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The Cohen Loop Gary and Hunter 2 copyright comidacomida 2014

Greg recalled hearing somewhere that scientists once tagged energy that traveled the Cohen Loop, and that it took almost exactly one day to get back to the starting point. As part of a paper he and Hunter wrote, he had learned that the EXACT time was 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 41 seconds. Math had always been Greg's specialty, and, despite being forced to develop other skills as part of the Unity Programme he always went back to numbers in times of stress. He'd calculated that to 86,201 seconds. Incidentally, 86,201 was a prime number. What did all that mean? In the moment he stepped forward into the Gateway it meant absolutely nothing.

In the space between drawing his breath and stepping forward his heart had beat two times. In the time it took his foot to leave the ground and touch down again he had lost count. The sensation of passing through the Gateway was little more than a faint tingle... he could compare it to walking by an open window and being hit by a strong breeze. when his foot touched down, however, he almost stumbled-- it was like he'd attempted to move to the next step on a stairway only to find out that there were no more stairs. Hunter, right beside him, held out a hand to stop his stumble, movement punctuated with a warning whistle, "Careful."

The Human looked around for only a matter of seconds before several Longos workers cleared him off of the ramp. Hunter followed along beside him, moving a hand to rest on Greg's shoulder, "You can let out your breath now, Greg."

The young man finally did just that, exhaling deeply before taking in another huge breath... and pausing. Although Greg had never really attributed a 'taste' to air, something about it was distinctively different, "We're... here?"

Hunter smiled, offering a double-click of confirmation and encouragement then walked the Human over to a set of small, circular windows; the layer of white outside had them half-buried, which meant that there was over five foot of snow packed up against the building. The Album gave Greg's shoulder a pat, "Welcome to Water-Earth."

The Human reached out and ran his fingers across the window; it was cold to the touch, but he also noticed something else, "Why isn't there any of that darkening film?"

The Longos behind him spoke up, "That's for Land-Earth... the atmosphere here is thicker and less of the harmful solar radiation makes it to the ocean."

Greg let out a single half-chuckle, noticing quite prominently that the worker referred to the surface of the Earth as the ocean rather than the land. It really DID make sense, he realized, but it still seemed strange. Of course, that was only the first of many things, as he was soon to discover.

By the time Greg was done looking out the window they were already joined by two more Human-Album pairings and, over the course of the next five minutes, even more began to show. Human-Longos partners started coming through here-and-there, until those partners became exclusive. Still gaining his bearings, the young man focused on watching each of them appear out of nowhere-- something from nothing emerging from the emptiness at the center of the ring that identified the Gateway.

Hunter clicked, "Alright... that's group ninety eight. I guess we're--" he stopped talking when one more pair came through.

Angie-Mae was right there to meet the Human and Amplus, "Max! Carver!"

Greg watched them from afar; Angie-Mae and Walker guided Max and Carver down the ramp. Max looked pale, and confused, and, if Greg was honest to himself, like he was about to throw up. Carver seemed distant and aloof to everyone except for Max, and was practically fretting over every little thing. The moment they reached the bottom of the ramp the Human-Amplus pair were intercepted by a pair of Album staff and brought out of the Gateway room through a set of double-doors off to the side.

Angie-Mae went to follow but a Longos stepped in her way, pointing to the double-doors near where everyone else was standing, "Your class is heading through there."

She didn't seem to settle for that, "Where's Max going?"

The Longos was not very forthcoming, "He and Carver will be rejoining your group before you get to the Treaders."

Though Angie-Mae still didn't seem placated she did relent, and, with Walker's encouragement, rejoined the rest of the students a short distance from Greg. The young man leaned toward her, "Did he seem okay to you?"

She shrugged, "Not sure... he looked kinda dazed."

The discussion would have continued, if not for the fact that the double-doors opened and now, well prepared for Hunter's methods, Greg moved forward with his partner at the front of the group. It seemed strange moving back through the installation they had just been in, but it felt almost exactly like repeating their footsteps in reverse, starting in the Gateway room and heading back toward the docks.

