A few years back, I wrote about my history with Atrus. Yesterday, I went back to J’nanin, the training Age. The lunatic’s name is Saavedro, but he’s no longer in the observatory, which is mounted on the center tusk of the island.  I’ve wandered a bit, found his journal (which was missing quite a few pages, but still managed to be both horrifying and enlightening). Thanks to clues found there, I’d figured out a way in to the observatory via the back door, and viewed his taunting message to Atrus. He’d linked away, though, as soon as I’d found a way in. If I want the Book to Releeshahn, I’m going to have to play his game. I’m going to have to follow in the steps of Sirrus and Achenar, and learn what Atrus tried to teach his sons twenty years ago.

I’ve figured out how to redirect the sound to the strange plant buds near the nature Age bridge. I can get to the tusk, but not inside it. I’ve also aligned the light beams across the island to route around the broken prism, and recorded their order. That allowed me in the (mechanical, energy?) tusk, but I did not now how to arrange the pebbles. I’d seen a similar layout inside the observatory, so I headed back there.

After I found the right viewport, I arranged the angled image over its twin on the tusk as closely as I was able. I recorded the pebble positions, and then duplicated them inside the tusk. Something clicked, and a metal basket descended from above. It contained a linking Book, and was titled “Voltaic.” An energy Age, not a mechanical one, then. Too much to hope for to revisit the Mechanical Age that I linked to from Myst, it seems.

So, here I go again. Let’s hope that this lesson teaches me something about energy and balance. What was the phrase in that notebook Atrus gave me right before I left?

“Energy powers future motion.”