The Good, the Bad, and the Insane

Chapter Two: Back In the Saddle Again

"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. I suspect Achenar, but I-I shouldn't leap to conclusions. It might have been Sirrus as well. Ah, I should have known not to have left my library unchecked for so long! Well, I've removed the remaining undamaged books from my library and placed them in places of protection. You shouldn't have to use the books until I return, but...If you've forgotten the access key, remember the tower rotation. And, don't worry, Catherine, everything will be fine. I'll see you shortly. Oh, and...and erase this message after you've viewed it, just to be safe."

Six blinked as the man's face and the message he left faded away on the machine. So, this Achenar and/or Sirrus were burning books from the sounds of it. If those books were anything like the one that had brought her to this place than the man in the recording (whoever he was) was really saying that they were destroying transporters of some type. Why disguise them as books? And if they were something as important as transporters than why leave them unguarded, and out in the open? That was just begging for trouble.

This guy, probably the owner of the island, so far didn't strike Six as someone with an abundance of foresight. He only moved his transporters to safes after the majority had been destroyed. Also making the code for an important message the number of switches scattered about the island was bordering on ridiculous. Assuming the mysterious vandal hadn't killed the man, she ought to convince him to hire her to design him a knew security system. Six was thinking something along the lines of pressure plates rigged with explosives, or maybe something like the Sierra Madre's vault. It all depended on how ambitious she was feeling, and how much she could get the guy to pay her. Judging by his taste of decor he had to be the rich type.

Now with more questions than answers, Six stalked out of the room and headed back up the path for the third time. Deciding it was time she stop messing about, she headed up to what she guessed must have been the main building. She paused only briefly to consider the purpose of the poles lining the walking on the either side of a small fountain. When she had gone on the search to count the Marker Switches she had taken the time to examine them and found small displays on them that lit up by the press of a button. This whole island was proving to be one of the most bizarre places she had ever been to.

Six pushed open the door to the important looking building and cautiously poked her head inside. If the empty shelves were anything to go by then the place was the library. Most of the books were missing, just like the recording said they would be. No, not missing, burned.

"Hello?" She called as she stepped inside, her hand lingering on the knife she had hidden in her coat. "I don't mean any trouble." Her boots clacked against the polished wooden floor as she stepped into the center. No one answered, and there was no one hiding that she could see. Six checked around the ceiling, but found no cameras. It did have a pretty painting of a cloudy sky on it though. That was nice, but useless to her.

Her paranoia satisfied for the moment, she closed the front door and examined the room more thoroughly. The only two intact books in the room could wait. The library was oddly shaped with eight walls, only one of which contained a bookcase. Not much of a collection unless the owner stored more elsewhere. Paintings hung on three of walls, a fireplace on the forth, and two displays with the only books still present.

Red and blue. Unmarked, and left innocuously out in the open. Alarm bells went off in Six's head as she approached the blue book, because red only ever made her think of the Legion since Nipton. Some superstitious part of her made her avoid anything with the color like it was diseased if she had any choice in the matter.

So what were the books rigged with? Explosives? No, she discovered no wires or pressure plate after examining the book and the shelf. It wasn't the floor in front of it, she had tested it before even thinking about settling her feet there. No sensors, no hidden guns, nothing. It was just a book on a shelf.

Not entirely convinced it wasn't booby-trapped, Six place her fingertips on the edge of the cover. She took a deep breath and flipped it open before jumping as far back as she could, rolling away to get even farther. Six was back against the door in seconds ready to bash the door open again if the whole room even hinted it might start exploding.

"Sirrus? Is that you?" A distorted voice said coming from the book.

Six, feeling only a little foolish, went back to stand in front of the object. Instead of a flyby of another location like the other book there was a man inside. The view was grainy like old pre-war footage someone had managed to salvage and get playing again. She could see he was a big man, someone who could give Ulysses a run for his money, with thick dark hair. She couldn't really make out much more than that.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"Can you hear me?" If the video quality was anything to go by then there was no guarantee the audio would be in anyway reliable. What if the communication was only one way?

"...see you...Achenar...to help me...to bring...blue pages to...forever and ever...blue pages...I must have the blue pages...Bring them to me, please."

The man was clearly out of it. Whether that was only a temporary breakdown, or something more of norm for him was something Six didn't have the information to say. He mentioned Achenar, the supposed book burner, but she couldn't tell in what context.

"Can you hear me? Are you Achenar?" Six tried again, but she could only watch as the quality of the video degraded further until she could only see static with glimpses of the man between it all. She closed the book and left it where it was for the time being. Fat lot of help that was.

She scratched the back of her head as she regarded the remaining book. Six sighed, and opened it in much the same way she had opened its twin, but she didn't jump back quite so far.

"Who's...re?"

Six got closer to get into view, and behind the view screen she saw a man who had to be related to the one in the blue book. The family resemblance was too strong not to be. This one was thinner though, and appeared to be a lot less frazzled. His eyes though...they reminded her a little too strongly of Vulpes Inculta's, cold as ice. Maybe it was just the distortion.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"Can you hear me?" Six tried, hoping for better results this time.

The man shook his head, "You must help me, please...Bring me the red page...I can't...I can't see you...hear me...I need a red page, you must bring me a red page...please bring...beg of you, bring the page...Help me...I am Sirrus...Given up long ago...There is one thing I need to be rescued...You must..." His time was up. The static took over the image, and drowned out whatever else he was going to say.

She slammed the book shut, and placed her hands on her hips. Six blew an errant strand of hair out of her face as she thought. Out of pure reflex she brought up her pip-boy. Her health and vitals was still displayed, but the signal to Vault Tech had been lost. She couldn't even pick up the Mysterious Broadcast, and that said something because she could usually pick that up from anywhere else she had been. The only map available was the one the pip-boy was automatically filling in as she made progress exploring the island. Six took a moment to mark the building she was in as 'The Library' before switching to her journal to log in what she knew, and what she needed to do.

Two brothers are trapped in prisons disguised as books. One claims to be Sirrus, a man alluded to by another as a possible culprit for vandalism. The other is potentially Achenar, the other suspect. However, that has not been confirmed. They both asked for pages of the corresponding colors. Red for Sirrus. Blue for Achenar(?). Search the island for more clues.

Objectives:

Find out more about the man who left the message in the room below.

Find out more about Sirrus.

Find out more about Achenar.

Find the pages.

Find the safes containing the remaining books.

She logged out her journal, and grinned. She loved a good mystery, and this was the most exciting thing that had happened to her since the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. This was going to be fun, she could feel it.

Chapter Two End

Author's Note:

A big thank you to the Myst Wiki D'ni for the transcripts of the dialogue, they were a big help. You people deserve cookie flavors of your choice.

Thanks for reading,

Home On the Wastes