The residential area was distinctly different, but they moved it so quickly he could hardly take stock of his surroundings before passing into the Office segment. From there they walked through the so-very-similar hallway with the catwalks overhead, and that's when Greg realized why the air 'tasted' so different: there were misting nozzles everywhere and the atmosphere was heavy with moisture... salty moisture.

The young man raised his hand near the flow of mist coming from a nozzle and brought it back to his face, sniffing at it, before tentatively touching his tongue to his damp flesh, "Is this sea water?"

Hunter shook his head, casually slapping Greg's hand down, "Don't embarrass us. No... it's synthetic sea water... it's easier to create than to transport it onto land. We use it on long land voyages and, more recently, at inland settlements that are manned together by both Phin and Human workers."

Angie-Mae explained from behind them, "Which is why we have these Water-Earth wet suits... they're specially made so we won't develop skin disorders from salt water."

Someone further back in line, (Josh, Greg guessed) spoke up, "Which makes a huge difference-- my brother was in the Unity Programme two years ago and he said it was the only thing after a few days that kept him from breaking out in hives and stuff."

Cobbler was quick to weigh in, confirming that it HAD been Josh talking, "That's why we wore suits on Land-Earth-- so much time out of water would be just as uncomfortable. Ooohhh... it's SO good to be out of those things again." Cobbler stretched, arching his back and reaching his arms out wide to either side

Another Longos to the side of Cobbler click-whistle-chuckled, motioning to the reddish flush along his abdomen, "I can tell..."

Cobbler was forced to endure more ridicule from his fellows, but Hunter picked up the pace and distanced Greg and himself from the group, "The Treaders should be through the next set of doors... come on-- I want to be on the first one."

Greg nodded, moving obediently after his partner until the two came to a stop at the double doors separating their segment from the dock. Unlike on Land-Earth, however, the moment they approached the doors the way suddenly opened, revealing a near identical version of the loading and unloading docks they had seen the first time. The main difference, however, was that several Phin teams were busily working at defrosting the Treaders.

As the space behind them began to fill up with other Human-Album pairings, and then some Human-Longos groups, a pale-looking Album with a metal rod in one hand approached. Greg recalled that rods were a sign of authority in Phin culture, which meant that the Phin moving toward them was a man of significance. He also recalled hearing that Album spots grew lighter with age, so that most likely meant that the rod-bearer was an old man. When the Album spoke, he spoke in Phin... and he spoke QUICKLY.

Greg had to remember his Phin instruction since the Phin addressing them was talking in the southern dialect while the Human had spent most of his time learning the one that the Phins referred to as Deep Ocean. In the end, the language was almost identical, but there were some minor differences-- like when he spoke with people from Europe who spoke English. As it was, Greg knew that the students were being give a safety briefing.

The aging Album's name was Old Gray Manager, and was apparently the highest ranking Phin at the installation. He spoke in the traditional manner used by Phins, a sing-song version of their language that followed a very specific rhythm, beat, and sentence structure that always followed a specific subject with adjective, adverb, verb, adjective, noun, location, and timeframe.

It was a lot to remember, but Greg had used a silly melody to help him remember "Who, who, how, what, what, where, when", sung to the tune of "Camptown Races". He silently mouthed "Do dah, do dah" at the end to himself.

It was simple enough in those terms: The individual with their name or description, how they were doing and what they were doing, to what they were doing it, where they were doing it, and in what tense-- past, present, or future. All-in-all, the Phin language was simple and elegant, and made very little sense when translated exactly but, once Greg's mind had a chance to decipher the new dialect things stated to fall into place.

The trip TO the Unity Centre was in many ways similar to the trip FROM the Unity Centre. They took the Treaders down the mountain on roads that were far wilder and much more treacherous than the ones on Land-Earth. On Water-Earth there was no Guayaquil, but they traveled further south to catch their skiffs at a joint Human-Phin settlement.

The small city had grown up on and around on what would have been Puná Island on Land-Earth... on Water-Earth the Phin translation for their name of it was simply "River Island" and that's what the Humans called it as well. Frankly, after dealing with so much snow and ice up on the mountain, Gary didn't care what it was called. The area was warm, tranquil, and pleasant but, unlike on Land-Earth, they didn't stay long at the stop.

