That Sinking Feeling (IC, CLOSED, MT, Esquarium only)

[Luziyca]

OOC thread | IC thread | Floor plan

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July 1, 2015
Off the coast of Stagno, Lombardia
It was a humid morning. The twenty people who were chosen to participate in the Lovato I mission were prepared. For the past few months, Lovato has been constructed and furbished so to house the participants. They were chosen from a large pool of applicants, and were meant to be diverse. Many were scientists, but they wanted a few families in, so to test the effects, including one who is pregnant.

Unlike most other underwater habitats, where missions usually last for ten days, this mission is to last one year, with a major purpose being to determine whether it is possible for people to stay for a long period of time underwater, which would have significant ramifications for future space colonization and underwater colonization efforts. Thus, they want to try and make a self-sustaining community. Well, as much as they can.

A submersible vehicle would be used to transport supplies and the twenty people to the depth of twenty meters where the Lovato underwater habitat is situated, since not everyone was a diver. However, Lovato could support saturation diving, primarily to study the environment.

Thus, one by one, the residents and supplies went down by submersible to Lovato. The facility would be between air pressure right at the service, and the ambient air pressure, so the twenty volunteers had to prepare for this. But after everyone entered Lovato, the submersible left, leaving supplies and the residents at Lovato.

The Ohly family would be the first to enter and marvelled at the residence. However, the three members decided to unpack what they brought from home, at the first room from where they come in (i.e. the bedroom right beside the wet porch/science room). Stella was tired, and fell asleep in her bed.

[Gnasri]

Off the coast of Stagno, Lombardia

---

They say Gnasrians spend their entire lives on the top of the world. But now, two of them are going to spend a portion of their lives underwater.

Dorje Lobzang couldn't believe it himself. Born and raised in a nomadic family that did not have an immutable home, Dorje never expected himself to join a foreign-financed scientific project. But he remembered moving to Mkhas'pa, and having met his wife Kelsang Nyima, was met with an invitation from Luziycan scientists who are looking for a few people who are willing to live underwater for one year. Dorje and Kelsang signed up, as did a hundred other Gnasrians who were also interested. Luckily enough, the government hand-picked them to live in Lovato I.

The couple entered the submersible vehicle. This was it. They had left the land of the mountains, and not only that, were about to enter twenty meters below sea level.

Holding Dorje's hand tightly, Kelsang worriedly whispered: "Do you think we'll come out alive?"

Dorje maintained a calm smile, but clearly he was worried too. "With Lord Buddha's help, we will come out alive. These scientists are sophisticated people. I trust them in making sure everyone down there survives. If they couldn't do so, then they shouldn't have invited us." He eyed Kelsang's face. "Right?"

But Kelsang wasn't listening. She was whispering a mantra.

[Luziyca]

As soon as Dorje Lobzang and Kelsang Nyima entered in the Lovato habitat, Karin Ohly said in a Swedish accent, "Welcome to Lovato." Birger said, "I am Birger Ohly, and this handsome lady is my wife, Karin. Our daughter is sleeping right now, though."

Karin said, "I think you two are from Gnasri, ja? My husband and I come from Inleda. Pretty nice up there, but I wanted to do my work. Thus, I was very interested in participating in Lovato, and luckily, I was able to take my daughter, Stella, and my husband. He's a doctor."

[Masseau]

July 1, 2015 | Off the coast of Stagno, Lombardia

---

Carlito Espinoza entered the small, comfy 3-person bedroom. Right ahead of him was a queen-sized bed, and to his left was a bunk bed. He did not have the energy to climb the ladder onto the top bunk, even though that was the one he would've favored over the bottom bed that he was currently dilly-dallying towards. He tripped into his bed, dropping his luggage bag on the ground as he fell. He had no energy remaining to tuck himself into the plaid sheets. Instead, he turned over slightly, and proceeded to close his eyes and take a nap. Yesterday had been a long day for the tall, muscular young man.

It had all started at 4:00 AM Cahokian time on June 28th when he boarded a plane headed to Soled. The flight had some turbulence, but over it was a typical Massean Airways flight - a movie in the aisle with somewhat stale food, although some of the snacks were pretty remarkable, especially the salted pretzels. He rushed to his next flight after getting through the security checkpoint, which he felt was inefficient, even though he was an impatient young adult. He went to Kulsandia, only to miss his next flight to Scotia. Furious, he rushed into a hotel where he slept, as he forgot to schedule the next flight to Scotia, which there were only one of them per day from Kulsandia's nearest airport.

