The Cohen Loop
Rejects, Part 1

Mason stood in his empty room completely stunned.  If he was honest to himself he wasn't sure whether he was more surprised that his parents had kicked him out or that they had enrolled him in some kind of academy for stupid kids.  Of course, they hadn't specifically called it that but he was damn sure that's what it was.  They'd threatened him with it often enough if his grades didn't improve for his senior year and when they found out he had to take another semester to redo two classes he'd flunked apparently that had sealed the deal.

It didn't mean he had to like it.  "I can't believe you're sending me off to some freaking boarding school."

His dad never liked that word.  "Language, Mason."

In most circumstances Mason would have complied, but he was being kicked out of the house so he figured he'd go for broke. "Oh come on, Dad... it's not like I said 'Fucking'."

Without even batting an eye, his dad pulled out his comm and pressed the call button.  "Jay... please bring Mason's gaming console back.  He won't be needing it."

More than anything, THAT was unacceptable. "WHAT?!?!"

His mother was not going to support him on his objection. "Your father is right, Mason.  You don't need it to distract you from your studies."

No, Mason realized, he had to draw the line somewhere. "Bullshit.  He's just angry I said 'fucking'."

His father pressed the button on the comm again. "Jay... bring his handheld system back too please."

Mason was the son of Elijah Weston, the owner of Weston Shipping, one of the largest companies with contracts to transport goods through the Gateway to Other Earth.  Jay was one of Mason's dad's managers and apparently the guy in charge of the crew handling Mason's move.  Mason used to like Jay but he believed the ordeal was going to change his opinion of the guy.  He altered his tactics, appealing to his dad's decency. "Come on, Dad... it's not like I'm gaming ALL the time.  I need it to relax!"

His mother, once again, failed to help.  "Mason, we're just doing what's best for you.  Besides, you'll still have your cell and your computer."

She had a point, but Mason didn't really want to acknowledge that.  "Mom... phone app games are like, from when YOU grew up... nobody does that anymore."

His father wasn't interested in hearing his objections.  "Go down to the car or I'll have Jay bring your computer back too."

Mason couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But I'll need that for school work!"

Rather than acknowledge the superior argument, his dad fired right back. "Then unless you want to start further behind then you already are you'd better get your tail down to the car."

The 'car', as it turned out, was just the first portion of the trip.  Mason's dad drove him to the airport and, with little more than a "Don't mess up this time.", he was left by the departure gate with orders to wait for someone who would be collecting him.  Since the two shipping crates his dad had dropped off were taken by airport personnel the young man sat on top of the single suitcase left with him.  He wasn't waiting long.

"Mason Filmore Weston?"

Mason had always hated his middle name and he turned to tell-off whoever had used it, but he froze as soon as he saw a six foot tall humanoid dolphin wearing a light gray wetsuit staring at him.  Oh, of course the young man had seen Phins before on television, movies, and the net, but he had never met one in person.  Rather than give the alien creature a piece of his mind, he kept it simple. "Just Mason."

The expressionless face of the Phin stared back at him and then, after a momentary pause, it waggled its head in what looked like an approximation of a nod. "Good.  Hello, Mason.  I am Fetcher and I will be your chaperon during the trip to the Academy."

Sure, it was a new face but the introduction was basically the same.  Mason had no trouble returning to his previous level of apathy. "I'm eighteen.  I don't need a chaperon."

The Phin cocked his head to the side slightly. "That was not the impression I received from your father, and your file notes that you are at risk for non-attendance."

Mason scowled. "I only skipped classes back at school like... maybe... six or seven times."

Fetcher pulled out what looked like some kind of tablet and glanced at it. "Eleven times."

The young man scowled. "Whatever."

The Phin wasn't done. "Eleven times for National History, eleven times for World Economics, and twenty four and a half times for Sociology.  Tell me, Mason, how do you get a half of a class in absences?"

Mason's scowl deepened. "Actually, I missed half a class three times... I was sent to the principal's office three times half way through.  Sociology is stupid anyway so it's not like it's a big deal."

Fetcher put away the data pad. "Once we arrive at the Academy you will attend every class for the entire duration."

At the end of his statement the Phin turned around and began walking toward the departure counter.  Mason grabbed his suitcase, huffed, and followed after the strange creature. "What academy is it?"

