Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 and Omicron the IceQueen

Queen's notes: And thus... semi less confusion for our Hero and Chronicler! Slightly less. XD

Heroes of Spherus Magna

Gift of speech

By the time he actually returned to Macku, the mech replaced his core plate, and looked as though he were in severe pain. Even with this though, he proceeded back over to Macku and sat down, holding out the glowing gold shard that he'd gotten off of his Core. "Will this work?" He inquired, keeping his voice steady despite the fact that taking part of his Core off hurt like crazy.

Macku looked up from... well, it was flakes of some kind of stone on animal hide and giving off an energy field as they charged in the sun. She tilted her head at the mech, not understanding but rocked up onto her knees to reach of the chip he offered.

Stormer carefully handed the shard over, turning his gaze to his Hero Core cover plate and grimacing. Sure, it was only a little bit off his Core, but he had no idea if this would alter his performance later or not. Small price to pay, he decided, considering this was likely his one and only chance to actually know what was being talked about. "Hopefully this will work."

Catching the care he was using, the native leaned over and shyly tugged on the mech's armor to get him to sit down by her. She inspected the chip from every possible angle, not having seen anything like it before.

The veteran blinked when she tugged on his armor, but seemed to catch the hint and nodded as he sat down beside her, his glowing blue optics watching as she looked over the glowing, orange-yellow shard. Even though he knew what it is, he couldn't help but admire it. After all, this was the substance that was keeping him 'alive', as it were. Sure, he was -essentially- just a robot, but as he'd heard mentioned so many times by his co-workers, and even his own team; the Core was what made a Hero who they really were.

Macku hummed and chirped, chatting now as she worked on making the chip the right shape- how she was able to was a mystery.

As much as he didn't have a clue what she was saying, Stormer couldn't help but smile a little as he listened to Macku talk. It made him wonder if she even remembered he didn't even know what language she was speaking, let alone what she was saying in it. "You like talking with people, don't you?" He inquired, seeming rather entertained by her. Perhaps she reminded him of some of the other Heroes he worked with before the crash.

The native biomechanical being gave what might be a smile as she started to close the device up and handed it back to the mech. Macku didn't know the settings after all.

It took the translator device a bit, but soon it began to calculate what she was saying and register what language it was. After a minute or two of her chattering, it began to voice what she was saying in words he could understand... well, some of her words. The damaged device appeared to be having trouble with some of the words.

Despite this though, Stormer couldn't help but smile at her. "It's working." He remarked, sounding relieved, though he paused and glanced at the device with curiosity as he heard what sounded like his own voice, speaking words he didn't really understand.

The native girl leaned away from the device, weirded out by it as it talked with his voice, "Mata Nui...not a translation stone after all..."

Stormer raised an 'eyebrow' ridge, his expression showing curiosity at her reaction, and wondering what she'd think when she figured out that it was using what sounded to be her voice to speak back to him. "... Mata Nui?" He inquired. "Translation stone? I don't know what those are."

"Mata Nui is great spirit," Macku said, viva the translation device. "He made our world."

The veteran considered that a bit before nodding. "Ah. That is good to know." He cringed a little as it crackled, cutting out what was probably the 'that is' and 'to' part of what he said. Even still though, the point would get across reasonably well.

The girl leaned over and poked the device, "Weird..."

Suppressing a faint laugh, Stormer nodded. "It's supposed to sound better than this." He remarked, pausing and sighing as it cut out another part of what he said. He figured the basic point got across all the same.

"Are you an Agori?" Macku asked, poking the Hero's nearer foot and then edging back.

He wasn't sure what an Agori was, but at least that helped him answer the question. Unphased by her poking, he shook his head and remarked. "I don't know what an Agori is. I'm..." He paused, thinking about how he should answer it. Would the native even know what Hero Factory was? "...different."

"Yeah, really different," the girl was edging back closer, with the fear bled away all this time she looked more and more like she wanted to investigate. More than likely the natives of this world were more touch oriented as she poked him again.

Though she looked about ready to climb into the Hero's lap!

"I'm Macku, a Ga-Matoran," She introduced herself better now.

Stormer took note of her inquisitiveness and hoped that she wouldn't actually climb into his lap, though by this point there really wasn't much to stop her other than him seeming a little uncomfortable with the theory of it. "I am Preston Stormer, a..." He trailed off again. "... just call me Stormer, and we'll leave it at that."

Macku would probably have to do some more poking to make him say what he was.

"A what," Macku asked, quick to pick that up, "Why did your craft thing fall on my boat? I hope you didn't mean to but it doesn't look like you did. Are you like a Vakii? But you can't be, you're talking- though through a weird the funny thing- are you from another part of Bara Magna?"

The veteran grimaced a little, trying to cover his fumble by asking. "What is a Vahki? I haven't heard of one of those before." He paused before adding. "And... this is Bara Magna, I presume?" Glancing around, he realized that the cockpit had, in fact, crushed a boat, and grimaced a little. "...my landing was an accident. I had intended on something more... subtle. Your boat was not my target."

