I stood up on the edge of the platform and looked around. I was standing at the bottom of a giant crater, almost as large as the island itself. In the middle of the crater was a large lake covering most of the surface. On my right, perched high along the inside wall I could make out a pair of small buildings.
Underneath the hopper where I stood was a large machine with a metal tube snaking out of the side and directed downwards where a large pile of sawdust lay. There was a long lever next to me that ran through a hole in the platform down to the side of the machine. This must be an wood chipper of some sort. To process the trees that were cut down back on the Jungle Island.
To my right was a round circular structure made of brick. It was raised off the ground about six feet by huge concrete blocks. Underneath the structure was an evenly spaced blue flame emerging from a circular pipe. It resembled a giant oven or a kiln. The top of the oven was a metalic dome and a series of pipes ran from the side towards the middle of the lake. There was a walkway going in a wide semi-circle around the oven allowing people to inspect the system from a closer perspective. At one end of the walkway, there was a set of steps leading to a metal door in the side of the gigantic furnace.
I climbed down a ladder next to the platform and looked at the lake. A narrow metal bridge ran from the shore to the center of the island where a junction of steam pipes intersected. The junction was a small brick structure with a copper dome on top, similar to the other steam vents I saw on Riven. At the top of the dome was a lever that controlled the flow of steam to three pipes running outwards to various machines at the shore of the lake. Below the dome, a single pipe ran out from the mortar base towards a small bridge running along the rim of the crater.
Right now the valve selected a pipe that ran off towards the shore, turned upwards ran along the wall of the crater, and then continued horizontally into the side of the crater. Another pipe ran towards the large oven, and the final pipe ran towards the wood chipper.
I turned the valve to redirect the flow of water towards the wood chipper and walked back along the bridge. I climbed up the small platform where the wood chipper control lever was and tested it out. The small twigs and branches that accompanied me in the cart ride were immediately grinded as the circular blades of the cutter went into motion. I could see tiny wood bits and sawdust emerge from the chute on my left. After about five seconds of chopping, the motor shut down automatically.
I left the wood chipper and walked towards the large oven. There was a metal walkway going around the side of the furnace letting me safely examine the structure. The stairs leading to the walkway continued further up to a large metal door that lead inside the furnace. Next to the door was a large thermometer with no distinguishable markings to indicate temperature ranges. Either it was hot inside or it wasn't.
The walkway lead around to an assortment of controls on the side wall, along with a tall narrow window allowing me to look inside the furnace. Through the window I could see water boiling, but not much else. All around me there was an assortment of pipes leading in or out of the giant oven. It seemed strange that this would be left unattended, unless perhaps whatever was cooking inside involved a long monotonous process.
I walked back down the steps and went back across the bridge to the steam cap juncture. From a distance I now recognised these machines from the glass image in the Hub Room. The chipper was to grind the wood into usable strips, and the boiler would process those strips into paper.
On the surface it seemed strange to involve this much effort into making paper. My estimates on the population of Riven wouldn't justify the need for paper to be produced in such a mass quantity. However, in the back of my mind I suspected a more sinister purpose. Gehn was attempting to make D'ni Books, in order to escape from Riven.
Atrus told me before that he knew Gehn was trying to teach the Rivenese to Write, but back then he was using blank books he found or stole from D'ni. Atrus and Catherine destroyed as many of the books here as they could before they escaped from Gehn, shortly before Gehn was to force Catherine into marriage. After cutting off his escapes, he should have been trapped here.
But now maybe Gehn didn't even need to get back to D'ni. Maybe he was capable of recreating the Descriptive Books right here.
I took a look to my right towards the two buildings on the crater wall. I noticed a ladder running directly underneath one of the buildings leading to a small terrace.
I walked back to the shore and made my way around the crater to the ladder. I had to go around the rear of the giant furnace and I found that while the flames were over a foot high underneath the boiler, the heat radiating past the structure was minimal.
Leading from the underside of the boiler was a giant pipe that ran along the shore and then up and over the crater wall. I walked under the pipe and around a rock wall towards the ladder. The ladder lead directly up to a closed hatch on the terrace. I climed the ladder and gave the hatch a push with my hand. Nothing. I pushed harder on the lid, and when that didn't work I slammed it with the palm of my hand.
