Your ears are popping? Did you expect anything less? Anyway, welcome to the habitat. You can have some rest here. They've got comfortable beds in the living compartment. Then, I'll take you on a tour of the labs and show you the control room. You don't want to rest? Of course, no one would even want to blink while they're onboard Atlantis II! Then, let's start the tour. Named after the ancient sunken city of Atlantis, this habitat was contructed in the year 2001, twenty four years after the first hydrothermal vent was discovered in the Galapagos Rift. Who came up with the idea? A group of students at MIT... they thought that it would be much easier to study hydrothermal vents if scientists had a permanent research facility near one of them instead of the diving expeditions conducted by manned submersibles like the Alvin. As you can see, this facility is shaped like a torus, a very good shape to withstand the high pressure outside and at the same time, facilitate good internal arrangement. The dimensions of the habitat ensure that it is roomy, but at the same time, not too structurally weak. You needn't keep looking up at the ceiling, it won't fall on you! The habitat has been designed to withstand pressures at much deeper levels of the ocean... 4500m or so. So, you're quite safe here. Materials? A titanium alloy was used for most of the hull. Yes, quite expensive, but it was just what we needed. Two floors. The lower one, the one where we are now, has the living arrangements, the kitchen, storage areas, bathrooms, and even an exercise room! We want to keep our scientists fit, you know. It's not exactly a five star hotel, but they live pretty comfortably. Not that they have much time to enjoy the luxury... they've got loads of work to do.

Hi there, Will. How's it going? Meet Will, he's one of our engineers. In charge of the most important equipment onboard... the life support equipment. The equipment that recycles the air we're breathing, recycles water, gets rid of wastes, anything that keeps you alive in this place. If something goes wrong? We've taken hundred's of precautions... oxygen tanks, backup systems of all kinds, and then there is the final and most important precaution... we go up! No, no, we don't wait for the transport vehicle to take us up. That would waste too much time in case of an emergency. I meant the whole habitat goes up! You see, this habitat is just anchored to the sea floor by a heavy weight attached to it by a cable. Cut that cable, and we're at the surface in three hours. Fantastic, isn't it? Ah, a deep sigh of relief! I should have talked to you about this earlier. Oh, so now you want to live here! Want to become an Atlantis II scientist? That's not an easy thing. I told you, the people here are very carefully chosen. Even Einsteins sometimes get rejected because of some trivial thing, like not passing the swim test! And after they get accepted, they undergo lots and lots of training. Not just in what they're going to do. No offense to you, but scientists aren't the brightest people when it comes to things outside their fields... simple common sense things like not setting their labs on fire. Yeah, lots and lots of training. Anyway, I'll give you the applicaton form when we get back to the surface. But now, let's go up to the second floor. That's where the real work gets done.

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