling his eyes and chuckling at Mard as he shuffled away to stow the javelins in the equipment shed, deciding on neither. "We look after the grounds while the proprietor is tending to his many-other ventures. As such, it is rare for us to attend Tournament matches even when they come Atero-way, given those tend to be our busiest seasons." The Vulcanusian put on his best customer-facing smile. "Don't fret, after tonight's performance we'll be sure to keep an eye and ear out for your names in the Tournament roster. Should either of you make it to the Atero stages, and if fortune smiles on us, you may even see us ring-side." He didn't even tell this to every client, honest. "You'll definitely see me at the betting tables!" Mard exclaimed as he returned, dusting off his hands. "Lorqua, your odds just went up." His excitement was only half-put-on, the green guard known to make the odd wager. "It would only be fair for me to put some coinage down on Lutenus here, then." Ahmoa replied with a grin, and no intent of following through on that. OOC: @oncertainty @Toru Nui Apologies! I've been remiss in posting these boys for some months now 😅

IC: Escus - Mouth of the Cave, the Valley of Death Escus knelt at the cave's mouth as Selamat called back to the others. He stared, unblinking, into its depths. On the one hand, he was letting his eyes adjust to the stark difference in light. On the other, there was a certain fervor in the gesture. It looked almost devotional. At once, he rose again. A thoughtful hrm emerged from the back of his throat. "Hasty, perhaps even dangerously hasty... But I concur," he said, gesturing with the head of his axe toward the mass of resting bats. He let the words hang in the air for a few seconds. "They wouldn't be sleeping in the same cave as something that would, well... eat them. Not much that wouldn't eat them that would trouble us. Unless it's something... strange. That is all to say, clear enough." He took another step forward, past the young Glatorian. One eye shut, his head inclined to one side, Escus continued to stare into the cave. OOC: @Burnmad @a goose @Nato G @~Xemnas~ @Toru Nui IC: Lorqua - Training Ground, Outskirts of Atero A skeptical look worn openly on her face, Lorqua followed Lutenus' lead in collecting up the Javelins—scattered around the arena as they were—and returning them to Mard and Ahmoa. As the adrenaline of the fight left her, Lorqua's other concerns came to the fore. If they wanted to know more about what was going on with that Ferrumite Glatorian who had stumbled into the bar, it seemed like these two were the ones to ask. Lutenus couldn't be planning to just walk right out of here, without taking such a beautiful opportunity, could he? Even if he was, Lorqua would dare anything. She couldn't resist some probing. "You two gentlemen must be going Grand-Tournament-way eventually, yeah? Hard to imagine a pair of trainers like yourselves wouldn't be tournament fans on top of that." OOC: @Toru Nui @Techn0geist IC: Skrall - Markets, the Bone Hunter Stronghold Skrall's glance follows the others', the instincts of a unit—or a herd—easily taking over. The sight of the once-Skrall makes his teeth clench. He's never seen one from this close. To know that any one of them could be so reduced is troubling. His nostrils flare. The air of the marketplace at once seems sickly. A miasma. "If they see that more than they see us," he says, speaking quietly. "It would give anyone strange ideas. But out here... what do we do?" It seemed as important a question as any; being observed by what-was-once-Skrall, and observing in turn. Were Skrall simply to turn away? Skrall was asking for the purposes of unit cohesion, of course, but also because he had absolutely no idea. OOC: @a goose @Mel @Vezok's Friend @Burnmad @Toru Nui