Unhappily, he waited a full day. He did not make the same mistake that he had done yesterday. The first thing he did after realizing what he had (not) done was schedule the flight on the 30th at 9 AM. He made no mistakes, as well as the pilots controlling the plane that he boarded. A quick, smooth ride was just what he needed to get to Stagno on time. From there, he boarded a flight to Gijirokastra. After being notified that he qualified to go to Luziyca, the first thing that he did was study the culture and the map of the country. He was efficient and had also memorized some basic sayings of Luziycan so that he wouldn't seem to be a complete idiot while ordering food or buying a water.

He finally made it to Stagno at 4:00 AM on July 1st. He had had no sleep the previous day, and his body was aching. However, he used all of his body's power to get where he had to be. He rode the bus around town to find his destination, as he had forgotten to look at a map of the city. He had only memorized some brief maps of Luziyca. He finally found where he was supposed to go, and at 10:35 he finally arrived in the Lovato thingy. It was clear that he was not on top of his game. That lead him to where he was right now.

[Luziyca]

Unfortunately for him, Birger Ohly stepped into Carlito's room. However, he noticed him preparing for a nap, but Birger said, "Hello, Carlito. I'm Birger Ohly, I know you're tired, so I'll let you rest." Birger Ohly would then exit the room so to let Carlito nap.

He and Karin headed to the dining room/kitchen, and marvelled at how it seemed quite modern. It felt cozy, and seemed very much like home... except it is underwater, and it would be very crowded with the twenty residents who would be residing for a year at Lovato. Now, all they needed was to witness the next group of people head on board.

Karin said to Birger, "This seems just like home. I think that things will be wonderful here, don't ya think?"

[Kenzibwe]

James Corsette and Shawn Dimitry had always been known as risk-takers and still are to this day. As children, they never expected to grow up and take part in such a scientific mission.

Corsette and Dimitry started toward the door to find a very small, four person bedroom, with two bunk beds on either side. To be truthful, they were both frightened. You could see the fearful expressions in their faces. They were still two young adults, and both deeply missed their families. Corsette simply picked the first bed he lay his eyes on, while Dimitry, was eager to pick his favorite. Dimitry ran to his bed, throwing his luggage on the ground which made a loud noise that startled Corsette. Dimitry watched Corsette as he slowly put his bags by the bed he chose and walked out to meet the other participants. He sat thier thinking as he stared at the bright yellow ceiling. He thought to himself, 'Will I even get out of here alive?' He regretted applying to participate in the Lovato mission the minute he walked into his room, he didn't want to live underwater a whole entire year. He was disrupted when Corsette came back into the room to tell him to come meet the fellow particants, he thought to himself that he might as well since he was going to be confined with them for a year.

They walked out into the dining/kitchen room. "Hey Shawn, nice to meet you, my name is Birger and this is my wife, Karin. We have been talking to James and he has told us a lot about him and yourself." Shawn observered them. He felt intimidated, for he was just short and thin man.

"Hi, nice to meet you too", Shawn replied in a low tone. He glanced over the room to notice that another bedroom door was closed.

"Is someone sleeping in there?" Shawn questioned. "Yeah, that's Carlito Espinoza, from Masseau, he seems very tired," Karin replied, "You should probably let him sleep. Also the two Gnasrian fellows just left to unpack in there bedrooms, they shouldn't be but just a minute."

Both Corsette and Dimitry wondered how fast the time here in Lovato would go by. Would they enjoy it, or would they hate it? They just could not stop thinking.

[Luziyca]

Just as that was all said and done, Stella Ohly would wake up. She would yawn, before standing up and walking towards her parents. Stella would cry out "Mamma?" (Mommy?)