I climbed back down the ladder and looked up at the terrace. I didn't see any other way to climb up there, at least not without some heavy climbing gear (something that I didn't think of packing on this trip). I walked back along the shoreline when I realised that the pipe reached up that high. Unfortunately, the pipe was very wide and I doubted that I could get a good grip on it to make the 50 foot climb up the cliff wall.
I touched the surface of the pipe to test for heat or vibrations. Nothing. I walked back to the boiler. I walked up to the door and pressed my hand to the metal. Hot. Not too hot, but I was willing to bet that the door was heavily shielded. The contents of the boiler could be ten times as hot as the temperature of the outside of the door.
I walked around to the control assembly and looked at the various controls. From behind me the steam pipe ran towards the center of the lake. At the walkway the pipe split in two with another valve controlling the flow of steam between the two junctions. A larger pipe underneath me lead to a large set of bellows and a continued into the side of the boiler. Next to the narrow window on the boiler was a large lever.
To my right a long pipe rose up from the ground to a t-joint at waist height. At the very top of the pipe was a small lantern. Running horizontal from the t-joint, the pipe met the wall of the furnace and ran down underneath to the burner. I turned the valve in the center of the t-joint and the hissing noise in the pipe changed. Suddenly, a blue flame sparked up from the lantern high above me. I must have redirected the flow of the natural gas. I looked underneath the boiler again and found that the large flame had disappated. Through the window, I could see that the water was cooling down considerably.
I walked around to the door of the boiler and saw that the mercury level in the thermometer was dropping quickly. As I walked up the steps to the door, one of my footfalls activated a switch. Large screw bolts on all sides of the doors released their grips and the door slid open. A large cloud of steam escaped from the open door. I walked past the steam into the furnace.
I stood on a small ledge that allowed me to look inside the giant chamber. The walls on the inside were metal, aside from the tall window looking out to the control area. In the exact middle of the large pool of water was a hand railing, surrounding the area where the center pipe was. I knew right now that the pipe was empty, but how was I going to get inside it. I was going to have to remove the water from the chamber.
The metal door automatically sealed itself behind me as I left the boiler. I walked back around to the control area and tried the lever next to the window. Nothing happened. Next to the side of this lever was the steam pipe leading from the y-joint, and from there the pipe ran back to the steam vent in the middle of the lake. I forgot that I needed to redirect the flow of the steam here.
I reset the lever back to its original position and made my way back to the bridge. At the steam cap I turned the valve to redirect the steam flow from the wood chipper to the boiler machinery.
Back at the boiler, I made sure the valve at the y-joint was redirected to control the lever I was about to experiment with. I pushed the lever up again and I could hear the grind of a motor somewhere inside the boiler. Through the tiny window I could see a metal bar raise from the bottom of the window until it was just above the surface of the water. Because of the lack of lighting inside the chamber, I couldn't tell what exactly my actions had accomplished.
I walked back to the door and entered the boiler. The bar that I had seen earlier was actually a large grate that allowed me to walk further inside the chamber.
I didn't know that much about the process of book making, but I guessed that the wood was placed on this grating, and then lowered into the boiling water to soften it. There was nothing on the grating now, suggesting that the boiler was not in use at this time. Maybe the system was actually being cleaned right now. And if that was a time consuming process, then it would be best to be done while no other work was being performed.
I walked across the grating towards the handrail in the middle. I had come closer to the pipe, but there was still the water to deal with. There must also be some sort of valve that keeps the water inside the boiler, or removes it. I would need to experiment further with the controls.
I walked back to the assembly and looked towards the rubber gasket section of pipe. Directly above the gasker was a smaller chamber, along with what appeared to be a pump mechanism. Next to the pipe was a large five-spoked wheel. I adjusted the y-joint steam pipe so it pointed towards the gasket and the pump assembly. I turned the wheel and the rubber tubing turned sharply, disconnecting itself from the section of pipe underneath it.
