Myst

by ToneCraft

Myst--Part 1

AppleJack's vision came back into focus, looking down a dock with the ocean on her right. Directly next to the dock was a ship, but all that was above the water was the crow's nest. In front of her was a staircase leading to a pair of extremely large gears, looking worn, but still functional, even though stationery. At the base of the staircase was some form of box with a lever on top of it. To her left was a sliding door of some kind, which opened to the slightest pressure from her hoof. It opened to a dimly lit staircase, which AppleJack decided she might investigate later. For now, searching for someone who could help her was top priority.

The earth pony went straight forward. The staircase leading up to the gears branched onto a wooden path leading to the buildings in the middle of the island, which seemed to be the same that she saw in the book. Next to the path, however, was a wrinkled piece of paper. With nopony around to talk to, AppleJack thought this might be a good hint to where she was. As such, she picked up the paper and looked over the writing.

Catherine,

I've left for you a message

of utmost importance in

our fore-chamber beside

the dock. Enter the number

of Marker Switches on

this island into the imager

to retrieve the message.

Yours,

Atrus

Looking up from the letter, AppleJack saw two buildings in front of her. The closer one was constructed from marble, with a domed roof and a wooden door. In the center of the door was an ornate golden plate with an image engraved of two odd bipedal creatures. Next to the door was another box identical to the one at the base of that staircase. A "Marker Switch," if the note hinted anything about it. The far building was much larger, and seemed to be built directly into the mountain on her right. The path leading to the buildings branched off to the left and straight ahead, the former leading into the wooded part of the island, and the latter leading to some form of elevated brick path that veered off behind the large building.

"The number of marker switches..." AppleJack muttered, turning the switch in front of her, "I reckon I should figure that out. I might be able to find somepony around here."

She set down the path once more, deciding to check the buildings after she'd seen the island. Turning right onto the elevated brick path, she saw that it lead out to a large brass rocket, with one of the marker switches next to it. There was a darkened panel on the side of the rocket, which looked like a door, but wouldn't open. AppleJack pulled the lever on the marker switch. Nothing seemed to happen.

AppleJack turned back down the path and started going towards the other end of the island. The first thing she saw was eight stone pillars, four on each side of the path before it went into the forest. Right in the middle of the path was a stone basin, which had a sunken model ship inside. Next to the basin was another marker switch, which had the same result as the previous when AppleJack pulled it.

Going further down the path, AppleJack found a shed and a log cabin in the woods. Next to each of them was another marker switch, with no different result.

Finally, AppleJack reached the end of the path, finding another shore of the island. Several yards away from the tip of the island was a clock tower sticking out of the water. On the base of the tower was the last marker switch. "On the dock, by the gears, by the first building, the spaceship, the model ship, the shack, the cabin, and the clock tower. There are eight marker switches," AppleJack said to herself, turning to go back to the dock.

The door opened to the same dark stairway as before. The pony started to walk down the steps, to what looked like a pool of water with a button on the side facing the entrance. Looking around the dimly-lit room revealed a few arches sticking out of the dome-shaped stone wall. Next to the entrance was a small panel with a paper pinned to it.

SETTINGS - DIMENSIONAL IMAGER

Topographical Extrusion Test--------------40

Water Turbulent Pool-------------------------67

Marker Switch Diagram----------------------47

At the top left corner was a small button. AppleJack pressed it, and the panel opened to reveal a two-digit dial that currently displayed "67" on the wheels. There were buttons above and below each wheel, and one in the bottom right. "The number of marker switches..."

0 8

A series of beeps, first low, then high, sounded after AppleJack put in the two numbers. She went back to the "pool," which no longer showed any water, but had several small lights of some kind inside it. As she pressed the button, the image of a face appeared. The creature inside wasn't a pony. Sort of a balding monkey, with stubble around his mouth. All of his hair was grey. The creature spoke.

"Catherine, my love. I have to leave quickly, something terrible has happened. It's hard for me to believe... most of my books have been destroyed.

Catherine, it is one of our sons. I suspect Achenar, but I shouldn't leap to conclusions... I'll find him and Sirrus as well.

Oh, I should have known better than to have left my library unchecked for so long!

Well, I have removed the remaining undamaged books from the library and placed them in their places of protection. You should not 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. I'll see you shortly. Oh, and erase this message after you've viewed it just to be safe.

Author's Note:

http://www.riumplus.com/mystbook/
Found this while I was researching for the story. Thought it deserved more attention.

Comments

[POLE7645]

As a Myst fan, I'm really loving this. I hope you'll continue (beside, Applejack needs more love).