The Library of Myst

Linking Theory

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This page contains my theories on how Books work, how Books link, how links work.
Note that I do not believe in any of this... but I think that if Books were possible, this is how they would work.

This page is not finished...

First, here are a few bases of my theory that you need to know:
The universe is infinitely large... no end. Therefore, there are an infinite supply of worlds waiting to be linked to.
There are infinite "Quantum Realities", each with it's own infinitely large universe.

A quick definition of quantum realities:
     Each quantum reality contains a universe almost identical to this one. Let us assume that you have to make a decision in your life with only two choices. You choose A, making this quantum reality to reflect that decision. In theory, in another quantum reality, your "quantum buddy" chooses B and then that reality reflects that choice.

Initially powering a Book enough to display an image:
     When you finish Writing an Age, there is no picture in the Gateway Image. Only a duststorm of static. (Ref: BoA P. 179-180) This signifies that the Book has not officially linked to a world yet. Once you put your hand on the Image, the Book is initially and permanently powered enough to display an image. There is also a telltale crackle of static as it powers itself for the first time, (Ref: BoA P. 180) and only occurs during the first use of the Book. All other documentented instances of someone linking just tells of a tingling sensation in the hand. (Ref: BoT P. 152, BoA P. 91)

What happens when you add phrases to the Kormahn after the initial link:
     Picture a tree, if you will, with an infinite amount of branches. sub-branches, etc. When you first complete a Book, the "tree of possibilities" starts off at the trunk. Once you link, your appearance will cause the Age to go up one of the infinite amount of branches. (Indicating different possibilities.) As long as you do not tamper with the Kormahn, the Age will stay on one branch and will not procede to a sub-branch or move back down to the trunk.

     When you first Write an Age, you tell the Book to link to a world in this quantum reality.   

     We'll say that you link to an Age in this quantum reality (a fresh Age) and not tamper with the Book for, oh, 10 years. You make alot of friends in the village of the Age. Then, you find that the Age is unstable... enough to endanger the lives of those who live there. You go and add a phrase to counteract the instability (which is not always a contradiction in the Book) and link back, fixing the problem. As you walk into the village, you find the instabilites have been fixed. One of your friends comes up to you, asking if you want to go fishing. You agree and head down to the sea.

     Some may think that since the inhabitants still know you, that you have not opened a link to another world, but have actually physically changed the world. (Or timeline, as some put it.) But if you changed the world, you would have been "playing god". And you can never play god with the Art, you can never physically change a world (or world's timeline or possibilities) with a penstroke.

     When you added the phrase to the Book, you told the Book to point to a world that reflects what is written and what has been added in the Book. When you link, the Book points you to another quantum reality that contains the world that reflects the Book. In this specific reality, your "quantum buddy" has been making the exact same choices as you have in your original reality. So your buddy has somehow been on this Age, that reflects what YOU wrote into your Book. When you link, you simply swap places with your quantum buddy, who gets seamlessly swapped into another reality with another quantum buddy and so on and continues life not knowing he's been swapped. (As there is nothing to tell the he has been swapped.) Since the buddy you replaced made the exact same choices you had made in your previous reality, his friends know you exactly as they knew him and you know them exactly as you knew the others in your own reality. (So, technically, if you do this, you will never see your old friends again. But that will not matter, as one of your quantum buddies took your place, acting exactly like you did, and you cannot tell the difference between your old friends and these friends. (In fact, this is such a subtle change, that almost all Writers forget they switch worlds.))

What happens when you remove phrases from the Kormahn after the initial link:
     Removing phrases from the Book is an extremely dangerous thing to do, as it does not expound upon a link, but destroys part of the information that the Book needs to make a link. When you erase a phrase, the Age drops a few flights in the “Great Tree of Possibilities”. But, depending on where and when the erased phrase was first written, the drop could be anywhere from a drop of one branch, clear to a drop back to the trunk, where you, in essence, start the Age over when you link back. (And you have one chance in infinity that you will go up the same “branch” as you did before.

     Example One: Let us say that you wrote a phrase into your Kormahn about 2 years ago, the phrase being the last phrase in the Book. There’s an important annual meeting going on, and you are appointed to represent a group. A few days before the meeting, you find that the phrase has caused instabilites in the understructure of the world. You link back to where the Kormahn is and quickly locate the faulty phrase. Without thinking, you cross out the phrase using the D’ni negating symbol and, without hesitating, link back to the Age to contine preparing for the meeting. You hurriedly head back to your building, having an idea to write down. Upon reaching your building, you notice that the new addition you built on 7 months ago is completely gone... leaving no traces. You flag down one of the villagers and ask what happened. The villager responds by telling you that there was never an addition. On a hunch, you ask about the annual meeting, to which you get the reply that the village has never held a meeting before and they certainly aren’t holding one now.

     When you removed the last phrase you entered 2 years ago, you told the Book to revert it’s link path back to what it was right before you added it the first time... therefore undoing everything that you’ve done in the last 2 years on the Age. (Including a few new friends you’ve made.) It is important to note that you had erased the LAST phrase of the Book. Since the addition changed the link to a sub-branch of the branch it was already on, removing the phrase told the book to go back down one flight.

     Example Two: Now let us say that you found a phrase in the Kormahn that you added quite a few years ago with any number of phrases added even after that. (It doesn’t matter how many were added afterward.) The phrase has caused severe instabilities and you immediately cross it out. Upon linking back, you find the Age totally fixed. You hurry back to your building, wanting to write an idea down and you are completely dumbfounded to find absolutely nothing standing there! You flag down one of your friends, asking what in the multiverse has happened... only to have your friend stare at you strangely, and run off toward the town center, yelling that a stranger has come!

     When you removed the phrase, you removed a phrase that was not the last phrase written into the Book. So you actually destroyed the foundation for the other phrases you entered afterward. But since those phrases weren’t erased as well, the Book had to reestablish a brand new link to a brand new world that reflected what you changed, while still containing the phrases entered after the phrase you erased was entered. In essence, the Book backed down clear to the “trunk” of the Tree of Possibility and opened a link to a world that reflected the new changes.

I’ll be adding a couple more examples later...