The rest of the day I had spent exploring the island. It had taken nearly an entire day to take in many of the strange wonders, and by the time nightfall came I had fallen asleep on the hard floor of the library.
I spent a whole day of exploring, and I still had no idea where I was. From bits and pieces of meager evidence I concluded that I was on a place called Myst Island. I concluded this from excerpts that I have read in the journals and the fact that the word Myst was written on a giant clock I found on a rock just off the island.
But as to where exactly Myst Island was, was still a mystery. From the map on the library wall I made an assumption of which direction was north. According to the map, the dock would be due south. Yet that night the sun was setting in the north. I wish I had a compass with me. The closest thing I had that could work as a navigational tool was my wristwatch, but the crystal had shattered somewhere along the way, probably on the dock.
The next morning, I awoke with a sharp pain in my back due to the unforgiving floor. I stood up and stepped outside of the library. I was cold from the night before, but now the warm morning sun felt relaxing on my sore body.
Nothing had changed. The island was still the same as it was yesterday, and I knew for sure now that I was wide awake. I sat down on the steps of the library and tried to recall everything I had seen from my night of exploring...
There were many strange buildings and artifacts around Myst Island. The beauty and decor of each one of them seemed to clash, as if they wern't really ment to fit in on the island, or they were added at different periods of the island's history.
A wishing well, a spaceship, an underground shelter, a clock, a giant tree, and a log cabin. They all seemed out of place, and yet they also appeared to have a unique purpose.
The clock stood about twenty feet high, and was perched about thirty feet off the shore of the island. My brief attempt at swimming across to the clock was cut short by a strange creature that was swimming in the sea green waters. At the foot of the shore was a small box with two wheel valves. I had found that by moving the valves I could change the face of the clock. The large wheel turned the big hand, and the small wheel turned the little hand. There was also a single red button on the box, but I had no clue what it was for.
Another strange landmark was the giant tree, surrounded at its base by a stone brick wall, seperating itself from the other trees in the small forest. The tree itself loomed high into the sky, beyond the limits of my sight. The tree must be hundreds of years old.
Next to the tree was the log cabin. Inside the cabin was a large boiler with a control valve for regulating the steam pressure. Of course the boiler had no fire, and I couldn't find any sort of engine nearby. The only other feature in the shed was a combination safe, locked off from prying hands.
The rest of the forest was dense with trees and foilage, but revealed nothing more. Within the dense clutter of long dead branches the only noteworthy thing I could find was an old bucket with a section of rope tied to it.
Walking back towards the library there was a small brick building, which lead to a passageway underground. It had reminded me of a bomb shelter similar to those used in the wars long ago. At the very end of the tunnel was a room that controlled a massive power generator. According to a chart on the wall, the generator was made to power a spacechip of all things. I tried experimenting with the generators, turning them on, but somewhere along the way I overloaded a circuit and the power was cut off. I switched off the generators and resumed my exploring.
The spaceship of course, did exist on this island. Following the cables from the side of the shelter to the north end of the island lead to a large platform, where the spaceship rested on the other side of the mountain. It had resembled those giant gaudy rocket ships I had seen in the movies when I was a child. It was resting on its side as if it was going to launch sideways straight out to the open sea. Naturally, any attempts at getting inside the ship resulted in failure. The hatch simply refused to open.
And finally, there was the well. In the middle of the path between the library and the clock tower sat a small well, meant only for decoration. It was solid marble like the library itself, and didn't go underground to any source of water. In the middle of the well was a model of the sunken ship that was sitting at the dock. The model, like its counterpart was also sunk in the water to the point where the lookout tower was the only dry perch.
Surrounding the well were Greek columns giving the area a look of significant importance. In front of each column was a box perched up to chest height, and in the center of each box was a single silhouette. I had recognized each of these silhouettes as symbols related to constellations in one of the journals.
And at nearly all of those locations stood a marker switch. I had occasionally flipped some on, and some I flipped on and off. There were no real visible affects to flipping the switches, so I tired of them and left them alone.
After it was getting dark I returned to the library. The red book lay on the floor underneath the shelf where it originally sat. I remember the cold chill that ran through my body when I held it, and the image of the man trying to communicate with me.
Five minutes after I had dropped the red book, I tried the exact same thing with the blue book. I added the missing page to the binding, and the small picture on the final page came to life. Another man, who appeared different from the first one came into view and tried to communicate with me. The one distinct phrase he uttered was, "Blue Pages".
Looking back on my previous night I realise that very few of my questions have been answered. In fact, it seemed like my head was filled with dozens of questions more. Who lived on this island? Who populated it, or build all of these strange landmarks? Where could I go to find food?