"Vad är det, Stella?" Karin said. "What is it?"
"I wanna go home," Stella responded.
"This is our new home. We will be back to our old home in a year," Karin stated. "You will have a lot of people to play with. I think there may be a friend of yours coming on board."
"Melissa?" she asked. Melissa was her best friend from her hometown in Jerusalem, where they were living prior to them being accepted for the Lovato I mission.
"Nej," Karin replied. "Det är inte henne."
"Vem?" Stella would ask. (Then who?)
Karin sighed. "There is a little boy from Vestmark. I think he's the son of two fathers, and I believe that his name is Olaf or Olev, or something like that. Anyways, I think he may become your friend for your time here, though from time to time, you can talk to Melissa."
Stella smiled. She seemed glad that she would have a friend to play with for that year while they were on the Lovato. She would ask, "När kommer han att vara här?" (When will he be here?)
Karin said, "Snart min stjärna. Snart" (Soon, my star. Soon). That would make Stella pretty happy, especially if Karin called Stella by that nickname...

[Soled]

Dyhal and Marnia Tredse had prepared for this day for a long time. Ever since they were choosen to represent the Soledan involvement in a scientific mission set to examine wether humans can feasibly survive for lenghty periods in outher space, they have been aware of the risks. A whole year... There is certainly a possibility that someone may experience a mental breakdown and potentially threat or harm the others. Dyhal, however, was not worried. Marnia was a highly experienced psychologist, and had worked with everything from troublesome school students to prison inmates.

They stepped into the Lovato I from the submersible. They quickly found their stuffs, and rushed into the first available room they could find. It had a large, two-person bed. They put their heavy bags, mostly full of papers and equipment belonging to Dyhal on the room's floor and took a rest.

''Aren't you gonna say hi to the others, dear?'' Marnia asks.

''I... I'm too tired right now... '' Dyhal grunts as he tightens his grip on the bed and falls asleep. After all, they just travelled across the Great [Esquarian] Ocean on plane to Gijirokastra, then another plane to Yerevan, Lombardia, and then to Stagno with a quite packed, ordinary tourist bus. Quite stressfull when you only know the most basic phrases of Luziycan, and no Lombardian.

''That's weird. You've been in so many conferences and places in the past years... But alright, alright, i'll do it for ya. Try not to actually fall asleep the entire rest of the day'' Marnia walks out of the room. She closes the door. There are a couple of other people standing there in the main room, conversating about something.

''Hello! If i may introduce myself... My name is Marnia Tredse, from Soled. I'm here with my husband Dyhal, but he needs some rest right now due to our tiresome trip here.'' The feeling of knowing that one will be spending an entire year of their life in an isolated area with 18 strangers is still a heavy burden on her mind. But being a psychologist, she is most likely the best one to handle any chaos that could occur on the base.

Dyhal sleeps away almost the entire rest of the day, only to awake at midnight. He eats a piece of toast in his backpack and goes back to sleep.

[Luziyca]

Karin said to Marnia, "Ah, hello. I am Karin Ohly, this handsome gentlemen is my husband," glancing at Birger, who chuckled, "and this adorable kid is Stella. We're participating in the program because I wanted to have a chance to study marine life up close, and also because we needed a change in scenery, right, Birger?"

"Right," he remarked.

"Anyways," Karin continued, "it will be very interesting studying the effects. Hopefully, it turns out well, because sea and space colonization may alleviate overpopulation here on Earth."

[Tuthina]

The next to emerge from the submersible vehicle was a young woman. While her interesting mixture of brown hair, hazel iris and light complexion probably suggested various possible heritage, her origin became obvious to most when her body, clothed with the distinctive T-shaped rope of the Monic population from the Home Island, the heartland of Tuthina. However, perhaps realising that loose sleeves and long dresses were not exactly the most convenient garment, especially in a crowded environment like Lovato, her clothes were heavily customised to provide a more practical choice: the long, loose sleeves were removed from shoulder onward, and her lower body was covered by a pair of trousers secured with a knot by her waist.

Once her lithe body was pushed into the habitat, the second entrant appeared from the hatch. Unlike the female, he was a rather well-built man with a deeper complexion, although his short, blonde hair and green iris was similarly strange a combination. Like her, he was dressed in a modified traditional clothes, but differed in less skin exposure and more use of geometric decorations. Like his physique suggested, he was quite strong, and pulled most of their packed belongings effortlessly with one go.

"So this is the submarine habitat." The female turned around to observe the immediate environment. It was quite simple and utilitarian, as one would expect in a place where space would be a premium.

"Apparently so." The man nodded in agreement, as he extended his hand to hold hers, leading her towards the main faculty of Lovato.

[Luziyca]

Karin said to the two Tuthinans, "Greetings. My name is Karin. This here is my wonderful husband, Birger, and this adorable little girl is Stella." She then told Stella, "say hi!"

