Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 31 - People of Mechonis

Dunban, Riki, and Melia had all just woken up. The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon and it felt like they had been walking for hours. There was still no sign of Shulk, Reyn, or Sharla. Riki yawned and plopped himself down on the ground. "Friends stop for Riki!" He requested. Melia and Dunban both gave him confused looks. In response, the Heropon continued. "Riki very hungry. And Riki sleepy! If Riki not rest now, Riki not keep going!" "Well we can't have that, can we?" Dunban asked. "We'll take a break here before going any further. Melia, do you need to rest?" "I am fine." "Good!" Cheered Riki. "Break time!" * * * Fifteen minutes later, Dunban had started a fire, Riki had waddled off into the ocean to go fishing, and Melia was fast asleep by the flames. A few minutes later, a dead fish plopped onto the sand next to Dunban. Riki waddled out of the water, completely soaked. Despite that, the Nopon looked incredibly proud of his work. "What's this?" Dunban raised an eyebrow. "Heropon Riki have big fight with fish!" Riki said. "Riki win. Grilled fish taste yum yum! Dundun eat too." "I thought you said you couldn't move if you didn't rest." "Riki very tired," The Heropon agreed. "But Riki very hungry too!" "How considerate of you," Dunban said. "Riki not understand Dundun." "Don't try to hide it," Dunban said, smirking. He prodded Riki in the back of his head with his finger. "You realized Melia was lagging behind. That's the real reason you asked for a break." He glanced down at the sleeping High Entia beside him. "She would never admit how tired she was. That's the real reason you asked." Riki ignored him and began grilling the fish. Within twenty minutes, it was done, and Riki split the fish in half, giving one half to Dunban and the other to himself. "Now that's good fish," Dunban said, smiling as he finished off his meal. "Even in this strange place, at least least the fish tastes like it should." "Riki glad Dundun like yum yum fish!" Riki cheered. "Yeah," Dunban said, his smile fading. "Thank you." "Melly is tired," Riki said. "But Riki tired too. And Dundun not look happy." "What's this?" Dunban said, sighing. "Am I that transparent?" "Riki want to hear Dundun's story," Riki declared. "Riki listen carefully. For Riki is the Heropon!" "I'm not sure what that's got to do with it," Dunban said, slightly amused. "Well, seeing as you're here, I'll tell you." "Yay!" The Nopon cheered. "Riki listen." "I have a sister," Dunban said, his hand curling into a fist. "Her name is Fiora." "Riki know," The Nopon nodded. "She wears silver armour. Shulk look everywhere for her." "Indeed," Dunban agreed. "Shulk and Fiora...Everyone knows they like each other, but their just not ready I suppose. They're the perfect match, but if they don't hurry up and tell each other..." "Even Riki know that," Riki rolled his eyes. "I suppose everyone does," Dunban said. "But now Fiora has become...something else." "She forget Shulk," Riki said. "She forget Dundun too." "She did," Dunban said. "But Shulk won't give up that easily. Knowing that he's out there looking for her fills me with hope. I just wish I was there with him..." "Dundun take care of them!" Riki said suddenly. Dunban glanced up at the Nopon in shock. "Hmm?" "Dundun watch over Shulk," Riki said. "Dundun watch over Fiora. That is all a daddypon can do." The nopon jumped and shook his head. "Riki make mistake! Dundun not daddypon." "But I am her older brother," Dunban pointed out. "But just like daddypon, watching over family," Riki pointed out. "Same watch over. Dundun do what he must." "Who would have thought it?" Dunban said, amused. "I never imagined I'd be getting such advice from you." "Riki have big family of littlepon," Riki said. "Riki raised and say goodbye to many littlepon. Riki know some things." "You can say that again," Dunban smiled. "I had you all wrong." He chuckled and Riki joined in. * * * The following morning found Riki and Dunban engaged in cheerful conversation. Melia opened her eyes and got up, stretching out her sore muscles and feeling them pull at her back. She joined Dunban and Riki, who were talking about Sharla's healing techniques and how she was most likely going to give them all insanely thorough check-ups when they found each other. "It doesn't look like the