The Phin wasn't very helpful. "The Academy."

It was fortunate for Mason that his chaperon apparently wasn't very fast on land and he caught up easily. "But which one?"

Fetcher showed two ID cards to the woman at the counter; she didn't seem the least bit surprised at helping a Phin.  Mason looked at the sign; he was familiar with a lot of carriers but he'd never recalled seeing an airline called REEFSKIFF before.  Once the two were through check in, the Phin looked back at him. "The Programme only has one Academy, Mason."

The way the dolphin-like creature said 'programme' gave Mason a little shiver up his spine.  He'd heard stories from his dad about the Unity Centre (Center, with an 'e', he said-- pretentious bullshit and all).  He also assumed the 'program' had an 'e' at the end too.  "So... you work for the Program?"

Fetcher made a left hand turn, which surprised Mason since, having been at LAX before, he knew that all of the airline gates were to the right.  The Phin spoke up before the young man had a chance to address that problem. "Yes.  It is my task to collect enrolled students who will be attending the Academy, which is why I am here now; I am collecting you."

Mason couldn't resist. "Shouldn't they call you Collector then?"

It was a low blow and he knew it.  Although Mason had very little actual education when it came to Phins, his dad dealt with the Gateway folks often enough that he knew Phins used names Humans could pronounce based off of what it was they did, so if Fetcher was supposed to collect students-- well, it sounded funnier in his head.

Fetcher didn't seem to think it was very funny. "There is a Collector who works for the Programme as well.  I am not he."  Mason had a feeling it was going to be a long trip.

The trip, in fact, took about four hours, and it was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.  Rather than taking a plane, Mason had been loaded on board a strange plane-like ship called a 'skiff'.  It was a hydrofoil-type passenger vehicle that launched out of a small port adjacent to the runway.  The young man had been a little uneasy with the prospect of traveling with the Phin but once another dozen-or-so other Humans.  He wasn't sure whether he was more embarrassed or encouraged that he was the only one traveling with a Phin.

Aside from Fetcher the entirety of the passengers aboard the skiff had been Humans but out of the six crew members five of them were Phin.  It was a strange experience for the young man but he was careful to keep his mouth shut.  Oddly enough, it was a lot easier to do than he'd first thought, mostly because he spent most of the time listening in on the conversations of the other Human passengers.  Apparently he was the only one on board who was there by parental request; everyone else seemed to be there because they wanted to be.

It seemed hard to believe at first but apparently ten-plus other Academy-goers were interested in being there.  What was even crazier was the fact that only two other Humans looked like they were anything near high school age; there was another guy who was about Mason's age and a girl who was maybe fifteen or sixteen.  He figured at least half of the Humans were thirty-plus, and one looked like she may have been in her early fifties.  He had plenty of time to consider the strange mysteries of his fellow students however, as the ship followed the coastline north seemingly forever. 

It wasn't until the last hour-or-so that they went for deeper water and when that happened he was in for another surprise.  As the skiff drew further away from land one of the Phins from the cockpit called back to the passengers "We will be submerging shortly."

By 'shortly' the pilot apparently meant 'immediately'.  Mason held his breath subconsciously as the sea engulfed his window and he stared out of it, watching the sky disappear.  He wasn't the only one, of course, and the talking in the cabin took on an entirely different tone.  One of the older passengers started talking to her neighbor about time she'd spent in the military and her familiarity with submarines.  Another Human, the guy in his 30s was talking to the others around him about sea mammals, federal regulations for dealing with sea creatures and scuba diving; apparently he worked as some kind of science-guy at an aquarium.

Despite the mode of travel and the conversations changing the trip was still more of the same; Mason was bored out of his gourd.  Life wasn't the same without his handheld and, once he came to that realization, he also fought against horror upon realizing that his game access was limited to about 25% of his normal systems.  He came very close to checking if he could get anything to work on his cell, which he'd kept in his pocket.  Thankfully, just as he was getting to the worst of his game-based depression one of the Phins in the cockpit called back "Please prepare for docking.  We are on our approach to The Academy."