There was a rumbling noise from the chamber, and the water level inside the window began to drop. I heard the rumbling sound continue along the pipe underneath the boiler. I talked back to the doorway and entered the boiler. The interior of the space seemed colder without the hot water inside.
I walked towards the center of the grating to the handrail, where a small ladder descended into the pipe underneath the boiler. I crouched down on my hands and knees and crawled through the damp pipe. In the distance I could hear the wind suggesting that the pipe lead out to the open.
After about thirty feet the pipe made a sharp turn upwards. I had to use my feet to brace my back against the wall of the pipe as I continued higher. Luckily, the traction on my D'ni boots held their grip along the wet surface of the pipes.
I found it hard to guess how high I was. Below me was total darkness, while above me I could only make out a light from a turn in the pipe ahead. The pipe soon leveled out and I was crawling on my hands and knees once again towards a lightsource.
The pipe lead out to the ocean. Below me was a eight foot drop to a wet, narrow ledge. I climbed out of the pipe and jumped down to the ground below. I was on the outer wall of the crater, but I couldn't see any islands from where I was standing. After the twisting through the tunnels in the cart ride, I had completely lost my orientation.
I walked along the ledge and began to climb up the crater. Just ahead at the crest of the crater I could see a building dug into the crater wall. I climbed down the inside ledge towards the balcony I had tried to access earlier. On the metal floor was the circular hatch blocking access to the balcony from the ladder. Behind me were two doors leading into the concrete structure.
I cautiously opened the doors and peered inside. The area ahead of me was dark, but I could make out a metal walkway going forward and then veering off to the left. I followed the walkway inside into the darkness of the cavern. All around me I could hear water, slashing or dropping. I could be over an underground lake. Maybe there was an inlet here to the lake in the center of the crater.
The walkway ended at a contraption composed of metal and cables. On my left was a lever connected to a spool of cable. The cable ran from the top of the spool through a pulley and down to a metal sphere with holes punched all over entire surface. The sphere was nestled in a circular frame keeping it from wobbling back and forth on its tether. Above the pulley mechanism was a circular fan vent sucking up air through a duct leading into the nearby cavern wall.
To the right of the sphere was a small open container with tiny bits of dried food. It looked like something for feeding a dog. I took and handfull of the food and released them over the edge of the walkway. After a couple of seconds I heard a splash, indicating that I was directly above a water source.
The sphere opened by pulling apart two handles at the top revealing a grating and a small circular plate in the middle. I pushed on the plate and the halves of the sphere immediately snapped shut on my hand. My hand was ininjured, but I was startled by the reaction. I opened the sphere and tried it again, with the sphere snaring my hand again. This was a trap of some sort, like those used to trap bears in the woods.
I opened the trap and placed some of the food on top. It looked like a feasable trap, but for what? From the looks of the pulley and the crane, it appeared that the sphere was supposed to go down into the water below me.
I pulled the lever on the left of me to see if it would lower the trap. I heard a sharp click from the mechanism, but the cable never moved. I looked down at the cable mechanism and noticed that a long pipe ran into the side of the machine from the opposite cave wall. Maybe the machine needed power.
I walked back out towards the balcony and looked around. I remembered that the steam vent in the middle of the lake had two more pipes leading from it. I looked down towards the middle of the lake and found one pipe leading from the vent towards the wall of the mountain to my right. That must be the pipe that powers the cable winch.
I was reluctant at first to open the hatch leading to the ladder in case it was discovered, but now I had no other way to get back down. I couldn't reach the pipe to climb back down through the boiler and the going down the pipe probably wasn't safe anyways.
I opened the hatch and made my way down the ladder. The sky was getting darker, and I could no longer see the sun's position from inside the crater. I walked around the now cold boiler and across the bridge to the steam cap. I turned the valve all the way to the right to redirect the steam to the winch mechanism. I tested the switch by holding my hand on the third pipe.
The steam vent reminded me of the water pump system of the Channelwood Age. Since the water couldn't power everything at once, the resource was shared. Only one system at a time was able to draw power from the water collected by the windmill.
