The International Sealab

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21

"Nice to meet you Mr. Jenõ. Lazlowia? You people I have heard of. Go by the teachings of Communism, correct? Usually I would have looked at a Communist with disgust, but there’s something about this place, such a open and welcoming space; I’m just gonna set the ideologies aside here, very pleased to meet you. I’m not really one of those ‘scientists’ either, my interest rather lies in studying the interactions and interfaces between people and the marine; my speciality is actually user interface between marine biologists and their field of research, i.e. the sea and its inhabitants.

Now, my newfound communist friend, I do beleive more people joined us. Let us walk side by side and welcome them here.

East Malaysians, Rykkovaan, I am Søren Bohr of the Democratic Republic of Tingst and this is my friend from Lazlowia Mr… Oh, perhaps you’d like to introduce yourself, I’m sorry, my bad…"

22

Samŕ relaxed and smiled when the Vekaiyun, despite running afoul of an errant piece of furniture, waved and spoke to him. The greeting had extended an implicit invitation for him to join the conversation without fear of being considered rude or uncouth. Now properly licensed to do so, Samŕ shifted his pace from a cautious shuffle to a confident stride and closed the gap between himself and the Vekaiyun. And all the while he kept watch out for other stray ottomans.

“Ah, hello there to you too!” he said with a slight but audible accent. For a moment he bumbled about vocally, seeking the appropriate words. “It’s a… um… that is to say I’m very happy to meet you.” Samŕ extended a hand to be shook and and proceeded to introduce himself. “I’m Samŕ Pembrok, but if you prefer you can just use ‘Sam’. And you’re…” He tilted his head and trailed of with a rising, questioning intonation, waiting for the Vekaiyun to fill in the blank.

But before he could receive the answer one of the other people who had been present stepped in introduced themselves. Samŕ straightened his head and turned frantically to acknowledge the others in a timely manner. “I am also very happy to meet you Mr. Bohr, and you too Mr. Oh. I’m not sure if you already heard or not, but my name is Samŕ Pembrok, use just ‘Sam’ if you want to.”

23

Laughter erupted from beyond the lounge as if a well supplied party had been taking place for quite some time. Louder and louder the laughter grew in volume as it quickly approached the lounge where the newly arriving researchers, students, etc were gathering.

“I saw it first! Hey, stop Citreina!” a voice yelled as a tall, thin, and energetic woman burst into the lounge, waving a small strange object above her head as he ran backwards, taunting an unseen person. She laughed loudly, overjoyed, as she tripped, falling backwards. The object released from her hand as she fell backwards, flipped in the air, landed on the ground, and slid across the floor until it came to a stop amid the conglomeration of new arrivals.

The fall only caused the woman to laugh louder, as she lay down, resigning to the bout of laughter that overtook her. Her long layered black hair spread around her as she lay there, dressed rather informally in a black midriff tank top and jean shorts.

Bursting forth moments behind her was a tall man, who abruptly stopped and sulked back momentarily at the sight of all the new people. He flushed bright red with embarrassment, pushing his glasses up and clearing his throat as he approached the group.

“Hello, I am Andreius, one of the more permanent residents here. Welcome to our sea lab,” he offered as he extended his hand. He was also dressed down in navy Dockers and a white polo which was left open around his neck. He looked much like the kid who had been picked on throughout school for being too smart as he awkwardly stood there trying to ease his embarrassment at the informal welcome he was giving.

Laughter again broke his introduction as the woman jumped to her feet and ran over. Her smile was contagious and radiating as her white teeth seemed to sparkle in the light. “I’m Tina, don’t mind me. Has anyone seen a small black electronic device, no bigger than my palm?” she asked as she looked around for the object she was carrying.

She watched as another woman, fox-like in appearance, stooped down to pick it up and hand it back over after examining it momentarily, a true scientist by nature, the black haired woman thought. “Thanks!” Tina responded, holding the device and inspecting it for any damage she did not seem to expect to find.

“So you are the new guys?” she asked, “you are in for quite a show. The things you see down here…but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. If you need anything around here, just let us know. So who among you are our researchers?”

24

Søren was just about to reply to Samŕ Pembrok, when the lauther of Citreina interrupted him. Amazed at the raw energy of this youngster, Bohr gasped in silence. After standing with his mouth open for two minutes, he got himself back in the game; now that he had stepped into the role of a charming and friendly person, he was aiming at playing the role to perfection.

“Well hello there, Citreina was it, and hello to you as well Andreius. So you are the one’s with the most exstensive knowledge about our future home? What can you tell us about it? I’m dying to learn it all!”

