Honestly this dude’s backstory is probably long and convoluted enough for me to post this in the literature category instead, but I want to show off the moc so whatever.
Species: Matoran
Element: Earth
Kanohi: Waiatun, Elemental Mask of Sonics (powerless)
Weapon(s): None
Abilities: As a digital entity, he can inhabit any empty robotic body he comes across
Affiliation(s): None
Tutai was an Onu-Matoran who lived in Metru Nui many tens of thousands of years ago. Like all Onu-Matoran there, he spent most of his time in the Archives. His job was to perform dissections and vivisections on Rahi. It was a task he did with pride, but he couldn’t shake the feeling like he should be doing something greater.
Not long after the Archives Massacre, Tutai was contacted by an incredibly secretive group of scientists working on unlocking the secrets of elemental powers. The Onu-Matoran eagerly joined, expecting to put his great mind to good use. Unfortunately he ended up spending most of his time as either a record keeper or lab assistant, and was never able to oversee any experiments himself. He grew jealous, wanting to be more important, but no one ever gave him the opportunity.
Still, while Tutai worked for this group, he got acquainted with the machinery, read & filed numerous reports, and learned a great many things. One of the most interesting subjects he kept documents on was a subject designated Xeta. She was a Toa, and from her coloration she was likely a Fa-Toa or De-Toa. Despite that, she had no powers whatsoever, nor could she even use Kanohi. This deeply intrigued Tutai - if they could figure out why she didn’t have powers while other Toa did, perhaps they could finally unlock the secrets they’ve been searching for. Perhaps, once the secret was out, Tutai could be given the power and recognition he so richly deserved.
For years, the scientists experimented on Xeta, until one procedure was just too much and she snapped. Calling upon some strange, hitherto unknown Shadow powers, she broke out of containment and massacred everyone in the lab. Everyone, that is, except Tutai. Badly hurt and dying, he built himself a prosthetic leg and a life support harness from the ruins of the lab. A newfound hatred was born that day. Tutai vowed to finish the work his team had started… something that wouldn’t end well for Xeta.
From there, Tutai went into hiding and conducted his own research. He built off what was already done by his late colleagues as well as making his own hypotheses and overseeing his own experiments. It took him until the start of the Destiny War, but finally, he moved onto the next stage of his plan. All he’d need to do is find and capture Xeta, and then they could finish what they started.
Following the Reformation, Tutai moved his operation to a small, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of New Atero. From there, he assembled a new laboratory using supplies stolen from old Makuta lairs in the GSR’s ruins.
Around 50 years of plotting and simmering in hatred later, he finally found Xeta. She was working with some group called the Fallen Sun. So, Tutai hired a cheap Steltian Bruiser to capture her. Surprisingly, the brute succeeded, capturing both Xeta and her lover, the Glatorian called Hellfire. At long last, after nearly a hundred thousand years of waiting and plotting, Xeta was once again within Tutai’s twisted grasp. He completed the final procedure necessary, finally unlocking the secrets to her abilities.
With that data, he created a formula that would grant him apotheosis and make him like Xeta. Without a second thought, he injected into his body, giving him the same shadowy powers as his nemesis. He was poor at controlling them, though, nor did he know the dramatic cost that particular magic entailed. Thus, when Xeta inevitably broke out just as the injection procedure finished and the two battled, Tutai was outmatched. With some help from Hellfire, Xeta finally dealt with this demon from her past. Tutai was dead.
Or was he?
The two buried his body in a shallow grave just outside of his lab, leaving him for the worms and maggots. Then, they left, never to give this wretched place another thought. Unfortunately for them, Tutai didn’t agree with that idea. You see, during the time between Xeta’s escape and the Reformation, Tutai was busy. He didn’t want for anything to impede the glorious work he was doing. After long study, he learned how to digitize his mind, saving it to a computer so it could live on forever. Tutai accomplished this, creating a backup of his consciousness that could live on even if he died. He then stored his digital self in a safe in his lab.
Under normal circumstances, that computer box would never have seen the light of day again. But thanks to Tutai meddling with cosmic forces beyond his comprehension, along with his seething rage and obsession with “finishing his business”, a piece of his soul stayed trapped in the mortal realm and fused with the machine. Now, it was no longer the perfectly logical engine of science Tutai had hoped for. While the AI side of him was still cold and logical, the ghost in the machine gave it emotion and desire, corrupting it with his sadistic goals and hatred for Xeta.
Over the next hundred years, Tutai used the last vestiges of his otherworldly power to control the dead body of his Steltian brute. It was a slow process, but he managed to excavate his own body and install a robotic endoskeleton within it. Finally, his computerized self was inserted into the body, giving it… life?
Perhaps it’s some sort of gross contortion of life. Now, Tutai is little more than a computer puppeting a decomposing body. He now has one goal, far simpler than any before: Kill Xeta.
Here is a visualization of Tutai’s fall from what little grace he had.
Phew, finally finished! You’ll learn more about Xeta and just what powers she has when I get around to making a post about her. In any case, that’s all from me!