I couldn't just stand here and mope about it. Somehow I was stranded on this island, so there must be a way for me to get off this island.
The first order of business was to go back to the dock, and to find some sort of clue to my whereabouts. Maybe something I had dropped, or something someone else had dropped. Evidence of a boat perhaps. For all I knew this island was close to a shipping lane.
I grabbed my coat and stood up from the front steps of the library. There was a deep mist floating along the ground, which gave my feet a slight chill as I walked though it.
I walked along the wooden beam path towards the dock, when I remembered the note in my pocket. I had almost forgot about it. I pulled it out and reread it again. Something about a chamber near the dock?
I came to the dock and walked around a bit, looking out towards the open sea. There were no ships that I could make out. I only saw a single seagull flying around the clouds. This island must have been deserted.
I turned around and looked at the retaining wall. The fore-chamber near the dock. What fore-chamber?
I moved closer to the wall. Upon closer inspection I found that a door had been built into a section of the retaining wall. I touched the door with the tips of my fingers, when it suddenly slid open.
A long descending tunnel was revealed, with a glowing blue light down at the very bottom. I started walking down a several flights of wooden stairs, hoping that the door wouldn't close and lock me in here.
I made my way to the bottom, and the tunnel opened up to a large dimly lit chamber. At the very center of the chamber was a pool of some sort. Crystal blue water was flowing outward from the center. I reached into the pool and then realized that it wasn't water at all, but a holographic projection of water.
I remembered one of my old science teachers talking about holograms, but I had never seen one before. I recalled Atrus mentioned experimenting with holography in one of his books. This wasn't a pool, but the holographic imager Atrus mentioned in his letter!
I pulled the letter out of my pocket and reread it. Enter the number of marker switches into the imager. Where do I enter in the number?
At the base of the imager was a single button which only turned the imager on and off. I looked around a bit and found a metal cover plate near the base of the steps. On the plate was a sheet of paper listing all the images the imager could display. By pressing a button on the next to the cover, I caused the cover to slide open revealing a set of controls for entering numbers into the imager.
How many switches were there again? The giant gear, the well, the spaceship, the cabin, the shelter, the dock, the domed building. I felt like I was forgetting one. Wait, there was another marker switch at the base of the giant clock. Only I couldn't reach it, so I never had a chance to see if the switch would control anything.
I entered the number 8 into the imaging control, and suddenly the pool was replaced by the face of a man. He appeared to be in his mid forties, bearded and heavyset, wearing a pair of glasses. He looked weary and distressed.
"Catherine, my love," the man said. "I have to leave quickly. Something terrible has happened. It's hard for me to believe, but most of my books have been destroyed. Catherine, I believe it's one of our sons!"
This must be Atrus. And more than likely Atrus must be her husband.
Whatever was happening when he recorded this message, must've been very stressful. His voice was nervous and tense as he spoke.
"I suspect Achenar," Atrus said, "but I shouldn't leap to conclusions. I'll find him and Sirrus as well. I should have known better than to have left my library unchecked for so long. Well, I've removed the remaining undamaged books from the library, and placed them in their places of protection. You shouldn't have to use the books until I return, but, if you've forgotten the access keys, remember the tower rotation. Oh, and don't worry Catherine, everything will be fine."
Artrius looked calmer for a second, as if reassuring his wife reassured himself as well. "Oh," he added. "and erase this message after you've viewed it. Just to be safe." His nervousness resurfaced on his face for a second, and then the image vanished.
If Catherine had viewed this message, she never erased it. For some reason or another I had a gut feeling she had never seen this message before, or was even on this island.
But what if Catherine did see the message? Maybe she came to Myst, and had already left.
No, that message could be years old, decades perhaps.
Wait, it couldn't be that old because of the note that was left outside. I'd wager that the message on the imager was two weeks old at best. And depending on how many times Catherine came to this island (which would also depend on how a person would get onto this island), I'd say there was a fifty/fifty chance that I'd run into her in the future.
Do I sit here and wait for Catherine? Or should I try and find another way off the island? Well, considering the fact that I have yet to find any food here, I'd better try and find a way off this island.
I climbed the steps back up to the dock. The door to the fore-chamber closed shut behind me as I exited. The bright sky blinded me temporarily as I made my way back to the library. The message had mentioned the tower rotation. Behind the library at the top of the mountain stood a large cylindrical tower, but as of yet I had no idea how to get inside.
I wondered what exactly was inside the tower. From where I stood, it was featureless except for a few narrow slots along the tower wall. I couldn't see inside the slots, and there were no other features on the surface of the tower. Why would Catherine have to go there?