25

“It’s Tina,” she laughed with a beaming smile as she shook Søren’s hand, “Tina Modesto. I wouldn’t call myself knowledgeable about this place…but speaking about this place,” she smiled with her hands motioning to the entirety around her.

“Well, for starters, it can get very dark and cold down here, especially at night. Andreius and his team struggled for over a year perfecting the temperature control so that it would be livable without damaging the structure itself.”

Andreius uncomfortably shifted his weight, as if he were unaccustomed to taking credit for his work. He made a grimacing smile, trying to appear confident, but failing miserably as others made eye contact with him.

“The facility is large and comfortable. We cut no corners with the designing and furnishing of all the facilities. I am sure you will find everything desirable, including the bar. Goodness knows I have been enjoying that,” she laughed, trying to find which among them the fun loving ones were.

"The laboratories and their hours of operation are mostly open in the morning until mid-afternoon, but for those ambitious researchers among you who require additional time, you can receive clearance cards to access the labs at your leisure.

“We are really informal here, so just relax and enjoy your stay. We really try to enjoy our time down here…makes the long hours go much faster,” Tina gleefully responded as she seemed to jump up excitedly, her long black hair bouncing with the motion.

However, a steely voice broke through their conversation though as a sharply dressed man in a suit and straight back approached them, “A word of caution our over joyous host neglected to mention. This is not a place for those who become uncomfortable within enclosed spaces or wide open spaces. This facility will give the illusion of being enclosed at times as well as being lost amid a desolate sea. The effects of this facility forced many of our previous staff to retire early due to the development of psychosis. As a result, we are offering anyone who does not feel comfortable now with the chance to return to surface with one of our cargo subs,” the authoritative man finished his speech, the appearance of grey in his dark hair giving him the impression of a wealthy businessman.

“And this is Bubble Burster Max, as we like to call him. He is one of the leading engineers and pocket books of this project. Feel free to call him Max…I’m not sure any of us even know his name. Right Max?” Tina responded, with a nudge to the man’s ribs.

He did not flinch, nor respond, but he began to walk away from the group, speaking to them as he continued on his path, “If you need anything, Tina will be more than grateful to help you.”

Tina laughed again as she called to the man’s back “Already offered! You are a little too late Max!”

Smiling she returned to the group and plopped onto one of the couches while Andreius silently and cautiously neared the group, as if he were too uncomfortable to join them.

“Well since we have no takers on the researcher question, who came for the party?”

26

Søren Bohr felt more than a little embarrassed misunderstanding Tina’s name, and his face went red. He was sure that Max character could tell, because he gave him a disapproving look as he passed. This was way too much excitement for him right now. He felt dizzy and longed for a smoke.

He nudged Jenõ standing next to him and said quietly:

‘You a smoker comrade? How about checking out our rooms, perhaps grab a cigarette when no ones watching?’

27

“Uh…”

Samŕ turned his head rapidly side to side once. He was bewildered the pace at which things were moving forward. It was more than he could keep up with. Already he had two unfinished and Tina’s question had opened up a third. Samŕ was reluctant to spread himself so thin, but he couldn’t very well say nothing at all.

“Well,” he began cautiously. “That is to say if I may say so, you did not give us much of a chance to answer your question about researchers. That’s not to say I would disapprove of a party if there is one, but, uh, what I should say in answer to your first question is that I am one of the researchers. Or at least I believe I am. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant by it. By ‘researcher’ I mean.”

28

Yu-Seul woke up early that morning, he was very tired, and so he went for a coffee cup to the cafeteria, when he returned to his room he took his laptop and started working on one of the Shivat government projects related to the SeaLab, he loved the sea and the water, after in Shivat there was only one big water mass, the lake Yion.

After a few hours he was extremely concentrated on what he was doing, when someone knocked on his door…

29

Though the multinational residents of the station took pride in their new home, little did they know that other, more mystic forces were at work. Though they may have meant well, the intrusion of the lab had offended the God of the Seas, and great was his anger. He hitched up his chariot and golden raiment and made haste across the tides to the lab. Taking his mighty trident in hand, he smote the lab repeatedly with all his might.

Fortunately, the God of the Seas was only about half an inch tall.

30

((OOC: I believe the time of the plot has been moved to the morning))

Elana rose from a night of restless sleep. While she was more than used to spending her days under water, she had never really slept underwater before. The entire experience was exhausting. After all, when one tires, one tends to only think the worst. What if the pressure on the plexiglass panels finally give? What if Max was right about the psychosis and being unable to really gather one’s bearings? This was a relatively uncharted stretch of ocean - what if there were monsters out there resting… waiting… watching…

Elana shook her head, reaching for her glasses on the nightstand. Her world suddenly became thousands of times more clear as she blinked, the sun above only a very dull light, signaling it was probably some time in the morning. Her clock read 9:02 - late for her standards. Still, the paranoid thoughts of the night remained on her mind. She was even shaking as she changed into her typical outfit.

