The Riven Expedition: The Domes

The morning air was rich with the smell of the ocean. The early sunlight shone through the gaps in the trees lighting the ground beneath me. I was still on Riven. For a brief moment, I had enjoyed the fantasy that Riven was the dream, and Earth the reality.

According to my D'ni timepiece it was the beginning of the second period of the day, somewhere between three and four am. While simplistic, using only five periods to measure time during the day left something to desire for accuracy. There were probably other methods of measuring time. It was my impression of the D'ni that if there was ever something that would need improving, they would improve it sooner rather than later.

I had barely gotten myself composed when the ground slipped out from under me. From all around me the trees shook, dropping leaves and pieces of bark. The animal noise increased tenfold, competing with the sounds of the deep rumbling. After a few seconds the rumbling began to fade away. The trees and the animals around me began to return to a sense of normalcy.

An earthquake. Atrus said Riven was unstable, but he never said anything about earthquakes. Hopefully, that one would be the last one I would encounter here.

I hid my gear behind the giant sword and stepped out onto the jungle path. In front of me, mounted on a tree stump, the giant sphere rotated along its equator, like an active child of the giant dome dominating the first island.

I scanned the overhead catwalk, following it through the jungle, down to the clearing with the idol. I still had to figure out the purpose of this monument. What was this creature supposed to be? Did the Rivenese worship it? The original clearing looked like it was occasionally tended, but I couldn't find any evidence of recent activity. If this was a idol of worship, very few people paid their respects.

I examined the two glowing lamps on the other side of the bridge. Inside I could make out a single fire marble in each. Fire marbles didn't last forever, so somebody had to be changing them when they eventually died out. And since someone changed them, that meant that this area did get attention at times.

On the top of the lamp shades was a raised tip. I touched the tip on the right hand lamp and heard a sharp click. The tip extended out of the top of the dome. Ahead of me I heard the deep rumbling of gears. I looked up and noticed that the idol was moving. The long extended mouth of the creature lowered itself to the ground, revealing a set of stairs where a tongue would be. The tip was really a hidden switch revealing a secret passage.

I stood up and cautiously approached the red wood and metal monument. Nobody had climbed out of the idol claiming to be their leader, no Rivenese women jumped out of the bushes to be offered as a sacrifice to the gods. Nothing. The clues were not going to leap out at me this time.

I climbed inside the mouth of the idol to a small room that appeared to be an elevator. At the entrance to the elevator was a long lever that closed the stairs behind me. Inside the elevator car was a lever, presumably to control the ascent, and a large blue button on a pedestal similar to the one that summoned the Mag-Lev.

I pulled the lever upwards and the elevator car rotated to the left. After turning a few degrees, the rotation stopped and the car began ascending up the trunk of the tree. It climbed about twenty feet to an opening in the trunk leading out to the overhead catwalk.

I stepped out onto the walkway and looked down to my right. Below me was the clearing with the idol. On the left side of the railing I could look out towards the vast ocean. I walked along the catwalk with my hand on the inside railing. The walkway turned inward to the jungle and forked into two paths. I followed the left path which lead to the stump with the spinning dome. The dome was identical to the one I saw yesterday. Size, color, speed, all identical. The same patterns of the slow winking eye repeated along the side of the dome.

Just past the dome was a metal staircase leading up. Down below the staircase were the steps that lead out to the guard tower. I climbed up the staircase to the top of the hill. The metal walkway continued across the canyon to a black and gold metal capsule. I wanted to examine it closer, but stepping out of the trees would put me in the view of the guard tower nearby. I decided not to risk it.

I retreated back down the steps to the fork in the catwalk and took the right turn. The catwalk made its way around a tree and ended abruptly, as if the workers ran out of metal. In the middle of the catwalk was a scope mounted on a pole meeting me at chest height. On top of the scope was a button. Underneath there was a wheel with thick spokes running through the scope letting the light pass through in quick intervals. It reminded me of a kinetiscope, like the kind I saw in the penny arcades.

I bent down and looked through the scope. The lens was pointed straight at the dome which was about fifteen feet away. When I looked through the scope I realized that it was level with the eye patterns. Because of the chopping effect with the kinetiscope wheel, I was able to see each individual eye flicker in front of my eye as if I was watching an simple cartoon animation.

