The Lost Art

The Lost Art is a machinima series on YouTube, produced by the fan group Mystitech Productions, set in the Cavern in an alternate timeline.

Characters

Humans

Air Force

UNESCO

Civilians

People of the Tablet

Season one

Prologue: Passing the Torch

Released: August 7, 2016

The episode briefly sketches some of the post-D'ni history of the Cavern: its discovery by John Loftin and Elias Zandi, the attempts at reconstruction under the stewardship of the DRC, and then abandonment of the project. The episode ends in 2025 with the establishment of D'ni as a World Heritage site under the guardianship of the United Nations. Beatrice Lang and Zarek Mazerowski of UNESCO Special Projects Unit come up with a plan to protect D'ni's secret, i.e. the existence of books capable of linking to other worlds.^[1]

1: A Crackpot Idea

Released: July 2, 2017

In 2040, as Earth continues to be plagued by a series of disasters of unknown origin, the UN decides to send a small team of civilians and military support personnel to the Cavern. This team, under the leadership of Colonel Gabriel Collins, are tasked with finding anything that might help the increasingly dire situation on the surface.

2: Through the Looking Glass

Released: July 22, 2017

Following the accidental triggering of a linking book, Lapahie, Collins, Mazerowski and Jung end up in Teledahn. While working to find a way back to Earth, Alex discovers some interesting properties about the age, and Morgan and Zarek encounter an alien creature.

Meanwhile back in the Cavern, Lukas and Katja help Henry search boxes, during which Katja expresses dismay regarding some aspects of the D'ni culture.

3: D'ni Dreaming

Released: August 4, 2017

Katja and Henry continue their exploration of D'ni culture by reading all the journals in the Hall of Kings. After visiting the Great Zero, Alex persuades Gabe to send for the physicist Thomas Maxwell, believing that the GZ has potential that the DRC hadn't unlocked.

Meanwhile Lukas takes Morgan to one of the neighborhoods, where a strange artifact has a disturbing and long-lasting effect on them.

4: The Age of Writing

Released: December 8, 2017

Gabe holds a team meeting in Eder Delin, where they catch up on the progress of the mission, and Katja finally has a chance to use a linking book. Meanwhile, Zarek rehearses a presentation on the 'D'ni Art of Writing', with Lieutenant Larson as his test audience.

Exhaustion from his long trip from CERN catches up with Dr Maxwell. He falls asleep on a rooftop and succumbs to a nightmare, the content of which prompts Morgan and Lukas to take him to see the artifact they discovered.

Gabe tracks them down and berates them for their 'insane' theories. Meanwhile the discoveries of a reference book and the Teledahn descriptive book prompt Alex, Thomas and Gabe to begin experimenting with the D'ni art of writing.

5: Sorrowful Songs

Released: December 24, 2017

Morgan and Lukas follow Zarek to K'veer, where they use another linking book to explore a lead. Back on Ae'gura, Henry and Katja discover a memorial for lost explorers, which Henry is determined to get working again.

Meanwhile, in spite of their initial successes, Gabe, Alex and Thomas experience a series of writing disasters. Determined to overcome these losses, Gabe decides that the best plan is to keep going. Without telling anyone, they set off to explore another age, Kadish Tolesa, in the hope of finding something useful.

Season two

6: Pieces

Released: December 24, 2018

Beatrice Lang helps Gabe prepare for the hearing into the accident while the rest of the team try to move on after Alex's death: Katja counsels Thomas; Henry and a team of engineers examine the site of Alex's accident; and Morgan is encouraged by Lukas to support Zarek in his role of temporary leader.

Meanwhile Alex turns out to be alive, although he isn't quite sure about the intentions of the bahro who are looking after him. Episode Six also introduces several new characters to the story: Lt Holly Turner, an engineer; Major Lev, a medic; and Annie Tayrett, a mysterious figure who follows Henry's team home from Kadish Tolesa, and who finds her way to the Great Zero, where Thomas assumes she's an engineer that Henry sent to help him.^[2]

7: Labyrinths

Released: July 20, 2019

Still in the cave, Protector of the Tablet (the leader of the bahro) teaches Alex to communicate through telepathy. Several members of the team travel to Gahreesen where they discover some maintainer suits. Henry becomes exasperated by the dream team's theorising, while, back in the Cavern, Zarek is having his own dream visitations.

When they return to the Cavern the team discover Gabe in the company of Beatrice Lang. In the Great Zero, Thomas tries to explain to Annie his research ideas, only to be interrupted by Henry and Gabe, who spoil Thomas' budding romance with unexpected news about Annie's true nature.

8: Schisms

Released: November 27, 2019

Several of the team take Beatrice to see the Egg, but she dismisses the idea that there might be some kind of alien presence within the artefact. The bahro discover the extent of the damage to the linking fields and Alex meets Chief of the Elders, Protector of the Tablet's adviser.

The team in the Cavern are divided as regards what should happen to Annie. Gabe and Henry contact Martin Erb, an AI specialist back on the base. Beatrice takes a trip through a linking book with Katja and then warns Zarek that things on the surface are deteriorating. She departs with Annie, and Henry tries to bring the Colonel up-to-date with the goings on in the Cavern during his absence.

9: Reflections

Released: December 29, 2019

Protector of the Tablet (whom Alex calls Tiara) meditates on the role of her people as Guardians of the Link. After being told about their 'Great Schism', Alex starts to wonder if the bahro conflict might have been responsible for the current problems on Earth.

Also in a reflective mood, Katja approaches Zarek seeking permission to write the story about her experiences in D'ni. Thomas unlocks a room in the Great Zero that contains some intriguing equipment. At a round-table meeting in the conference room, Zarek tells the team that the bahro are rumoured to have special abilities, which then provokes Lukas to wonder why the team isn't asking the bahro for help.

10: Revelations

Released: May 30, 2020

Thomas attempts to check the Great Zero location mapping, and in the process discovers something disturbing. Meanwhile Henry has his own unusual experience when he becomes convinced that Alex has been reincarnated as a bahro.

Determined to seek help from the humans, Tiara and Chief of the Elders link with Alex back to the cavern. Zarek has another vision of Yeesha, and in concert with the appearance of Tiara and Shorty, Morgan, Zarek and Lukas simultaneously realise the truth about the alien in the Egg, a revelation that provokes Tiara and Alex into a shared hallucination.

11: Transmigrations

Released: November 7, 2020

Chief of the Elders (nicknamed 'Shorty' by Gabe) educates the team about the history and purpose of the People of the Tablet. The team discovers that Henry's bahro friend The Returned (known as 'Champ' by the humans) was once a member of the rebels, and Morgan travels to the Egg chamber to offer solace to the Queen. After reassuring the colonel that Alex is not in danger, Lev is summoned back to the surface; his replacement (Dr Vittorio Brunetti) no sooner arrives in the Cavern when he is taken to check up on Morgan.

When Thomas realises how to free the Egg, the People of the Tablet prepare for the rite of transmigration. Gabe and Zarek are encouraged by Second Attendant (a young bahro with telepathic gifts) to join in the ritual. A reluctant Alex accompanies Tiara to the Egg chamber, where she will sacrifice her body to the emerging queen. Outside in the courtyard, bahro and humans wait anxiously for news of the transmigration.

Season three

12: States of Possession

Released: June 5, 2021

13: Alternatives

Released: January 1, 2022

14: Intermezzo

Released: June 18, 2022

The Returned (mini episode)

Released: TBA

15: Seconds