He was about to leave for the grocery store when the thin, white book fell from the dark, starry sky. Austin Keith knelt behind his aging car and picked up the strange, and surprisingly intact, text. Examination of the first pages revealed a futuristic polymer instead of paper; the words too vivid for standard ink. There were no more than twenty pages, but each scrolled as if its words were displayed on a screen. The last page, however, was the most intriguing.

"It can't be…" Austin stared at the vivid illustration occupying the top half of the page. It was as if a video had been ingrained into the thin yet strong material. The skinny, young man had seen similar books before, albeit inside of a video game. Noting the familiar, runic language the text was written in, he closed it and looked at the simple front cover. He swallowed hard as he read the single, ornate word inscribed on the plastic in plain, capitalized english:

MYST

Returning to the last page, Austin paused and took in the aerial view of Myst, the world- known as an Age- described in the book. While still a small island like he remembered, it was far more futuristic than before. The changes to the book and its Age made him hesitant, but Austin was still unable to resist its allure. After climbing into his car and locking the doors, he put his hand on the image. The book clattered to the floorboard as the young man disappeared, linking to the legendary island for real.

When he arrived on Myst, Austin was awestruck by all that he saw. The plants remained the same as he remembered, but all the man-made structures were far more high-tech. Instead of a sailing ship, a small, futuristic yacht lay sunken in the waters to his right. The formerly wooden dock was made of a strong, tinted glass with metal framework, and the cement areas were instead composed of a smooth, white polymer somewhere between plastic and concrete.

A pair of giant gears on the bluff ahead were now shiny like stainless steel, along with the railing that encircled them. The planetarium and the library next door were now made of the strange, white polymer, but the latter structure retained its stained, wooden walls inside. Just past these structures, a polymer walkway led out over the waters to a platform supporting a shiny, futuristic rocket. The spacecraft had formerly borne a dull, somewhat rustic look.

The remainder of the island was covered in a dense forest with several open pathways. Going west from the library, there was first a clearing with eight pillars composed of the white polymer. Each pillar bore a touch-screen display with a symbol displayed on it, and they all surrounded a circular, aluminum basin. The basin was filled with water and contained a miniature yacht identical to the large one at the dock. As expected, it, too, was sunk.

Past the clearing, a brick tunnel leading to several generators sat off to the right, usually lit dimly. Now, however, it was brightly illuminated and constructed of a clean, black material akin to the white polymer. A log cabin sat across the way, right in front of a giant, mechanical tree that could move up and down on its polymer base. These were the only man-made structures left unchanged.

After overcoming his state of awe, Austin thought to examine himself as well. Surprisingly, linking to Myst had done more than just bring him to another world; it had changed his being entirely. Austin was now an anthropomorphic chipmunk in the style of the 80's Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoon. As a result of the change in species, he had shrunk to 3'4" tall. However, his outfit- an orange hoodie, white shirt, khaki pants and brown sneakers- still fit perfectly,

Remembering the eventual outcome of Myst, the video game featuring the titular island, Austin proceeded forward to the marker switch where the dock met land. It was a small, black pedestal atop which sat a touch-screen panel; the display taking the place of a physical lever. Ensuring that the switch was turned on, the newfound chipmunk proceeded forward down the main path. Soon he had activated seven of the eight switches, missing only that of the clocktower.

The clocktower was a tiny, gear-shaped island of its own, separated from the main island by a three-meter stretch of water. It was controlled by two tan, circular wheels, one a foot in diameter and the other only six inches. They jutted out of a large block of the white polymer, which sat on the edge of Myst's rocky, west coast. The wheels were parallel to the surface of the block, and had the appearance of pipe valve controls. A red, square button sat beside them.

Austin remembered that the wheels controlled the time displayed on the clock, which acted as a sort of combination lock. When the right time was set and the button pressed, a set of gears would rise from the ocean and form a bridge. However, Austin did not remember what time needed to be set, so he sought out the council of the island's tower.

Entering the library, Austin activated a special painting that rotated the tower, stopping only when it faced the large gears next to the dock. These were connected to the clocktower puzzle, and housed a linking book. Next, he used another such painting that showed the library bookcase sunken into the floor to create a staircase. This caused the front doorway of the building to be blocked, while the aforementioned steps took shape.

Walking up the stairs and down the hall beyond them, Austin came to an elevator. The elevator moved only in the upward direction, but it was rumored among fans that it could be made to go down. This would, supposedly, reveal the main characters' living quarters. Unconfirmed gossip aside, Austin took the elevator up to a circular room with two ladders opposite each other.

The first ladder had a plaque with a book symbol on the wall behind it. This lead to a narrow opening through which one could see one of the four structures concealing a linking book. In this case, Austin had already pointed it at the gears, so he ignored it. Walking around to the backside of the elevator, he came to the second ladder, mounted over a plaque with a key on it. Climbing up, Austin came to a large opening that revealed a gold plaque. This was the key to the clocktower puzzle, which included a time of 2:40.