Suddenly, she stopped. Gazing out to the expansive sea before her, she felt a need to investigate. Even if she had to do it alone, she had to check for herself. She had to push on the plexiglass to make sure it was okay. She had to comb the sea bed to search for monsters. She had to surface, just once, just to make sure above water was still there, risking the bends and everything. But perhaps she didn’t have to go that far. After all, anything to avoid going stir-crazy.

Picking her glasses up on the bridge of her muzzle once more, she grabbed her gear and headed toward the airlock, having enough sense to close her door before she ventured onward.

31

“You always get up late…” Megan said to Vaughn as he entered the commons room without having to look up reading a PADD and drinking her some coffee.

“I’m sorry ‘queen of her internal body’ clock that enjoys to get up at the earliest hour. You’re here to collect research and I’m here to look through your research for my own research. I’ve been working in my underfunded field since people don’t think animals of the deep can live like we do just in a different environment…” he stopped, feeling she had something to say.

“Animal cognition is underfunded because look at how many animals have. We have one well documented case right here in The East Pacific. Who needs to find anymore?” Megan said without giving Vaughn even a glance. “No, I don’t want to hear about that either. I’m ready to go do some research near the lab, you can come with me.”

“I’ll come out there only if you find something: speaking some alien underwater language, living in a city, and scares you half to death,” Vaughn said as Megan got up from her seat.

“Oh I’ll let you know if I see anything like that,” she spoke as she walked by him and handed over her PADD and empty coffee cup.

He felt the echo of “thanks” in his mind

Megan smiled as she left the room and felt an unnatural breeze move her curly black hair, which she knew he was annoyed with her. Thinking, 'I’ve never been down this deep. I hope I find some good samples.

32

Søren Bohr lounged in one of the blue-green chairs in his living quarter and watched the deep sea go about its daily business; “truly amazing” he thought to himself while taking a drag of his cigarette.

In his lap he had the notes he scribbled down last night before going to bed. He studied the names on them, Orosz Jenő, an architect from Lazlowia, seemed like the strong quiet type; friendy though, despite being a communist and all. Samŕ Pembrok, national origin somewhat unknown, Rykkovaa was it? He would have that checked up later. Megan Harrison and Vaughn Morris, both from East Malaysia; Andreius, Tina and Max, worked on the compound, national origin, unknown. And then there was Elana Navinsku.

Søren closed his eyes and tried to picture her face, such exquisite beauty. Søren opened his eyes and stared into the sea, “A Vulpine, that’s crazy”, he thought to himself; Søren Bohr wasn’t quite ready to admit it to himself, but there was no doubt that Elana had stirred up emotions within him that were otherwise than purely professional. The irony of him, Søren Bohr, xenophobe par excellence, to fall in love with someone not only foreign to Tingst, but of another race as well!

It was time to get working and he started writing on a new piece of paper. On the top he wrote Marine-Biological Anthropological Study 2.0 – The International Sealab. Below the first line he wrote Subjets of Study, and then commenced in typing down all of the names of his fellow residents of the Sealab…

33

Moving out of the airlock, Elana watched her silhouette dance across the ocean floor as she swam farther away from the facilities. She hadn’t really experienced any discomfort - the pressurizing chamber ensured she wouldn’t get sick from the bends, a phenomena she studied time and time again while off the coast of Vekaiyu.

Here was where she truly shined. She wasn’t nearly as clumsy as she was on land, and she seemed to be fluid with the water, almost as if she was moving with it, or perhaps she was moving it instead of it moving around her. Aside from being confined by the amount of air left on her back, no real worries circled around her.

But there was still a chance to investigate. She finned over to the research facility and put her hands on the glass, moving them close to a seam and running a finger up and down it. She then used both hands to press onto the plexiglass, her eyes following the trail of bubbles escaping from her regulator. While this test seemed simple, it was more or less necessary to ease her fears. “See? Nothing to worry about here… I need to try to actually believe engineers when they pretty much guarantee something. I guess I can’t be an expert in everything.” She looked through the glass and noticed what she thought was people looking up, so she waved to them casually.

Turning her attention elsewhere, she swam over to the far end of the seabed, determined to explore the outer reaches of the area. Her body hit sunlight once again, showing off the high leg cuts of her wetsuit as she glided in the water, exploring a collection of coral nearby. Her bare arms grazed against one of the structures, catching her watch slightly. While the water was cold, the thin coating of fur and the torso-covering wetsuit kept her warm enough for the excursion. After all, though heavily refracted, the sun’s light still managed to reach this far down.

