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The Cohen Loop

Angie Mae, Part 3

copyright comidacomida 2019

Angie Mae, as it turned out, wasn't the only student to arrive early, but she WAS the earliest. After about twenty minutes of chatting with Dr Cohen, the two were joined by Aiden and Heather. Rather than the newcomers interrupting their lengthy chat on how Angie Mae felt it was important that students learn about cross-fertilization between species, they seamlessly joined in, both presenting their opinions on the matter seeing as they were each crossbreeds.

Heather agreed about the importance of clarity and focus for Human/Phin relations, while Aiden and Nathan argued that such information needed to be presented slowly and in carefully controlled installments to avoid fear in the general populace. Nathan actually put it best. "True, I think it's deplorable the way the governmental agencies controlling the Programme on Land Earth are handling things, you have to admit that there is a large cross-section of the population who would not only take affront to the idea, but actively fight against what we're trying to do."

Aiden didn't completely agree. "I think Humans are generally a lot more accepting than that, Uncle Nathan. Do you REALLY think them finding out that we aren't really that different would cause such chaos?"

Dr. Cohen reached out and lovingly rubbed Aiden's melon. "No I don't, Kid... but I also know that the 'powers that be' don't want to take that risk... and I can understand why considering we only get one chance to do it right."

Heather spoke up before Angie Mae got a chance to. "Which means that students like Angel and Max have to pay for the ignorance and they get it wrong?"

Angie Mae quickly added "Or Christina Valentine."

The three Cohens glanced her way quizzically and it was Nathan who questioned her "Christina Valentine? That was Roller's Human partner, wasn't it?"

Nodding in response to Dr. Cohen's question, she elaborated. "She got pregnant with his baby and then said she didn't want it or him so the Centre administrators separated the two of them and sent her back to Land Earth or something... Max would know more since he and Carver were in the pregnancy class with them."

Nathan nodded thoughtfully, tugging absently at his right sideburn. "Usually a Human woman pregnant with even a half-Phin needs special medical care... in a best-case scenario the child is still born healthy, but the most reasonable expectation would be a natural termination... it really doesn't sound like something the Programme would risk."

Something about the way Dr. Cohen pondered the dilemma sounded eerily similar to the kind of thought processes Angie Mae would expect from a Phin. Then again, she realized, Nathan Cohen spent the vast majority of his life living with the Phin, and even had several children and grand children with them. Her gaze slowly shifted to Aiden, and then back across the dock to Civil Loader, who looked to be loading baggage into one of the skiffs. "Dr Cohen? Why does your son-- um, Civl Loader have a Phin and Human name?"

Glancing behind himself to his Tikk son, Nathan smiled, then looked back to Angie Mae. "Ah... perceptive, young lady. Most Phins born at Station Zero have a Human name and a Phin name. It all depends on which language they're speaking since, as you well know, many Human vowels, syllables, and phonemes don't translate into the click-whistle-trill of Phin."

Angie Mae blinked, still trying to puzzle out the reason for two names. "Then why not just use their Phin names, like we translate into English and other Human languages? I mean... why bother calling Civil Loader 'Ken' at all?"

Aiden, who had been relatively quiet, turned to his fellow Tikk and called out in Phin. "Hello, Uncle Civil Loader!"

The dock worker paused and raised a webbed hand in a surprisingly Human greeting. "Hello, Mild Speaker! Did you have a good adventure here?"

The younger Tikk gave a double-click ascent, then looked back to Angie Mae. "Whether we are in the air or under water, it is a lot easier to speak at great distance. Besides, why settle for just one name?"

The gleam in Aiden's eye led Angie Mae to believe that his added statement at the end was probably another expression of his subtle humor. Rather than focus on that, she chose to follow up on what Civil Loader had called him. "So... your Phin name is Mild Speaker?"

Aiden wagged his beak to the affirmative, and Heather threw an arm around his shoulder. "Aiden was the youngest in his class to get an honorific-- he was Speaker for the first four years at Station Zero's integrated school."

