#outofgloom

Mechos Megrod is a city built by and for Mechosians. Like Metru Nui, it's an industrial, urban center where every Mechosian is separated by specific "type" and given a specific role to play and purpose in the ongoing functions of the city, although their types are only partially elemental in the way we're familiar with from the Matoran Universe. Also, like the Great Spirit Robot, Mechos Megrod is spaceborne — it is functionally an artificial asteroid, a star station built to contain the city of the Mechosians and everything they need to sustain themselves in the harshness of the Chasm of Stars, the "secondary world" space opera/alien fantasy setting for some corners of the Pick-n-Mix Comix universe beyond the Other Realms (where story cycles like @grimshawcycle are set).

It's not the only spaceborne colony in the Chasm, but it's the only one populated by Mechosians, who are ultimately a very specific type of socialoid; artificial beings that can either spawn naturally from in-universe lucidite crystals becoming the seed crystals for biogenetic crystal particles called georine or be spawned artificially in "lattice tanks", as in the case of the Mechosians by default. In either case, georine comprises their interlacing bodies and joints, supplemented by handcrafted fabrics and dermorium armor (or sometimes argosium, if they're desperate or not allied with Mechos Megrod for one reason or another), and it's from these lattice tanks at Mechos Megrod that new Mechosian-native socialoids are born.

The complex and function of Mechos Megrod was originally assembled by a socialoid called Karu-Nisi, remembered today as an ancient heroic figure, a mythological idea who brought naturally-spawned socialoids together from across the Chasm for the purpose of creating one singular world where all socialoids could belong. The Chasm is a world of flesh and breath and blood and torment, where aliens of all species fight and battle each other, and in this world, crystalline beings like socialoids are thought of more like resources than as distinct beings of their own — in building Mechos Megrod and the Mechosian society, Karu-Nisi sought to give the Chasm's socialoids a sense of belonging and internal respect for themselves, away from the fleshiness and inherent organicness of the worlds they more than likely spawned on.

For instance, Khofu — an Olmopran socialoid, born on a desert world surrounded by Olmopra's native humans, the elephantine Lephrall, and constant remnants of the once-king, the Dragorean lord Balurkar. Few other socialoids were known to Olmopra at the time, and Khofu became assistant to Balurkar, but in time, the world moved on. Mechosians — and all socialoids — live as long as natural crystals otherwise do, so long as their lattice bodies stay intact, so Khofu outlived countless generations of Olmoprans and Lephrall, and personally witnessed the fall of King Balurkar in the dragon's final days.

Mechos Megrod gave Khofu a home, if he wanted one — where he wouldn't have to witness the flesh-strewn wither and die, but instead be surrounded by the crystalline matrices of his own fellow socialoid kind.

But there are more. To construct the Mechosian society, Karu-Nisi chose six crucial socialoids, the Silastra Maheri, to lead the six Mechosian "types" to which all Mechosians are assigned, as well as watch over the six regions the city would ultimately be divided into:

Silastra Bohdoh, of the Boh-Mechosians, who function as cleaners and custodians of Mechos Megrod, and call the Closets of Bohdoh their home in Boh-Nisi.

Silastra Akantai, of the Ak-Mechosians, who keep the knowledge and lore not just of their own socialoid history but of the Chasm of Stars as a whole, sequestered as they are in the Libraries of Akantai in Ak-Nisi.

Silastra Nihua, of the Ni-Mechosians, who work in the Nihua Power Cores at the heart of the city, and keep the mechanical engines and drives of the city alive from Ni-Nisi.

Silastra Mataku, of the Mat-Mechosians, who build, rebuild, and maintain all a socialoid might see in Mechos Megrod, and are all members of the mobile Mataku Building Society, headquartered in Mat-Nisi.

Silastra Ivahai, of the Iva-Mechosians, who watch the stars for visions of the future, and visit with fellow socialoids at the Parlors of the Future in Iva-Nisi to fortune-tell as they wish.

Silastra Kanoha, of the Ka-Mechosians, who craft and forge the dermorium armor each Mechosian wears, working all day in the Kanoha Armorwells in Ka-Nisi.