others are here," Melia reported, frowning. "Unfortunate," Dunban said, standing. "I hope everyone is safe." "Everyone safe," Riki assured him. "Everyone strong!" "Riki is right," Melia agreed. "It is simply a matter of when we will happen across them." "Everyone landed in the same area," Dunban said thoughtfully. "They have to be around here somewhere." As he spoke, he was unaware of Riki waddling away towards a pipe. "Friends look here!" Melia and Dunban turned around to spot the Nopon hopping up and down in front of the entrance to it. "Riki find it yesterday when Riki go scouting," Riki said. Melia approached the pipe and Dunban peered into it. He didn't like the ominous dripping noise coming from elsewhere within. "Huh," He said. "I wonder where this pipe leads." "Go go!" Riki urged. "Riki have feeling Shulk and friends are on other side." "Feeling?" Dunban said, but then shrugged. "Well, I willing to give your Nopon instinct a try." "As am I," Melia nodded. "The pipe it is." Riki stepped into the pipe and began his way through it. Dunban followed and had to stoop in order to keep his head from banging against the top of it. Melia brought up the year, the tip of her head barely brushing the top of the cylinder. Riki continued through the pipe, humming happily. When they reached the end, Dunban spotted an opening in some sort of circularly shaped wall. He led them through it, and gasped. There were small homes littered about a small settlement, most of it taken up by a large lake. A boat of some sorts was resting near the middle, a small bridge connecting it to the rest of the town. "A village in a place like this?" Dunban murmured. "Melia!" Melia tensed up, hearing her name being called. She relaxed as she saw three very familiar people sprinting towards them at top speed. "Shulk!" Melia cried happily. "Guys!" Shulk cried, a huge grin plastered over his face. "You're alright!" Dunban said as he, Riki, and Melia ran to join them. The group finally reunited, back in their old team of six. In his excitement, Riki leapt into the air and bounced off of Reyn's nose. He yelped in pain and grabbed onto Riki's har. "Yeah," Shulk said. Melia had never seen him so happy. "And...We found Fiora." He moved aside to reveal the very same girl they had seen operating the faced Mechon. Out of the corner of his eye, Shulk could see Reyn watching Dunban closely for any sight of tears. He looked increasingly disappointed as Dunban blinked them away and approached his sister, watching her for any sign of recognition. Fiora's face was spread into a huge grin. "Dunban," She said. "Fiora!" Dunban's voice trembled, but he quickly masked it. Reyn dropped Riki upon Sharla's demand and folded his arms. He was obviously still waiting for Dunban to cry. "Do you...Remember me?" "Mhm," Fiora suddenly looked guilty. "Sorry if I made you worry..." "It's alright," Dunban closed his eyes tightly, and looked away, trying to hide the happy tears swimming in his eyes. Reyn pumped his fist triumphantly and Shulk suppressed a snicker. "I'm just so glad you're alive." "Dear brother," Fiora said, embracing her brother. Dunban hugged her back with his good arm, stroking the back of her head. "Shulk," Melia felt a frown tugging at her lips. "Is that you're childhood friend?" "Yeah," Shulk said, watching as Fiora pulled away from Dunban's embrace. "Congratulations," Melia forced a smile. "I'm glad she is safe." "Thank you," Shulk said, turning to face her. "I couldn't have done it without you." "But...How did you all get here?" Asked Dunban, looking confused. "And what is this place anyway?" He turned as he heard footsteps and tensed as several people, looking more like machines then people, walked up a ramp towards him. Dunban moved to grab onto his sword, but Shulk stopped him. "These people helped us," He informed Dunban. "This is their home." The odd mechanical people stopped before them and parted to reveal a woman with black armour and her blue hair done up in two large buns on either side of head. "Your surprise is understandable," She spoke in a calm soothing voice. she smiled warmly at them through the collar covering her mouth. "We are the Machina. The people of Mechonis." "Machina..." Shulk repeated as the woman led them into the village. She introduced herself Linada, and the blond was incredibly interested. Having being helped by these so-called 'Machina', they