"Hi!" Stella said.
"Hello, Stella," Birger responded. "Yeah, I'm Birger. Choose your rooms, but don't choose the ones with the cribs or toddler beds in it. Those are for families."

Karin took a look at a list: she saw the two Gnasrians, a Massean, two Kenzibweans, two Soledans, and two Tuthinans. She mentally added them together: there were nine people down there. Add her own family, and there were twelve people on the Lovato.

[Gibberan]

Ten Meters Below Sea Level; July 1st 2015

Inside, the two passengers could hear the dull rumble of the water outside against the submersible's steel exterior, as it descended slowly towards the sea floor. Other than this, there was silence inside. Margaret Wilson fidgeted quietly with her hands, as her husband Barry, quietly scrolled through the scientific journal he held close to his face. Both of them had been handpicked by the government; they, a bankrupt scientist and a schoolteacher, were representing their homeland on an international stage. That only added to the pressure they both felt on their shoulders.

Margaret ("Meg") abruptly reached for her bag. Opening her wallet, she looked through pictures of their wedding, their shared hometown of Tidsmouth, and a picture of them hiking the snowy Titanisch Mountains in Sheffield during their honeymoon. She laughed to herself internally; Boy, are we out of the mountains now, she thought. Out of the wallet also fell a rumpled postcard reading SALUTI da STAGNO, LOMBARDIA. This caught Barry's eye, and he put down the journal (the theories were garbage, anyway). He reminisced that they had got it when they arrived in the city after touring the sights of Luziyca; it was going to be sent to a colleague in Cloverton but their busy schedule had meant they never got to mail it. Too bad, he thought. Ah well, I'll just send him an email. And he brought the journal back up to his eyes.

There was a dull thud that broke the silence. Both of the passenger looked up. The sub's skipper turned around and faced the couple. "We're here."

In the corridor of the underwater habitat, there was a loud creak as the hatch swung open. Out of it emerged a man dressed in a brown tweed suit, and, after his, a in a white blouse with jeans, both of them with bags in their hands. They both jumped as the hatch closed shut with a bang behind them. Barry turned to his wife. "Well, this is it, I guess."

She nodded, slowly dropping her luggage. "Yes, I guess it is. This is our new home...and our new life."

[Luziyca]

Karin got up. "I will be right back, I have to greet a few more people. I hope they are the Vestmark folks," and Birger chuckled at that, while Stella smiled in delight, hoping that Olev would be here.

Sadly for Stella, though she did not know about it, they were those who were from Walminghaven.

Karin greeted them, saying, "Hello there! I am Karin Ohly, and I assume your names are Margaret and Barry? Anyways, glad to meet you." She paused and then added, "By the way, my husband and my daughter are also in here, but they're busy having a father-daughter chat."

[Gibberan]

A woman stepped out into the corridor with a friendly expression on here face. "Hello there! I am Karin Ohly, and I assume your names are Margaret and Barry? Anyways, glad to meet you."

Barry set down his luggage and stepped forwards extending a hand. "Yep, that's us, the Wilsons. Pleasure to meet you." Meg followed suit. "Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Karin. Call me Meg. You say you have a daughter? I'm a schoolteacher, so I'd be more than happy to give her some impromptu lessons if needed,her and the other children on the station. You are from Luziyca? My that's interesting isn't it, Barry?

But by this point Barry had stopped paying attention to their conversation. He placed their bags on the table and had started earnestly studying the habitat."This place isn't that bad...I'm just an oceanographer, but this is very well built, I'd say." He said, knocking on the wall. "Impressive show."

"Barry, dear, we're staying down here for a year, so I suggest you get to know everybody first before anything else." said Meg, smiling and shaking her head at Karin.

[Luziyca]

Karin said, "Ah, thanks. She's three, and her name is Stella. She's a real beauty." She paused, and said "I think there is only other child, Olev, but his family hasn't come on board yet. Hopefully very soon, because I think the more people can get here, the more interesting this will be for all of us, ja?"

"Anyways, we're from Inleda," she said. "It's the Swedish-speaking part of Luziyca, and it was nice up here, but we wanted a change in scenery. We were tired of these darn winters..." and chuckled.

Birger then stood up. "Greetings, madam and sir. I am Birger Ohly, and I'm Karin's wife. It is really well-built, and I feel confident that we will go a whole year without going stark raving mad. Besides, what could possibly go wrong here, eh?"