Returning to the library, Austin used the third and final painting to conceal the tunnel and reopen the doorway outside. He then made his way back to the wheels, set the time on the clocktower to 2:40, and pressed the button. Walking across the new pathway, he activated the marker switch before hurrying back to the one at the end of the dock.

Austin hesitated before deactivating the dock's marker switch, causing a panel on the front to swing open and reveal a hidden compartment. A white page from a linking book lay inside, clearly removed with a great deal of force. Relieved, Austin exhaled and retrieved the page. Next, he headed for the library, grabbing the furthest right book from the burnt volumes on the middle shelf. Inside were over 200 patterns, all squares on a grid 6 units tall and eight wide.

In the game, one would have to memorize or take a picture of the correct pattern, and then put the book back. Austin was bound by no such logic, so he merely grabbed the book and brought it with him into the so-called fireplace. Sitting down inside facing the exit, he looked up to see a panel where the patterns could be entered in. A square, red button sat off to the left side.

Smiling mischievously, Austin opened the book and flipped through the singed pages to pattern 158. Copying the design on the fireplace panel with ease, he pressed the button and held still. The fireplace closed and swung around 180 degrees, now facing backwards. The door rose up, revealing a gray, linking book page and a green book. Austin paused for a moment, his gaze on the page. There were usually two, one red and one blue.

Despite the consideration that he'd missed another change, Austin shrugged it off and opened the green book. The illustration brought him face to face with another chipmunk, one wearing a pair of unmistakeable glasses. Austin froze at the sight of his secret crush, Simon Seville. The bespectacled chipmunk replaced the character of Atrus, and was surprised to see an unknown face on Myst island.

"Who the devil are you?" he questioned, shocked, "Don't come here to D'ni, not yet!" Before the young man could continue, Austin spoke up.

"I have the missing page of your linking book," he announced. Simon's eyes widened.

"Then I assume you haven't fallen for the lies my brother and his girlfriend no doubt told you," he surmised. Austin shook his head.

"I haven't even met them; I just grabbed the page and headed straight here," he explained. Simon raised an eyebrow.

"How long did it take you?" The chipmunk genius was quick to stop himself. "Never mind; that's not important. Come to D'ni, we'll talk more here." As Simon turned his focus back to the book he was writing, Austin placed his hand on the green book and linked. Appearing in a round room with no exit, the latter chipmunk turned and walked over to the former's desk.

"The page, where is it?" Simon demanded. Austin pulled the futuristic 'paper' out and handed it over; his secret crush quickly inserting it into another Myst linking book. This magically repaired it; the link becoming usable once more. Simon placed the book in a messenger bag at his side, and then turned to face his new acquaintance. Austin noted a far more modern outfit than that of Atrus, consisting of a blue track jacket, a gray polo, khaki pants, and brown shoes.

"I believe we haven't been formally introduced," he remarked, "My name is Simon."

"Austin," came the response. The two shook hands.

"So, I suppose my story is in order..." Simon began, "My brother, Alvin, along with his girlfriend, Charlene, are trapped in the gray book on Myst island, in my library. I wrote many other books, as you no doubt saw; books that could link me to fantastic places. It's an Art I learned from my father, many years ago…"

As his crush paused for a moment, Austin let the young man's words sink in. Most of the details paralleled the story in the game, save for the sole, differently-colored prison book. In the game, there were two: one red, and one blue. Still, regardless of quantity and color, they posed little threat.

"The gray book, however, was different… I wrote that book to trap greedy explorers, but I had no idea my brother would be the one ensnared. Alvin and I, we had many journeys together; at one point I was going to teach him the Art. I gave him free reign to my books, but perhaps that was not wise…" A sigh. "I could see the greed growing in him…"

Another short pause, and quickly Austin reevaluated his conclusion. He noted that while two people were trapped within the prison book, only one, it seemed, was at fault. Could Alvin have dragged his girlfriend into such an evil plot?

"I had not told him of the gray book," Simon continued, "His imagination went wild, filled with dreams of riches and power. Of course, he did not know the book was a trap. He begged me for access, and naturally I denied him. He devised an evil plan… I had no idea to what extent his greed had progressed…"

Simon appeared somewhat distressed, the weight of past events heavy on his soul. Austin stepped around the desk and took a seat on the stone ledge beside him. Simon turned his chair to face the young man; his cheeks flushing red as their hands clasped together. His friend gave a light squeeze, no doubt trying to reassure him. Surprisingly, it worked.

"You can stop if it's too much," Austin spoke softly. Simon shook his head, continuing.

"He used my best friend, Jeanette…" he started, the name spoken in a pained voice, "Used her to lure me here, to D'ni. I couldn't return to Myst because he removed that page from my book. Now, though he is trapped and no longer a problem, Jeanette has been imprisoned on Riven, her home Age."

Austin released his crush's hand and instead wrapped his arm around the bespectacled, young man. He gave a light squeeze as he spoke.

"We can rescue her," he suggested, "It's not impossible." Simon exhaled and gave a nod.

"Once I finish my latest, and final, revision, we can," he agreed, "After this, no amount of writing will further stabilize Riven, or even delay its demise. We'll have to act quickly." Austin gave another gentle squeeze.

"We'll save her, I promise."