hadn't divulged any information to them as of right now, and he was suitably surprised at their name. "You mean...Machine people?" "You look as though you have many questions," Linada noted. "But please take a look around our village first. We will talk after that. I will be waiting in front of the building we call Junks." She motioned to the odd boat-contraption resting the water. She smiled warmly at them and departed towards the building. "A village of machine people," Reyn elbowed Shulk. "You're gonna have a field day here, Shulk." Fiora rolled her eyes. "Reyn," She chided. "Let's just take a look around the village and introduce ourselves to the locals. Shulk can study them all later." "Fiora!" Shulk scowled. Fiora laughed. "Sorry. I was just teasing." They split up and planned to reconvene at Junks in about fifteen minutes. Fiora, Reyn, and Shulk were in one group, Melia, Dunban, Sharla, and Riki in the other. As he walked, Shulk pointed out the unbelievable technology that made up the houses. He watched in awe as one Machina villager walked literally right through his door and disappeared inside. Another one walked into her's, and the door slid open. Unable to contain his curiosity, Shulk asked a nearby villager what kind of technology allowed for that to happen. He only smiled mysteriously and said 'A few special parts found around here.' Fiora dragged Shulk away where Reyn was becoming quick friends with a Machina villager nearby. "...There are other Homs like you lot here as well," The villager was saying. "They fell from the sword about a year ago and have been living here ever since. It's thanks to Rakzet that they survived." "That must have been the Battle of Sword Valley," Reyn said. "Cheers, man!" The Machina grinned and waved. Fiora made her own friend a few paces away. She was originally scowling and tapping her foot, muttering something about a keepsake. "Oh, hello," She said with a smile when Fiora introduced herself. "I am Qofaria. Is there anything you'd like to know?" "What exactly is this place?" Shlk asked. "Where are we?" Qofaria's face darkened as if she was reliving a bad memory, but shook her head and her smile returned. "In the ancient battle between the Bionis and the Mechonis, the Bionis cut off the Mechonis' arm," She explained. "Us Machina call it the Fallen Arm." Shulk thanked her, realizing that it had been nearly twenty minutes and they needed to meet the others at Junks. "I wonder why they're here," Reyn said as they crossed the bridge where Melia, Sharla, Dunban, and Riki were waiting for them. "I mean, she didn't exactly say why they were here in the first place." "Maybe they were all born here," Shulk shrugged. "Or maybe they originally lived on Mechonis and fled to the Fallen Arm because of Egil." "Whatever the reason is," Fiora interjected. "They're here now. And it seems peaceful enough." "Yeah." The group swapped information. Shulk learned that there was a scout mission by the Mechonis' foot who watched for hostile Mechon from Sharla, and that the village was located in the palm of the hand by Dunban. Riki declared that, "this place is really really big!" and Melia concluded their findings by informing them of one of the Homs' names that had fallen from the sword: Natalia. The name was unfamiliar to everyone but Dunban, who had fought with her once when the Mechon attacked Colony 9, back when Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora were children. They approached Linada who looked deep in thought. She snapped out of it when she approached them and offered another warm smile. "Have you finished looking around our village?" She asked kindly. "It's fantastic," Shulk said eagerly. "What technology-" "Shulk, not now," Reyn grumbled. "We're here to learn more about these people, not about their technologies." "He get's a bit...excited about these things," Sharla informed Linada, who was looking incredibly amused. "So," Dunban prompted. "Are you Mechon?" "In one sense are are, and in another we are not," Linada said. "It is a fact that the weapons you call the Mechon were created by our civilization. However, we were born from the Mechonis. The Mechon were not. But, by your understanding it would be correct to say that we are the same as Mechon." "A form of Mechanical life born of the Mechonis," Melia guessed. "Is that correct?" Linada nodded. "Form our perspective, you