I walked back to shore, up the ladder, and back into the cavern with the trap mechanism. I pulled the lever and suddenly the motor sprang to life. Cable began to run from the top of the mechanism, through the pulley, and down through the cradle that steadied the trap. I heard an audible splash and suddenly the cable stopped.
Was it floating on the water or did it go under? Below me was total darkness. I estimated that the water was about fifty feet below me, probably on the same level as the lake in the crater. The sounds of the trap splashing into the water faded into the other background sounds of the lake.
I waited for a few seonds peering down through the cradle into the blackness below. Then I heard a noise, a loud metalic clank. The trap had been shut. Either it was bumped, or something had tried to eat the food placed on the plate.
I pulled the lever and winch motor came to life. The cable in front of me retrached through the pulley into the winch and I could soon make out the closed sphere trap coming into view.
The trap lifted up until it was caught in its cradle. I peered through the tiny holes and saw something sitting directly on the plate, breathing.
I opened the trap and saw a small creature sitting on the middle of the plate. Despite its red skin, it resembled a skinny frog. I assumed the creature was amphibious because it didn't appear to have any problems breathing air.
The creature made a shrill chirping noise and then lept off of the plate. I jumped back against the handrail of the walkway. The creature was now on the walkway hopping towards the exit. I leapt for the tiny frog only to have it dart past my grasp.
I stood up and began to run past the creature towards the doors. I closed the doors leading outside just as the frog reached the end of the metal walkway. The creature stared at me for a second as if trying to gauge my intelligence. It then turned and made a leap off the edge of the walkway.
I stepped forward to the point it lept from. I eventually heard a splash as the creature hit the water. I assumed it survived the fall, even though I didn't really know anything about the creature's ability to swim. If I needed to later on, I could probably capture another.
I turned back to the now closed doors when I noticed two new doorways perpendicular to the entrance to the cavern. The doorway to the left lead downwards, while the one on the right appeared to lead out to the wall of the crater.
I tried the doorway on the left first, which was a narrow passage dug into the rock with metal steps placed on the ground to prevent sliping. Ahead of me I could make out an ominous rumbling noise.
The passageway ended at a single doorway. I opened the door and walked into a small dimly lit chamber. Directly in front of me was a giant rotating blue dome, identical to the others I had seen. I had never seen one of the domes this close before. I was standing on a base that served as both a walkway around the dome, and a recess to secure it in place.
The dome stood about seven feet high. If this was a complete sphere, that would mean a seven foot radius. I crouched down to where the sphere met the walkway. The gap was narrow, but I presumed that the object was indeed spherical. I wondered how it moved.
There were a series of symbols carved along the side of the sphere, approximately along the same level as the Tropic of Cancer on the Earth. The symbols were almost all identical; a circle with an inner circle inside. The symbols danced across my eyes like to a simple animation project. The inner circle closed shut and re-opened like a blinking eye with an ever present pupil in the middle.
I stared at the rumbling structure for another minute, wondering what exactly I should do with it. What was the purpose of this device? There were more of these.
I made my way back up the stairs and continued through the doorway directly in front of me, past the walkway leading to the trap mechanism.
The cavern lead out to a bridge that ran along the inside crater wall. About twenty feet along I encountered a switch lever, identical to the one that ran the winch lever. From the inside of the mechanism I could make out a whirring noise of working motors. From both sides of the switch metalic sheathed cabled lead out ahead of me and behind me. Underneath the switch, a pipe ran from the mechanism down towards the lake. This was the one pipe that wasn't regulated by the steam cap switch.
Further down the bridge was a large glass building. The entrance was large metal door with an giant handle in the middle. I tried pushing and pulling on the door, along with twisting the handle in both directions. Despire my efforts, the door refused to open.
Peering into the windows I could make out several workbenches along the walls, along with a large sphere in the very middle of the room. It was hard to take in any details of the room as the Riven sun continued to set.
I continued along the walkway which lead into a small cavern, and then to another bridge. This bridge lead out towards the ocean and off of the island. The bridge spanned several hundred feet across the water to another island, the first island I arrived at, to be precise. Even this far ahead of me I could make out the imposing structure of the gigantic golden dome.
