The "Fikou Web," so nicknamed by the Onu-Matoran of Metru Nui, was a complex series of maintenance tunnels beneath the Archives.1
Notes
The nickname for the maintenance tunnels beneath the Archives was "Fikou web," after what the spider-like Fikou left down below, because the tunnels criss-crossed and twisted around each other so. The Matoran told stories about repair crews that had been wandering down there since the early days of the Archives, unable to find their way out. They had supposedly gone a little crazy, according to the stories.2
In the area below the sub-levels of the Archives, there was a hatch in the floor that led to a whole maze of tunnels [this was probably the Fikou web].2
The maintenance tunnels were to the underground what chutes were to the rest of Metru Nui: a quick means of transport from one end of the city to the other. Unlike chutes, which served everyone in Metru Nui, the tunnels were open only to those with authorization, normally Ta-Matoran and Onu-Matoran. Pipes big and small lined the walls of the tunnels, funneling liquid protodermis from place to place and molten protodermis to those locations that required extra heat. Ordinarily, Matoran traveled through these tunnels by cart.2
As a Matoran, Whenua's knowledge of the Fikou web was based largely on stories he had heard. He had never had cause to go much farther than the very outer edges of the tunnel network, and even that was with reluctance.2
The maintenance tunnels were very dark and full of stale air, but they were nothing that an Onu-Matoran could not handle. However, Matoran did not work down there. There were, in fact, Matoran in the past who had gone down there and never come back.2
The start of the Fikou web proper began when a wide tunnel came to an abrupt end at a stone wall. Six narrow openings were visible in the wall, barely more than slits in the rock. These led into narrow tunnels drilled into the rock, crisscrossing with each other, until reaching the main tunnel on the other side. It was there that a major crack in the seawall formed. The narrow tunnels were so narrow that two Toa could not walk abreast. Smaller passages broke off on either side, usually dead-ending rapidly. There were little Rahi, some cart tracks, and a few Matoran names scrawled on the walls.2
These tunnels were a haven for Rahkshi.2
Beneath the lower levels was a network of maintenance tunnels. These tunnels were so dark and confusing that the Onu-Matoran nicknamed them the "Fikou web," after the tangled strands woven by the Fikou spider.3