are forms of organic life born of the Bionis," She said. "Life born of the Mechonis..." Shulk said thoughtfully. "So there is life here, like on Bionis? I had always been told that Mechonis was too hostile for any living being to live there." "Explain to us why you invaded our world," Dunban said forcefully, cutting across Linada's reply. "What did we ever do to you?" "I understand your feelings," Linada assured him. "But please...there is much yet to tell you." "Dunban, please hear her out," Fiora pleaded. "But-" "These Machina," Fiora closed her eyes, wincing slightly as another wave of nausea overcame her. "They're good people." She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, to find Linada looking at her, concerned. "You do not look fully functional," Linada frowned, approaching Fiora and scanning her body up and down. "Ever since she was given this body she hasn't been feeling too good," Shulk informed Linada. "But we honestly don't know what to do." "Do you mean to tell me you are not Machina?" Linada gasped. "W-Why didn't you tell me sooner?" "I'm okay," Fiora lied, slightly relieved that Linada wasn't angry with her for not saying that she was originally Homs before. "Really." "Nonsense!" Linada said, waving her hand dismissively. "I am a doctor. Do not worry. I specialize in people in your...er...situation." She began to scan Fiora's body up and down, muttering to herself as she patted down her shoulders, arms, and legs. "Just as I thought...You are experiencing you were transformed into a Face unit...You are experiencing a functional breakdown in multiple locations." She glanced up at the rest of the group and straightened up. "I will take her to my laboratory," She informed them. "The Chief, Miqol, will answer your questions. He's waiting for you in Junks." "For us?" Reyn repeated. "You mean he already knows we're here?" Linada nodded again. "We will speak later," She said, noticing Shulk's questioning stare. He reluctantly agreed and locked eyes with Fiora. She offered him a smile. "Shulk, I'm..." "Fiora..." "Don't worry," Sharla said, smiling at the two. She put her hand on Shulk's shoulder and glanced between them. "I'll keep an eye on her." "Thanks," Shulk said gratefully. Fiora turned around, glancing back at Shulk as she followed Linada towards a door that would lead inside the odd boat-contraption. The door slid open upon their approach and the group followed them. A nearby Machina waved them towards another door at the end of a short hallway. A ramp led up to the upper levels, and Shulk could hear Linada's voice coming from halfway up it. As they entered the second room, Shulk found himself staring at a huge Machina, at least ten feet tall. Like all of the Machina they had encountered, he wore black armour and had a kind face with smile wrinkles around his eyes. This must have been the village chief that Linada was talking about. "Hah!" Reyn yelped, taken aback. "He's...massive!" The Machina burst out laughing. "I get a kick out of seeing people's faces every time," Miqol grinned and laughed again. Dunban shook his head. "We were told that you were waiting for us," He said. "That's right," Miqol agreed. "I've been waiting a long time. Waiting for you to accept my request." "Request?" Melia questioned. "But first, let me ask," Miqol's eyes found the Monado. "The sword the young man is holding...is that the Monado?" "It is," Shulk nodded, his hand unconsciously going to grip the hilt of the sword in question. When he realized it must have looked threatening, he relaxed his position, giving the chief an apologetic look. "And the destruction of the fortress on the sword," Miqol continued. "Was that your lot's doing?" "Yes," Dunban agreed. "Although unfortunately we were unable to stop Egil." "Egil?" Miqol repeated, his eyes widening. "Do you know him?" Dunban asked, noticing this. "He claims to be the leader of Mechonis." "This Egil that you fought is one of our people," Miqol said slowly. He then looked away, as though ashamed. "He is my son." "You son?" Dunban's mouth hung open. "Actually," Miqol grimaced. "My request is about him as well." Shulk glanced up at the Chief who was deadly serious. He felt shock nearly paralyze him as he heard Miqol's next words. "I want you to kill Egil." * * * Alcamoth was greeted by delegates from Homs and Nopon that day. As most High Entia had never seen a Homs