The New International Sealab

Roleplay Library
1

((http://theeastpacific.com/index.php?showtopic=8651))

Roughly ten years ago, nations in The East Pacific, in order to understand and study at previously unlivable depths, came together to build an International Sealab, a facility used to further education and development in the region, as well as strengthen bonds in the realm. They created labs in two locations - one in the “ring” region in the ocean, and one in the sea bordered by Infinite Loop, The Capital District, and Stromburg. This focuses on the latter sealab, which just finished construction roughly one year after the first one. Various underwater subs / diving equipment have been fashioned exclusively, donated by various nations, for the advancement of underwater exploration and discovery.

A map of the building is provided below. The building, which consists of various sections built and designed by different nations, is connected via a series of tubes (no pun intended) and, in some cases, is joined wall-to-wall. The facility is massive - larger than the first sealab - providing sufficient space for some 40-60 people to live comfortably for an extended period of time. Important points of the lab is a greenery where plants and vegetation can grow (as well as supply sufficient oxygen), and a cafeteria where all scientists may eat. Classrooms also exist for students wishing to learn more about the sea on a more personal basis, along with personal and communal labrooms. Sleeping quarters and living quarters are located in the central section and east wing. Docks for submarines are located on the west wing in addition to diving chambers capable of allowing divers to pressurize and explore the waters surrounding the facilities.

Map of the Facility

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4789/sealabii.png

Key:
A - Main room / lounge room (two stories)
B - Cafeteria
C - Conservatory
D - Submarine docks
E - Exercise room
F - Restrooms (peoples rooms have bathrooms too)
I - Infirmary
J - Diving chambers
K - Library
L - Communal labs (labs everyone uses)
P - Private Labs (designated by countries, and no, I’m not going to have it so that someone claims a private lab. Just RP it if your nation has one)
O - Observation area
R - Residencies / scientist’s quarters
S - Service closet

Smaller rooms not pictured

Here’s some pictures:


Living quarters ( R), located on the Central Section.


Inside an occupant’s living quarters ( R).

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/06/17/gal_hotel_underwater.jpg
Cafeteria / eating location ( B)


View from a gathering room ( A), overlooking the living quarters.

((OOC: The plots from the old thread automatically carry over here. If you’re new, or want to create a character or characters for the lab, feel free to do so!))

2

As Cyrus’s fingers clawed on, recording the data of the corral formations he couldn’t help but ponder on the warning of the old man.

He was clearly deranged Cyrus thought, or maybe what he said had some truth, but he was a scientist, not someone who delved in matters that he couldn’t see, or record.
As the thoughts roved around in his mind at increasing speeds Cyrus thought it was time to take a break, “One that might put my mind off the old man” he thought.

(Sorry for any grammatical errors or any other… errors)

3

Ever since Mason had taken Laura and the unusual box that seemed to have so many questions attached to it, Elana Navinsku had been depressed. To spend time down here was difficult anymore. She missed Kyle, the acquaintance she had met who she liked but could never quite make her feelings out to. He said he would be back, but she knew that was only talk to make the parting less painful. Letting her labmates down during Mason’s tirade didn’t help matters for her either.

Despite all that, she didn’t let it deter her from her work, however - the drive to obtain her PhD was just too great to pass up. One day she’d be back in her own nation again. But for the time being, she was stuck here. She had grown quite used to the grind, and was now among the lab’s longest residents. But she allowed for quiet times now and then between work, using the precious hours to muse and contemplate.

“I smell like algae,” she confessed to herself. But she was between dives, as it was close to her lunch time, so she had an excuse. Her clothes were clean, however. She liked the black sport shorts she was wearing, and the white Vekaiyun print t-shirt that spelled out something unreadable now since some of the letters had worn off. All slightly more comfortable than her diving gear.

Leaning back in her chair, she continued to watch the various sea life flourish around the vast windows of the observation room. She closed her eyes to relieve some tension and listened to the sounds around her.

4

Matfey Yevgeni Illarion exited the minisub. He had worked long and hard to get here. “Better than my predecessor. Can’t believe that he got shot by some rogue DIEIS agent. Still, I hope to do way better than him though.”