Angie Mae was certain that the Tikk was blushing but, fortunately for him, everyone else started showing up and, inevitably, they all quickly realized that a special guest was present. The relatively quiet skiff dock turned into a collection of English and Phin as everyone tried to talk over one another in an opportunity to greet Dr. Cohen and, to a lesser extent, one another. The next fifteen minutes were complete chaos until the students were finally calmed down, at which point things improved to just a mildly spastic Q & A.

As everyone's most pressing personal questions came to an end the topic of discussion became much more relevant to their current situation. Hunter asked how long it would take for them to get to Station Zero and Dr. Cohen replied that it would be several hours but he expected they'd arrive some time mid-afternoon. The follow up question was from Seraph, who wanted to make sure that Angel would be able to have something to eat since he was eating for two. Nathan confirmed that they would eat at the regular time, at which point Angel and Seraph dissolved into a cutesy game of who loves who more, and lots of PDA.

Casual questions continued, as did informal introductions as Heather and Aiden made a proper showing of their classmates, to whom Nathan gave each a personal greeting and a handshake, commenting at the end how great it was to put faces to names. He explained to the group that he was looking forward to working with all of them; another round of surprised exclamations struck the docking bay when the group learned that he would be taking an active hand in their education by teaching one of their classes!

The surprises kept coming as the class was finally introduced to their skiff. While Angie Mae had spent plenty of time next to it, she never really gave it much attention until Nathan turned the class's focus to it; only then did she notice that it was not the same as the ones she was used to seeing-- while the top resembled any normal Unity Center skiff, the one they'd be using went much deeper underwater and the main hull was incredibly different.

Even as they all started loading, none of the time was wasted in silence as Dr. Cohen began explaining that the skiff was of Tikk design, and made for short voyages close to the coasts. It was larger and bulkier than a Programme skiff and, in addition to seating 16 instead of 12, it sat them comfortably. It seemed odd to Angie Mae that a transport designed to go shorter distances would provide a more relaxed trip but, then again, there were certain aspects of Phin thought processes that were still alien to her and could very well never make sense.

Once they were all inside, Dr. Cohen began the tour, identifying the six separate compartments in the Station Zero skiff, which differed greatly from the usual two. A Unity Centre skiff had a crew compartment and a place for passengers, but within the Station Zero skiff there were actually six compartments: crew, entryway, and four passenger zones with four seats to a zone. As they walked down the corridor that ran between the various compartments Angie Mae took note of some strange symbols overhead in two of the cabins that were written neither in Phin, nor any Human language of which she knew. Dr. Cohen did not address the symbols so she assumed they were unimportant, but it didn't stop her from thinking about them.

What did, ultimately, was when two crew members, both Tikk, came through the cabins and announced that the skiff would be departing shortly. Angel raised a fuss about wanting to make sure that his luggage was loaded (it was, and Angie Mae was able to attest that it was in place before the students even got to the docking bay). After that, the two crewmen had the students spread out evenly among the various cabins so everyone split up to go to their respective seats before launch.

Greg and Tenacious Hunter, unsurprisingly, took the front row. What surprised Angie Mae was that Charlie and Clicker joined them. While both pairs were always cordial with one another, there was far more an expectation in Angie Mae's mind that Charlie would have preferred to sit next to Angel so the two could share pregnancy stories (they'd done that a lot in recent weeks). Instead, at least from what Angie Mae could tell, Charlie and Hunter were talking together in deep conversation while Greg and Clicker sat down to play Reversi.

Reversi was an old board game that had gained popularity in England in the late 19th century, and later had a resurgence in the mid-or-late 20th century under the name Othello . Out of most Human games, Reversi worked best on Water Earth because the pieces used could be made out of black and white stone, providing a decent play experience near or under water. Angie Mae never much cared for it herself, but she'd heard that it was one of Charlie and Clicker's favorite past times, and Greg had taken an interest in learning it because it was one of few things that he was far better at than Tenacious Hunter.

