Jeremy Reinold -

I closed the door and collected my thoughts.  If I was lucky I could get out of this building without running into any of the two hundred students from this morning.  I should take the back stairwell.  Doctor Foust should have plenty of time now that practice exams were finished.  That said, I don't think I could stomach another question about eigenvalues or about the real meaning behind the Schrödinger wave equation.  As far as I could tell,  it is math.  I hurried down the hallway and into the stairwell.

There were students hurrying below and out the door.  Almost free.  I caught a glimpse of a curly head of hair from above.  This was a girl who seemed to enroll merely to verify her own world view.  It doesn't matter if we're dealing with the Copenhagen interpretation or Many Worlds interpretation.  The waveform collapses, and the result is what we see.  The universe may not be deterministic, but that is far from saying that our thoughts and disposition can influence reality by virtue of their being.  Too many philosophy majors dabbling in the quantum.  I hurried down the stairs and out the door.

I got back to my apartment, grabbed a drink from the fridge, and sat at my desk.  I had my own work as well.  My paper outlining an experiment to test the many worlds interpretation stared at me.  Calling it a paper gave it too much credit.  As of yet, my plans to utilize a macroscopic quantum state and quantum erasure fall flat in the absence of a quantum computer.  So far this seems to be little more than a reiteration of David Deutch's thought experiments from 1985.

I dug through my desk in search of my notepad.  I eyed my flashing KI inside and paused.  Too many thoughts.  How many messages?  Was it David Farwell?  D'veeta?  Jessie Pollick?  How did this thing work?  Was it quantum?  It must be.  Where was the power source?  I think too much.

Many-worlds is too silly.  Too many problems, both theoretical and practical; and yet, this device could communicate across ages.  My relto could transport me to those ages.  Surely there must be a solution.  If there is, I won't find it here.  I grabbed my KI.

Glancing through is saw a bulletin from the Cavern Criers; a statement from Mister Magic; a dozen messages from D'veeta...  The list went on and on.  I opened the most recent from D'veeta.

Contact me.

I sighed.  There's no escaping the grind.  Surface or cavern, always work to be done.

I rolled over to my bookshelf and pulled down a small book with a green leather cover.  Guess I can't avoid this any more, I thought.  I opened the cover and linked.

Jeremy Reinold - Symbols

My preparations to spend an evening at the DMR began early as I linked into Ae’gura in hopes of killing some time before the show.  I began at the ferry terminal and walked up the Great Stair keeping an eye on the now abandoned Takotah II.  When I reached the second landing I found D’veetah having a very heated conversation with a ResEng.  I stopped for only a moment, but from what I overheard it seems that a few members of Pahrahtehs have not been holding to the safety regulations enforced by the few ResEngs left.

Not wanting to eavesdrop I made to hurry up the stairs and nearly collided with Jessie Pollick.  He told me he had come to investigate the abandoned Takotah II building but decided rather quickly that he’d never be able to get into the building with a ResEng on watch, not to mention D’veetah.

“What does a cultural anthropologist want with Takotah II?”  I asked as we moved away from the dispute.

“It all ties into my study on the culture of this cavern.”  He offered to show me his findings if I accompanied him back to Pahrahtehs.  I agreed.

When we reached the classroom of Pahrahtehs I could see he had been busy.  The imager and walls had been covered with chalk boards and presentation boards.  Photos of DRC members and various explorers littered the tables along with bound and unbound notes covering the events of the cavern over the last ten years.  I sifted through the notes and raised a transcript from some of the earliest days of the cavern.

“We firmly believe that this place was meant to be inhabited…. it was meant to be alive. We are here because we’ve all felt that same feeling, that same calling…”  I read the words aloud.

“Even now many more are beginning to feel that calling as well.”  He spoke the words before I could finish.  “They will come, and D’ni will live once more.”  He looked up from a pile of notes he was consolidating.  “Dr. Watson has a way with words.

“We stand on the edge of a precipice of discovery and enlightenment, and now we take the first step off the edge.”  He placed an image of the DRC members on the easel.  “it’s interesting to look at that statement and think about all the plans they had for this place.”  He drifted for a moment.  “Of course, other people had different plans.”

“So, what does all this have to do with Takotah II?”

“Panta in Takotah II.  Tied up his friends in cavern blue.”  Jessie looked up at me.  “You’ve heard it right?

“Yeah, I never understood why people felt the need to trivialize such events in rhyme.”

“It remains a cautionary tale to explorers about a recent tragedy.  The events of which seemed to revolve around something called the Triple Shell Journey.”

“Triple Shell?”

Jessie nodded.  “Journeys are typified by symbols:  The Yeesha Hand, the Shell symbol, even the door symbol in the garden ages.  Supposedly, Pantaleon kept rambling about a symbol associated with this Triple Shell Journey.”