IC: (CelTech workshop, Tajun) "Celrys to perform external diagnostic...? Test Del I?" “Exactly right, Del. But this is a test with no wrong answers – just give the response you find to be most fitting.” Celrys turned away from Del, producing two large, flat metal ovals, with strange cylinders attached. With a flourish, he unfolded them into two chairs; one he offered to Skyra, the other he took for himself. At last, he turned once more to Del. “Now, are you sitting comfortably?” ”Yeah, I’m feeling pretty comfortable.” Skyra responds as she sits down, even if she wasn’t the target of the question. For as much as the Ferrumite struggled to conceptualise 'comfort', they did seem to register the implicit command, turning and reclining back into the patient chair. A thumb rose from a closed hand at their side, signalling in the affirmative. “Then we’ll begin,” Celrys smiled, the scope over his eye sliding back into place, its glassy surface now rendered opaque by a dim glow. “Now, this examination will take the form of a series of questions. We’ll start off simple, in order to establish a baseline: what village are we currently in?” A deceptively complex question if one still doesn't quite grasp what a village is. Del focused hard, tracing back along previous lines of conversation and inquiry, lines now joining blazingly fast between dots of ever-increasing proximity. <<Find Celrys. Find. Locate. Location. Skyra Daring the best driver. Driver. Drive. Go. From and to. To Tajun. Tajun location. Celrys here in location. Celrys in Tajun. Tajun.>> "Tajun." Del droned. "Tajun what village are we—" they paused, reassessing. "...what village we are in. “Fascinating.” Celrys couldn’t help but lean forward in his seat. “Now, what is my name?” "Celrys." Del responded with startlingly minimal delay. Easy, names were established back in Atero. Their eyes left the ceiling and fell on the owner of that name. "Celrys you." “Very good. What about your companion, here? What’s her name?” "Skyra Daring the best driver." Their gaze now turning to the Tesaran. It became apparent that Del considered that their full name; still a ways to go. Skyra grinned, looking at Del. “****** right I am~” She'd been good about keeping quiet during the test so far, at least till now. Celrys couldn’t resist smiling, though he quickly suppressed it, adopting a studiously professional expression as he refocused his attention on Del. “And what about your name?” The tiniest, imperceptible to anyone but maybe Celrys, hesitation. The infinitesemal, non-zero, doubt. The name from the artificer's logs played on a thousand loops in a thousandth of a second. "Del I." the Iron Tribal stated, asserted. ]Celrys nodded, seriously. “And what village are you from, Del?” Got us out of Ferrum. <<Out of Ferrum. From and to. Ferrum. Ferrum Plague. Ferrum.>> "Ferrum is a village, like Tajun." they parroted. "Del I from Ferrum village...?" From their perspective, Del was from Ferrum as much as they were from Atero as much as they were from the deep desert. Inconclusive. “I see. Well, perhaps we can skip the ‘childhood memories’ section; how about some maths?” Though Celrys smiled sympathetically, there was a knowing glint in his eye. “What is three plus three?” "Six." Instant. “Three multiplied by three?” "Nine." Instant. “Three divided by three.” "One." Instant. “Three minus three.” "Zero." Like a ping-pong match. “The square root of three hundred and thirty-three, rounded to three significant figures.” "Eighteen point two." “Divided by two?” "Nine point one." “Divided by zero.” Tick. "Inconclusive. Non-conclusive" Nice try. Celrys smirked. “Multiplied by zero.” "Zero." Instant. “Excellent.” Celrys leaned back, looking satisfied. “Logic problems next. A woman orders a prosthetic right arm; she lost her original arm in an accident. The prosthetic is installed and works exactly according to specifications. Has it always been her arm?” "No." Not as quick as the maths test but remarkable in the firmness of the conclusion. Del did not show their working. “There are two ropes in front of you; each takes exactly one hour to burn, but they do so at inconsistent rates. Some segments may burn faster or slower than others, and you have no way to tell which are which. How can you use the ropes to measure forty-five minutes?” This took a little longer for the Ferrumite to puzzle out, although time is subjective and 'two seconds' is a longer span of time than 'two nanoseconds'. "Burn two end of one rope. Burn one end of two rope. Burn two end of two rope when one rope finish burn. Time when two rope finish burn: forty-five minutes." Celrys nodded. “Two men stand before two doors; only one can take you to your destination. One man only tells the truth, the other tells only lies. With only one question, how would you learn from them which door to choose?” The underlying language of a good riddle was pure logic, as was Del's. The overlying language still needed some work, a piecemeal of limited vocabulary and patchwork mimicry. Thus some words, and their adjoined meanings, slipped through the myriad cracks. <<Clarification.>> "Query: what truth is? What lies is?" Celrys perked up, sitting upright. “Truth is fact. Lies are not. For instance, it would be true to say that my name is Celrys; it would be a lie to claim that my name is Skyra Daring.” Rapid extrapolation. <<Facts, not. Truth, lies. One man would tell door to destination. One man would tell door not to destination. One question.>> An answer in the form of a— "Query: which door would not-you man tell to choose?” The meaning was hopefully communicated adequately. “Would you walk through the door the man answers with, or the other?” "Other door. Truth-man tell lies-door that lies-man tell. Lies-man tell lies-door that lies-man lies that truth-man tell. Truth. Lies." Cement filling cracks. “Perfect. One last puzzle: A woman orders a prosthetic right arm. She pays up-front. The parts are acquired only after she makes her order, to her specification, and it is tailored specifically for her. Once it is complete, she immediately claims it, and it is installed. Has it always been her arm?” Another linguistic trait to experiment with. An impressive five seconds passed. "...Yes. Always been her arm, not always been her arm." Celrys was absolutely beaming; if not for his earlier denial, he would seem every bit the proud parent. “Absolutely fantastic. This is simply marvellous.” He turned his chair to face Skyra. “Well, bad news first: Del here is dealing with some serious brain damage. It would take tests I’d rather not subject them to in order to confirm the exact cause and nature, but as you yourself have doubtless noticed, amnesia is the primary symptom.” Skyra nods solemnly, even the driver knowing when to be serious. “Right, I figured something like that was up.” He looked once again to Del. “The good news is that your short-term memory is in perfect working order, and your other cognitive functions are performing remarkably well, especially given the circumstances. There are only two lingering questions that remain: the first is your ability to convert short-term memories into long-term, and the second is the matter of your nervous system at large. I would like to observe you over the course of the next few days – not twenty-four seven, just a few check-ups – and, in addition to this, I would like to perform another test tomorrow. This one would be rather… different, in format, focusing primarily on your adrenal response and your physical coordination. Is this acceptable to the both of you?” <<Memory. . .>> As with many other things, the capacity for long-term memory had not occurred to Del. They set about performing an assessment of the events of the last few days, their own internal diagnostic; back past the long drive across the roiling dunes, the faces of denizens of a dive bar in Atero, waking up in a training ground tended to by a kindly Agori couple. Beyond that, there was... there was… A voice but no words. An answer but no answer. "Brain damage. Del I... damage?" they said more to themself than either Celrys or Skyra. Subjectivity and unsurety crept back into their voice. One would almost swear their tone was troubled. The truth of their scenario eluded them. Truth. It was vital they know. Anything less than optimal was un— "Acceptable. Just a few check-ups. Another test tomorrow." ”Well if Del is cool with it then so am I, guess we’ll be seeing you tomorrow Doc.” “Tomorrow, then,” Celrys said with a smile. OOC: Big thanks to @Techn0geist and @Snelly for the jam!