Angie Mae smiled when she thought of the Album; he was the only one of his subspecies in the Pod and he seemed to like it that way. It also didn't surprise her in the least that he, like Lone Carver, had gained an honorific since Hunter actively pushed for it. While she could have presumed he earned his because his father was the Unity Centre director on Water Earth, she more liked to think that he definitely gained it through hard work; Tenacious Hunter didn't ever settle for anything less than the best from himself or from Greg.... which was a funny thought for the poor Human partner.

Having spent the first part of her time at the Land Earth Unity Centre with him, she found Greg to be relaxed and widely unspectacular. He always got the work done and it was readily apparent that he was intelligent, but he just didn't seem to have much in the way of drive. That certainly changed when he partnered up with Hunter. The two were a weird odd-couple to begin with, but their development over the course of the almost-year together was even stranger in her mind. For the past few months it often seemed like Greg was taking the lead in the relationship, a factor she hoped would change them both for the better.

Another pair that had changed, as Angie Mae thought about it, was Max and Carver. Seated in the second cabin with Angel and Seraph was the partnership that contained the group's only Amplus and they, like Greg and Hunter, had hit a metamorphosis of sorts. Angie Mae's first impression of Max had remained consistent for the longest time. Out of all of the students he seemed to have to work hardest to be successful, and he did at every single step. What she first thought to be social awkwardness or an introspective nature, she learned, turned out to be a young man who put his studies first, much to the detriment of everything else.

The longer he spent with Carver, it seemed, the more he learned to live life and, in turn, relaxed enough to actually learn without beating himself to death doing it. He smiled a lot more in recent months, and often involved himself in events whenever invited. All in all, he was a vastly different person than when she'd first met him and, she was pleased to acknowledge, he was better off for it. If nothing else, he seemed happier and more content. She realized, of course, a lot of that had to do with Carver.

She was pleased that Lone Carver had earned an honorific name, and not just because he was one of very few Amplus associated with the Programme. Although it had taken her a long time to get over her natural aversion to large creatures, she had come to recognize Carver as a kind and gentle individual, nurturing and encouraging in a way that helped people around him become their best. She had obviously seen it in Max, but there were little tell-take signs that his presence had a positive effect on Greg and Hunter, Charlie and Clicker, and definitely on Angel and Seraph.

Granted, the flamboyant black man and his partner were still very rowdy (she couldn't imagine them being who they were any other way), but they had tempered it since arriving on Water Earth. Angel still had crazy ideas and Seraph was still all-to-eager to help out, but every now and again they'd pause for just a second to double-check that maybe, just maybe, whatever they were planning wasn't such a great concept to pursue; Angie Mae attributed that moment of pause to Carver's down-to-earth presence rubbing off on them... just a little. The entire thought put a smile on her face, but it quickly faded when her eyes lingered on the third cabin, which was empty.

There were more students originally destined for Station Zero, and having them absent hurt Angie Mae more than she thought it would. They were her friends and her Pod, people with whom she'd grown close over the months of study and education. One, had even been a burgeoning romance... until that turned sour. She would miss Tailor and Swimmer and Coaster but, the more she focused on Jackson, the more she realized that he would definitely not be one of the ones she was sad to see go.

Angie Mae's mother once told her that relationships could be confusing-- once they ended, people tended to focus on the good times, which meant that the separation hurt more. On one hand, she could feel an affinity toward what her mom said in that she knew things with Walker weren't perfect but he remained her dearest friend even after he passed. On the other hand, she was spitefully pleased to realize, Jackson Robberts was, in her mind, and always would be, an asshole.

Being situated at the back of the skiff with the three Cohens, she wasn't forced to dwell in such a negative headspace for long. Nathan, Aiden, and Heather had been talking pleasantly amongst themselves but Angie Mae's first impression of Nathan turned out to be true, he quickly picked her up into the conversation. "Ms. Kline... earlier this morning you mentioned Christina Valentine..."