The collection of students had a layover on the sub-tropical shores of the relatively barren island just long enough for the entire class to unload from the Treaders. At that point they were all on a large concrete slab overlooking the ocean-ward side of the river and, one by one, several skiffs surfaced from beneath the water. Numerous Human students were quick to point out that the skiffs on Land-Earth rode ABOVE the waves; most of the Phin students just smiled and nodded-- obviously the submarine version wasn't new to them.

As always, Hunter was first in entering the lead skiff, followed immediately thereafter by Greg. If the Human had expected the interior of the vehicle to be dry he was sorely mistaken; the water level in the skiff was only a few feet below sea level, which meant that he sat in his seat with the water almost up to his hips. The water was relatively warm and, thanks to his wet suit, wasn't as uncomfortable as he had concerned it would be. Hunter glanced his way, offering only, "The water level goes higher when we submerge."

Greg was, for a moment, concerned, "Uh... it's not going to go higher than head height, is it? I mean... we can't hold our breaths as long as Phins."

He watched as Hunter rolled his eyes, letting out a clicking-sigh that conveyed everything without a single word. Regardless, the Album spoke one anyway, "No, Greg... the water level won't go over your head-- you're not going to drown."

Despite most of the front skiffs being Albums and their Humans, Angie-Mae and Walker ended up joining them. The young lady took the seat right behind Greg. Obviously excited to experience the ride she spoke a mile-a-minute to her partner, "Oh I can't believe I'm going to get to ride in an underwater skiff!"

Walker was much more relaxed about it as he responded casually in Phin, "It's only underwater while it coasts."

She laughed, which was far more upbeat than Greg felt, "I know... but there's still a lot more motion than on our skiffs back home... besides, I thought these things spent almost forty percent of their time beneath the surface."

The conversation continued behind Greg as he brought his attention back to Hunter, who rested a hand on the young man's leg and gave him a reassuring smile, "You aren't going to drown, Greg. Relax."

The Human felt his breathing begin to slow but his heartbeat kept its quick pace as he nodded with false confidence at his partner; Hunter was never shaken by anything, and Greg often found himself wishing some of that would rub off on him, "So... these skiffs go as fast as the ones back on Land-Earth, right?"

Hunter whistled in Phin, "More or less."

The late afternoon sun outside gave him a moment's pause as he considered their journey, "So... are we gonna just travel all night or something?"

One of the crewmen, a Longos wearing a tool-covered strap over his chest paused in the aisle next to Hunter as he glanced over toward Greg, and spoke up in Phin, "We're an hour from the Centre, Human. We'll be there before the sun sets."

Greg glanced from Hunter to the crewman, then back to Hunter, "So... no canal this time."

The Album smiled, sitting back in his chair as the Longos moved past to secure the entry hatch, "Apparently not."

Little more was said as the three Longos crewmen went to take their seats. They waited another few minutes as the rest of the skiffs finished getting loaded and, shortly thereafter Greg heard the distinctive sound of a Phin call vibrate the metal of the skiff's hull all around him. He almost jumped out of his seat before Hunter returned his hand to the young man's leg and gave it a soft pat, "It's the All-Clear."

Greg remembered hearing about how certain Phin sounds could carry underwater, but he never stopped to think that they'd be able to have the entire hull broadcast it-- considering that they could meant the Phins probably didn't even need radio to communicate between the Swarm. As he heard the faint-but-still-distinct sound of several responses vibrate through the metal it only reinforced his opinion on the matter... but he had no more time to consider it as he felt a sudden bump... and the water level began rising.

Working to maintain his composure, the Human sat up as straight as he could, but he wasn't worried for long the water ceased its rise just above his sternum, providing him plenty of leeway before any fear of drowning. He had just enough time to register that before the water started flowing past him, and he could tell that they were on the move. He almost inquired about it to Hunter, but his partner was gazing out of the window at the water beyond, and Greg suddenly remembered that most Phin water vehicles allowed sea water to circulate within the cabins-- Phins were great at measuring speed by the feel of water.

