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Bathroom and Upstairs Landing You may be thinking to yourself, "Okay, it's a bathroom. So what?" So what, indeed!
The bathroom is a perfect example of how we try and bring the roll of a science vessel into nearly every portion of our daily lives. One of the main goals of the Chateau Nouveau project is to seamlessly integrate a more or less ordinary lifestyle with the constant possibility of scientific discovery. In many, many ways, the ship itself is an experiment. We monitor everything from the effectiveness of certain areas of the ship to our own physical and emotional states on a daily basis.
It is very important, therefore, to stay relaxed and alert! That entire wall is a saltwater tank, which is automatically filled and given the proper salt concentration from our freshwater tank upstairs, which I will show you later in the tour.
Both the saltwater and freshwater tanks are filtered quickly and thoroughly as soon as any tap on the ship is turned on, and it is the water from these large tanks that supplies the water for the bathtub, shower, toilet, and washer/dryer. Used water is broken down and then uh, jettisoned out a nozzle in the front of the ship. The bathroom and kitchen sinks supply water from a smaller tank in the cargo bay that undergoes an even more thorough filtering process to make it suitable for drinking. There is a hot water tank down there, as well.
Obviously, not ALL possible outlets receive salt water. The washer and dryer, for example, always receive fresh water. The bathtub and shower can receive either one or the other, depending on the user's preference. Personally, I enjoy a nice saltwater soak from time to time. It's therapeutic! Maximizing window space is important on a ship like this, so we removed part of this wall to make it a window, instead. When possible, we leave the door to the bathroom open so that additional light can filter into the rest of the ship.
Now, let's head out of the bathroom and go upstairs!
These are the stairs. Uhh, just in case you were wondering.
And this is the landing! This part of the ship doesn't see a lot of use during the day while we're performing experiments, but it houses our bedrooms and entertainment center, as well as our laundry facilities.
From here, you can get a nice view of the lab!
Over here is our entertainment center. Hey, it looks like Geartown Chronicles is on... that's one of my favorite shows! This coffee table was actually one of my very first woodworking projects. I'd give you the year, but that might make me sound old. This couch doesn't really match the rest of the ship too well, but it's extremely comfortable. Fresia insisted we bring it with us, and personally I'm glad we did!
The bookshelf is a little barren right now, but it will fill right up with books in the near future. We have an entire digital library that can be accessed from the TV or the ship's onboard computer, so the necessity for books isn't quite what it used to be. I have to say though, I'm a bit of a sucker for hard copies.
This is the ship's freshwater tank and aquarium, and it's a big part of our research here. Precipitation from outside drains into this tank while we are stationary or moving slowly, and water from here is filtered and used throughout the rest of the ship, as I explained while we were examining the saltwater tank in the bathroom. The fish in here are hybrid species sent to me from CGN Labs, and they are incredibly resistant to the altitude changes the Helios undergoes while traveling. They are also extremely resilient to the effects of pollution and radiation. The lab often sends me new species or hybrids to investigate, and I monitor their behavior and wellness twice a day, when I can manage. There is no need for any special aeration equipment, since the natural movements of the ship churn the water enough on their own. As you can imagine, a tank this size is incredibly heavy. We have specialized helium chambers in the sides of the tank to make up for some of this weight.
Here is our laundry room! It's nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. I tidied up this area just before the tour... there are usually clean heaps of frilly shirts and panties strewn about. Fresia's, of course, not mine. Well, that's about all there is to see up here. Next: Something catches your eye as Ted starts to wander back downstairs... > |