The docking procedure also required the attention of the passengers, not only because the view of the strange, underwater structure was amazing, but because, as they pulled up to the airlock they were informed that the rear compartment would be flooded; they all stood and moved to the front of the skiff.  It was a request that Mason found strange, but not nearly as strange as what he would soon experience.

One after another the Humans stepped out of the skiff and into a corridor that looked like it was right out of an old-time navy war movie.  The building was constructed with some kind of dark colored metal with no real attention to decoration or beautification; seeing something so drab was not a normal experience for Mason and he was so distracted that Fetcher had to repeat his request. "You will need to join the rest of the students in the locker room so you can receive your uniform, Mason."

With all of the students filtering down the hall, Mason almost lost track of Fetcher but the Phin remained close to him right up until they arrived at the locker room.  The young man was more than used to an all-gender bathroom but he'd never encountered a locker room that was meant for comingled males and females and it made him pause.  "Uh... everyone's going in here?  Even the... uh... ladies?"

Fetcher gave the little affirmative waggle of his head in a close approximation of a nod. "Yes, Mason."

It wasn't that Mason was entirely body shy but he didn't know how any academy would be able to get away with not splitting up the sexes in a changing room.  He resolved to get to the bottom of the matter later and went straight into the open door.  What he expected out of the locker room was something completely different than what he encountered.

Rather than the kind of locker room he'd seen at school or in gyms, the locker room at the Academy were actually made up of several long hallways with individual private rooms, not unlike the changing rooms at the department store his mom used to drag him to.  He selected the closest room with an open door and stepped in; what awaited him was no simple school uniform and he called out to nobody in particular "Is this a scuba suit?!?"

The voice that answered back came from the room next to him and Mason recognized it as the aquarium guy. "It's a wet suit, actually.  A 'scuba set' refers to the breathing apparatus that provides gas to a diver and the harness that goes with it.  No tanks, tubes, or demand valves here."

A new voice ended the discussion. "Please finish changing into your suits please and come to the far side of the room when you're done."

Having been one of the final students to get into his changing room, Mason was pleased to see that he wasn't the last ones to join the group outside of dressing area where the room opened up into what looked like a staging ground of sorts.  Standing on a raised platform were two individuals: a Human and a Phin, both wearing wetsuits.

The Human had a slightly ethnic look and Mason guessed Mexican; his wetsuit was plain black with lines of comingled yellow, blue, and red running the length of the arms and legs.  The Phin was a lot different than Fetcher; Fetcher looked like a bottle nosed dolphin but the Phin at the head of the room was very light gray with streaks of dark gray and black interspersed along the sides of his much shorter face.  His wetsuit was also darker in color than Fetcher's and had a purplish color along the seams of the arms and legs.  The Phin spoke up as all eyes settled on them. "Welcome to the Gorda Ridge Academy."

The Human continued. "My name is Dean Marco Alcivar and I represent the Human staff here at the Academy."

The Phin likewise introduced himself. "You may call me Acredited Supervisor or, more simply, the 'Phin Dean' if you will.  I oversee the Phin staff at this institution."

Dean Alcivar picked up immediately thereafter. "You are here either because you were able to pass base minimum entry requirements for the Unity Programme or because you represent fiscal sponsors of the Programme.  For the sake of classes we will not be making any distinction between either group and you will all be expected to perform to the best of your ability."

The Phin Dean took over once again. "While the prospect of learning about my kind may seem daunting, you will be accompanied by Phin students who have already spent time in the Unity Programme.  Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, these students were unable to join their classes in graduation or advancement."

One of the guys standing behind Mason commented to his neighbor "Heh.  Rejects."

The Human Dean shot a glance toward the speaker but said nothing.  Instead, he continued with the introduction. "The Gorda Ridge Academy was built atop a basalt plateau created over 90 years ago during the last eruption of the underwater volcanoes here in the mid 1990s.  You are here for a two year education and internship program."

Acredited Supervisor continued.  "As with the Unity Programme's Centre of learning, a Human student will be paired up with a Phin.  Unlike the Unity Centre, if one or the other of you are unable or unwilling to complete the much more relaxed curriculum of the Academy the remaining student will be allowed to continue their education here without a partner, so do not expect a free ride at the expense of your Phin partner."

Dean Alcivar reiterated "You may stay as long as you wish, and as long as you can keep up with your studies."