This was my first chance to get off of this island, and with the darkness increasing overhead I didn't waste any time running across the bridge. The dome ahead of me became larger, more imposing as I quickly ran across the bridge planks. Any concern I had in the past for hiding from the island security force was gone. I was pushing my luck, but I wanted to get back while I still had enough light to navigate the area.
Ahead of me the bridge became a series of steps raising to meet the height of the base of the giant dome. The steps leveled out, but there was another obstacle ahead of me. The section of bridge ahead of me was raised to block access to the other side. Next to the span of bridge was a lever set into the wooden planks.
I was now only twenty-five feet away from an entrance into the dome. I looked down towards the island below me and scanned the path that ran along the base of the dome. I noticed the first steam vent I found earlier and my mind made the mental connection. I turned on the steam flow earlier giving power to this particular switch, the one with the image of the drawbridge above it. I should be able to control the actions of the bridge from here.
I pulled the lever, and the bridge span ahead of me lowered, meeting the remainender of the bridge leading into the dome. I ran across the bridge directly into the base of the giant dome.
Inside the dome, I ended up standing on another section of the walkway I didn't have access to before. Directly below me was the entrance leading to the path around the dome. To my left, the walkway ran around the inside of the dome to another exit. Despite the darkness outside the water below me in the pool still glowed a radiant blue-green.
I followed the walkway to the other exit and noticed a large wheel placed along the handrail. If this walkway had continued its circumfrence around the dome, it would join up with the other walkway, meeting at the point where I first entered the dome this morning.
When I tried turning the wheel I heard the scratching of metal underneath me. The walkway had extended along its path to the other end. I turned the wheel again, continuing until the walkway snaked out like a long curved tounge to reach the walkway at the other end of the dome. The metal paths met with a loud clanking noise that echoed in the chamber.
I walked along the extended walkway, keeping my hands close to the handrails. It appeared to be stable despite not having the ceiling supports the main walkway had. I reached the other end and made my way out the dome across the wooden bridge leading into the hub room.
Nothing appeared to have changed since my visit this morning, but I knew that someone was aware of my existance. Past the hub room, I walked across the bridge leading to the temple when suddenly a brilliant light came from behind me.
Spotlights perched around the giant dome were now on, beaming light towards the highly reflective surface. The appearance of the dome changed in that one instant. What was once a large mysterious structure, now had taken on the appearance of being alive. As if the giant dome ruled over Riven.
I ran to the other end of the bridge and ducked into the tunnel entrance, not risking a glance back at the giant dome. I made my way to the end of the tunnel to the temple entrance. The giant door leading to the Maglev was still open and the Maglev was already sitting in the bay.
Nobody was around to guard the vehicle. In fact, after my first ten minutes on Riven I had never seen a guard up close. I climbed up the steps into the Maglev and sat down in the cockpit. The craft operated just like before. Rotate to face the outbound tracks, apply the thrust, and away we go.
There was a spotlight mounted just above the craft shining forward, hopefully not drawing too much undue attention to myself. The MagLev glided across the tracks towards the Jungle Island like it had the last time. The landing bay was deserted.
I ran down the steps towards the cave entrance. At the other end of the cave I checked out the long stairway leading up the hill. In a sense I'd prefer to see at least one guard somewhere along my route. That way I'd get an idea of what their patrol patterns are. I assumed after my first encounter that the guards traveled alone, but that may have changed now that they knew an intruder was on Riven. Maybe they only patrolled certain areas.
I made my way up the hill across the wooden rope bridge to the forest. It was now totally dark and off in the distance I could make out the tiny brilliance of fireflies. I opened the door leading into the jungle and carefully made my way down the path to the giant sword.
My gear was still where I had left it tucked into the bushes. Figuring this was as good of a place as any I unrolled my sleeping bag and crawled inside. My body still ached a bit from the underwater cart ride and I was tired from all the running. I wanted to wake up early the next morning to try and get back to the other island. I still had that final building to explore, I just had to find a way to get inside first.
As I closed my eyes the rumbling of the rotating sphere filled my head. The deep soothing sound eventually put me to sleep.