I walked back into the library in search of more clues, perhaps something in the books that I had missed. As I walked in the map of the island caught my eye. It had changed!
There were now several places on the island highlighted. Along with the tower, the library and the domed building, the sunken ship, the brick shelter, and the spaceship were highlighted as well! But why?
I thought back to my previous nights exploring. I had briefly visited all of these areas. In some areas I had done a few things, in other areas I couldn't even gain access. What was the commonality?
The marker switches!
In each one of those locations, I had turned on a marker switch. That must be why they were highlighted. Turning on the marker switch, turned on the corresponding image on the map. But what did these locations signify?
As far as I could tell, the marker switches did nothing, except when they were turned on the images showed up on the map. Why would marking them on the map serve any purpose.
I touched the domed building with my finger, trying to see if perhaps some geometric pattern would be revealed. I moved my finger up to the tower when suddenly a line emerged from the center of the tower and extended outwards to the frame of the painting.
Slowly the line began to rotate clockwise. I lifted my finger from the map and the line disappeared.
There was a rumbling noise underfoot and I heard machinery from the back of the library come to life. What was happening?
"If you've forgotten the keys, remember the tower rotation...."
Was I controlling the tower from here?
By instinct I touched the tower on the map with my finger. Again, a straight line radiated from the tower to the edge of the painting. The line then continued rotating clockwise across the island, and came to a rest right across the sunken ship.
I lifted my finger off the map and heard more rumbling in the floor beneath me. Giant motors were working, moving something nearby. Then the motor stopped with a grinding halt. I must be rotating the tower! But now what? Can I get to the tower from here?
I looked around the room for a secret passage of some sort. I knew the library extended into the mountain, so it had to lead to the tower.
My gaze hit upon the painting of the corridor. It showed a series of steps going through an archway, leading to a long corridor. The steps looked strange to me at first, in fact they looked like the main bookshelf of the library.
I walked over to the bookshelf and tried to move it, or push the shelves down into the floor. My efforts did nothing to move the shelves. I had to think for a second. I controlled the tower rotation by touching the map of Myst Island....
Instinctively, I placed my hand on the portrait of the corridor. The image on the painting shifted, and twisted into a single elipse, and then back to its original image. The bookshelf next to me suddenly lurched backwards, each shelf pulling back a little further than the one underneath it. The shelves then lowered until they formed steps going up to a corridor leading deep into the mountain. Behind me I noticed a solid stone slab rise up from the door frame and completely covered the entrance into the library. I guessed that it was a defensive measure of some sort, and I hoped I could get it open later on.
I walked down the winding corridors until I came upon a small room with a cramped elevator in the center. The entire room was made out of metal giving me the impression that I was in a submarine. The light in the room was dim, and the elevator looked like it could only hold one person at a time.
I stepped into the elevator and closed the door behind me. I pressed the single glowing button, and the elevator jerked upwards. It climbed up about twenty feet, and then began rotating, nearly knocking me off of my feet. The rotation came to a jerking stop, and the elevator continued to climb. A small indicator that once read Library, now read Tower.
I slid open the door and squeezed out. I was definitely in the tower. The room was cylindrical in shape and the walls and floor were made of metal. There were two catwalks at opposite ends of the room, with ladders leading to each one. The ladder directly in front of me had a brass plaque with a picture of an open book on it, the ladder behind me was identical except the plaque showed a skeleton key.
I could make out sunlight from the first ladder, so I climbed up and looked outside. Apparently, the inside wall of the tower had narrow viewing slots, so you could only look out of the tower when it was at specific locations. When the slots on the inside wall and the outside wall matched up, you could look outside. That probably explained why the marker switches and the map was needed. From the narrow slot I was looking through I could easily make out the sunken ship, sitting at the dock as if it was waiting for passengers.
I climbed down and tried the next ladder. The second ladder already looked disappointing because there clearly was no sunlight coming from it. The inside viewing slot didn't match up with a slot on the outside wall of the tower.
But, from this catwalk, I saw a plaque that was mounted at this particular point on the outside wall. On the plaque, I read the following dates: October 11, 1984 10:04AM, January 17, 1207 5:46AM, and November 23, 9791 6:57 PM.
The formats of the dates looked familiar. Wait a minute, the viewscreen in the domed building. I wondered what would happen if I were to enter these dates into the viewer?
I climbed down the catwalk and rode the elevator down. Through an open grating in the ceiling of the elevator I watched as the elevator shaft rotated so the elevator car would line up with the rails. It seemed remarkable.
