The outside of the SS Joyous Bounty wasn't much to Lexia, and to a degree, much of that had to come from the fact that she was an uplifted parrot and that things like these large cruise ships was something that she'd never noticed before. She'd learned enough as an Animalian to know that they were transport ships designed to ferry people around areas while they were on vacation and often had various amenities of them that ranged from arcades to pools and all sorts of other things for Humans to enjoy while on vacation in often tropical areas. But the SS Joyous Bounty was to serve a different purpose from that, and she watched with some fascination as the cradle lifted the massive ship into the air over one of Mieni Atoll's northern islands.
"This will do a lot for Mieni... will everyone that already lives here move here?" Lexia asked to Ran and Gaz as they stood there beside her.
"No," Gaz answered as the Great White Animalian tracked the fall of water from the underside of the hull of the ship down into the water and onto the multiple metal beams that comprised the cradle that would the ship out of the water and thus reduce the effects that would come from being in salt water, "those of us that have already been here and have either residencies in areas where the other hotels are, or in the individual homes are will continue to live there... but from time to time we get new people that move here, or at least come for more than just vacation. They will need places to live and stay, and that is what the SS. Joyous Bounty will be for."
"So, no guests will be allowed on?" Lexia asked.
"They may come on to visit, and there will be some areas that are set up that could play to more than just permanent residents," Ran spoke, "think of it like what you would see in a small town. The town will still have parks and restaurants in it, even if the town isn't big and they will be able to serve even those that don't live in the town."
"Not to mention that some of the Animalians that live here now used to be Humans," Gaz added, "they may have family that wish to visit for holidays... birthdays... weddings... and so on. So, it would be fair to allow guests entrance to the ship. The only real expectation would be that they be expected to follow the rules as though they were visiting another town."
"That's good to know," Lexia nodded, "and what do you know about the cradle and everything?"
The group watched as a series of large ladder-like stairs were actually rolled up to the sides of the ship, and they reached high enough to get above the ship's water line when it was in the sea. A lot of this was likely to provide context and updates on the development on Mieni Atoll, and highlighted the engineering that went into it.
"I'm not perfect with the engineering... and those of us on Mieni really aren't engineers," Gaz answered, "most of us were actually uplifted fish. My mate was captured off California and rushed to Lyre where he was uplifted... and he uplifted me while I was swimming on my way by Mieni and on the way to Baja California. So much of what we've been doing since then is adapting to the things Humans do and adapting them to suit Animalian needs... and that includes Mieni's government. Many think that Ran and I run the colony on our own... as outside of Orcas, there isn't much that would mess with a Great White, but a lot of the colony's operation ends up being a sort of group council on that would then relate to what we know and who the subject would impact the most. We actually had Harold look over this for its design, as it was figured his scientific expertise would be the best for it."
Lexia nodded remembering some of the first coverage on SS. Joyous Bounty, which included looking over the ship... she thought was in a major shipyard in California. From what had been reported, a lot of the ship's interior was rebuilt to better house large Animalians, and potentially those larger than many of the land megafauna Animalians. There were a few other Animalians that were there that Lexia didn't recognize, and they had what looked like backpacks and sleeping bags with them. Lexia guessed these were the new residents, though she kept her focus on Ran and Gaz as they continued their answer.
"But from what Harold was told, the cradle was purposely built to fit the underside of the ship's hull and has lots of support "legs" that can then hoist the ships weight and hold it up above water," Ran spoke, "and from what they think, the components of the cradle that are in the water will only need to be replaced every forty years."
"That's a long time..." Lexia commented.
"For things in salt water and not necessarily being on steady cleaning and so on," Gaz nodded, "yes. And the main controls for it will be on the ship's bridge. So, when the cradle needs repair or the ship's sewage tanks need to be pumped, the cradle can be lowered and the control wires dettached from the ship and then plugged into a control box here on this island. And once lowered, the cradle would actually go down low enough that the ship would float as it normally does."
"It would still sail?" Lexia asked.
"It can, and there is an assigned crew," Ran chuckled, "it'd give Mieni residents their own form of vacation as they could sail with it. And no one, not even the crew, may go into the apartments. So, it's all something that will work out in the long run."
"That'll be good," Lexia nodded, "and people will be moving in today?"
"A good many will," Gaz answered as Lexia focused her camera to follow the crew placing the ladders and securing them so that there was a clear walking path, "most of the others either haven't arrived yet, or are willing to wait until everything is functioning... and not just the grand ceremony."
"It'll make moving furniture in pretty tough," Lexia commented as she noted the larger doors that were on the wall where the stairs reached the ship.
"True," Ran commented, "but that's were waiting for the ceremonies and all to end will be easier... and in some cases, some are also waiting for the ships and planes carrying furniture and other belongings to arrive here as well. So... it's not like everything is immediately ready."
"And we can get a look at it?" Lexia wondered.
"We can look over some of the amenities that would be considered public areas on the ship," Ran answered, "but not the individual apartments."
Lexia nodded and eventually followed Ran and Gaz onto the ship, filming as she went. They found that many things were rebuilt and rearranged on the SS. Joyous Boundy. As they came into the entryway on the ship, there was an open area that had a posted information board of the ship that covered the ship's history. The cruise line it had served and how well its reputation had been before being sold for conversion into the floating apartment ship that it would now serve as at Mieni Atoll. There was also a posted sign that showed the floor map for the deck they were on. Lexia looked do it and noted that certain things were color coded. Apartments were colored greed, there were four public restrooms on that floor that were blue, and the promenade, which ran around the outside edge of the ship on that deck was in red.
"And things are mapped out so that all new residents will be able to easily find their apartments," Lexia announced before they continued on.
The group got a look at nearly everything on the ship and Lexia was able to present things fairly well. There were two promenade decks for walking, shuffleboard, or even jogging and things like that. There was an indoor pool near the center of the ship and an outdoor pool on the top deck. That one included slides and things that Lexia was told was common at water parks. On the upper decks there were also a few restaurants that fit within a few specific niches. There was a medical center near the indoor pool that actually took up a couple of decks. In some places there were also carefully spaced jungle plants that were clearly intended to carry a very park like feel to them. They were different from Mieni's native flora but were in areas where there wasn't going to be any case of the plants getting out. There were some people moving about to move in and somewhere Human, and this drew Lexia's curiosity, and to close her presentation, she had to ask a couple of questions.
"Excuse me... do you have some time to answer a question or two?" Lexia asked to one, who was fumbling with a set of keys, "I'm Lexia, with Animalia Ambassadoria."
"Oh... hello," the man said nervously.
"Are you moving here?" Lexia asked.
"Yeah... there are a fair number that are, and some might also be Horizon workers and are looking for more some of the vacation huts that were built when the colony started," the man said, "I'll actually be part of the staff at the medical facility here on the ship. And we'll actually make things better, for now, if someone is hurt and needs attention on the north side of the atoll, they won't have to be transported all the way to the south side of the atoll to get medical care."
"And you've come to help?" Lexia asked, growing more curious from the answer given.
"In a way, yeah," the man answered, "though... some of it was also to take advantage of some of the benefits that came along with it. For Horizon is also sponsoring conversions for any staff members that want to convert... and since it came with an increase in what I'll be paid, that seemed too good to be true."
"You didn't convert already?" Lexia asked.
"I want to get settled in first," the man answered, "and meet up with some of the others moving in..."
"Oh... well, hopefully things go well for you, and you have no problems," Lexia commented.
"Me too," the man actually gave a smile as he found the right keys and then waived to Lexia as she was able to move off and end her coverage there.