He merely hoped his attempt to hide from the question would be a success.

"Since it seems in pieces I would assume its an accident," Macku blinked, the inner set of her lids, before getting a little closer, "Yes this is Spherus, well, its our world. These planes don't have a name yet- they weren't made long ago."

"Oh?" He inquired, seeming rather curious about that. "Care to explain a little further? I was sent here for... for..." He paused now. What was he sent there for anyway? Groaning, he shook his head. "I can't recall. At any rate, I will eventually. Is this planet very new?"

"The magna is old, just put back together." Macku corrected, touching Stormer's arm, then his hand, looking at the differences between his and hers. She was all sorts of shades of interested, "You can't remember, that's horrible! Do you remember what you are?"

"Ah, I see." Stormer replied. He then shook his head. "I remember what I am, but what my world calls me might not be what your world would call me. It's... it's a bit complicated."

"Well, different cultures have different meanings, its okay." Macku coaxed, "I won't make fun of you, promise!"

Stormer sighed in defeat. "Very well then. Back home, and on several of the planets near there, I am called a Hero." He tapped his core plate. "I was made at a place called Hero Factory, and it's my job to catch villains and smooth over problems."

The biomechanical girl blinked at him a few times, then blinked at the translation device in confusion. "Hee...herou?" Macku tried to repeat Stormer's own word that he used. Puzzled at what the translator said. "Hero?" Then said, "'Toa?'"

Stormer shook his head. "I don't know what a Toa is. I'm just called a Hero, and have fancy gear to help me out." He glanced regretfully at his broken ice launcher. "...had fancy gear."

"That's armor?" Macku asked, poking the broken armor, and then got a little closer to feel over it with a healer's care and eye.

The veteran glanced at where she poked him, and nodded. "Yes. It's not exactly in good shape thanks to the crash, but I think it protected my components well enough that nothing was severely damaged, so that's always a plus."

Through a gap in a split along part of his wrist guard plates, Macku would've been able to see several wires and cables wrapped around an inner framework, encased by a thinner under armor that looked like it would need a bit of repair as well. There seemed to be nothing organic about Stormer in the slightest. In truth, there really wasn't anything soft and squishy on him, other than, perhaps, a bit of mud.

"You are like a Vahki...but...not," The native marveled, any hesitating gone as she crawled onto the bigger mech, checking any and every crack or stress mark in his armor. As a Ga-Matoran from the island Mata Nui to 'start' with, all of her former villagers had at least advanced healing and mechanic training.

Needless to say, Stormer wasn't exactly happy about having the Matoran crawl on him, but decided not to fuss about it. "...ehm... having fun?" He inquired, though he paused after a moment and added. "What is a Vahki anyway?"

The girl gave a happy squeak seemed to say that Macku was, and it gave the impression the smaller being maybe was younger than the Hero first thought she was.

"Vahki are old robotic guards, but you feel alive." Macku explained.

The veteran couldn't help but be amused by her squeaking noise, and his displeasure at her up-close-and-personal method of curiosity seemed to fade a bit. "Robotic guards?" He repeated, seeming rather intrigued. "...how do I feel alive compared to them?"

"You're warm... and if feels like elemental energy...little strange its just that though." Macku blinked at Stormer's chest at the emblem he'd pointed out before. She chirped as if going 'huh...' in her kind's equivalent.

Stormer thought that over a bit before figuring out what the source was that would cause him to be that way. "Ah... here." Deciding there wouldn't be much harm in doing so presently, he reached up and carefully took off the plate covering his Hero Core, exposing the cylindrical, glowing mineral for Macku to see. One look at it would likely be enough to tell her this was what he got the energy shard for the translator off of.

"This is a Hero Core." He explained. "My heart, in a way. Without this, I wouldn't exist. See, we heroes might have our bodies built and manufactured like machines, but it's our Hero Cores that make us who we really are. It's what separates us from everyone else in our galaxy." He grimaced a little as he eyed the crack and indent where the shard had been broken off. "If a Hero were to ever lose their Core, or if the charge ever fully drained... well, we'd die. Sure, a new Core could be put in, but it wouldn't be the same. We just wouldn't be who we used to."

Macku held her hand over, but not too close, a light coming on with understanding. This was like elemental energy, but also had the distinct look of a heart lights and heart stones of her world. The thought had Macku touching her own heart light.

"It's like a Toa's heart light." She said aloud.

"Heart light?" Stormer inquired, seeming rather curious as he looked from Macku's face to the glowing dot that indicated where her own heart light was. "So... you and the Toa have something similar to Hero Cores?" After a little while, he put his core plate back on, as it was a natural instinct for him to keep his Core covered and protected at all times. After all, he'd seen a particular villain that could remove a Core as easy as shoplifting a small object.