“So you wanted to check the ‘scene of the crime’ for evidence?”

“Essentially.”  He sighed.  “It’s a long shot, but I want to be sure.”

“Symbols…” I looked at the notes scattered across the room.  “Wait a minute…”  I searched my pockets and produced the mysterious page I had been given in Ae’gura.  “Have you ever seen this symbol before?”

Jeremy Reinold - Celebrations

When I linked into the city this past Saturday, I found the cavern buzzing in anticipation for the Myst 20th anniversary.  D'veetah quickly found me on my way to the plaza and brought me up to speed.  Apparently the Grey Hats started everything off with a bang the night before as they shared their illusions in Kirel.

"Mister Magic made an appearance."  I had no idea who that was, but I continued listening as we proceeded up the stairs to the plaza.  "Oh, yes!  I almost forgot to say: You missed the Bots' birthday!"

The look on my face was undoubtedly one of confusion.  “Bots?”

“Yeah.”  D’veetah turned toward me and began fumbling with her KI.  “MagicBot and MimiBot,” she said.  My KI flashed.  “We can go meet them later.  I just sent their KI numbers for future reference.”

I shrugged off the question burning in my mind as we continued our way into the plaza.  “Oh!  One more thing!  You missed the water polo game.”

I looked at her for longer than a second before looking out at the lake.  “No!  not out there!”  She read my mind.  The game was in Ahnonay.  No one’s sure who won though.  It was pretty fun to watch.

My KI flashed again.  D'veetah was buried in her Kai again.  A look of frustration crossed her face and was gone with a brief sigh.  "I gotta go," she said.  "Something has come up at Pahrahtehs." I wished her luck and she was gone in an instant.

Its a good thing she has so much energy I thought as I turned toward the Hall of the Kings.  Out of the corner if my eye I saw a light shining through the dark behind the curtain looming over the entrance to the guild hall.  I headed up the stairs and saw a few explorers trying to climb their way into palace.

".shorah"

I looked up and saw someone I had never seen before.  Brown hair and a tattered Yeesha shirt.  “Hello,” I said.  Something was strange about this one.  The smell of the desert and a worn Yeesha shirt were not a frequent sight in the Deep.

“The passing of time brings the path to the gathered,” he said.

“I’m sorry?”

“A breach has been cut, and now the paths are joined.”  He reached into his pocket and produced a page with an unusual symbol on it.  “The giving of gifts heals the wound of the builder.”

I took the page from him.  My KI flashed.  I looked to check it.  “Listen, is there something I can do...”  I looked back up and he was gone.  I looked around.  There was no sign of my mysterious friend; if I could even call him that.

I returned to my KI.  The message came from David Farwell - a member of Pahrahtehs.  It read simply DMR 20th anniversary celebration in 10 minutes.  Be there.

Jeremy Reinold - A Change of Pace

I've had to do some serious thinking over the past few days.  Up until now I have used the cavern as an momentary escape from life on the surface but it may be time that changes.  Not that the surface life has gotten any better, or worse for that matter.  Just that there is a different sort if feeling in the Deep.  D'nipalooza was a great example of that.

After getting my job with Issac Foust I've had little time for anything short of integrals and derivatives but since the summer session has ended I may find myself in the cavern more often.  I can't remember the last time I went to a festival like D'nipalooza; or even a show for that matter.  So great to see so many in the cavern at once.  The DRC would have cringed at the number of bodies in the area.  Even a week later I can still feel the buzz about the cavern.

 When I linked in I was greated by Evelyn Sayers, or D'veetah as she likes to be called.  She sent me an invitation to her hood.  Pahrahtehs.  Looks to be a nice little community.  I found a full table of Heek players, more than a few around the fountain and around the clock.  Certainly beats my own desolate neighborhood.  Apparently more than a few of these 'explorers' have found lodging either in the hood or in Ae'gura.  It's a little strange to think about people living down here but I guess it works for them.

Before we left, D'veetah introduced me to Jessie Pollick.  He was busy creating an outline of his cavern studies in the classroom of the neighborhood but took time out of his schedule to greet me.  It seems he is an anthropologist who has been gathering data on the various groups of the cavern.  Jessie's interest is in how the cavern became a home to the explorer community.  One thing struck me as odd: why do such a study when those on the surface would never accept the presence of an ancient city in a giant cavern roughly a mile below New Mexico; much less one that was currently inhabited.  I guess I shouldn't have brought it up because he got quiet for a moment before saying that he planned on using a cover for the final report.  Something about the personal dynamics of an online community.  Regardless, his research sounds interesting.  I'll have to follow up on it soon.