[Gnasri]

Only Kelsang Nyima spoke a little English and spoke. She nodded when asked if the couple was from Gnasri.

"Hello, very nice to meet you," Kelsang said. "Where do we sleep? Have you been down here?"

"Look, Kelsang, there's others coming down," remarked Dorje in Gnasrian as the other participants in the mission made their way into the habitat.

"Yes..." Kelsang replied. "At least we're not the only ones down here."

Dorje nodded. The two shared a common worry that life would be too boring underwater, since they would be deprived of all real contact with the outside world. They would be away from their friends and relatives from Gnasri, everyone they knew. The presence of people from other countries only reassured them a bit; for a year, they would be stuck with 18 other people.

Dorje didn't want to say it, but it felt like a prison sentence.

[Luziyca]

Karin replied, "Well, any bedroom except those with cribs in it. Those are for families with children. We got one of those rooms, the Vjaars will get another of those rooms. And I think the last room will go to some Kraqis. As for me, I've been underwater before, but this is my first time living there. So with anyone else, to be perfectly honest, ja?"

[Crolacia]

Marija was very tired. Flying to Luziyca was exhausting enough and now she had to begin the Lovato I mission. She wondered what people she would meet. ''I hope they're not boring'', she thought to herself. She liked meeting new people, but spending a year with them and only them would prove to be hard. She liked people. Intelligent people, that is. She had no time to spare for small talk; it was all science, science, science. She had read a lot about the Luziycan marine life whilst in Crolacia and she was excited she would get to experience it. It's why she signed up for the program, after all. But she was very tired and grumpy by the time she arrived and she had no time for trivial things. ''I need sleep'', she thought, pulling her luggagge.

And finally, she arrived at what would be her home for the coming year.

[Luziyca]

Karin greeted Marija, saying, "Greetings, madam. I am Karin Ohly..." as she found herself going on and on the same spiel... her wonderful husband and daughter, don't sleep in rooms with cribs, yadda yadda yadda. She then said, "This will be your home for a year. I hope nobody gets driven mad by this," and chuckled.

[Crolacia]

Karin greeted Marija, saying, "Greetings, madam. I am Karin Ohly..." as she found herself going on and on the same spiel... her wonderful husband and daughter, don't sleep in rooms with cribs, yadda yadda yadda. She then said, "This will be your home for a year. I hope nobody gets driven mad by this," and chuckled.

''Thank you'', Marija whispered as her eyes were closing. ''I have just two more questions: What room will I take and do you have coffee?'' She asked those questions fast because she was a bit annoyed with her host and wanted her to get out of her own way. She looked around her new home. It was well furnished and she saw some people had already arrived. ''I need coffee!'', she thought.
It was a nice day outside, if she could have used that term. She was underwater, after all. The residence was 20 metres beneath the sea surface which was nice because marine life could be explored from the comfort of the living room.

[Luziyca]

She said, "Any room you choose apart from those with cribs. I suggest going with Carlito, he's very handsome," and chuckled at that. "And yes, we have coffee. Made in Kofeiya, too."

[Soled]

Dyhal Tredse gruntled, and stood up from the bed. He wondered what the time was. Unfortunately, he had forgot to change the time on his phone from when he left Soled.

He went out of the room and quickly located Marnia.

''Good gracious'' Marnia uttered. ''Did you really bring your own diving suit all the way here?'' She continued.

''Yeah. I can't feel comfortable in anything but my own diving suit, y'know'' Dyhal chuckled.

He also saw several other residents at Lovato; the only other people he would, hopefully, see for the next year.

''Hi, everyone... I'm Dyhal Tredse from Soled, and nice to meet you. I am Marnia's husband.'' He says to them. He quickly goes into his and Marnia's room again, and comes out again with a large, dark-blue diving suit, fully equipped with flippers, breathing tanks, etc.

''I'm hoping i'll get to use this soon... I'm a professional diver, and normally i work for the Alto-Soledstad Marinobiology Research Centre, the largest in Soled, and probably the largest one in North Conitia too. I can't wait to see some western Esquarian maritime wildlife with my own eyes!'' Dyhal stalks talking more loudly to everyone in the main room.

''Yes, yes, dear, you're a quite know man... Over there. But that can wait a little for now.'' Marnia responds.

