The Island

Spacecraft Registry

The Island
Spacecraft Characteristics
Base Hull	Unreal Estate
Drive Type	Wavium Maneuvering Thrusters
Drive Rating	normal maximum speed approx 0.0001c, emergency 0.001c, but see Station Quirk Upwardly Mobile
Owner	Eric Zhu, Floating Island Pte Ltd, Island Real Estate Investment Trust
Flag of Record	itself
Faction	Non-Aligned. All Fen (read: customers) welcome.
Registry Number	1800-ISLAND
Launched	July 4, 2008
Purpose	Commercial Space Station, Resupply Point, Flying Mall, Lifestyle Destination
Primary Crew	Eric Zhu (Cranky Boss, President-for-Life, CEO, Captain) Dr. William "Will" Kao (Operations Chief, Medical Officer, A Real Doctor, Fantasy Fen Liaison) Matthew "Matt" West (Deputy Ops Chief, Good Idea Man, Bad Idea Man, SF Fen Liaison) Dr. Gwendolyn "Gwen" Lee (Science Officer, Life Support Control, Anime-Fangirl Liaison) Ginnette "Jin" Leung (Marketing, Corporate Relations, Non-Fen Liaison) Lin Xing (Conflict Mediator, Marketing, Everyone-Else Liaison) Thomas "Tom" Zhu (Engineer, Guy Who Refuses To Leave) Wentworth "Wen" Talbott (Fisherbot Shepherd, Zen Master) Katie Lee (Station Retail, Convention Organizer, Deputy Mascot) Ally Sinclair (Station Retail, Hospitality Services, Long-Sufferer)
Other Crew	The Fisherbots (AIs) Simon-Peter (Station AI, Accountant, Deputy Operations Chief ) Titan (Mascot, Dog, Will’s Eternal Nemesis)
Auxillary Vehicles	ISS Delphinus, ISS Octopus, Brave Legend Shakespeare, Outrigger II: The Sequel, various station-owned shuttles
Operational Status	Active

aka The Floating Island, Flying Island, Gilligan’s, other aliases

(Created by Aaron “Acyl” Choo Yilun)

The Island, located between Earth and Mars, is Fenspace's first (and some say greatest) flying shopping mall, hotel, supply and refueling point. Launched on 4 July 2008, it is the first Unreal Estate: “a chunk of land in space”. 'dane governments are still arguing about the legal implications of 'waving real estate. The Island was originally a hundred acres of Nigerian countryside with associated buildings, though it has expanded somewhat since then. Its original structures included two large warehouse complexes with extensive basements.

Its other claim to fame is being the host venue for Anticipation, the first true Fenspace Convention where the Fenspace standing constitution was ratified by the major factions. This has lead to Anticipation's nickname of "Islandcon".

The Island is a neutral commercial station, welcoming all Fen and 'dane tourists alike. While it is officially named “The Floating Island”, it is also known as “Flying Island”, “Gilligan's”, and other Fen-names.

Known Vehicle Quirks

• Bistromath: The station map indicates a small Italian bistro on level 3 of the shopping mall. Indeed, everyone who wanders near where it should be…can smell the food. But nobody has ever been able to find it.
• No Parking: The status display for Landing Bay Three always reads “Full,” no matter how many ships are in it.
• Zheng My Ride: Any automobile-type craft parked in lot 81 of Bay One will end up “totally riced” within a couple of hours. Security cameras shed no light on this mystery.
• Long Vehicle: The Floating Island is currently a port-of-registry, with many smaller vessels calling it “home” … but before that, Captain Eric insisted it was a starship. This may be true; maneuvering thrusters refuse to work unless the control room staff do a full Star Trek Bridge routine, and call it the USS Island.
• Upwardly Mobile: The Island’s only official drive system is an array of station-keeping thrusters. Rumors of more powerful engines and FTL capability are totally unsubstantiated.
• It Sucks: The big docking tube used for large space vessels only works if painted like a drinking straw.
• Stripe Line: The Island has rails laid topside at the request of the Galaxy Express 999 and other train-based craft. A small section of rail must always be kept painted...like a drinking straw.
• Bad Apples: The Island’s life support system is now based around garden domes and chambers.They also grow veggies. Science Officer Gwen insists the plants do not have ’wavium biomods. But strange fruit flies have been reported…and don’t stop to smell the flowers.
• VIP Customer: Handwavium grown from the Island itself (as opposed to merely on or in it) usually has no major biomod effects. At least on humans. Well, okay, it tends to give a lasting desire to spend more at the station comic shops. But not much beyond that. However, this wasn’t always the case… (see Eric Zhu's Quirk Big Brother Is Watching You)
• Small Print: If left long enough on a store shelf, even dubbed anime will grow subtitles.
• Periodic Shortages of Beer: (See the Fisherbots' Quirk Happy Hour)
• TP Lovecraft: Never use any toilets on Sublevel 13.
• Makepeace Road: The Island is not armed. If questioned about this, Simon (the AI) will pretend to be Mahatma Gandhi. Robe and all.

Trivia

• Unreal Estate: The Island was the first craft of its kind…lobbing ground and buildings into orbit, leaving a really big hole in the countryside. Many countries changed their real estate and land use laws after that. Very quickly.
• Can’t Go Home Again: The seven original crew of the Floating Island are persona-non-grata in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They legally own the property they sent into orbit, but that sort of thing annoys governments. For some reason, they don’t like a bunch of Asian investors coming in and making off with the countryside. Granted, pissing off a mundane country is virtually compulsory for any decent Fen crew, so…
• Shinra: The Island as a piece of property is privately owned, but people can buy shares in the station’s business - the mall, convention centre, etc. - and any new developments. When Eric tried to terminate the scheme, main power stopped working, and all the [[Fisherbots[[ sulked.
• Floor Plan: The Floating Island consists of two main buildings, some small domes, and a warren of “underground” burrows. You can land on the surface, park in one of the three bays, or in the case of larger vessels, dock. There’s a jetty.
• Mortal Kombat: The Island is home to both the first spaceborne McDonald’s and the first spaceborne Starbucks. Critics have accused Eric of selling out. In response, Eric notes that the rental clause stipulates that McD’s and Starbucks staff engage in mock sword duels every day, because “There Can Be Only One.”
• Swiss Standard: Open to all and any Fen. It takes quite a bit of work to get banned from the station. It’s best known as the place where you can get new anime merchandise, hot food, a proper bed and shower…but it’s also a neutral meeting ground, and occasionally mediation centre between factions.

Notes

Template:Spacecraft