"All Bionicle, Agori and Glatoran have a heart light or heart stone." Macku said, "Toa stones are much stronger, they are our protectors and guardians. They are the elements."

That gave him reason to pause for a moment. "...Elements?" He repeated, his gaze wandering to his broken ice launcher. "...like my team... hm... well that's interesting." He looked back at Macku. "Is it only elemental weapons, or... is it like actual elemental wielding?"

"Toa are the elemental guardians," Macku insisted, her fallowing explanation stopped half way through, looking back at the translation device that wasn't able to keep up. She looked back up into Stormer's blue optics, not sure how to explain.

Stormer sighed as he looked at the device. "Too bad this thing is broken," He muttered. "It would be a lot easier if it was in good repair." He glanced back at the sky almost wistfully. "Too bad Nex isn't here... No matter though." He looked back at Macku and shrugged slightly, showing he wasn't fully sure how to work around the issue of the translation device either.

"Need a translation stone," Macku insisted, "Their made out of Kanoka disks. Much better." she looked around, pouted at her rather squished boat then looked back up, "...can you swim?"

The mech paused to consider that a moment. "I... can." He mused thoughtfully. "I might be a bit slow at it though; I don't have the sort of gear that would make it an easy task, and with my armor cracked, it might be a risky move to do that, but if that's what we have to do, then that's what will have to be done."

"We're a few bios away from the nearest suva, more from a Koro...but the suva should have a boat or we can call a Toa for help." Macku looked at the water ways then at the mech, "you can probably walk most of the way, its not that deep."

Hearing that he could walk most of the way seemed to help him feel better about the situation. "That works for me then. The less water I get through my armor, the better off I'll be." He decided not to ask how far a bios was; he probably wouldn't have anything to compare length to as it was.

"...its still deeper than my head," Macku felt the need to point out as she reluctantly got of the mech's lap, "I hope it won't hurt you."

That little reminder appeared to make Stormer uncertain again, and as she got off, he looked over his armor to figure out where all the dangerous gaps were. "Hm... well, I'll just have to be careful then, won't I? I don't think I'll be running too many risks."

...well, he hoped he wouldn't be running any risks. He wasn't showing it, but he was quite concerned about some of the cracks in his armor; more was exposed than he cared to admit. He wasn't about to show anything that might make Macku worry about him though, not if he could help it.

"Should I make you a raft...?" Macku asked, moving to let the mech up as she grasped at the tough reeds.

The veteran grimaced a little as he thought about it. "... It might be a good idea, but... how long would it take? I don't want to spend time we needn't use if it would be too much trouble." He was starting to show more of his 'get the job done quick' side, though at least he was willing to acknowledge that he very well might need a raft in order to avoid getting himself jolted.

"Not too long if you could help me harvest the right reeds," the girl looked back, having an armful all ready, eyeing the mech as if trying to esimat how much he weighed.

Stormer nodded as he stood up, ignoring the mud and dirt that spattered his frame. "Alright. What sort of reed am I looking for?"

"Like these, the longer and blue-green ones." Macku came back over to show him her bundle. The reeds were surprisingly hard and sturdy.

The white bot nodded, looking over the reeds she'd collected before moving to gather together some more for her. Sturdy as they may have been, Stormer didn't seem to have a whole lot of trouble with collecting some. "Was there a specific amount you needed?" He asked while he worked.

"More than that, you're all metal so...nice and floaty instead of half floaty," The Matoran chirped, as she added another smaller armload, then started sorting.

He nodded again to show he understood before continuing to gather and harvest reeds for Macku. "Floaty is probably a good plan. Half floaty, while cleaner, isn't something I'm fond of yet, not until I'm a bit patched up." He paused for a moment before adding as an after thought. "Thank you for your help, by the way."

"I'm a Ga-Matoran, we're healers," Macku said, grinning in the odd way of her people. By the time Stormer came back she had woven the base fame of the raft, big enough that the mech could sit or kneel and still just small enough to make it through the waterways. "I'm the Chronicler in this area too, and you're a story if I ever did run into one!"

"Can a healer mend circuitry?" Stormer inquired, seeming curious as he brought back an armful of reeds. He then paused, smiling faintly in amusement before turning to get more reeds, though he'd stop if she said she had enough. "I am, huh? Hopefully it's a good story and not a boring, or bad one."

Macku looked up, giggling, "Well, we can our own...but its blended with our organic half. If we can't an Uno- or Ta-Matoran crafter should be able to."

"So... there are different sub-types of Matoran?" He inquired, seeming a little curious as he continued to harvest reeds.

"There's a lot of different Matoran, depending on our inner elemental power." She tilted her head at the white-brown mech, fighting the urge to pounce and clean.

Reviews!
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Species Unknown

Omicron- Macku is speaking Bionicle! Lol I've been working on trying to have a spoken language for the Matoran to add to stories.

Autobot Phoenix

Omicron- Well, here's the neck chapter! Hope you like it as well.