Was just watching some of the MNOG cutscenes the other day. They knocked it out of the park with that game. I never got around to finishing the second one, although last time I played it was when it was on the Bionicle website and still broken.

Happy belated birthday, Taka! Hope you had a good one.

Recently Alexander Pinera over at TheGamer put together a list of 10 Forgotten Lego Games, with three Bionicle titles making the list. Obviously we're a bit biased, but I can't think of any Bionicle fan who's forgotten about the Mata Nui Online Game! While there are certainly some obscure games there, most seem pretty well-known in LEGO circles. Are you aware of all ten? Which on the list is your favorite?View the full article

This week we'll be heading over to the BZPower Twitch channel on Wednesday, April 24th for another installment of B6's Block Party. Starting at around 7 PM Eastern we'll be diving back into LEGO Indiana Jones to wrap up The Temple of Doom levels - we completed four of the six last week, so we'll see if we can match that this week and start The Last Crusade as well! Fingers crossed and see you there!View the full article

IC: Selamat - Iron Canyon Selamat continued to step forward into the cave, eyeing the bats that lined the ceiling warily. He wasn't familiar with bats; he did not leave the vicinity of Vulcanus often enough or for long enough to spend much time sheltering in caves. He knew that they were supposed to be harmless, but that knowledge did little to put his enhanced limbic system at ease. His implant was pumping adrenaline into his bloodstream, making his breathing ragged and his movements twitchy. Doing his best to suppress the artificial fight-or-flight response, the spear-wielding Glatorian looked back at his allies, and signaled them over with a jerky wave. "Looks clear," he said in a low tone, though his voice sounded strained. He forced himself to lower the spear's tip until it rested against the cave floor. OOC: @a goose @Nato G @oncertainty @Toru Nui @~Xemnas~ IC: Skrall - Bone Hunter Stronghold Skrall did not stop to follow the gaze of his compatriots as he walked about the wagons, trying to complete a cursory inspection before Atakus returned. It was easy enough to guess what they were looking at; those Skrall called to the Sisters' chambers had to go somewhere, since their brothers would not suffer their presence and hadn't the courtesy to put them out of their misery. It was a given that most would pass through this place, as they were suited to little else than the purposes the Bone Hunters had for them. An unbroken Skrall was already nearly incapable of surviving in the South, he knew (for such was the subject of a great deal of pondering of which all Skrall were guilty, but to which none would admit). A broken Skrall, however, was incapable of surviving anywhere that he was not given food and simple, easy tasks. The Skrall in this respect was not so different before and after the Sisters had selected him; both led lives defined by structure and authority. From wake to sleep, one's day was defined by the authority of one's superior. From the rations he ate, to the tasks he performed, he lived within a cage made from the will of another. The difference - aside from the veneer of honor to which the Skrall clung so dearly - was that the unbroken Skrall filled the cage of his orders like water filled a cracked vessel, pushing at the walls and spilling out from any gap. An unbroken Skrall would trade his rations for drugs from the South, push himself to complete his tasks early, and find a secluded spot to look up at the sky without being observed. Broken Skrall, on the other hand, were prone to standing slack-jawed when not occupied. He finished his walk about the wagons, and frowned. Atakus was still nowhere to be seen. He wondered what the Agori was talking about with the barbarians' leader. A simple exchange wouldn't take so long... That business Fero mentioned must be something more complex. Which meant it was quite likely that Skrall wouldn't learn any more details about it. OOC: @a goose @BULiK @Nato G @oncertainty @Toru Nui @Vezok's Friend

IC: The Ghost (The Tower) “Our mercy?” The Ghost’s grin grew wider still. “You’re quite open in your ambitions. I can respect that.” Somehow, he seemed oddly satisfied, as if Taldrix had said something that pleased him greatly. “Now, unless there's anything else, you may take your leave. You know how to reach me.” OOC: @Toru Nui