Matfey struggled with his luggage, muttering to himself about why no one was there to greet him or even offered to help him with his bags. To make matters worse, he couldn’t remember what room he was assigned. He was now lost. He struggled to keep from losing his balance, as he wandered about, eventually reaching the observation deck, forgetting that he had written down his room number on a sheet of paper that was in his pants’ pocket. He didn’t notice the vulpine vixen sitting in one of the chairs.

“Come on, where are those blasted rooms!?” He was starting to get mad, evident by his tail’s rapid movements and the fact his ears were pressed against his head.

Matfey wore a pair of short cargo pants, a blue T-shirt, and a pair of sandals. His dusty brown-colored hair was in a short ponytail. Being a lobo, he had fur which was gray with a few red streaks on his muzzle’s lower cheeks, as well as a red markings on his lower arms and legs. The tip of his tail was red as well. He also wore glasses. Unfortunately, he finally lost his balance and fell over. He cursed in Lobonese. When he fell his glasses fell off. “Dang it. Where are they?” Matfey crawled around on the floor, trying to find his glasses. “Can’t see a thing without them.” He had not noticed that his glasses had slid not far from the vixen.

5

“What was that?” Captain So’rohs asked.
“What was what?” his assistant Winters asked in return.

A loud thump echoed through their submersible. They both looked at each other in some concern.
“Are you sure that was not use simply hitting a rock?” Winters asked. So’rohs grimaced.
“No, the sonar says we are in clear waters.”
“Well, something hit us…”

There was another loud thump. This time it shook the sub, throwing the two men off their feet. So’rohs got up first.
“Well, whatever it was, it isn’t friendly. Activate the automatic distress beacon. That new fangled sealab is nearby. Hopefully they may be able to help…”

6

The Vulshainian Naval Submarine that had just dropped off the representative from Vulshain picked up the distress beacon.

“Sir, we detected a distress beacon from a minisub dead ahead.”

“Hm…Wonder what they ran into. Anyhow, send out a minisub to tow them to the Sealab.”

“Attention, crew of the minisub, this is the Vulshainian Naval Submarine Delta-Bravo. We are coming to your aid. We have sent out a minisub to tow you to the Sealab.”

The minisub came over and latched onto the Dannistaan minisub and began to tow it to the sealab. “Didn’t think I would be playing tow truck,” the captain said as he smirked.

7

There was one more loud thud that shook the submersible so violently the sub tilted on it’s side and stayed at that angle. The lights also flickered out. A few seconds passed before the dim emergency lights switched on. Captain So’rohs struggled to his feet.

“You OK Winters?” he asked his assistant. Winters nodded. Just then the radio crackled.

— Begin quote from ____

“Attention, crew of the minisub, this is the Vulshainian Naval Submarine Delta-Bravo. We are coming to your aid. We have sent out a minisub to tow you to the Sealab.”

— End quote

So’rohs sighed in relief.
“Hal’vo indeed helps us after all,” he said as he grabbed the radio handset, “This is the Dannistrian Research Submersible DSV Janice. Thank you and we appreciate your assistance.”

So’rohs replaced the handset.
“Go check on Mah’rii’ah. Haven’t heard from her since she went in the back.”
“Yes Captain.”
“And prep the escape equipment in case the Vulshan Navy rescue doesn’t work.”
“Will it work at this depth?”
“It will have to now. Go see to Mah’rii’ah first though!”
“Aye Captain!”
Winters grabbed a flashlight and scrambled through a hatch in the back of the control room to check on their third crew member.[hr]“Mah’rii’ah?” Winters asked as he shone the flashlight in the gloom. There was no answer at first.
“Winters? Over here!”
Winters crawled under a collapsed shelving unit to find a blonde haired woman sitting in the corner. Blood was dripping from her face.
“Mah’rii’ah! You OK?”
“Just about,” Mah’rii’ah answered, “I bashed my head on the rear bulkhead while trying to fix the engines. Any idea what happened?”
“No…we are being towed by someone from the Vulshan Navy to the sealab, so hopefully we’ll get some help soon.”
Winters grabbed a first aid kit from the wall and started treating Mah’rii’ah using it’s contents.
“So’rohs wants me to prep the escape gear in case it doesn’t work.”
“Ah…OK. I’ll help.”
“You sure?”
Mah’rii’ah nodded.
“OK then…if you think so…”

The two crawled over to a large cabinet and pulled out several diving suits out and started preparing several oxygen tanks…

8

Elana opened her eyes and noticed a vulpine male on the ground searching for something, clearly looking mad for some reason. She grimaced, then looked below and noticed a pair of glasses were in front of her. “Hello, is this what you’re looking for?” she asked.

