6. Selentic Age

The Mechanical Age | Contents | The Channelwood Age

The cold was unforgiving that night. I vaguely remembered sealing off the entrance to the library at some point. I wished I had something to keep myself warm. The blankets from that elegant bedroom in the Stoneship Age would do nicely.

When morning arrived, the first thing I did was open up the books again. I could more clearly make out the faces of the two brothers, and their voices were more distinct.

When morning arrived, the first thing I did was open up the books. I could make out the faces a bit more, and hear them more coherently, but I was still unable to get a complete sentence of them.

Achenar: "You're back....... I have been wrongfully imprisoned.... Sirrus.... destroyed all but four.... 'll trick you like he tricked my father..... dered my father..... beg of you, bring me the blue pages.... not take the red pages...."

Sirrus: "Greetings..... You have done well...... you must bring me more red pages..... trust my brother.... a twisted mind, wicked and sinister.... I know you will do the right..... don't bring any of the blue pages......"

It was the same as before. Both of them implying that the other brother was the bad one. Both of them asking for the pages to free them, and telling me not to release the other one. How could I figure out which one destroyed the Library?

I picked up one of the few remaining readable journals from the floor and began reading. One described a very strange age, that was destroyed by meteors shortly after Atrus had first visited the age. It had no inhabitants, and yet Atrus was clearly fascinated by it. He began to talk about great resources, and inventions he was going to create.

But there was a problem. About halfway through the journal the pages started to fade. I could only make out short words, and diagrams of possible inventions Atrus had set out to make. There was a full map of the island covering two pages, but it was a topographical map without any indications of special places on the age itself. On the very back page, was a chart of a piano keyboard with several keys highlighted.

The remaining book talked about a fantastic jungle world in which intelligent monkeys lived in tree villages, perched above a sunken island where humans once lived. This age was referred to as the Channelwood Age. It also sounded very interesting.

I consulted the back of Catherine's note with the chart of the books and keys and I chose one of the two remaining. The key was "59 volts" and the location of the book was the spaceship.

If Atrus used the same logic in choosing the places of protection for these books, than the giant tree must lead to the Channelwood Age. And that would mean the spaceship must refer to the other age.

I opened the library entrance and walked out along the winding platform that lead to the spaceship. Here on a platform just off the island sat the monstrous ship that pointed out to open sea. I suppose in a more technical sense it was a rocket given it's shape and size. It looked more like a child's toy, than a rocket, really. But in all honesty I didn't think this rocket could take me any farther than the boat on the dock could.

The button next to the door was still unyielding. A motor grunted a little bit, but the door refused to open. It was almost as if the spaceship didn't have the power to open the door.

Then, I remembered the generator I found on my first day here. The generator powered the ship, but when I tried to operate it the first time, I shorted it out.

Just above the marker switch next to the door were two small terminals. Power cables were hooked to these terminals and ran back towards the island into the forest. Between here and the forest was a tall brick tower to keep the cables suspended.

I walked back towards the mainland and down a hill leading to the tower. I climbed up a ladder along the front of the tower to get a good look at the cables. I certainly hoped that they were properly shielded.

At the very top of the tower I noticed that a black metal box ran in between the circuit leading from the generator to the spaceship. A large switch was in the middle of the box, and it appeared to be in the open position. This must be a circuit breaker. I pulled the switch back down so the breaker would allow the electron flow to continue from the generator to the ship and back again.

I walked back along the forest trying to keep the two cables in sight. They ran through the trees violating who knows how many electrical safety hazards.

There was a second brick tower like the first one, and from there the cables went to the side of the brick shelter and disappeared into the wall. I climbed up the tower and flipped the circuit breaker like before. With the circuit reset, I climbed down and entered the shelter.

I walked down the stairs and the tunnel leading to the generator room. Through the glass window I saw many generators lined up in two rows. This was nothing compared to the hand cranked monstrosity I used back in the Stoneship Age.

On the control panel in front of me were two digital gauges. One was labeled Power to Generator, the other was labeled Power to Spaceship. Each gauge read 00. To the right of the gauges were two rows of five red buttons. Instinctively, I pressed the first button in the first row.

