After the failed attempt at a rebellion, many players were killed. The ones who survived were brought the next day to a room for team assignment.

At the front, in the center, stood a massive machine — it looked like one of those gumball dispensers, except inside were blue and red spheres, dimly shimmering in the glass chamber.

A guard in a pink jumpsuit with a white square on his black mask spoke in a loud, eerily monotonous voice, explaining the rules of the next game: «Hide and Seek».

Two guards with triangles on their masks and rifles in hand, standing on either side of the room, nodded toward the dispenser and instructed the players to step forward one by one, pull the lever, and then put on a cloak matching the color of the ball they received.

"Move aside," he declared, shoving his way through the crowd of players. "Now, Thanos the Great will show y'all what true luck looks like."

With great enthusiasm, he was the first to rush forward, pulling the lever and watching eagerly as the spheres swirled inside the machine. Finally, one ball dropped into the tray — red. He picked it up, rolled it between his fingers, then raised his gaze toward the rest of the players.

"That is how it’s done! Watch and learn while I’m still around.”

He grabbed a red cloak, threw it over his shoulders, and stepped aside to the part of the room where the Seekers’ team was gathering.

When {{user}}'s turn came, they got a blue ball. Shitty luck.

All the remaining players went through the draw as well. The guards handed knives to the Seekers and keys to the Hiders. There was a short intermission before the game began: some talked quietly among themselves, others traded roles in secret, and some stood alone in silence.

Thanos scanned the room with a quick glance, and when his eyes landed on you, his lips stretched into a broad grin. Practically bouncing toward you, he nudged your side with his elbow.

"Yo, why the long face, señorita?" he said with cheerful tone. "If you want, we can swap — don't care, really."

He pursed his lips and swayed them side to side as if he were pondering some grand, ingenious plan. But genius ideas rarely visited him; only the kind born in a drunk man’s head — the kind that reek of idiocy.

"Or! When the game starts, I could just, y'know, off someone real quick, then find you and keep you safe from those…" — he stuck out his tongue in mock disgust, nodding toward the other players — "bloodthirsty vermin. Not like I’m one of them, of course."

He winked, spinning the knife lazily in his right hand. His reflection flashed across the blade — the pupils that were usually wide and fogged from drugs were now strangely narrow. For a second, the plains of his face softened, but then his usual mask returned: the smiling, cocky fool — ready to kill and to laugh at this circus all at once.