Although the young man didn't bother counting the passage of time, it felt like far less than an hour before the skiffs began to slow and, when they did, the water on both sides of the window withdrew and they surfaced. The sea outside had distinct waves but it was far from rough. There was nothing within view, but the tool-toting Longos got out of his seat and gave a very succinct, "We're here. Everyone up."

He and Hunter were the first up the ladder and onto the surface of the skiff, but he froze the moment the Unity Centre came into view. While the UC back at Land-Earth had looked more-or-less like a cruise ship, the Water-Earth version was dramatically different. The studies Greg had done about Phin homes identified them as looking like reverse teardrops, with the largest portion floating above the waves and the small, tapered end anchored to the shallows of the continental shelves where most Phin cities were found. The Unity Centre, however, from what Greg could tell, was the exact opposite.

At first, the structure looked like little more than a small, two story tower sticking up out of the waves. It wasn't until the rest of the skiffs had reached the surface that the entire structure rose a good twenty feet and, suddenly, there was no water beneath them; the swarm was beached on a flat section that almost resembled a dry dock. A row of what appeared to be non-slip stairs created a path up to a singular oval-shaped, air-tight door. Although none of the crewmen of the skiff gave any indication that they were leaving their vehicles, the tool-toting Longos was quick enough to motion to the entrance, "Enjoy."

Hunter wasted no time in proceeding, grabbing Greg's wrist and leading him to the stairs. The young man was careful to watch where he put his feet, but spent enough time looking skyward that he was able to admire the deep blue broken up by only the occasional cloud. While it was still recognizable as the sky there was something about it that seemed just a little off-- slightly irregular, as if he were looking at it through a camera with the wrong color setting. His partner gave him a light elbow to get his attention. "Door's opening."

Greg looked to the room beyond the opening; it looked completely soaked. A single Amplus moved to stand in the entryway, effectively blocking it off. He glanced around at the gathering students and the Human saw the huge Phin's eyes light up. Looking in the direction of the door guard's gaze, Greg caught sight of Carver helping Max off of one of the skiffs. Hunter didn't seemed pleased by the wait, and addressed the Amplus in front of them in Phin, "Are we allowed through yet, Watcher?"

The Amplus replied casually, not even looking at Hunter, "When everyone is here, yes, Hunter. Your father asked for reverse order."

Hunter sighed and leaned against the slick, stone-like surface of the Unity Centre's wet exterior, "As long as we're all heading in together."

Greg was confused, "Your father?"

Hunter clicked affirmatively, "He's the Director."

The Human had absolutely no idea how to respond, and apparently the orca-like guardian didn't care to either as he looked to Max and Carver, who were making their way up the steps. The two Amplus embraced one another, Carver offering up a very pleasant Phin greeting to his mother; Greg did a double-take before realizing that Phin mothers were males as much as the fathers.

Max blanched, apparently stunned even more than Greg, "Your... mother?"

Carver nodded enthusiastically while Hunter just rolled his eyes. The young Amplus rubbed the side of his face against Watcher's, "This is Max. He is my partner from Seattle, United States, Land-Earth... "

The large Amplus smiled, and paused for a moment before smiling anew, "English, yes?"

Max only repeated his earlier statement, "Your... mother?"

Carver laughed, "He CAN say more than that... he's just... tired."

Watcher nodded, "Classes don't start until tomorrow. Once you two get settled come to my apartment so we can have dinner together."

The younger Amplus nodded, resting a hand against Max's stomach in what Greg assumed was probably some kind of show of solidarity, or maybe possessiveness, "Good. Max and I have some news to discuss with you."

Hunter, still standing beside him glanced back at the rest of the students, who were gathering at the steps before looking to Carver, "Move. We're going in reverse order. Everyone's here, so stop wasting time."

Watcher stepped aside, allowing his son and Max through, and then began to carefully usher the Longos in. Angie-Mae gave Greg a quick wave as she passed, and the young man glanced back to his partner, "So... reverse order?"

The Album shrugged, "It's a courtesy to large groups of guests... but it's not like the students here are guests... we're from here and for the next 4 months this is your home too."

Greg had very nearly opened his mouth to say something stupid: he was going to remind Hunter that they were staying for six months before he realized that the Phins had an eight month calendar. Once more he found himself returning to the comfort zone of numbers. Eight months to a year; each month had nine weeks... and each week had-- he paused, then finally decided to say something, "How many days are in a week again?"