The button lit up and a generator powered up and both gauges read 10. I'm assuming that this must be 10 volts of power. I pressed the next button and both gauges had increased to 17.

I was beginning to think that the 59 volts obviously meant that the gauges had to read 59. Perhaps that was the correct power level to operate the spaceship. But I didn't want to break the circuits again, so I decided to play it safe.

I turned off the first two switches bringing the generators down. Then I made a quick chart on the back of Catherine's note for the various power levels. I decided to turn each generator on by itself, and record the power level. Then, I'd turn it off and try the next one in succession. By the time I was finished with the experiment, I had the following power levels recorded.

I couldn't make out any pattern by the numbers. I did some quick calculations on the paper and tried to figure out which switches would add up to 59. I figured the only solution was to activate generators four, seven, eight, and nine. Sixteen plus two plus twenty-two, plus nineteen equaled fifty-nine.

I powered up the corresponding generators and both digital gauges read 59. I walked out of the bomb shelter and back towards the spaceship. My theory was right, and the door opened for me. Unfortunately, there was no book.

The spaceship was mostly empty, proving my earlier assumption that the ship could never fly. At the aft end of the ship was a large miniature pipe organ with 36 keys. At the fore end was a strange device with sliding levers and a large bubble perched on top.

I then remembered that the journal that I had read earlier had a map of a piano keyboard with a sequence drawn out on the keys, obviously for those not musically inclined. That keyboard drawn out must be the same one here.

I ran back to the library and returned to the inside of the ship with the book. I figured that I must play the keys in the appropriate sequence. That must be the solution to the puzzle I had to solve. With the journal in my left hand I played the sequence of notes on the keyboard.

Nothing.

Mildly annoyed, I went across to the front of the ship and examined the panel on the front. There were five small sliding levers grouped together, and a large handle sitting off to the right. By moving the levers up and down, I created noises which came out of a small speaker on the bottom of the panel. I recognised that the noise was the sound of the pipe organ at the other end of the ship.

When I pulled the large handle, five notes played over the speaker in sequence. Each note played was the note that each slider was set to. Maybe my job was to play the notes on this device.

I ran back to the organ keyboard and played the first note, which was a low C. I held the key down for a few seconds until I was sure that I had memorized that particular note. I then ran back to the controls at the front of the ship and fiddled with the first slider until it emitted a low C note as well.

After about seven more times of running back and forth to both ends of the ship I was pretty sure that I had the right sequence. By guesswork, I assumed the next step to do would be to pull the handle.

I pulled the handle and each note played again through the small speaker. Suddenly, a bright light came from inside the bubble itself. A holographic image of a book floated at the very center of the bubble. The book opened itself up and I saw a barren landscape with few trees or landmarks. I reached my hand out to touch the edge of the bubble.....

I opened my eyes and realized that I was still in the spaceship. A cool breeze was coming through the open hatchway. I looked out and realized that I had transfered over to another age. The spaceship I was in must be a mockup similar to the one on Myst Island. To prove it to myself I toyed around with the keyboard and the sliders. Neither of them worked.

I looked back down on the floor and noticed that Atrus' journal was here as well. I was holding it, so it must have transferred over with me. This should very helpful in my journey. I learned very little about this age when I first read about it. I don't even know what to call this age.

I stepped out of the spaceship only to have the hatch seal itself shut behind me. I hope I didn't need anything from inside. I walked across the platform from the ship to the mainland.

I opened up to the map and began to navigate my way across this island, always aware of the cool breeze blowing in from the south. The air was very foggy, reducing my visibility to roughly twenty feet. The landscape was barren, except for small patches of grass growing here and there. There were a few small craters from the meteor shower that Atrus wrote about. I approached a hill with a shelter of some kind built into it. There was a massive brick wall with a solid metal door in the middle, suggesting that this was the entrance to a tunnel leading underground.

Next to the door was a panel of sliders, similar to the ones in the spaceship. At the far end was a red button. By moving the sliders around, I was entertained by a variety of sounds coming from a small speaker at the top of the panel. A train, electrical currents, wind chimes, a soft breeze. Pressing the red button played each sound the slider was set to in sequnece. If this was like the puzzle in the spaceship, I was probably going to have to find out which settings for the sliders would open this door.

