The Voltaic Age was not what I imagined it would be. Energy makes me think of lightning, of laser beams, of the plasma in the sun, and in weather like hurricanes and tornadoes.  I did not expect rusty gears, cliff faces, rocky gorges, and a deflated air skiff. There was some head-scratching upon my arrival.

Every accessible door was locked, save one. Near the river, there was a manhole that allowed access to an underground door. Opening the door allowed access to a piston that engaged… something. Nearly every piece of machinery that comprised the energy infrastructure for the Age had been disengaged, jammed, or broken. Hydroelectric, steam, and mechanical all needed to be reactivated and funneled in the correct direction. As I bent my head to the task, it was difficult to discern which repairs were set up as puzzles by Atrus for his sons and which were broken and disjointed by Saavedro.

Riding on the air skiff was far more fun than I expected. I knew it had been coming as soon as I’d determined where energy needed to flow, but it still took me off-guard. My fun turned to awe as I completed the Age, and saw more of the energy that I had originally anticipated than what the puzzles of the Age had brought me to expect. I found a second linking book back to J’nanin and breathed a sigh of accomplishment.

One of three down.

I took the sigil I’d received to the observatory and unlocked a new message from Saavedro. What he’s done is monstrous, but what has been done to him, if he’s telling the truth, is just as monstrous. Sirrus and Achenar left more damage in their wake than what they’d done to Myst and its Ages. My anger at them is impotent now, after what Atrus had done to their prison Books in the Myst library. Nothing more can be done to them, but Saavedro, if he’s not lying, is still trying. I’m not sure if he can be talked down, but having all of the facts might make a difference.

For now, on to Edanna, the nature Age. “Nature encourages mutual dependence.”

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.”