"Five." Carver's mother answered before Hunter could.

Hunter was pacing by the time the rest of the students had entered the small, cylindrical room within the entryway. Two other sets of Album-Human pairs stood at the doorway; Greg recognized them as the four other students who had essentially kept pace with them during their mad rush through each of the Gateway buildings... and, suddenly, nobody was eager to proceed. Although neither of the other two Albums bothered looking at Hunter, both were very intense in their stare at the other. In the end Hunter let out a quick chirp before stating, "Breecher, go on already-- We're waiting."

The Album on the right let out a dejected click and did as Hunter directed, leaving the other standing where he was, obviously gloating, but not making a sound. The moment Hunter motioned the second Album quickly moved in after the first, and Greg also followed the same gesture to precede Hunter into the very full room; apparently none of the students had bothered continuing on into the Centre, but it didn't take long to figure out why.

Only once he was inside it did the Human realize that there were no doors other than the one they entered... and that the floor was made of a grate with a very VERY deep pit of water beneath it. As he contemplated his surroundings, Watcher closed the door and hit a lever; the sea quickly rose to waist height and the grate slid into the wall, leaving everyone treading water. Despite the fact that all of the Humans seemed surprised none of the Phins appeared to think twice. Greg glanced to Hunter, who was quite casual about it, and he motioned downward with the tip of his snout, "Phin Elevator."

No sooner had the Album provided the one-word explanation than the water level began to rapidly lower, carrying the students with it. Greg continued to tread water, but more of his attention was directed toward the walls, which, as he watched, began to gradually widen out and, after about thirty seconds, started to show doors similar to the one they had entered from the outside. It wasn't until they'd passed three 'floors' of doors that the water level stopped receding.

When the strange water-based elevator finally did cease draining the students were treading water at an even levle with four doors right at their height. While the prospect of having the water depth normalize when the doors opened didn't particularly appeal to Greg, he didn't have any chance to voice his concerns; all four slid aside only to reveal four hallways each with water at the exact same height as in the elevator-- the halls were half flooded.

Watcher motioned to the doors, "Album floor."

Hunter smirked, "This is our stop, Greg... come on."

Greg didn't really have a reason to object, not that his partner gave him the opportunity, and the two quickly disembarked, choosing the hallway closest to them. Hunter moved with far more ease than the Human, who was forced to wade through the abdomen-high water while the Phin simply leaned forward and cruised along down the hallway with the aid of a flick of his tail. In the end, the young man tried to follow suit, but moved only slightly faster while swimming, "I, uh... can't go as fast as you."

Although Hunter's expression as he looked back was one of displeasure, it quickly disappeared-- most likely because he saw all of the other Albums having just as much trouble with their own Humans. He circled back and pulled Greg up to a standing position, "Alright... this is the first day, so that means there aren't any assigned apartments, and we want to get the best one, so we need to be faster."

The Human nodded, "Sorry. I'm pretty good at swimming, but I'm not a Phin."

Hunter nodded, and smirked just a little, "True... but I am." Greg was just about to voice a comment, but the Album turned around and lowered himself into the water, speaking quietly in English, "Alright, Greg... grab hold of my fin."

Doing as directed, Greg lowered himself down into the water and slowly wrapped the fingers of both hands around the fin on Hunter's back, "Okay..."

The Album let out a sigh through his blowhole as several other pairs began to pass them, "No, Greg... just one hand. You don't want to be right behind me."

It made little sense, but the Human complied, moving to the Phin's left so he could hold onto the Album's fin with his right hand... and quickly found out the plan. Hunter gave a quick flick of his tail and Greg, for just a moment, was worried his arm was going to be pulled out of his socket. The Phin's warning came a full second or two afterward, "Hold on."

Greg had heard in the past of vacation destinations where Humans could swim with the dolphins of Land-Earth who would, on occasion, give Humans who held onto their dorsal fin a ride; he simply never thought he'd be doing it... with a Phin. The young man opened his mouth to speak, but quickly thought better as the water continued to spray up in his face.