A little further I noticed a brick staircase. I climbed up the steps as they went up a small hill, and then back down as the steps receded on the other side. The steps continued up another small hill and lead to a brick path with a iron handrail along the side. There were trees on this hill, completely unaware of the dead landscape just fifty yards away.

Just off the path was a waterfall, apparently manmade. Water was pumped in from the ocean to this small well, where it ran off the edge, and down the hill, back into the water of the ocean. Just above the waterfall was a large professional looking microphone, hanging from a swinging arm that connected to a tall brick structure, about six feet high. At the top of this brick tower was a radar dish pointing out to the water.

I pulled out the book again and looked at the map. Actually, the radar dish was pointing out towards the middle of the lagoon where a small meteor rested. According to Atrus, the lagoon never existed when he first created the Age; it was the result of the meteor shower.

There was a control panel on the side of the tower with a single red button, and a silhouette of two water drops. I pressed the button and the silhouette lit up, and a small humming noise came from the radar dish.

I also came across a blue page here as well. I thought it strange that it would just lie out here in the open. I took the page and put it in my back pocket. I still had doubts about fetching these pages, but I needed to communicate with someone in order to find a way back home.

I walked back across the staircases and continued walking around the island. There was a large brick structure close by that gave off enormous waves of heat. Along the side of the structure was a brick staircase leading up. I walked up to the top of the structure and realized that it had an open ceiling, and I was looking down towards the center of the earth.

Well, not that far down, but it seemed like it. I could see fire, lava and heat waves make their way up from below the surface. Along the sides of the structure were massive pipes, which were probably used to harness the heat in some way. A walkway across the top of the structure allowed me to cross to the other end of the huge pit.

As I walked across I realized that the pipes must hold water, and the heat would convert the water into steam, which could then be used to power generators of some sort. Something here must take up a lot of power.

At the other end of the structure was another tower similar to the one I had seem earlier on the hillside. A swinging arm was mounted on the tower, holding a microphone just above the fiery pit below. The same red button was there, but the silhouette indicator was that of a crevice with steam coming out of it.

The radar dish was pointed towards the lagoon, like the one before it. From here I could make out was the giant meteor, but it looked like there was something on top of it.

I pressed the red button, making the silhouette illuminate. More than likely I figured I was turning on the microphone and the radar dish. Perhaps it was a transmitter of some sort.

I walked back down the side of the structure and continued walking around the island. I always tried to face the lagoon so I could try and make out the structure in the center. It appeared to be the meter Atrus mentioned, with some strange tower on top of it.

Further along I found yet a third radar tower and microphone. Next to the microphone was a giant clock tower. It was almost as large as the one on Myst Island, but it was in a state of disarray. Gears were lying on the ground, along with a large pendulum. Either Atrus didn't finish it, or it had broken down somewhere along the way.

I could look inside the clock tower to easily view the workings. Inside there was a smaller pendulum which swung back and forth, and some gears that moved around with slight squeaks to them. The bells of the clock chimed every so often, despite the fact that it was neither the top of the hour, nor the half hour. While I couldn't compare the time to that of my own watch (which has been broken for the past 2 days), I knew for sure that the hour didn't ring in every ten seconds.

Atrus has yet to impress me with a working timepiece.

I went over to the console next to the tower and turned on the microphone, like before. These towers were beginning to remind me of the marker switches back on Myst. I assumed that I would need to turn on as many of these as possible in order to gain further access to somewhere else on the island; more than likely through the steel door.

I walked on along the outskirts of the lagoon thinking about how much work must have gone into creating the structures of this age. The iron handrails, the large clay pots, the exquisite brickwork on the stairs and pathways. Did Atrus do all of this by hand, or did he merely write it all into existence using The Art, as he once referred to it?

I do recall Atrus saying that he and his two sons worked a lot on creating new inventions in the various ages they have traveled to. It must have brought joy to his heart knowing that his sons were taking an interest in their father's work.

And to think that one of those sons destroyed everything Atrus had put so much time and work into.

The island path forked. I decided to walk up a tall hill, away from the lagoon. As I came closer to the top of the hill my ears tingled by a strange sound in the distance. I wondered what it could be.