She looked to Dr. Cohen, quickly pushing the negativity (and thoughts of Jackson) out of her mind. "Oh? Mmm... yeah. Roller and I spent a lot of time talking about our partners... why do you ask?"

He offered an encouraging smile as he pulled out a data pad and set it across his thigh. "Well... in addition to hoping to strike up a conversation, understanding the interconnected relationships of Phin and Human students is an important aspect of being a staff member for the Unity Programme."

From anyone else, the clinical statement he gave would have seemed detached and distant, but his smile, and from the brief impression she'd gained of the man, she realized that it was as much humor as anything else. "Well... I don't know a lot beyond what he told me, but from everything he said, it sounded like he loved her but she didn't love him back."

It was a hard story for Roller to relate to her, and he did so over the course of almost a month. She explained to Dr. Cohen that Christina Valentine was Roller's first partner and that he got her pregnant. He wanted to have the child together but she wasn't really interested in him, didn't want to become a mother, and had objected to the entire process as it was, on many levels, against her religious background.

That statement made Nathan pause; despite the fact that he had been watching her throughout the entire story, his fingers never stopped typing away on his data pad, giving her the impression that his earlier joke held some kernel of truth. Regardless, at no point did his seamless typing ever give her any indication that he was anything but genuine in his interest to hear her story. The fact that he had paused, plus his empathetic follow-up comment futher reinforced that impression. "Oh my..."

Angie Mae had long-since realized that the Phins had an entirely different approach to spirituality and the metaphysical; while they were accepting and open of Human religions, they also made no allowances for it. She nodded in empathy to his statement "Exactly... when she told them that she had a problem with what was happening, Roller sounded like they called her a hypocrite or something... I don't know-- it's like I said, she was in the pregnancy class with Max, Christina, and Angel-- I'm sure one of them would know more."

Dr. Cohen nodded thoughtfully, putting away his data pad. "I'll find out more later, I'm sure... but for now, how about we find something more positive to talk about?"

Aiden's fluke tapped her foot playfully. "Right. You have been frowning too much on this trip."

Rather than simply suggest a topic change, Aiden went straight into a talk about what the Unity Programme was like. As a relatively new addition to it, the Tikk's impression was fresh and interesting, and Angie Mae found that she didn't mind listening to him speak one bit. That sense of fresh perspective only grew as Heather added in her thoughts. The two cousins regaled Nathan (and Angie Mae) with their impressions and, she noticed, they talked to him about things in a different way than they'd conversed with their classmates; it didn't take long for her to realizes that, despite them being family, they still held him in a similar reverence to how the rest of the class saw him.

The conversation continued from there but Dr. Cohen, ever inclusive, pulled Angie Mae into the discussion and had her tell the three of them about Land Earth and how the Unity Center there differed. She had so much to say and it felt like she talked for hours. She started with how classes went before Phins were included in the school, the vast differences in the class setups, how the days of the week were different and, most importantly, that the Unity Centre on Land Earth was a static structure, unlike the almost cruise-ship-like Water Earth Centre.

That only got Heather more excited. "That sounds a lot like Station Zero! I really hope I get to visit Land Earth some day!"

The comment, rather than inspiring Aiden, only seemed to discourage him. "I don't think I'll get to... not in my lifetime."

Angie Mae couldn't help but feel a spike of emotional pain; she couldn't recall having ever seen Aiden sad before. She immediately interjected. "Why not?"

All three Cohens responded in unison. "Tikks aren't part of the Programme."

Silence prevailed for a long time after that until, with all the subtlety of a charging bull mixed with the tact of an international diplomat, Nathan forcefully changed the trajectory of the talk. "I would imagine you have at least a hundred questions about Station Zero... isn't that right, Ms. Kline?"