The other teen raised her hand and spoke up. "So... if we don't want to stay we can leave at any time?"

The Human Dean nodded. "Yes, although to my knowledge we have three forced-placements here and all three of you were accompanied with writs of release and/or emancipation.  Please be aware that your stay at the Academy has been prepaid but if you leave your parents or caretakers have already evicted you from your prior residence."

The mouthy guy behind Mason spoke up again "Wow... it'd suck to be one of those guys."

If Mason hadn't been so stunned he would have turned around to tell the guy off.  Instead, he simply stood there, unsure where his life had gone so wrong.  Accredited Supervisor finished the rather bland overview. "You will have the rest of today and all of tomorrow to acclimate yourself to the facility.  Room assignments will place one Human and one Phin student together in a dorm room.  Your door room number can be found in the personal effects satchel on your left shoulder.  Please find your assigned room number and go there now.  The exits behind us will take you there."

As the Phin finished speaking the two sets of double doors on  either side of the raised dais opened, revealing long halls with numbered doors on either side.  Mason saw that the girl who was in her mid-teens was crying and the 30-something woman was comforting her as the two walked toward the double doors; he assumed that she, like him, was one of the force-placements.  He glanced around for a moment to see who the other 'lucky-soul' could have been and was surprised to see that a guy who was probably in his early 30s was just standing there as stunned as Mason felt.  Another student went to check on the guy and, as Mason headed toward the doorway, heard the guy mumble "But... they said it was just a vacation..."

Heading down the corridor, Mason fought to keep his composure; he'd never broken down in public before and he wasn't about to start.  The pocket pouch on his arm was secured with Velcro, which he easily opened, and he pulled out a small plastic card which looked like some kind of electronic ID; on it was a bar code with the number "112" imprinted upon it.  Glancing to the left then the right, Mason saw that the doors were labeled clearly with the numbers in a way he could understand, and a second way in which he assumed was probably the Phin equivalent. 

The doors on the left were odd numbers so he kept his focus on the right and he finally encountered his room toward the end of the hallway.  He held the key card out and swiped it against the reader; a red light on the device turned green and Mason heard a soft but audible 'beep' followed by the sound of a locking mechanism disengaging.  Letting out a deep breath, the young man entered into his room.  With luck, he reasoned, he'd have time to relax and unwind before he was forced to confront his new room mate.

"So... you're the Human, huh?"

That casual greeting identified to Mason that he was without luck.  Looking up from the floor, the young man looked around the dorm room; it appeared to be maybe 200 square foot and was split down the center by a knee-high retaining wall.  Mason stood there, unmoving and unspeaking when he realized that half of the room was flooded with a foot of water.  The sound of a slosh caught his attention and drew it to the speaker: a Phin. 

The Phin seemed rather unimpressed, and, if Mason could read its expression right he figured it was scowling. "You mute, or did they give you the wrong suit?  You don't speak English? ¿Hablas español?  Sprechen sie Deutsch?  Parla l'italiano?"

It took me a minute to catch up.  "English.  Yeah... but-- uh... what do you mean, gave me the wrong suit?"

The Phin pointed to Mason' shoulder before taking a seat on the strange divider that kept the water on one side of the room. "Human suits in the Programme identify the country of origin of Humans... you have so many languages we have to have some way of telling all of you people apart."

Mason was still trying to jump-start his brain, finding SOME frame of reference for standing in a room with a Phin who was apparently going to be his room mate in a very small room. "How... how many languages do YOU speak?"

He could tell the Phin was appraising him. "In general?  Phins have five languages-- Album, Longos, Amplus, Tikk, and Formal."

None of those words really meant much to Mason although he did recognize one of them. "Formal, huh?  So the others are like, casual or something?"

The Phin just stared at him.  Nothing was said for long enough that Mason was just starting to feel uncomfortable when his room mate FINALLY spoke. "Just how far have you made it into your introduction to Water Earth?"

The young man was starting to get frustrated thanks to so many terms he didn't know. "What's Water Earth?"

The Phin let out a series of clicks and chirps that sounded almost like a power drill seizing up. "Yes-- that must be it.  DRAHI has it in for me... that's why I got THIS--" at which point his words dissolved into more of the strange Phin language as he stalked around the flooded side of the room gesturing wildly as he talked to himself.