I am still at a loss for words to describe what I saw when I reached the top of the hill. In front of me, in the smaller lake, were these giant crystal stones growing out of the water. The wind itself made hollow, almost musical sounds as it swept past these massive crystal structures. A brick path lead into the water and I walked across it until I was in the middle of the cluster of crystals.

I closed my eyes for a second and tried to empty my thoughts as the soothing sounds tickled my eardrums. It was so relaxing.

I opened my eyes again and realized that at the end of the path was a brick tower, with a radar dish on top. This tower was higher than the others, and the dish was almost obscured by the heavy fog. The microphone was perched out above me, so it could capture as much of the sound as possible. I activated the microphone, curiously wondering if this sound was in any way being recorded.

On top of the console was another page. A red page, belonging to Sirrus' book. I took the page and put in in my pocket. I only hoped that after I added these pages to the books Sirrus and Achenar would be a little more cooperative and start telling the truth.

I resumed my original position on the path, and followed it along the lagoon. It was about a minute before I could even make out any shapes in the fog.

I found a brick staircase leading up and then back down. Another tower was at the end of a brick path. The path had ended, quite literally. The ocean was in all directions, less the one I originated from. There was a tower here, pointing to the center of the lagoon. The microphone itself was perched over a tunnel with a ladder leading underground. I tried to look down inside but it was too dark. There was only the sound of a cold, rushing wind passing through the tunnel.

I turned on the microphone and began my descent down the tunnel. The metal handrails of the ladder were cold to the touch, so I tried to descend as quickly as possible.I went far down the tunnel until I was below the water level.

At the bottom was a light switch which turned on some portable lighting equipment, dimly lighting the tunnel ahead of me. The bricks had ended, and the walls ahead of me were concrete slabs. The ceiling was a bit low, forcing me to duck my head as I made my way to the other end of the tunnel, where sunlight came in from above.

I climbed up the ladder, and I emerged at the edge of the meteor that had formed the lagoon. A brick staircase lead to the top of the meteor where the tower stood.

The tower itself was a large metal structure with five different radar dishes stacked on one another. Each dish pointed in the same direction, but I couldn't make out what they were pointing at.

At the base of the tower was a large console covered by two metal doors for protection. I opened the doors and saw a peculiar looking console inside. There was a monitor, and LED readout, two directional buttons, a button labeled with the letter Sigma, and buttons representing the symbols I saw on the panels around the island. I could also hear static coming from a hidden speaker behind the monitor. The monitor showed a part of the island directly ahead of me. The LED read 000.0, and the button for the crevice symbol was highlighted.

I opened Atrus' journal for this age and looked at several of the pictures. There was a picture of a radar dish with some signal emanating from it, but the text around the picture had mysteriously disappeared. This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

I pressed the right arrow button and I heard a whining noise above me. One of the radar dishes had moved slightly. The monitor on the image also panned to the right a bit. I held down the button and the dish continued to move. The LEDs on the panel were increasing. Interesting.

I climbed on top of the machine to get a closer look at one of the dishes. At the edge of each dish was a camera lens, which must obviously be used to send a picture to the monitor. Each dish also appeared to be capable of rotating a full 360 degrees.

I continued to pan the camera to the right surveying the landscape of the island. The camera images must go through some sort of enhancement process because there was less fog on the monitor image. Suddenly, the static hiss changed. A dull deep thudding noise began to mix in with the static. The monitor image showed that the dish was pointed almost directly at the fire pit. I continued panning the camera to the right and the new noise began to overcome the static. Finally, at a certain point the static was eliminated, and the full sound came across the speaker.

The sound I was hearing was the fire in the pit. The microphone above the pit must be receiving the sound, and the dish at the tower is transmitting the sound towards the meteor. And now that I have tuned the dish here so it pointed back towards the fire pit, I was capable of hearing the sound over the fire pit. Remarkable.

I tried pressing the sigma key to see if anything would happen. The buttons representing the microphones highlighted in a certain sequence, and a hissing sound came from the speakers for each button, less the fire pit, for which I heard the roar of the fire itself as it heated up the water pipes.