I made my way through the library when I remembered that the entrance was blocked by the stone wall. I tried touched the painting of the corridor again. No results. I walked over to the painting of the entrance and pressed my hand to it. The painting swirled and shimmered, and the doorway was opened as the bookshelves rearranged themselves to their original configuration.
As I opened the door to the domed building my eyes were treated to a new sensation. The ceilings and walls were all covered with tiny dots of lights, all precisely arranged. This building was an observatory!
As an experiment, I pressed the light switch. The lights came back on, and the stars disappeared. I must not have noticed the stars when I hastily left yesterday. The technology on this island continues to amaze me.
I sat down in the chair and pulled the viewer down close to my face. I entered in the first date and pressed the button. Suddenly, the stars all around me began to move feverishly, rearranging themselves along the wall, moving in an elliptical motion. The observatory was able to map the stars on specific day and time. Remarkable.
A small constellation appeared on the monitor. Out of the grouping of stars there were three stars in a triangle formation that were brighter than the others. Why was this familiar to me?
Instinctively, I pushed the viewscreen back up and jumped out of my chair. Not bothering to mess with the lights, I ran straight from the observatory to the library. I remember I saw a series of constellations in one of those journals yesterday. I feverishly began to thumb through the pages of the four readable books.
Yes, at the very end of one of the journals was a listing of constellations. Beneath each constellation was a symbol for that specific cluster. There was a maple leaf, a bug, a snake, an arrow, an anchor, an eye, a flamingo, and a cross. A total of eight constellations.
Wait. The symbols for the constellations were also on those small boxes surrounding the well. These constellations must mean something.
I took the book with me, and walked back out to the well with the model ship. Surrounding the well were Greek columns, and each column had a box in front of it, and on the face of each box were the symbols to the constellations. I reached out and touched the symbol of the anchor. It glowed bright green for a brief second, and then faded back to a dull gray. I then tried the maple leaf symbol and it reacted in the same fashion. I must try and see if the other dates relate to other constellations.
I walked back to the observatory and looked at the constellation in the view screen. The date of October 11, 1984, 10:04AM along with the maple leaf constellation was still on the viewer.
I tried the other two dates. January 17, 1207, 5:46AM turned out to reveal the snake constellation pattern and November 23, 9791, 6:57PM displayed the bug constellation.
I stood up and turned the room lights back on. I then walked back to the well and found the two remaining symbols that corresponded to the constellations I saw in the observatory. I touched the bug symbol, and the snake. Nothing happened.
Out of curiosity, I walked back to the anchor symbol I found earlier and touched it again. This time, the symbol flashed red briefly. Whatever it was I was doing, it probably would only work with the three correct symbols, no more, no less.
From behind me I heard the sound of water draining. The small model of the boat was slowly rising to the top of the well. Water ran off the edges of the model as it surfaced, and came to a rest just above the water line.
I looked closer to examine the model when I realized I was still hearing something off in the distance. A very loud noise, coming from the dock.
I ran down the path to the dock and saw the massive ship, rising from its shallow watery grave. I was so startled from the sight that I dropped the journal I was holding. How was this happening?
When the ship was fully surfaced, I approached the edge of the dock. I could easily jump onto the ship without the aid of a gangplank, but I wanted to see how stable it was first. I stared at it for a few seconds, watching it gently bob up and down in the calm water. It appeared stable enough to me.
The ship itself had masts, but I didn't see any sails. Perhaps it was never meant for sailing. Anyways I didn't believe I had the know how to navigate such a massive vessel, so there was little hope of just sailing away. Who knows, if I explored the ship I might find a treasure somewhere.
All I found was a single door leading below decks. It opened very easily for hinges that had been submerged underwater. Beyond the door was a single room with an old wooden chair. Resting on the chair was a book, about the size of a large dictionary.
I picked up the book and examined the cover. There was no title on it, nor any author's name. I did notice that there were a couple of light scorch marks on the thick cover. The book had seemed strangely familiar to me, as if I had read it before.
This book was filled with a very strange writing, similar to the written script I found in the red and blue books in the library. The pages were made of the same kind of paper, and on the very last page, I found a small picture.
The picture showed a might sailing vessil moored on the rocks. I was impressed by the details of the artwork. It was very professional.
Suddenly, the picture changed. The image of the ship moved away and revealed a lighthouse. The image shifted again towards the top of the mighty rock where a telescope was perched looking out to sea. What was this?
I reached out to touch the picture, when it suddenly became brighter. It had felt as if my hand was being pulled into the book itself. I became scared, my mind trying to deny the fact that my body was fading away, shrinking. I screamed in fear, and passed out.