before, they crowded around the main entrance and watched in awe as Dickson lead the Colony 9 Defense force into the capital. He was followed by Otharon, (Who didn't look particularly happy to be there) with the Colony Defense Force, and bringing up the rear was Dunga, with a group of his strongest Nopon fighters. They strode into the Imperial Palace and into the Audience chamber, receiving respectful bows as they went. Kallian watched them approach him in the chamber with a satisfied smile. "Dearest Homs and Nopon representatives," He said, smiling. "My humble gratitude for accepting our invitation. I am Kallian Antiqua. Regent of the High Entia." "We all know who you are," Otharon snapped. "You High Entia have kept yourselves safe, remaining spectators to our destruction. Why call upon us now?" "As stated in my invitation, it is our intention to form an allied force from the peoples of Bionis with which we will confront Mechonis," Kallian said patiently. "Hah," Otharon laughed without humour. "Look at you. One scratch and you're already crying for help." "I cannot deny this," Kallian admitted. "The attack did serve as the catalyst. But the fact remains that things have changed." "When we needed help at the Battle of Sword Valley, our cries were ignored!" Otharon exploded. "Give me one good reason why we should bother!" "I understand your anger," Kallian said quickly, in an effort to get the colonel to calm down. "Our selfishness was inexcusable. However, please hear what I have to say. Listen to why our stance has changed." "Hmph," Otharon turned his head way and scowled. "Start talking if you like, but not promises we'll stick around till end." "We High Entia were mistaken," Kallian said reverently. "We believed that if we were attacked by the Mechon, our power alone could repel them. But a brave group of young heroes showed us the error of our ways. When the Mechon descended upon Eryth Sea, Shulk fought with a courage I have never seen. I was most surprised to find that this group was comprised of different races. Homs, Nopon, High Entia; although different they trusted one another as friends. As just one inhabitant of Bionis I desired to...No, I felt compelled to become strong, like them." "Their strength came from the Monado," Otharon pointed out. "Bravery only gets you so far in this world." "Then you will not join us?" "Hold your horses, son," Otharon said. "I said they didn't win with bravery alone. But they wouldn't have got far without it." He hesitated before sighing. "Alright. You can count on our help." "The Nopon will join too," Dunga agreed. "The Hom Hom and Bird People are friends of the Nopon. We will fight together!" Dickson rolled his eyes and prepared to leave the room. "Dickson," Kallian called after him. "Are you leaving?" "Yeah," Dickson said. "It's just I felt this sudden pain the neck." "Is that your response?" "Don't go jumping the gun there, Prince," Dickson told him. "I'll leave the colony's forces with old Otharon here. You can use 'em whenever you want. I've got somewhere I need to be." "Might I ask where?" Kallian asked, interested. "A battle's more then just a head-on assault," Dickson said wisely. "The sooner you realize that the better. I better you remind Shulk 'n' all." "So you know of their whereabouts?" Kallian asked, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. "I told you," Dickson shrugged. "I got a pretty good idea." He turned around to leave again, when Kallian called after him, again. "Dickson!" "Yeah?" Said man turned around, looking slightly aggravated. "If you should meet Shulk..." Kallian frowned. "What?" Dickson asked. "There's something I want you to tell him." * * * Shulk stared at Miqol, silently begging that he was joking. He obviously wasn't. It wasn't as though he was reluctant to kill the man who ordered the attack on his home. He was reluctant because he had never heard someone request of him to murder someone else. And Shulk wasn't eager to do so. "You want us to kill your son?" Dunban said, shaking Shulk from his thoughts. "That is no small request." "There are hardly any of us Machina left on Mechonis," Miqol agreed sadly. "Back when the Bionis and the Mechonis were fighting, the Bionis almost completely wiped us out! I suppose the Bionis just didn't want us around. Lady Meyneth fought the Bionis for us. In the end, the two titans wounded each other and entered