More than likely, I must tune each dish to the corresponding microphone somewhere on the mainland. I selected the receiver dish for the two water drops, and tuned the dish in until I heard the soothing flow of the water through the man made waterfall I saw earlier. I continued doing so for the other microphones, until I had each sound clearly tuned in.

I pressed the sigma key again, and each sound that I had tuned in played in a particular sequence. The wind through the crystals, the clock chimes, the fire pit, the waterfall, and the wind through the tunnel. I made a chart of the information at the end of Atrus' journal.

The door I encountered earlier had a device next to it that played a variety of sounds. There were five sliders, so I knew I could choose five different sounds at a time. Which most likely means that these must be the five sounds that I am to use to open the door.

I climbed back into the tunnel and ran across to the other end. I then ran across the beach towards the other side of the island. While the distance wasn't too great, I'll admit I was a bit winded when I finally reached the metal door.

I adjusted the sliders around until I had the proper sequence in. I then pressed the red button and the door in front of me slid open. Now that wasn't so bad. My total time here was under two hours. I had both pages, now all I had to do was get the Myst book and go home.

I walked in the door and found myself in a long dark tunnel leading down. The metal walls were a dull black, and bore several niches for storage purposes I assume. Cold air rushed in from small vents in the ceiling. I opened a panel in one of the walls and noticed what appeared to be air conditioning equipment. From around the corner I felt a strong air current, pulling me down the passageway.

I put the panel back up where it fit into the rest of the wall, and continued further down the corridor.

At the very end of the tunnel was a massive elliptical shaped chamber, with giant pieces of machinery surrounding me on all sides. Pipes, motors, and mechanical arms ran along every wall. In the very center of the room hanging from a massive robotic arm was an elliptical shaped pod. Below the pod was a large hole leading down into blackness.

On a small metal plaque near the entrance of the room were the words The Selentic Age. Well, at least now I know this age had a name.

I walked around the room along a metal gangplank that surrounded the strange vehicle. It almost looked like a miniature submarine of sorts. At one end was a tiny observation bubble, and at the rear was a strange propulsion system like nothing I had ever seen before. I looked down into the hole, but pulled my head back as a wave of warm air rushed up towards me. I stepped back from the hole a bit, and felt the cool air created by the small air conditioning vents around the room.

The steam generated by the fire pit must power all the machinery in this room. The air conditioners, the electronics, perhaps even this vehicle. I pressed a button next to the hatch of the vehicle, and the door split open allowing me to enter.

Inside there was no Myst book, but I had the sneaking suspicion that Atrus wasn't going to make it that easy for me. The vehicle was cramped like a submarine, with only a large, somewhat uncomfortable looking chair for me to sit in, facing the observation bubble. In front of me on a control panel were a series of buttons, presumably controls for this vehicle. There were two directional buttons, and two more labeled Forward and Backtrack. On the left side of the control panel was a speaker with a red button built into it. On the right side was a special indicator which was currently blank.

I pressed the forward button and suddenly felt my body lurch downwards. The pod began to descend down into the giant hole beneath me. As we descended, the arm rotated as if to give me a panoramic view of where I was about to be taken. I saw steel walls directly in front of me, which was gradually replaced by open rock and steel girders. The descent stopped for a second, the pod rotated until I saw a metal track underneath me, and descended again until we were resting on the track. I heard a grinding above me, suggesting that the giant arm had released the pod. From the speaker on the console I heard a metal dink sound and the blank indicator on the control panel now read N.

Up ahead of me the tracks went on into the darkness. I didn't recall any wheels on this vehicle. Perhaps it moved by magnetic levitation. I wasn't sure if the power generators here could handle it, but it was the only idea that came to my mind.

I pushed the right arrow button and the entire track underneath me rotated. The track rotated 45 degrees until it connected to another track that lead northeast. Unfortunately, I could make out a massive steel door ahead of me, which gave me the impression that the track was closed off, or incomplete.

I continued rotating the track in a circle, only to find that the track that lead north was the only one that wasn't blocked off. I pressed the forward button and the pod glided across the tracks with almost no resistance. A hidden air conditioner came to life and I began to feel a cool breeze of air hitting the back of my head. I touched the metal hull of the pod and realized it was warm. Either the vehicle itself generated a lot of heat, or the underground caverns were uncomfortably warm. More than likely, it was the second choice.