As I watched the pattern dance across my eye, I noticed that one of the eyes was yellow, while the others were unpainted. I watched the images scroll across another full rotation to confirm that only one of them was painted. What was the significance of the painted image?

I took my eye away from the scope and stared directly at the dome. I pushed the button on top of the scope. I heard a clicking noise from the scope but nothing else. I looked back in the scope to see if the image changed by clicking the button. No obvious change. This time I clicked the button again while I looked through the scope. Still no change.

Next, I tried pushing the button right when the yellow image of the half-closed eye passed by. I missed it the first time, but I hit it on the next revolution. The speed of the kinescope slowed down, distorting the images of the eyes passing by. I looked up and noticed that the dome was slowing down as well, the hidden motors slowly grinding to a halt.

I peered through the scope again as the dome finally sat still. Directly through the lens I saw the single yellow image of the half-closed eye.

Suddenly the dome shifted along the x axis, flipping over as if it had lost balance. The underside of the dome was bright yellow, with the midsection of the dome cut away. In the middle of the missing section was a metal pedestal with an object sitting on it. Suddenly, a smaller dome rose from underneath, creating a protective shield around the pedestal.

A suspicion was forming in the back of my mind. I backed away from the scope and ran towards the other catwalk to the now flipped over dome. I stepped inside the middle section of the dome, to the smaller dome that covered the pedestal. Being inside the dome reminded me of those cutaway models of the Earth. I was now standing deep in the outer core of the planet, and this smaller dome protected the inner core.

On the surface of the smaller dome was a frosted circular window. Underneath the window was a row of sliders and a single button. The mechanism looked like a single row of abacus beads. I pushed my face to the window with my hands blocking the surrounding light. Through the window I could make out a flat object sitting on the metallic pedestal.

It had to be. Why protect a regular book in this elaborate dome? But where did it come from? Did Gehn manage to hide some linking books from Catherine and Atrus when they escaped Riven? Or was this Book actually made? Maybe it was made by those machines I saw on Crater Island.

I made a fist of my hand and pounded the glass with a hammering motion. No effect, aside from a sharp stinging pain in my hand. On the rack underneath the window were five sliders, which could be re-arranged into twenty-five slots along the rack. I moved the sliders in different slots and pushed the button underneath. When I pushed the button the sliders began sliding back towards the left hand side of the rack. It was probably some sort of combination lock that controlled access to the Book. Gehn made sure that not just anybody would be able to get inside that easily.

I stepped away from the dome and thought about the the idea of tacking the lock by using every possible combination. Five sliders, twenty-five possible positions, each slot could only contain one or zero sliders. No, there were too many possible combinations. I would have to find out what the exact combination was.

I left the dome and went back down the elevator in the idol. I climbed back up the path to where my gear was stashed and took what I felt I would need for exploring the area. I wanted to go back towards the building where I left off yesterday.

I ended up packing light because my shoulder was still sore from the mine cart ride. I didn't think the cart was the safest way to travel to the Crater Island, so I opted to go back to the first island and make my way across the long bridge I crossed yesterday.

I walked out of the jungle to the tree clearing and across the small bridge to the steps leading down. It was probably still considered early morning to the people of Riven. I didn't see anyone walking around the main path. Far below I could make out the two creatures resting on the rocks again. The rocks must be their nest. No wonder I scared them off earlier.

I decided to risk going down to the rocks again, this time at a slower pace. As I made my way halfway down the steps, the first creature lifted his head and looked around. The second creature looked up as well and scanned the area. I froze. The creatures continued sweeping their long heads left and right looking for the approaching danger. Once they were satisfied that there were no threats, they resumed their sleep on the rock.

I continued down the steps. Three more steps down and the creature cocked its head again. I froze once more, waiting for the creature to scan the area. The patterns were predictable, and I began to wonder how this creature perceived the world. Was its vision based on movement? Was it even capable of seeing?

I slowly crept up to the creature as it once again fell asleep. I was on the sand now, less than 10 feet away from the creatures. I sat down in the open staring at both of them intensely. Suddenly, the first one looked up and snorted. It scanned the area like before and then barked out. The sound was a low rasping cry as if the creature had water lodged in its throat. It cried out a second time, louder than before. It was trying to scare me away. Maybe the creature's only defense was to try and scare away intruders.

The calls finally stopped and the creature returned to its resting position across the chest of its mate. I waited for a few more minutes watching them both rest. The one on the left occasionally moved his flipper in his sleep, as if the creature was dreaming.