Solek: Ok, so maybe killing the creator of the universe was a bad plan Shadow Leech: I mean, it could have been worse. Solek: Oh thank Mata Nui it’s someon- wait, oh no it’s you. Wait, why is it you? Shadow Leech: I’m not 100% sure. Can you see anyone else? Solek: Nooooo.... can you? Announcer: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Shadow Leech: Yep. Hold on a second, someone else is yelling. Shadow Leech: Hey Announcer: Oh good, someone else still exi- LEECH!!!!!!!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO??????????? Shadow Leech: First, wow, nice warm welcome, second, I didn’t do anything. Solek: Liar. Who are you talking to? Shadow Leech: Announcer. Announcer: Yes? Shadow Leech: No, I was saying your name, I was talking to Solek. Solek: Announcer is there? Are you talking to him? Kirop: Mata Nui, my head Shadow Leech: Yeah I can see you both so I’m talking to you both. Well, see is an aggressive term for what I’m doing, I’m like sensing that you exist. Kirop: w-what? What are you talking about? Did I finally get sent to ******? Announcer: Wait, Leech, do you exist? Or are we just communicating with a hallucination of you? Shadow Leech: Hi Kirop, no, I don’t think this is ******, I’d be much happier if that were the case. Solek: Oh Kirop is there? Tell him he’s less real than I am right now. Ehlek: Is this what being fired feels like? You lose your job and the rest of existence is just an infinite white void? Shadow Leech: ****** I sure hope so. Hammox: You hope what??? What’s going on? Announcer: I knew this was a bad idea. Kirop: Oh please Mata Nui, not ******, I wasn’t that bad, I didn’t kill too many people, and when I did I only mildly enjoyed it. Solek: Me too Weapon: Ok so there’s the leech, where is everyone else? Osram: Leech??? What’s happening? What are you hoping for? DID YOU MESS EVERYTHING UP AGAIN? Shadow Leech: Ok, can everyone BE QUIET? *Everyone is silent, news crew continues to yell* Shadow Leech: Oh that’s not a good sign, I mean all you freaks too. *News crew quiets down.* Shadow Leech: Thank you. Now, you should all thank me that you’re not in an isolated void of your own consciousness like I am almost 100% of the time, seriously, you never ask about how I’m doing or how this all feels or how existing for 30 times as long as I should have is taking a toll on my mental faculties. But that’s not relevant right now. What’s relevant is that Cameraman: Oh thank Neptune I’m alive! I’m ALIIIIIIVE!!!! Producer: I’d say I have a headache but I’m not sure my head exists. Leech, what are you doing? Shadow Leech: I was just explaining before you rudely interrupted Solek: I didn’t say anything Announcer: I was completely silent! Kirop: Please not ****** please not ****** please not ****** Ehlek: I’m being very polite for once! Weapon: I’m about to be much more rude Shadow Leech: Well I’m trying my best here, can’t say this is much worse than the normal voices if we’re being honest. Producer: Oh my god if I’m one of the Leech’s delusions I’m going to lose it. Shadow Leech: RIGHT ok so here’s the deal. We killed Frezon and at the moment we did all of you stopped existing because you were in Frezon’s mind palace thingie, but since I was planning to betray you I had stored a part of my existence outside of the mind palace as a backup in case my plan failed, which it looks like it did. Solek: I KNEW IT I KNEW YOU WERE TRYING TO BETRAY US AGAIN!!!! Ehlek: I SHOULD HAVE SQUISHED YOU AGAIN WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE! Announcer: Ok that’s great and all but do you have a plan to make this not happen? *continued hubbub and yelling at the Leech* Shadow Leech: Hey wait a minute, where’s Carapar? Day 18 Carapar: Yippee!!! I did it! I killed Frezon. Now to go get a pizza. (leaves the empty news studio, walking down the empty streets towards a pizza parlor, also empty) Carapar: Free too! (eats pizza) *Commercial Break* Will the rest of the news crew escape? Will Carapar enjoy his pizza? Will anyone help me? This is Ultimate Rahkshi, I’m stuck in the commercials, I don’t know what happened, I think Frezon forgot about me until now again, guys we didn’t kill him, WE DIDN’T KILL HIM!!! Find out next time on....... BIONICLE NEWS!!!!