9

Matfey looked up to see a vulpine vixen with his glasses. His tail wagged with joy. “Oh thank you very much.” He took the glasses from her and put them back on. “I can’t see a thing without them. Have to wear a prescription diving mask to see when I dive or swim.”

He straigtened his glasses before he thanking her. “Again thank you for finding them. My name is Matfey Yevgeni Illarion from Vulshain.” He held out his hand for her. “It is nice to meet you.”

Meanwhile the Vulshainian Naval minisub carefully towed the Dannistrian minisub to the sealab. “Alright DSV Janice, this is your stop. You folks need any help before I shove off?”

Delta-Bravo was nearby just in case any further assistance was needed.

10

“No that will be all,” Captain So’rohs replied to the Vulshian sub, “Thank you for your assistance. DSV Janice out.”

So’rohs sighed. The lights then flickered back on and the familiar hum of machinery started. So’rohs nodded. He then flicked a switch on the intercom on the front bulkhead.
“So’rohs. You managed to get the engines back up and running Winters?”
“We did captain,” Winter’s voice crackled, “Mah’rii’ah is also here and OK. We also prepped the escape gear.”
“No need for it now. The Vulshan sub has towed us over to the sealab. We will be docking with it shortly. Once there, set up the equipment and we’ll see what our private lab setup is like. I’ll see if I can arrange for another sub to arrive and help us out.”[hr]As the trio walked out the submarine docks, they looked around.
“Well, I hope they were expecting us as we are two weeks early,” So’rohs remarked as he looked around, “Who thought scanning coral would give us into so much trouble eh?”

11

“Elana Navinsku, PhD student from Vekaiyu.” She shook his hand rather quickly, having been used to non-Vekaiyun greeting customs by now. “And I understand where you’re coming from… I’m practically blind without my glasses. Hence why I can’t lose my swim mask - it’s prescription-made. But they did used to be made only by the Vekaiyun Government, however competition from private businesses has caused it and other scuba equipment to go down in price, thankfully. Still, there’s a bit of a problem with delivery.”

Her ears twitched as she heard something from another room. “Hmm, I think someone or something has docked with the lab.” She stood up from her chair. “We should probably investigate.” Her movement was hesitant, however, remembering how Mason lifted Laura away, but not before attempting to shoot some of the previous members of the lab, including herself. But she shrugged it off and walked down the hallway, making a sharp turn, then arriving at the dock. She spotted a relatively impressive sub that looked like it had been damaged slightly. Upon further investigation, she noticed three people standing near it. “Hello!” she said, attempting to sound friendly, perhaps too friendly. “Welcome to the International Sealab!”

12

Matfey was surprised. “A PhD student? Same here. I guess we can study together some while running tests,” he smiled. When Elena said that someone had arrived, he nodded and followed her. When they arrived, he also noticed the three people as well. He was a little surprised by Elena’s friendly, almost too friendly, welcome. “I guess she’s one of those easy-excited types,” he thought. “Welcome to the Sealab. I hope the trip down here wasn’t too rough,” he welcomed the strangers.

13

“Thank you,” So’rohs replied in response to the welcome, “I hope you are not too surprised at our arrival. We are actually two weeks ahead of schedule on when we are supposed to arrive.”
So’rohs put down one of the holdalls he was carrying.
“I’m Captain George So’rohs. Leader of the Dannistrian Science Delegation to this sealab. This is my research assistant Joe Winters. This is my other research assistant and technical guru Mah’rii’ah Kah’galii. We would like to speak to the administrator or whoever is in charge here as we need to notify our Government of where we are and that we might need some technical assistance with our submersible.”

