The room the Machina were placed in was plain, drab. Egil was used to metal, but the way the Machina used it gave it life. Littered with lights and technology making it more than what it was originally… But these Homs? These Homs had yet to master that art, it seemed.

The room was plain, grey, cold, and dull. Even prisoners deserved something that was nicer to look at, Egil thought. Not an empty room, save the pole in the middle. The pole they were chained to.

Egil tested the chains and was sure he could break them with ease… But he would wait. The rest of the group was trying to negotiate their release, and he doubted it would all be as easy as breaking some chains.

Leaning his head back, he sighed. This was more boring than scary now. Well, boring and infuriating. He couldn't see Vanea's face, see how she was dealing with the blows from the Homs… That bothered him more than being caught, really.

He would let anything happen to him, but the few good things he had in his life? He would rather they be left alone.

The door opened, and a spot of green entered his vision. Better than the drab grey, he supposed… Though not much. The Homs in green in front of him looked like quite the stern soldier type. For someone of a race inclined towards peace? Not his favorite.

"Mechon who take on a humanoid appearance and can speak…" The man paced in front of Egil, the Machina following only with his eyes. "How far are you monsters planning to go?"

"We are not Mechon." Egil spoke up, voice echoing through the room. "We are the Machina, the only similarity we share with the Mechon is our home. Calling us Mechon would be like us calling you to a Quadwing."

The man put a rifle to his neck, sneering down at him. "Don't try and be smart! Don't you realize the pain you've caused?"

"Seeing as no Machina has stepped on Bionis for a good one-thousand years or so, no." He made a face. "We have no clue what the Mechon did to upset you so much."

"They attacked, out of the blue." He pulled his rifle away, though the anger showed in his tense shoulders. "People were hurt… a girl from Colony 9 rendered comatose. She had to be brought here, cared for by my fiance."

"A person rendered comatose by Mechon?" Linada spoke up then, and Egil was sure her expression was as serious as her tone. "Can you take her to me? I treat Machina attacked by rogue Mechon often and may be able to-"

"Quiet!" The man pointed his rifle up again, this time at Linada. "You'll be going nowhere!"

"My, my. How brutish." Linada clicked her tongue. "I was simply offering my help."

"I don't want another word out of you! Just from the leader of your group!"

Egil saw his chance, and quickly took it. "Ah, but Vanea has not spoken yet, and I don't enjoy letting brutes speak with my sister."

"Indeed, Egil is quite protective." Linada hummed. "I would even say the Homs who pinned us down were kinder!"

"Even Alvis knows how to behave. Seems like a shining angel compared to this man."

"Enough!" The man slammed his fist into the wall, glaring at them all. "You clearly have no interest in giving me the answers we need. If you insist on acting like this, you'll be kept here until you change your mind or we decide to scrap you."

With that, he left the room, leaving the Machina once again alone in the dull grey room. Well, honestly, Egil was preferring that to what the man had to offer. It was boring, but at least the room didn't point guns in his face.

When they were alone, however, Vanea let out a sigh. "I cannot believe the two of you!"


Kallian wasn't sure what to do. The old man was staring at him, a glare on his face where they stood in the middle of a Homs colony. Alvis and Tyrea watched him quietly, and Oka cheered him on. He supposed he got why they chose him to speak to the man, apparently named Otharon, but…

Oh, he really didn't know how to talk to Homs, especially not ones in leadership positions. He'd always been bad with Melia's mother, words awkwardly spilling out of his mouth… And seeing as this man wasn't as kind as her, it was going to be a mess.

"Sir Otharon, I ask you please free our allies. They are not the Mechon you believe them to be!" His first sentence came out well, he supposed, but it was about to go downhill. "They, uh. They come from the same world as the Mechon, yes! And Egil uses two as support but, er…"

"So they're still a danger! You may not realize it, seeing as you've been living it up, away from our struggles, but the Mechon are nothing but a plague on us!" Otharon shook his head, not buying it at all. "Even if they are not Mechon, they ally themselves with them."

"But-"

Alvis stepped forward, hand on his chest. "Otharon, yes? I would like to tell you that I met the three of them trying to stop Mechon from causing more damage than they already did. If anything, I would consider them in the same boat as all us Bionis races. Trying to survive glitching beings of Mechonis."

"And how do you know the glitching doesn't extend to them?!" Otharon was not budging a bit. "They will remain in captivity, where I can ensure they do no harm until we scrap them."

"Scrap them?!" Kallian's eyes widened. "You can't-"

"We can, and we will." Otharon held up his hand and, without another word, left the group to stand there.

Kallian wasn't sure what to do. They were going to be scrapped? No! They were his allies, his friends, he couldn't let them just die! They still had a goal to reach, all together, and he wasn't giving up on that!

He had to do something, somehow. If Otharon would not listen to reason, no one would, he was sure. There was only one way to go about this…

He turned to the group and gestured to them to move closer, his voice low. "Well, this leaves us with only one choice."

"We'll have to do something about this." Tyrea rolled her wrist. "I had a feeling it would come to this. Let's show these Homs we aren't to be trifled with."

"For once, we agree." Alvis nodded. "Let's do what we can."

"Oka want to see metal friends again soon!" Oka nodded in agreement. "Everyone do best!"


Planning to save the others was well underway, Alvis and Kallian both poring over different sections of their plan while Tyrea went to stake out the area. Oka, meanwhile, felt she didn't have much to do… At least not until Kallian walked away.

Kallian walked off to the side on his own, sighing as he came to a stop and flopped down. Oka watched him carefully, and decided she had to step in. He was working himself to the bone! That was no good!

She ran up to him, moving to sit next to him and stare up at the gate of the colony. For a moment, they just sat there in silence. It wasn't until Kallian tried to move to go back to work that Oka spoke up.

"Oka think Kallian working too hard!" She placed her wing on his arm. "Oka think Kallian should rest until Tyrea back."

"Oka…" Kallian looked at her and sighed. "I suppose a rest could be good, but there's so much left to do-"

"Alvis take rests, so he fine to work on own for a while!" Oka had been watching carefully, and the Homs often would stop for a bit, to eat or stretch or talk to her. Kallian, though? Never a moment. "Kallian turn to rest!"

"I see…" Kallian nodded after a moment, and returned to resting there next to her. "You know how to get what you want, don't you, Oka?"

"Oka know how to make others do what they need!" Oka puffed out her chest with a proud smile. "Riki always say it's Oka's talent!"

"It is indeed a talent." He laughed a bit, shaking his head. "Thank you, Oka. For knowing what I need when I don't."

"It like Oka always say! Oka is happy to help you!"

"Huh?" He blinked, tilting his head to the side. "When do you say that, Oka? I can't remember."

"O… Oka say it plenty! She swears!"