a deep slumber." "Who was Lady Meyneth?" Asked Melia. "The creator of Mechonis," Miqol said at once. "You could say that she is the Mechonis itself." "You talk like you saw all this," Said Reyn. "Ain't this all just an ancient myth?" Miqol chuckled, but he quickly silenced himself. "I know I look young," He murmured. "But I'm actually quite old. I saw the whole thing with my own eyes!" "You can't be serious," Reyn's jaw dropped. "The people of Mechonis must have a longer lifespan," Melia said. "Just like we High Entia live far longer than Homs." "I get that," Reyn said irritably, turning to face her. "But he can't have lived that long." "But why do you want your son dead?" Shulk asked, trying to mask the trembling in his voice. "From what you've told us, I would've thought you'd want us to destroy the Bionis rather than kill your own son." "Egil was a brilliant young man," Miqol agreed, sighing. "Clever, strong, and kind to the less able. But he never forgave the Bionis for what it did, and he swore to take revenge." "So he wants to do us what the Bionis did to the Machina?" Reyn clarified. "Correct," Miqol said. "Egil is trying to eradicate all innocent life on Bionis. He has to be stopped." "Didn't you try to stop him?" Dunban asked. "We tried, once," Miqol said grimly, his expression darkening. "A lot of people were killed. He's blinded by revenge. Even Lady Meyneth herself couldn't convince him to stop." "Where is Egil now?" Shulk asked, deciding to voice the question that had been nagging in the back of his head. "Most likely the Mechonis capital," Miqol replied. "He's trying to restore it's former glory all by himself." "I..." Shulk hesitated. "Feel sorry for him." "Oi!" Reyn said loudly. "What are you talking about?! Did you forget what he did to us?!" "I haven't forgotten or forgiven!" Shulk said sharply, turning to face Reyn. "But Egil's clearly suffered a lot in his life. You don't feel any sympathy at all?" "All I know is, this stinks," Reyn folded his arms. "Who cares what he's been through?" "Reyn!" "I understand about Egil," Dunban said, cutting across the argument. "But why us? You should be aware that Shulk's sword, the Monado, can destroy Mechonis weaponry. It's said that it was once the sword of the Bionis. Doesn't the very sight of it make you quiver?" "Zanza..." Miqol said darkly, more to himself then Dunban. "Huh?" "Just talking to myself," Said Miqol dismissively. "If you're gonna kill Egil, you'll need all of that sword's power. That's how strong he is. But enough talk," Miqol flashed a grin. "You must be tired. Take your time and think it over. Until the young lady's treatment has finished, feel free to spend time in our village." "We will," Shulk smiled. "Thank you." They turned and left the room, leaving Miqol with an unreadable expression as he muttered one word under his breath. "Zanza..." * * * Fiora slowly came round. Last she knew, Linada had her lie down on some sort of bed, and tapped something on a machine a few meters away. Before she knew it, she was asleep. However, when she woke she heard Sharla and Linada's voices, but she was too weak to open her eyes. Her body felt like it was being weighed down with thousands of bricks. "She has done well to survive such injury," Linada was saying. Fiora presumed they were talking about her. "What do you mean?" Sharla asked. "Is she sick?" "Since you seem to have knowledge of Homs medicine, I'll explain it like this," Linada said. "I'm afraid she's had several of her organs removed." Dread settled in on the pit of Fiora's stomach. She had a suspicion that this had happened, but hearing at it was actually true made her truely afraid. "Am I correct in assuming she was configured to operate inside a Mechon?" "That's right." "She has transformed into a Mechon central nerve unit," Linada said grimly. "Her blood can now circulate through a Mechon's components." "How?" Sharla asked, sounding worried. "I believe her immune system is now configured for compatibility with the Mechon," Linada said. "That's why her strength has depleted." "But you can treat her, can't you?" Sharla said desperately. "Please!" "Of course," Linada promised. "Even as a Machina doctor, I cannot turn a blind eye to this butchery. With our equipment, she will regain her strength, but...She will be stuck with this body. I cannot restore her flesh and blood Homs body." "That's okay," Fiora