Rather than take the opportunity to let Dr. Cohen dictate the direction of the discussion, Angie Mae instead crossed over to Aiden's bench as she pulled out her mini data pad she'd taken from home. Without any input needed, Heather switched seats with her so she could sit next to the Tikk. She leaned over, pressing the screen twice with her thumb as she reached over to hold it in front of Aiden. "This is a picture of the Unity Centre I took when we were arriving by boat..."

The Tikk's eyes were glued to the screen as she went through the two hundred and ninety seven pictures she'd saved on her data pad. A lot of them were ones she had kept since before her time with the Programme, but Aiden remained transfixed as she went through every last one, even the every-day menial pictures of home. Eventually he spoke up when she was getting close to the end. "That one.... that picture."

Angie Mae glanced down to it. "That's the Statue of Liberty."

Aiden's eyes widened. "I read about that before... it looks like it is made of jade... I thought it was copper!"

She smiled. "It was, when it was made in the late nineteenth century, but by the early twentieth it had turned green because--"

The Tikk let out a soft trill before stating "Oh... the copper reacted to the air."

Silence reigned for many long moments as Angie Mae continued to flip through the next few pictures of her trip to the Statue of Liberty and the next person to speak was Dr. Cohen. "Did they ever end up moving that off of Liberty Island?"

She nodded in return. "The year before I was born."

That question caused Aiden to pause. "Liberty Island? The books I read said that the Statue of Liberty was on Ellis Island."

Angie Mae corrected him. "Actually, a lot of people get that wrong-- I did when I first visited... but the tour guide told me about Liberty Island, which is where it was before it was before moving to Governor's Island."

Heather spoke up, having been paying attention. "So... Ellis Island? Liberty Island? Whatever island it WAS on, why did they want to move it?"

Nathan answered. "Climate change and global warming. A combination of issues meant that it was at risk. Almost thirty years before I was born there was a very bad hurricane that hit New York-- the city where the Statue of Liberty was, that caused a huge amount of damage to the islands there. The hurricanes kept getting worse over the next few decades and, by the time I was born, people were starting to worry about damage to the statue."

Angie Mae cleared her throat. "Liberty Island was barely seven feet above sea level at the time... same for Ellis Island. They moved the Statue of Liberty back in the sixties, I think... and that was after they shored up Liberty Island and added another few feet to its elevation."

Aiden let out a dejected whistle. "It sounds like all that work went to waste if they just moved the statue."

Angie Mae shook her head. "Actually, Ellis Island was where they handled a lot of administrative work concerning immigration and the like. Once they realized that Ellis Island couldn't be saved they moved all the offices to Liberty Island when the statue was relocated to Governor Island... so I think it all worked out okay... especially since Ellis Island is a reef now."

Heather's question came next. "What was on Governor Island before that? I thought there wasn't a lot of room in New York for ANYTHING."

It was a question for which Angie Mae didn't have an answer. "I don't know... the Statue of Liberty was already there when I saw it so I guess whatever was there before had already been removed."

Dr. Cohen tapped his chin in thought. "I visited New York during one of my early trips back to Land Earth and I THINK I remember visiting the area... it was a fort, I believe... not that it was still used as one."

As the discussion petered out, Angie Mae wondered if silence would take hold again but barely a few seconds passed before Heather spoke again. "Oh! Speaking of changes, Uncle Nathan... did the Ikali get an outpost set up yet?"

Angie Mae wasn't familiar with the term. "Ikali? What's that?"

Angie Mae, in the short time she had known him, had never seen Nathan Cohen flustered or out of sorts, but his unreadable expression and rapidly searching for something amidst his pockets was about as close to it as she could imagine him getting. Eventually he pulled out a small data pad and handed it to Heather. He was once again very overt yet tactful in the topic change. "That is a very good topic, and one we will discuss later... but something a little more pressing is an important question I have for Ms. Kline."

Suddenly the target of attention, Angie Mae sat up a little straighter. "A question about what, Dr. Cohen?"

He had a critical gaze she had never before noticed, as if he were studying her like one of his countless experiments for which he'd gained so much fame. "You are a very intelligent young lady, and I'm curious why you purposefully lowered your grades toward the end of the first term on Land Earth."

