The Good, the Bad, and the Insane

Chapter Seven: That's Life

"Have you found the missing page?" Atrus asked when she returned to him.

"No, but I got you another Myst book." Six held it up to show him.

"Where did you get that?" He gasped, setting down the pen he had been writing with.

"Stoneship," Six answered. "I thought about it, and realized getting you a new one would be easier than finding a page that may or may not still be intact. If I Link to where you are with this in hand, will it come through too?"

"Yes! I hadn't even thought about that," He said as he rubbed his tired eyes. Atrus waved at her, "Come, come. Come on then."

2

"Ah, my friend." Atrus greeted on her arrival with a smile. They were in a once grand room made entirely of stone. It looked to her like it could have been some sort of temple, like in the old books about ancient civilizations. Now most of it was nothing more than rubble. Shame. Atrus got her attention once more by holding out his hand. "Please, give me the Linking Book." Six did as she was told just as Roxie Linked in beside her. Atrus dropped the book on his desk in shock, "What is that?" He adjusted his glasses and stood up to get a better look. "I've never seen anything quite like it before."

Six reached down to pet her dog, "Roxie here is a Mark III Cyberhound made for law enforcement support. I wouldn't have found you without her." The dog licked her fingers in response.

"Indeed? Than I owe her a debt of gratitude," Atrus said. He made as if to approach them, but then stopped and looked back down at the Myst book. His curious expression drained from him to be replaced by sorrow. He sighed and opened it, "My sons have betrayed me. I know what I must do. I shall return shortly."

"Uh, no you won't," Six blurted out quickly before he could Link away. "If you're leaving to deal with your kids than there's no reason to. I got them here." She patted the bag at her side.

"Give the books to me, please." Atrus held out his hand, "So, I can put an end to this painful chapter."

"End?" That sounded awfully final. "What about Catherine?"

Defensiveness took over his features, "What about my wife?"

"She's their mom, right? Shouldn't she get a say in what is to be done with them?" She asked.

"Their mother could be dead very soon if I do not hurry." The words alone seemed to have hurt him physically to say before he took a deep breath and covered it up. "I fear my long delay may have already had a catastrophic impact on the world in which she is being held hostage. I am fighting a foe much greater than either of my sons could imagine."

"Than stop wasting time with the bastards, and get on that rescue mission." Six planted her hands on the surface of the desk. "Unless I'm wrong, they can wait a bit. You're angry- understandably so- and that doesn't lend to clear decision making. Calm down, and really think about it before doing anything with them, but only after Catherine is safe."

Atrus collapsed back into his chair looking drained,"I just...my own sons...what they've done..."

"Exactly, Atrus. Your sons. Remember that. You are their father above all else," She told him. "But, if you have any respect for your wife at all than you'll wait for her before you make any big decisions regarding Achenar and Sirrus."

He sat there, just absorbing everything she had said. The cavern was silent except for the noises of Roxie's curious explorations. Eventually, he reached for his pen and dipped it into the inkwell.

"I need to write."

End

To be continued in the sequel...

Author's Note:

This turned out shorter than I thought it would. Really, this is just a set up for the big divergent stuff that's going to happen in the sequels. The version of Riven coming up is probably going to be a lot longer than this, but we'll see.

The decision I made not to have the Courier bother going to the remaining Ages is that there was simply no point. The purpose of the Ages was to see what the Dynamic Duo had done. She just pretty much used a Speech check to figure out the brothers in advance. I'd say you would need about seventy-five or eighty in Speech to successfully bluff Sirrus. I mean, listen, in New Vegas the Courier can convince Legate Lanius to retreat with his whole army at the the Battle of Hoover Dam.

As this series goes on, the canon divergence is going to skyrocket until the events that take place in later games aren't going to be recognizable. This is already setting up a much different story for Myst IV and V, so stay tuned to see what happens.

I'll meet you in Riven,

Home On the Wastes

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!