''Anyway, do you have tea? I don't drink coffee.'' Marnia says, as she turns over to Karin Ohly.

[Kraq]

Abu al-Abrash sat beside his wife as the submersible vehicle descended deeper and deeper into the Great Esquarian Ocean, picking up and throwing vast amounts of dust into the stale, musky air. Though the two sat a mere few inches from each other, their expressions and body language couldn't be more far apart. Malileh stood mute in disbelief, her full attention devoted toward a letter, which she stared at blankly as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. Abu looked at her incredulously, his eyes seething in anger; how dare she ruin the day he had been working towards for the last 5 months.

Abu al-Abrash is a short, squat, proud man with a rapidly receding hairline and a hard nosed looked about him. Abu was born to a affluent Sunni family in Ragobad late 1968; the only child his parents would ever have. For most Abu's life, his family's riches brought him everything he could ever asked for - as long as he got good grades and got into a good University - finishing school with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering. With his parents connections, he easily found several jobs for a number of large Luziycan corporations, before finally settling down in Kraq with a comfortable desk job at Karshev's Kraq branch headquarters in Ragobad. During his time in Kraq, Abu lived the life many would only dream of; a wife half his age, a fleet of flashy cars, a massive house, and more money he could ever need...that is, until the Kraqi Civil War erupted. For the past four years, Abu had watched his fleets of cars, houses, and money disappear as the war consumed and destroyed everything in it's path. Since the closing of the last of Karshev's stores in Kraq, Abu and his wife and spent the past 5 months living in a tiny, dusty apartment in a Kraqtown in Bethlehem. After months of living of money his parents lent him, Abu was accepted to represent Kraq Lovato project.

To Abu left, sat the blonde haired, blue eyed, submissive Malileh; her glassy eyes shimmering, like drops of blood, in the poorly lit submersible vehicle. Malileh childhood was nothing like her husband's; born to a extremely poor, ethnically mixed family, living a slum in al-Dahmani district. As a little girl, she spent her time either at school or helping her mother build necklaces, which her mother and older sisters would sell to tourists. At 18, Malileh entered a forced marriage with Abu. Since then, Malileh life become completely miserable; suffering heavily from Abu's emotional, and sometimes physical, abuse.

The monotonous rumble from the rushing water outside the submersible vehicle, came to a abrupt end with a sudden thud.

"We're here." said the sub's captain, breaking the deafening silence which had descended over the sub. Abu turned to his wife, extending his fat, stubby hand out so it touched the opposite cold, steel, interior wall.

"You better don't screw this up woman." said Abu through gritted teeth, casting nervous glances at the sub's skipper. "I've worked too hard to get to this point, only for you to screw everything up at the very end."

Malileh nodded passively, and Abu removed his hand from the wall, pressing it painfully on Malileh's leg as he clambered out of the submersible vehicle and into Lovato I. Moments later, Malileh climbed out of the sub and entered Lovato; closing the hatch behind her.

[Crolacia]

She said, "Any room you choose apart from those with cribs. I suggest going with Carlito, he's very handsome," and chuckled at that. "And yes, we have coffee. Made in Kofeiya, too."

''Alright'', Marija said. ''I'm not looking for a sex affair here and this person is so horny'', she thought. She didn't really care which room she was in as long as she could sleep in a bed. ''Thank you!'', she said warmly, though she was taken aback a bit by her host implying Marija would have intercourse with Carlito. At last, she got into the room and saw someone sleeping on a bunk bed. Lower bed. ''That must be Carlito'', she thought and got up the bunk bed after changing her clothes. She was glad that she had finally arrived here and was looking forward to meeting new people and researhing marine life. And she finally got to sleep.

[Luziyca]

"Yes, Dylan," Karin said, "we got tea, should you desire that." Just as she said that, the two Kraqis entered the habitat.

"Greetings," Birger said to Abu. "I am Birger Ohly, and I am married to Karin Ohly. We got one child: Stella Ohly. You can choose any room you wish... actually, I think I suggest the ones with the cribs in 'em, since I think your wife's pregnant, amirite?"
Birger paused for a moment and then said, "We got one of those rooms already. So yeah, welcome to the Lovato habitat!"

Stella was starting to get bored, and Karin passed her a toy. "The Vestmarkers will be here soon, my star, don't fret."