Minutes passed by as she explored various caves, interesting sea life, and what appeared to be a sort of cliff which led to a deeper trench. But, since she only had so much air left, she decided to save it for a later date. All in all, the scenery wasn’t threatening here - it was beautiful. No monsters. None of the concoctions of a mind with an overactive imagination. Just… sea life. Lots of it. Room for experimentation, for studying the behavior of various creatures, something she felt she was born to do.

She finally reached the airlock and, with both hands, gripped the handle. Elana grunted once she realized she couldn’t even move the handle. Something was wrong. Was there an issue with the handle? Maybe she was doing it wrong. Jerking it back and forth, it remained in the closed position. Quickly, she collected her thoughts and tried not to panic. But she needed to get in quickly - her tank was nearly out. And it wasn’t like she could swim to surface - depressurizing would take a long time and she would surely succumb to the bends. Gritting her teeth, she placed a flippered foot on the door and pulled on the handle for better leverage. Still noting. She checked her gauge. In the red. Pulling harder and harder, she knew she was wasting precious air with each motion. But there was no other choice. She finally gave up and began pounding on the door with all her might, hoping someone on the other side would hear her desperate attempts at getting back into the facilities where air was plenty and she could make a much quicker depressurization.

34

Sören wandered along the corridors of the Sealab, smoking a cigarette and inspecting the various sections of the compound. Even though it was midday - at least he though it was midday, he never wore a watch, usually navigated through time according to the position of the sun, not that easy while on the bottom of the sea - he had meet none of the other inhabitants of the Lab. Even though he really should try and find the others, he enjoyed the silence and solitude.

While passing what he thought was the airlock, the one supposed to be used by the various scientists during diving expeditions, he thought he heard a noise. Intense, yet far way, pounding incessantly; Sören looked around without being able to determine where it came from. All alone in the corridor, not another soul in sight, who could be making the noise, because it was definitely a human source to that noise; it was something organic about the rhythm of it, no machine was doing that. All of a sudden he realized – “Someone’s outside the airlock trying to get in!”

Sören started working on getting the door to the airlock open, and he quickly managed to do so; when inside there was the next obstacle, working the machinery from in there to get the door to the outside open. He took a look at all the buttons, far too many, far too many colours and signs. “Tina” he thought, “I need to get a hold of Tina”. He picked up the phone next to him and dialled Tina’s number, which he had memorized from the phone list he reviewed last night. Tina answered quickly and Sören yelled:

“I need help, someone’s trapped outside of the airlock and I can’t get it open, all these buttons! All these fucking buttons! You need to get down here, or at least talk me through it!”

35

Elana quickly finned over toward the clear section of the walls, careful not to move too far from the lock as she pounded on the walls, knowing she only had a little bit of time left, hoping someone would see her. Though her swim mask was prescription-made, her panicked state made her unable to see if anyone was really around. She pounded harder while at the same time trying to slow her breathing.

She started to cry, hating to admit to herself her fears were finally catching up to her. “Someone has to be there! Is this a joke? Or a trick?”

36

‘I’m so glad I was picked for this assignment. This place is amazing,’ Megan thought as she was returning to the lab with a few specimens she had collected nearby. She was still running scans of the area with her tricorder and noticed that someone was already at the airlock.

‘That’s odd, who would be standing outside of the airlock. I guess I’ll find out when I get there,’ she thought as she put her tricorder away and started to swim to the airlock, which was several minutes away.

37

Mysteriously appearing around the corner, as if Tina had never been asleep to begin with, Tina smiled as she approached Sören, “It is confusing at first, but after the first few times, you will catch on quickly. Here let me show you how to use this.”

Tina walked to the reinforced chambers and reknocked onto the door, indicating that someone had heard the knock and that they were about to open the doors, to prepare to enter.

“The reason why the keypads are locked is because we are of course inside the chamber and the security system is extremely sensitive. Follow me and I will show you what to do,” Tina again responded, calm and soft, but with a mischevious smile as if she were going to first help them then run off to chase someone down the hall.

Leading them outside the chamber, she pressed a button and the airtight doors sealed before them. “Once the doors are closed, you can begin to open the outer doors. The chamber and its seals need to be pressurized correctly so it will take some time before the doors actually open. You just press these buttons,” Tina pressed a code into the system, “or you can swipe your badges. They are preset to run the door codes. Once the outer doors begin to open, these doors remained locked until the chamber stabilizes and drains and then you can open these doors again. Confusing, but you will get the hang of it, trust me.”