14

Elana chose to ignore the comment by Matfey regarding ‘working together’ on their research. She knew the Vekaiyun government was very protective of its research, and her project was no different. To have another student work on it would put her degree in jeopardy. But, she was quick to shrug it off and observe the new arrivals from Dannistaan. She smiled and remembered they hailed from an island nation. Clearly they must have a certain appreciation for the sea. It might be worth her while to casually see what they were up to, in addition to other new faces there, but not be too nosy as to impede.

“Greetings,” she said as she bowed in the traditional Vekaiyun manner. Her English had been much improved since she first arrived at the labs some time ago. “My name is Elana Navinsku and I’m a PhD student from Vekaiyu. I’m not sure if the labs has an administrator anymore. We scientists tend to keep to ourselves anymore, it’s kind of a shame. But I believe your lab should be setup. All lab rooms are equipped with a computer with wi-fi capabilities, so you should be able to contact your government there. As for the damages to your sub…” she paused and looked around, pushing up her glasses closer to her face. “Oh. Fill out a work request form and drop it off in the mail slot over there.” She pointed to a box in the corner. “I’ve never really done that before, but that’s what they told me to do if something needed mended.”

15

Matfey wondered if she had figured out that the working together suggestion was a joke. He figured that she would want to figure out things on her own. “I’m Matfey Yevgeni Illarion, a PhD student from Vulshain. Nice to meet y’all too.”

He listend carefully to what Elena said, making mental notes. He nodded. “Seems everything in order. Oh Elena, I was wondering if you could help me find where my quarters are…since well, I’m new here, and you seem to know your way around this facility.”

16

“Thank you,” So’rohs nodded, at Elana, “I’ll see to getting a form filled ASAP,” he said as he looked at the stack of work request forms before taking one. He then signalled to Winters and Mah’rii’ah.
“Could you both go and set up our own computers in the labs and email our supervisors about what has happened?”
“Will do!” Winters and Mah’rii’ah responded in unison before running off towards the labs.

17

“Certainly,” she replied. She paused to check on the Dannistrians and wondered if they would need more help. Biting her lip slightly, she put a few fingers to the side of her head and thought. “The living quarters are down that hallway and to the right. Then follow the hallway through the observation room. Once you get into that hallway you’ll notice a few doors on your left and right. They’re numbered, so you can find your room with the corresponding number on it.”

18

“You’re are very kind, thank you,” So’rohs replied to Elena. He was about to head down the hall towards the quarters when he added, “By the way, do you happen to have any spare metal mesh around? Preferably brass but we will take any material. It was one of the materials we lost in our sub accident and we need it for an important experiment.”

19

Matfey smiled as he wagged his tail. “Thank you, Elena. I appreciate it.” Matfey ran to get his stuff from the observation deck. “Let’s see…she said to…” Matfey mumbled Elena’s instructions to get to the living quarters. “Let’s see now…Ah-ha! Here it is.” Matfey went into his room, not realizing that Elena’s room was right next to his.

20

Sarah Kina was new to the idea of an underwater lab but thought it could save humanity or some other grand macro-thought like that. Her quarters were in the farthest east room and on the north side and as she entered them for the first time she sat down on the bed, contemplating her location. There were many other people in the building and soon she would want to meet them. But for now she just sat on the bed. No one disturbed her, which was fine by her, because she soon began reading a book she had found on the bookshelf “Understanding the Psychology of Greed” She was a member of the Nation of Carondia (OOC: For RP I want my nation to be Carondia and I was wondering how to get a name change for the forums as well too) and as such was usually very curious about the nature of humanity. A four year Member of the Head Council of the Department of the Interior who was once considered for Chairman of the aforementioned nine-member council. The only strike on her record was after she has cursed at the head of a 5 member block with the the HCoDoI which eventually managed to close the national Forrest Service, near the end of her term however the motion was overridden by the Lower Chamber of Parliament and she said, "The Forrest Service is an essential part of the Department of the Interior here in Carondia. It cannot be substituted or removed. I honor the Parliament for telling this 5 Councilor group that the insanity ends now. " That was her Political history and apart from that she had worked 23 years in the Carondia National Park Service. Then the government had asked her if she was interested and she had accepted. She decided in about an hour she would go greet people in the lounge.