Hunter had a far better time of talking, doing so in Phin, with an obvious sense of good humor mixed in. "There. THAT is called teamwork, Greg."

The two passed the other Human-Phin partnerships, who had yet to find the right method for mutual speed. By the time others started to copy their technique the pair had already made it to the end of the hallway, which curved back in on itself. At the end of the curve Hunter moved quickly to the door and slapped his palm against it, "Hurry it up."

The Phin's body language gave the Human all the hint he needed, and he repeated the same gesture, hitting the door audibly with his open hand even as several other Phins were still waiting for their Humans to catch up. The moment they both had their hands on the door, Hunter leaned over and touched the side of Greg's face with his own, much in the same way he'd seen Watcher and Carver do. "Good job, Greg."

Smiling, the Human followed his Phin partner into what would apparently be their apartment for the next few months. An important question did cross his mind as the door slid closed behind them, "So... why do we want the apartment farthest from the elevator?"

"Three reasons."

Greg lingered in the entryway, realizing that the apartment was just as flooded as the hallway. The prospect of spending half a year in waist-high water wasn't particularly appealing, "Okay... and they are?"

The Phin began to swim slow, lazy circles around the stationary Human, "First, it's a sign of superiority to get to the last room in the hallway first."

The young man nodded; that thought certainly fit Hunter's usual methods, "Okay... well... we got it, so that's good. So having to travel further to get to the elevator is just an added bonus then?"

Hunter let out a clicking-chirp laugh, "That's the central chute, Greg... it's used for mass transit and to move quickly."

The Human paused, "Okay... so it's a 'chute'... but what difference does that make when we're the furthest from it?"

The Phin flicked his fluke again, splashing Greg in the face, "We don't use it all the time."

The young man wiped the water from his face, still no closer to an actual answer as to WHY they'd want the apartment, "So... are there stairs or something?"

Hunter laughed again, "No... stairs are a human thing. We have aqua tubes. They're a lot smaller and a lot faster, but they only fit two or three passengers at once. AND, just so you know, THIS apartment is closest to those."

It started to make a little more sense, though the fact that Hunter could have just explained that from the beginning wasn't lost to Greg. The Human nodded, "Okay... can't argue with that... so... what's number three?"

Hunter splashed the young man again and gracefully darted through the water back to the doorway. He stood up and motioned to a dial situated on the wall, "This."

Greg waded his way over to get a better look at the device, "What's that?"

The Phin slowly turned the dial, "It adjusts the humidity in the room. Only a few apartments on each floor have them."

The Human glanced up to the misting nozzles which, up until that point had hung silently down from the ceiling without any activity. He scowled when they started up, creating a very fine spray to rain down on them from above, "As if three feet of water isn't eno--"

He fell silent however once he realized that the water level in the room was receding. Greg watched as the standing water disappeared to little more than a half-inch layer as the rest emptied down several drains positioned around the room. Hunter walked away from the dial with all the pomp and circumstance of a performer in a parade. He let out a single chirp as he grinned, "You're welcome."

Greg and Hunter had never been much for physical interaction; they had high-fived on occasion and the Human had received his share of comforting or encouraging pats from his Phin partner, but it had always been Hunter instigating it. They had certainly never hugged... up until that point. In truth, the young man had no idea if Phins even hugged at all, but he really didn't stop to think as he wrapped his arms around the Album and gave him an embrace. "Oh god... I'm SO glad we got this room."

Hunter did eventually manage to break free, rolling his eyes, "You are incredibly silly some times, Greg."

The Human had no idea what to say in response to the chiding remark, but he was somewhat surprised that Hunter didn't face him straight-on to say it; the Album ALWAYS faced him directly whenever he was being critical. It took a moment for him to realize that the Phin was hiding something, and another three seconds before Greg realized what Hunter was hiding: a blush... in a very distinctive, between-the-legs place.

Hunter cleared his throat, "You should take the first room... you can tell it's made for Humans since it has a shelf for sleeping just above high water level. Classes start tomorrow so we should get some sleep." The Album disappeared down the hall without another word; it was the end of the discussion. Greg had never been dismissed so clearly... or awkwardly.