She smiled and patted him on the back, bouncing up slightly onto the balls of her feet, her long black hair flowing around her before she bounced back down to wait for the doors to open revealing the suited figure that stood there slightly perplexed, grateful, and very much vulpine.

Tina smiled, “Welcome back from your trip! It is usually a good idea to just let someone know when you go out. You never know what’s going to happen out there,” she winked, as if she knew some hidden knowledge that was not advertised about this place. “By the way, if you need an emergent exit or enterence, you will have to call one of us. We have the door overrides for emergency purposes. There are also communication devices you can take outside with you that have a decent range. But call me anytime really…it doesn’t have to be an emergency!”

38

Elana grabbed her regulator and held it close, hoping to get the last drops of air from the tank. Her lungs burned from the lack of air as she began to lose the ability to remain buoyant in her present location, the lack of ability to keep kicking and the heavy - now empty - tank weighing her down.

Suddenly, like a gift directly from the Almighty, the great airlock finally opened, just in time. She used the remainder of her strength and swam into the small chamber as the door slammed shut and the water drained from the holding area, pressuring slowly to normal levels. Once the door was opened to the other side, she spit her regulator out and heaved in a great gasp. Her walk toward a nearby seat was anything but natural in her fins, but she managed to grasp an armrest as she twisted her body around and sat down, still catching her breath.

“Airlock… wouldn’t open…” she finally made out. Her body was completely exhausted, still recovering from the minutes of hell she endured, not to mention the workout prior from swimming around the premises. She couldn’t help to think that this was the workings of someone in the lab. While her judgment told her they were all scientists here working toward the same goal of exploration and learning, the fact that the airlock had somehow failed to work, but had to have been tested numerous times prior, made her uneasy. “It just has to be my imagination. After all, why would anyone want to harm me? What have I done beside just arrive here wanting to get a jump on checking things out? It just has to be a malfunction…”

She felt the water run off her body as she remained seated, too tired to really do anything else at this time, still catching her breath. She looked around at the people watching her as she gasped and swallowed as Tina welcomed her back to the “land” world. While she was still collecting herself, she did notice a peculiarity in her tone. “She’s so… happy. I almost died out there, and it’s almost like this happens all the time around here!”

“Please,” she said as she swallowed. “Please make sure that never happens here again. Us scientists need to focus on our research, not worry about our safety.” Her voice trailed off and softened to a whisper, afraid of making such a demand, even if it truly was a justifiable one.

39

“That is peculiar. I was not aware the chamber was not working,” Tina seemed to wonder for a moment, not dismissing Elana’s claims but rather exploring them.

“Was someone in here when you tried to get back into the building?” She looked over to Sören and back to Elana, “I was just telling Sören here,” she motioned to the man next to her, “that the airlock will not open on its own accord if someone is in the chamber. It is a built-in security protocol. If someone was in here, that may explain why you could not get in before. I can see that you are upset, but the system works fine Elana. I can assure you that; I just operated it without a problem. And unfortunately, I cannot make a promise that it will not happen again as it is a built-in security function to not allow the chamber doors to open. For the future though, take one of our communication systems with you so that we are aware of any emergencies.”

Tina bounced onto the balls of her feet again, her long black hair flowing forward as a friendly smiled worked across her face, “I am really sorry this happened though. I imagine it was quite frightful to be out there alone when the doors would not open. You probably felt abandoned or felt attacked even, but it was probably just an unintentional mistake. Everyone down here has been security screened before admittance. Afterall, the last thing we need is someone who feels they are above the law in a place where the same laws no longer govern our behaviors,” she offered with a reassuring smile, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Why don’t you two join me for a drink in my quarters? It is the least I can do for this terrifying mishap,” Tina politely offered, leading the way to her private quarters.

40

“I felt like I was going to die, actually,” Elana replied. While she didn’t suspect any form of foul play, the entire ordeal made her uneasy and a little nervous. Perhaps she did need a drink after all. It could, after all, ease her fears. She was still getting used to the whole being permanently underwater situation. “Okay, that works,” Elana replied as she removed her fins, still drying herself off. “I plan to dive later, and it is open to anyone… I found a ridge toward the south end of the lab I want to explore more. But maybe a small break would work.”

She set her fins aside and got up to follow, draping a towel over her hips to cover her leg cuts, leaving her Vekaiyun wetsuit on since she didn’t really feel like changing in front of other people. She managed to leave her tank near the airlock, though, and found where her glasses were so she wouldn’t have to look totally out of place by walking around using her swim mask to see things. “This is kind of a neat place,” she finally replied with a slight smile.