I turned to walk back to the path when I heard movement from the rock. I wasn't sure how, but I had somehow woken up the first of the two creatures. He was moving across the rock now, and that movement awoke the other. They both leapt off the rock and began swimming away into the Riven sea.

I left the beach and climbed the steps back to the tunnel leading to the MagLev.

I approached the other end of the tunnel cautiously. Since the MagLev was probably one of the few means of leaving this island, I figured there would be people here. But, there was nobody. The MagLev sat in its bay just as I had left it yesterday. Maybe I had arrived on the Riven weekend?

I entered the car and sat down in front of the control lever. I rotated the handle turning the MagLev around and pushed the central lever forward. The MagLev pushed itself forward along the twin rails, traveling through the air as it effortlessly lifted itself above the rocks in the twisted path back towards the first island.

The MagLev eased itself into the opposite landing bay and the door automatically opened, meeting the concrete steps below it. I stepped out of the MagLev, looking around to see if anyone was nearby.

The giant door leading to the temple was sealed, and unfortunately, I could see no obvious way of opening it. I reached out to touch the cold metal when it suddenly shifted. The pressure of my hand activated a trigger, and the door slowly began to rise up allowing me access. Was it really automated, or did someone know I was here?

I could make out a bright light from inside, coming from the far wall. I brought my hand to my face and stepped inside. I peered through my fingers to determine what was casting such a bright light.

Ahead of me was the image of a man, or the head of a man. The image was floating in the spherical cage that was empty yesterday. By Earth standards he was probably 60 plus years old. His face looked weathered and tired. I had only seen a tiny handful of the Riven populace, and only one of those I saw face to face. Whoever this man was, he didn't resemble the other Rivenese.

It had to be. The image looked down on me in an authoritative manor. If it wasn't Gehn, then I felt for sure it was the man in the stained glass images, the man who ruled over Riven. While the imposing head was over 10 feet tall, it wasn't the first time I had encountered holographic images before. Atrus had the imaging pool on Myst, and Achenar had various holographic projectors he had set up in the Ages he ruled. I thought back to the sinister face of Achenar floating above the sacrificial alter in the Channelwood Age. I knew I had nothing to fear about the image.

Then as suddenly as it had appeared, the image began to fade away. As the light levels in the room returned to normal, a sudden realization had hit me.

I ran to the corner and through the hidden door leading into the tunnel. I jumped up the stairs towards the metal door to the smaller chamber. As I flung the door open, I recalled the words of the holographic Sirrus that I had heard months ago. I hope I pushed the right button, my dear brother.

The smaller chamber was empty. The large chair in front of me was undisturbed. The cage was alerted to my presence and opened itself up to grant me access. This smaller cage was used to capture the holographic image, and project it towards the larger cage in the temple. The two monitors allowed the person in the cage to see who was outside the temple and inside as well. For those unaware, stepping into the temple and seeing the image of the giant head would probably frighten them into obedience. These people would believe their leader to be a god. It worked for Sirrus and Achenar, and it would appear that it works for the ruler of Riven as well.

But there was no god. It was all tricks through technology. The D'ni obviously knew how to create holograms at some time during their existence, either by their own work, or by learning about it from a linked Age. This leader of theirs was using these holograms to deceive his subjects. This man may be smarter than the Rivenese, but he is by no means a god.

But where was the man? If he was here, I would have seen him run down the tunnel, and there were no other exits to this room. Perhaps the projector could also play recorded images. Maybe whenever the outside door opened, a simple projection would be played, even if the man behind the projection was never there to begin with.

Wherever he was, I was pretty sure I would meet him face to face before I left Riven. That in itself was not a comforting thought. I was on a rescue mission, and I would prefer if I could go through it without confronting my enemy.

I left the smaller cavern and continued through the tunnel to the bridge. I was momentarily blinded by the sunlight reflecting from the giant dome. I entered the Hub Room and took the other exit towards the bridge leading into the dome. I had to be more careful. There was probably a guard on patrol in this island. There was one yesterday until he was attacked by the soldier. If anything there should probably be more guards to deter further attacks.

But there were no guards to be seen. On the Selentic, the Mechanical, and the other Ages I was desperately seeking human contact, yet here on Riven I was doing all I could to avoid it.