These six, the Silastra Maheri, are one of the more obvious areas of Bionicle influence, as they're actually a direct inclusion/adaptation of the six Great Beings from my aforementioned themed AU. In fact, using my experience from crafting the Mechosians, I can probably translate them back into a more-functional, "official" Bionicle AU and explore that side of them just as well; but in any case, I do have some concern over their inclusion into Mechosian lore, as the names were directly taken from either Bionicle stuff proper, or, in the case of Akantai and Ivahai (and, I think, Nihua), @outofgloom's Matoric Language work because they were supposed to represent specific Great Beings who, in this AU, were responsible for specific aspects of the Great Spirit Robot:

Bohdoh created the Bohrok and was associated with the Onu-Matoran of Metru-Nui.

Ivahai was a seer who foresaw the Great Cataclysm and called for various failsafes such as the Bohrok to be created (becoming associated with the Ko-Matoran and the Knowledge Towers of Ko-Metru along the way).

Mataku was the designer of the Great Spirit Robot and creator of the Matoran overall, in turn giving his name to the idea of the Great Spirit Mata Nui and becoming patron of the Po‐Matoran and the carvers of Po-Metru.

Nihua was the creator of the Red Star, where Matoran are created and which once served as a power source for the Great Spirit Robot in this AU until it's torn out during the Great Cataclysm; as an engineer, Nihua became patron of the engineers of Le-Metru and the Le-Matoran overall.

Akantai, the keeper of history and knowledge. As with the Mechosian version, this Great Being original concept was the first known chronicler, who wrote down Ivahai's prophecies, recorded the designs of his fellow Great Beings, and became patron of the teachers of Ga-Metru and the Ga-Matoran overall.

Kanoha, creator of the Kanohi masks worn by Mataku's Matoran, as well as the kanoka discs thrown in Metru-Nui. As such, Kanoha became the patron of the Ta-Matoran forgers of Ta-Metru, like Vakama would one day become.

I never quite figured out what to do with them in this AU, and I ended up with about three different fan-universes for my various Bionicle lore and storylines over time, so I'll admit they're a bit of an awkward inclusion. Especially in the cases of Kanoha and Bohdoh, whose names are so directly drawn from preexisting Bionicle lore from Lego themselves (the Bohrok and the Kanohi/kanoka discs) that they basically make no sense at all when separated from their origins this much.

So, I might change them for Mechosians. I might not. They're minor players in the main Mechosian storylines anyway, but crucial for establishing the divisions and purposes of Mechosian society in general. Also, if @outofgloom turns out not to be comfortable with me co-opting some of their Matoric words for a project that isn't even Bionicle-related anymore, it's probably best to change them than leave them as they are; I haven't asked, as this is the first time I'm posting about this lore outside of my original fan-blog where I made a few posts regarding the AU several years ago, quite a different theme over there than here...

In any case, individual Mechosian stories are fun to plot out. I have a Bionicle OC named Toa Sozonis from one fic meant to explore the idea, whom I've adapted as a Braxanite socialoid who gets destroyed by a Braxanite human named Arzel Toron (who then impersonates Sozonis as a "fake Sozonis"); Sozonis is then "reborn" in Mechos Megrod, as the lattice-keepers known as Kesran are able to pull the residual consciousnesses of fallen socialoids from throughout the Chasm of Stars to Mechos Megrod and "resurrect" them there in brand new bodies spawned for the purpose of rendering them new members of the Mechosian society.

And there's Tumohl and Hepni, as I mentioned. Tumohl is a Mechosian of Knowledge who discovers Hepni was resurrected from an Olmopran socialoid, which is strange because it was believed that Khofu was the only known Olmopran socialoid, and so Tumohl goes on a semi-illicit quest to figure out what the heck is actually going on and what happened to Hepni before her resurrection in Mechos Megrod.

I've already included a set of Bionicle MOCs I made once upon a time, for a currently-unproduced story called The Ghosts Of Desolation, into Pick-n-Mix Comix lore in the earliest webserial I started working on, Escape To Prolune, where they're known as the Desolators and consist of the animal-themed "protocoids" Vespulis, Azurea, Tamulon, Varanus, Sarctis, and Atraxis the Acromanther (but I need to adjust the narrative and retcon the lore from that one, in order to explain the current idea that naturally-spawning socialoids often take themes from the environment they spawn in, which wasn't even close to being an idea when I started working on Escape To Prolune earlier this year).

I think this all has a lot of potential, and still needs a lot of work, but info-dumping helps and pleases me greatly! Even if this wasn't completely Bionicle-related, I'm happy to post about something Bionicle inspired me to make, and reference some of my once-intended Bionicle projects (Adventures Of Toa Sozonis and Ghosts Of Desolation, respectively) along the way.