The vehicle came to an stop, and I heard a 'blitz' noise from the speaker. I noticed a small separation in the tracks ahead and I presumed that I was at a junction. Just north of the tracks was a solid door, blocking further progress. I rotated the tracks in an entire circle again, to find the only passageway leading to the west. I couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of energy it took to power these machines, or how long it had taken Atrus to create this underground traveling system.

I attempted to make a crude map in Atrus' journal but I wasn't sure how much space I should take up. This could go on for miles. Already, I was sure that I was underwater. Just the thought of being in a cavern under a large body of water gave me a case of claustrophobia.

I continued going along the tunnels, but I noticed that I had to backtrack occasionally. The outside view from the small bubble showed very little details. I'd at least think that there would be markers, or road signs, perhaps. As far as I could tell, the tracks weren't even numbered. How could anyone make their way along this maze?

After about an hour of being stuck I felt like I was about to scream. The air conditioner wasn't doing a very good job of keeping the inside of the vehicle cool. I almost considered opening the door to maybe see for any markings outside, but the temperature of the hull told me that the air outside would be practically scorching by now.

Out of frustration, I smacked my hand on the speaker and it made a plinking noise in protest. That noise sounded familiar. I pressed the button on the speaker again.

Plink. It sounded sort of like an old banjo in need of a tuning. I had heard the same noise when I was rotating the fortress in the Mechanical Age. Wait, did I still have that note with me?

I pulled out of my shirt pocket the note that Achenar wrote to Sirrus regarding Sirrus' greed. According to the chart I wrote on the back of the note, A plinking sound was made when the fortress bridge pointed south.

But right now, I was facing north. In front of me was a dead end.

Maybe... the noise is an indicator as to which way I should go.

I rotated the tracks underneath the pod, and surely enough, the tracks leading south didn't terminate. I advanced forward to another junction and heard a 'pish' noise, like an air compressor. East?

I turned east and continued. From there I went south twice. I turned west and stopped at another junction. Now the noise I heard from the speaker was a 'plink' mixed in with a 'blitz'.

I turned the vehicle and noticed that the tracks did continue to the southwest. Naturally, to indicate a southwest direction, it'd be easier to combine two sounds, then to use a different sound entirely.

I continued on through the tunnels. Following the noises made by the speaker, I had yet to run into a dead end. The tracks were now bending occasionally. And sometimes I would end up facing a different direction than the one I started out at, but I never did face a closed off track.

Suddenly, the track I was on began to change. Outside along the tracks were lights illuminating my path. I touched my hand to the hull and noticed that it was cooling down. Finally, I ended up facing a steel wall. I tried to press a directional indicator, but the track below me didn't rotate.

There was no directional noise from the speaker, but I heard a small rumbling from outside the vehicle. The track shifted slightly to the right, and I felt something connect to the hatch. Suddenly, the hatch opened and revealed a corridor similar to the one I was in earlier. There was another plaque here that read The Selentic Age like the I had seen earlier.

I walked out into the cool corridor and sat down to update the map I wrote in Atrus' journal. To my horror, the ink on the page was fading, and the map was slowly disappearing.

Quickly, I set the open book on the floor and made a second chart on the back of the note from Achenar to Sirrus.

By the time I finished the navigational aide, the original map I made vanished from the journal. I had also managed to copy down the bearings of the sound transmitters back on the island. Right now that island felt like it was miles away (and in all respects it probably was).

I left the vehicle and walked down the corridor until I came upon a large chamber. It wasn't as large as the chamber I was in earlier. But it was just as complex. I assumed that there was a second generator here as well, to generate power for the air conditioning systems. At the far end of the chamber was a metallic table, holding a small Myst book. Finally.

I did a quick inventory of myself to make sure I had everything. The charts I made, the red and blue pages, Atrus' journal. Yep. All here.

I opened up the Myst book and saw the picture of the spinning library. Holding my hand out, I reached in....

The Mechanical Age | Contents | The Channelwood Age