Lucas stood in the entrance way to his new home aboard the seaQuest DSV. People ran this way and that not really paying attention to him. Occasionally he got a strange look, but no one stopped to help him. Everyone around him was wearing either the black wetsuit that made up a submariner's uniform, or the blue khaki uniform that identified the science crew. He alone wore a Marlin's jersey and blue jeans. He looked around nervously. Finally, he caught the attention of a tall African American man in military uniform. "I'm commander Ford. You must be Lucas Wolenczack."
"Yes," Lucas said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Your room is in mammal engineering, just follow the signs. All your things have already been put in your room for you," he told him.
"Great, thanks," Lucas said, looking around for a sign. He found one that led to MagLev, and took that to the engineering department. He stepped off the MagLev, and found a sign directing him to his rom. He started walking. It was a bit of a hike, but he eventually found his room. He pushed open the door. There were pipes overhead, painted bright yellow. He could probably hit his had on them pretty easily if he weren't careful. He threw his carry on onto the bed, and sat down. His computer was in boxes around the room along with his clothing and the vocorder project he was working on. He hadn't thought to label everything before he packed it, so it was a crap-shoot what was where. He opened a box. It was a box of clothes, so he tossed it aside. He opened a few more boxes. He found the yellow vocorder speakers, and the monitor for his computer. He looked around. He had promised to send an email to his parents as soon as he could so they would know he arrived safely. They probably wouldn't notice the lack of an email, but he wanted to send it anyway.
Finally, a knock came on the door. "These got sent to engineering instead of mammal engineering" the officer said, handing him three more boxes. He opened them, and finally, there was his computer. He plugged it in and logged onto the wifi. He sent out an email to his parents and a few friends, and then logged off and took the vocorder tot he moon pool, which he had seen on his trip in. He plugged the vocorder in and then drummed on the side wall of the moon pool looking for a dolphin. Finally, Dr Westphalen came in, "there's no dolphin yet. The military has not thought to inform me of why," she said.
"But all my research is with dolphins," Lucas protested, as he hung up the speaker device.
"The military claims there will be a dolphin. There just isn't yet. I don't know why," she repeated. Lucas shrugged his shoulders and went back to his room to log onto the InterNex. He stayed there a few hours until his next task was to find food. He made his way back to the MagLev, where he saw a sign for the mess hall. He made his way there, and got a hamburger and fries before finding a table by himself. He watched people come and go as he ate, but no one paid attention to the kid in the corner.