Sighing, Mason went to the area of the room that looked like it was reserved for the kitchen-- thankfully on the dry side.  He opened up what he recognized as (an off brand) refrigerator and began looking through the collection of neatly organized plastic-container-stored foodstuffs.  He pulled out what looked like some kind of hamburger and noodle dish.  He called over his shoulder "Hey!  Is this group loot?"

He felt his face flush immediately, suddenly realizing he was talking to the Phin as if his new room mate were one of his co-gamers who played Dragon World Apocalypse; of COURSE the weird sea mammal creature wouldn't understand what he was saying.  To his surprise, however, the Phin actually responded reasonably. "Yes.  The Programme provides all our food so anything in there is ours to eat-- but don't eat that."

Mason, who had just been about to pop the top of the container suddenly got 'that certain feeling' when he knew someone was going to make a big fuss about what he considered his and what Mason could consider fair-game.  As such, he was ready for a fight. "Why not?"

The Phin turned around to face him and gestured to the container. "That has a blue lid-- which means it's safe for a Phin but not for Humans.  Nothing in there's dangerous, but it'll probably give you gas or diarrhea or vomit.  You should stick to yellow and green lids."

Not completely sure whether his room mate was joking or not, he figured it was better to be the target of a joke than the victim of food poisoning and he put it back and he picked up a green container that looked like it contained some kind of cheesy potato dish.  "Color coded, huh?"
His room mate nodded; it looked much more natural to him than it had for Fetcher. "I did it because I didn't know how much my Human partner knew... judging from the fact that you haven't looked at the primer I guess it paid off."

Mason wanted to think that he'd be able to get along with his room mate but every time he thought they were making progress the Phin just went right back and left him feeling inferior.  It was petty and it was getting on his nerves.  "Hey-- I didn't ask to be here, you know.  I woulda been fine finishing up school back home."

The Phin looked up right at him and let out a lengthy breath through the hole on the top of his head.  "Yes... well... I can see this is going to be a very long two years."

Mason could definitely agree. "How about you just do your think and I'll do mine.  As long as you don't cause any problems for me I'll stay out of your way."

The click-chirp issued by his room mate had the distinctive tone of "Yeah right." to it, and the elaboration in English further reinforced that idea. "As soon as I stay out of your way you'll swim right off the coastal shel-- ah-- walk off a cliff."

Mason was convinced at that point that he was paired up with 'one of those' students; it really wasn't worth talking any more than that.  Taking a seat at the small table in the kitchen, he popped the lid on the meal and reached back behind himself to grab  a fork off the counter.  "Whatever.  It's been a long day and right now all I want to do is log into DWA and check my dailies."

If Phins had ears Mason could have imagined that his room mate's would have just raised. "You play Dragon World Apocalypse?"

The fact that the Phin knew what the abbreviation meant wasn't lost on Mason; he couldn't have guessed purely by random.  "You know DWA?"

Although Phin faces didn't seem built for expressions as much as a Human's, Mason could definitely tell his room mate was smiling. "Sure!  I did a report on it during my comparative sociology class back at the Center."

Mason's hope of something worthwhile to talk about fell to pieces in a minute. "Oh... so.. as a project or something, huh?"

The Phin climbed over the divide and took a seat at the table with him. "Yes, to start.  But it's really fun so I kept playing.  I have a level 82 Necromancer."

Stunned, it took a moment for the Human to respond. "My main's an 83 Barbarian."

Still all smiles, the Phin restarted their introduction.  He held out a hand, webbed digits extended as well. "I play on X-Net. My Necro's name is BlackAffliction and he's in a guild called Tsunami."

Mason accepted the shake; he knew of Tsunami since they were a premier raiding guild.  "Wow... I've never done guilds much, but I'm on X-Net too.  My main's name is Barbrarian... I picked up Scribing and Cartography professions for him, so his name is a--"

The Phin clicked out a series of squealed 'ha' sounds.  "Barbarian and Librarian combined?"

The Human nodded. "Yes!  You're, like, the first person who's got that!  Oh-- and my name is Mason, by the way.  Mason Weston."

His room mate gave his still-clasped hand a firm shake.  "Gamer."

For the first time since arriving at The Academy Mason felt like things were going right.