IC: Skrall (Bone Hunter Stronghold, Marketplace) - Witchcraft! Ah, of course - their games. Skrall had nearly forgotten. But would the south really abandon their independence, something they clearly prized by refusing to truly unite under one banner, merely because the Skrall would utterly demolish them in their arenas? Though, given how demoralizing that might be, they may eventually give up purely to save themselves further degradation- Wait, what was everyone looking at? There was… what once, may have been Skrall, behind metal bars, watching them. He gave a glance to the scout, as if to say ‘see what I’m talking about?’ Wait, did he really just say he didn’t believe in witchcraft? They had a conversation about this on the way here Skrall could only half-remember - did he really not believe that existed? How had he survived this long? Something just crossed Skrall’s mind. Logically, both the Renegades and the southerners must have females - unless they grew like plants, which somehow Skrall doubted. And, just as logically, these females must have powers of their own. Hopefully, this disqualified them from raiding, or the arena. Skrall would raise this point, but he had been obliquely commanded to be silent, so he did so. @Vezok's Friend @Mel @a goose @Burnmad @oncertainty @Nato G IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, the Tower) - Easy Come, Easy Go Now, what Taldrix wanted to say was that she wasn’t offended at all, because she knew that the fault lied with the average Gatherer, half as smart as a Zesk and about twice as ugly, but that might not be the best thing to say to someone who shared the Zesk’s four eyes. What she was about to say may also not be the best thing, but if she pretended to be subservient too much, he might get suspicious. “I imagine you told Crucius and the others what you’ve told me - or a version of it, anyway. I can’t say it offends me. Who wouldn’t pledge allegiance to you if they were convinced of ULTIMATE POWER being their reward?” Something takes over Taldrix, as she looms over the map. “The desert would be at our mercy.” And then she snaps back to normal. “Of which there is none.” Now, if it turned out whatever was left in the canyon wasn’t as impressive as the Ghost made it sound, or if they lost too many men to the plague or the beasts known to roam that area trying to uncover it… well. If the Ghost thought it was easy gaining control, he shouldn’t be surprised how easy it would be to lose it all if he couldn’t keep his promise. Even if Crucius and those two buffoons outside still stood by him after that, they’d be significantly outnumbered by the rest of the Gatherers, and Taldrix sincerely doubted even a Great Being could survive that many angry people with sharp implements. @a goose

This is a promising start. Canon seemed to imply that faith in Mata Nui was somehow misplaced, like a kid-friendly version of Dune, but nothing was really done with it. I am interested to see how this will play out.