Check out my AO3 page for Pick-n-Mix Comix, maybe follow some of my story cycle blogs like @braxaniterising or @grimshawcycle if you want (or my original Bionicle fan-blog @inthetimebeforetime), and leave a like or comment if you wanna learn more, if you like piña coladas, or if you wanna pal around in the universe/liked the lore you learned.

Time is an illusion that helps things make sense

Vahi mahiki ki hi akhuyapa

So we are always living in the present tense

O avamu boyapa i-vapa-a

It seems unforgiving when a good thing ends

Akai sare-pa kimi hi laho fayapa

But you and I will always be back then

Fa ou no o avamu vyako

You and I will always be back then

Ou no o avamu vyako

Singing “will happen, happening, happened,

“Huyako, huyapa, huyanu,

Will happen, happening, happened,”

Huyako, huyapa, huyanu,”

And we’ll happen again and again

No o huyako-anga no anga

‘Cause you and I will always be back then

Ta ou no o avamu vyako

You and I will always be back then

Ou no o avamu vyako

Ayha pulled back on the protosteel bowstring, eyes snapping between targets as his Sanok glowed to life. The fire brightened in the distance. A shape writhed at the heart of the smoke, high above, hurtling northward, toward the City.

"I see it!" he hissed.

"On my mark. Hold until—"

"There!"

The bow-string twanged metallically. The arrow needled upward into the clouds, straight into the silhouette of the massive Rahi….

A dull clang echoed over the sea as the dart splintered on one of the mask-like scales that covered the beast's hide. A miss. More flame belched from the dragon's mouth, and burning, intelligent eyes fixed upon the small rock.

"Zyg," the Air-Toa cursed, reaching for a second arrow. The dragon turned sharply into a spiral. Higher, higher….

"Range is increasing," said the Ice-Toa. "Now 75 bio—"

"Think I can still hit it," Ayha said.

The stranger ignored him.

"Signal the other Toa of Ice," she said to Tylnen. "Tell them to array along the shoreline."

"But…hey!" The Air-Toa recoiled as water washed over his shins. The sea had risen suddenly, submerging their rock. The stranger was already knee-deep. Her hands were stretched out, one toward the sky and one toward the surface of the ocean.

Ayha regained his balance, almost spoke, but then saw the slight shake of Tylnen's head and thought better.

Above them, higher even than the winged shape of the dragon, clouds were moving, spinning, darkening further…but not with smoke.

Below, the Silver Sea had also become restless. Strange waves crisscrossed its surface, resolving into a spiraling shape: a whirlpool to match the nascent vortex of storm above. Dragon-fire billowed and swirled as the beast passed over their position and flew onward.

"What's this all about, stranger?" Ayha blurted out at last. "Showing up out of nowhere and giving orders…You said you were no Toa!"

"I'm not."

"What is your plan?" Tylnen asked. "I've signaled the other Toa through my frost-wards. They are ready."

The stranger's hands were still outstretched, motionless. Her eyes were open. All focus.

"The plan is the same," she said quietly.

Clip its wings.

Fingers clenched, clawlike. In the distance, a mass of seawater flashed upward like steel, and a deluge of rain pierced downward, laced with lightning.

Liquid teeth closed upon the serpentine shape, and a wall of spray and mist obscured the horizon. Ayha's eyes went wide. Tylnen blinked once, very slowly.

"No Toa, eh? Zyga, I say." Ayha clapped his hands together, grinning.

The stranger turned halfway toward him.

"Then you'd better learn what a Toa is, and quick."

"Look there." Tylnen pointed.

A ragged shape was falling against the sky, tumbling, wingless, toward the City, trailing smoke.

Glittering glaciers of ice were already forming along the shoreline as the other Toa prepared to meet it.

The Air-Toa's smile widened further: "Hah! They'll make a legend out of this. All our names will be carved on the Walls of History. I'd bet on it. Now, stranger, how about you us give your own name—"

He stopped. The rock was empty. The sea was receding back to normal levels.

The stranger was gone.

"Well..." Ayha said after a moment, "maybe not all our names." He shook water from his armored feet. "No legend for you then..."

"...only for Toa," Tylnen replied.

"What's that?"

The Ice-Toa shook his head, turned and began to fashion a skiff from elemental ice. Ayha shrugged, started to twirl another arrow on his fingers as he waited.