Even when I entered the giant dome, nobody was there to offer resistance. I circled the walkway to the opposite end of the dome. On the other side was the bridge leading down and across to the Crater Island. I walked across the bridge against a strong crosswind. I looked out towards the other islands in sight and saw no movement whatsoever.

I finally reached the other end and took the metal walkway towards the inside of the crater wall. Down below I saw the steam pipe assembly, the wood chipper, and the giant boiler. Everything was left just as I had remembered it yesterday. Seeing the hopper down below above the wood chipper reminded me of the pain in my arm from the mine cart trip.

Behind me was the glass building that I was locked out of. I turned back towards the metal door and tried the handle again. No luck, the door was definitely locked. I moved to the side of the door and tried to look through one of the giant glass windows. I could make out tables against the walls, and a large object in the center of the room.

The building appeared to have five sides. I could only really look through two windows. Two more were on the opposite side of the crater, and the final wall was butted up against the crater. On the fifth wall, the building and the rock were connected by a metal ventallation tube.

I walked along the walkway towards the balcony overlooking the lake. I walked past the lever switch and into the dark chamber. Directly in front of me were the steps that would lead down to another one of the blue domes, to my left was the path to the frog trap.

I continued forward, down the steps. I had seen the dome before, but I wanted to experiment with it, like the one I had experimented with back on Jungle Island.

The dome sat in the tiny cave, spinning like it was before. I have seen three domes so far, and one of them I had managed to open. I was going on the assumption that they were all identical in function. If that was so, then there must be a scope around here.

I searched the surrounding rock, and sure enough I found a small glass lens dug into the rock wall. I could hear the faint clicking of a kaleidoscope wheel. But I didn't see any way to get behind the scope.

I walked back to the open door leading up to the balcony. I closed this door shut, and found another passageway behind it. I walked into a narrow tunnel that lead to a small cavern. At the end of the cavern was the other end of the scope with the kaleidoscope wheel and the button on top.

I looked through the scope which was in line with the scrolling images of the eyes. After a second or two, the yellow image passed by. I now knew what to look for. I readied my hand on the button and watched the pattern of the symbols. As soon as the yellow eye passed by, I pushed the button. The wheel began to slow down and I heard the rumbling of the dome revolutions slowing down. The dome came to a complete stop with the yellowed image directly in front of the scope. I recorded the image in my journal.

The dome flipped up revealing its bright metal underside. I stepped away from the scope and walked into the main chamber. The dome was identical to the one on Jungle Island. The middle section was cut away, and the smaller shield with the view port protected a book underneath. It looked like it was a Linking Book, but I couldn't be sure without actually getting my hands on it.

I played with the slider bar on this one, trying one or two combinations. Neither of them worked. I would never be able to solve this by guessing.

I walked back up the stairs towards the frog trap. The fan motor above the trap was making a clicking noise. Either the motor had a fault, or maybe the blade was striking the edge of the vent.

Wait, this must be the vent that leads into the other building. It looked identical to the other vent. Maybe I could climb through it to the other side to get in the building. Only, how to I shut down the fan? There must be a power switch for it somewhere.

I left the cavern and walked back onto the path towards the building. Everything I had seen so far on Crater Island was powered by that steam cap in the middle of the lake. If I was right, the fan shouldn't be any different. I walked up to the switch and flipped it. The clicking noise from the base of the switch stopped. I walked back into the cavern and looked at the fan. I was right. It was now shut off.

Using the holding bay of the frog trap, I reached up to the vent and pulled myself up inside. I pressed my arms against the walls trying to find a surface I could cling to. Once I was fully inside the tube, I crawled forward. I could make out a downward curve in the tube ahead. After a few more feet I could look down and saw a slotted metal cover. I hit the cover with the palm of my hand and it fell open on a hinge. Below me was a worktable with a large book in the middle. I carefully slid the forward half of my body out of the vent, and once my hands were able to grip the desk, I let my legs slide out behind me.

If my shoulder was in better shape, my flip probably would have looked better. Unfortunately, I had fallen off the desk, flat onto the wooden floor. I picked myself up settled into the chair in front of the workbench. I hoped getting in here was worth the effort. I was getting tired of this island.

Text taken from Wayback Machine's snapshot dated April 10th, 2009.

Restored and updated for modern rendering by Deka Jello. See the divergences page for known differences and alterations.