mustered the strength to both speak and open her eyes. "I don't want to be a burden to Shulk. I don't care if I have a machine body. Just make it so I can fight beside him." "Fiora..." Fiora could practically hear the smile in Sharla's voice. "Leave it to me," Linada said. "If that is your wish, I'll do my best." Fiora wanted to nod, but all the strength had left her body. Her eyes closed and she entered another dreamless sleep. * * * Dunban, Melia, Reyn, and Riki had gone off to explore more of the village and found out a little more information about Egil. Shulk went to visit Fiora. He climbed the ramp he heard Linada's voice from and found her and Sharla standing around Fiora, who was fast asleep on some-sort of mechanical bed. Sharla glanced up with a smile and moved away to check up on Shulk's back. Without him realizing it, when he had dragged Fiora from Face Nemesis, the wound had split open again, and Sharla was bent on healing it. "I must implant a new circulation for her immune functions," Linada said, turning from Fiora and approaching some sort of machine. There were two in mid air and a floating screen in between them. A small circle of light spiraled around her feet and texts flashed across the screen. Linada's brow furrowed as she read. "But we have one problem." "A problem?" Shulk asked, wincing as Sharla applied ether medicine to the wound. Linada turned away from the machine to face Shulk, biting her lower lip. "I don't have a Piezoelectric Unit, which is required to control such a system," She said. "As long as she remains on this bed, the life support machine can compensate. But to move around freely, she must have the Piezoelectric Unit. The same unit is used in Mechon, so if you were to find some Mechon parts..." "But where?" Shulk shifted slightly as Sharla bandaged up the wound, muttering something about the wound being worse then she thought and she'd have to change the bandages again tonight. She then added that it would probably be best to do her check up of everyone the night as well. "Well," Linada said slowly. "Outside of the village, at the base of Digit 5, there is a from above washes ashore there. You might be able to find one among the wreckage." "We'll take a look," Shulk said as Sharla released him, allowing him to stand back up. "The beach at the base of Digit 5, right?" "Yes," Linada agreed. "It gives off a faint red glow, so it might be easier to find a night. Also..." She rummaged around in a drawer behind the bed and pulled out some sort of mechanical device. She handed it to Shulk and continued. "You might need this." "What is it?" Shulk asked. Linada pressed a button, and the screen flickered to life. An entire map of the Fallen Arm appeared and Shulk's jaw dropped. Each part of the entire was indicated in white letters. He found Digit 5 beach almost immediately. A small marker showed that he was standing in the 'Hidden Machina Village' as the map put it. "This is an Area Map," Linada explained. "It follows where you are with a tracking device, and along the way fills up the map. I have no use for it anymore, and I believe it will be of use to you on your travels." "Thank you," Shulk said gratefully. He pressed the same button Linada had and was shocked when it folded itself up into a the size of a very small box. Linada smiled. "Just use this button to reopen it," She pointed to a button near the top of the box. "If you're ever lost on your journey, it can teleport you to a location that may help you find your bearings again." "Amazing technology," Shulk murmured, pocketing it. "What makes it possible?" "Years of developing and tests," Linada said. "I myself helped with the creation. It is not the only one in existence. Nearly every Machina villager has one." She smiled and Shulk thanked her again and left. He met everyone else talking to a Machina by the name of Kazat. He was telling them that unfinished Mechon that Egil had no use for, or failed Mechon prototypes were flung from Galahad Fortress and landed on the Fallen Arm. The Machina often used the parts for their own technology, finding more and more uses for it each day. When Shulk prodded Reyn in the back, he gave a loud yelp and wheeled around, tense. When he saw Shulk, he relaxed his position. "Shulk? You almost gave me a heart attack, man!" "I know," Shulk said, smirking. "But we've got a Piezoelectric Unit to find."