Although some part of her knew that there was the possibility that someone would one day catch on, she hardly ever expected to be called out on it by Nathan Cohen, one of her idols. "I... I don't know what you mean."

Nathan leaned forward in his seat, his analytical gaze giving her the impression that he was trying to solve her like a math problem. "Your grades were three points off of perfect. You improved on your entry exam score by almost forty... but when it came time for the end of term exams you failed on the required passing grades by a single point."

Her brain started working overtime in trying to find an excuse for purposefully bombing the exam; although she thought he was the kind of person to understand if she told him the truth, it'd gone on long enough that she couldn't bring her self to explain. "I... I didn't--"

He didn't let her come up with an excuse. "Not only did you manage to reduce your score so that you missed entry to Land Earth for the next term by a single point, but you also must have figured out the grading algorithm so you could understand the point scoring system."

It was apparent that he'd not only done his homework, but he caught her dead to rights. Surely she could explain herself and he'd understand... but she still couldn't resist the urge to try and defend herself. "I... was homesick, and I--"

Again he didn't buy it. "One point is more than a coincidence, Ms. Kline... and I also noticed that you missed a question on the final exam that you got right three times throughout the rest of the year. In fact, your grades didn't start sliding until it was announced that top students would be coming to Water Earth..."

Her voice got caught in her throat; she should have expected him to be so thorough. In the end, all she could say was a half-explanation. "T-the.... Amplus."

She hadn't realized at first that anyone in the cabin in front of them might have been listening in and, as the conversation began raising in volume due to Angie Mae's realization she'd been caught, apparently it became loud enough for Max, who had at some point moved into the empty cabin in front of them and had overheard. He peeked his head into the open passage. His expression was one of sympathy. "Angie Mae... did you REALLY stay on Land Earth on purpose because you were afraid of the Amplus?"

Glancing between her Pod member and Dr. Cohen she realized that she was backed into a corner, and it was time to come clean. Heather and Aiden went to keep Carver company while Max sat down beside Angie Mae and she explained her story to Nathan. Max was one of the few students at the Centre who was even passingly familiar with her aversion to large animals. It all stemmed from when she was attacked by a dog when she was younger. What she had never done, however, was to show anyone what had resulted from the attack.

Unzipping one of the access zippers on the arm of her wetsuit, Angie Mae pulled the material back to reveal something nobody in the Programme except the medical professionals had seen; she couldn't even look at it herself. Judging from the quiet murmurs from Dr. Cohen and Max, she realized it was probably as horrible as she remembered. The dog had been almost twice her size, and it had grabbed her just above the elbow; she remembered screaming and crying for what must have been forever until she was freed from the dog-- it had been 'put down' before it let go and it the event played over and over in her mind. Before she knew it, tears were coming down he cheeks.

Nathan eventually reached across the distance and zipped her arm back up for her. "Your medical files are available to the staff, but they don't always tell the human version, just the technical one, and there's a big difference, Ms. Kline. I wish you would have said something to the staff earlier."

Not having the faith in her voice to speak, she just shrugged, and, a moment later, Max was embracing her, and talking for her. "She was really hesitant to be around Carver for the longest time, but she's getting better, Dr. Cohen."

She rested her face against Max's shoulder, thankful that any member of her Pod was there for her, but especially him; he had a natural understanding of people, and she was glad to call him her friend. In the end, Nathan spoke before she did. "There are still going to be some issues to resolve at Station Zero, but I'm glad to hear that you are slowly overcoming your hesitance, Ms. Kline That will be exceedingly important before an intelligent student such as yourself can go any further in our partnership."

That last word gave her pause, and she slowly detached from Max before she looked to Dr. Cohen. "Partnership? You mean, Phins and Humans?"

Her idol smiled genuinely at her as he spoke. "No, Angie Mae... as in us-- you and my team. You are a bright young woman and I want you working with me as an intern."