3rd revision

“All right class, Settle down and take your positions on your mats”, Mrs. Pfeffer commands her class as she steps through the door. Quickly pacing toward the lectern, an antiquated thing used for her laptop mainly. She turns her attention towards one student in particular. “Bobby, stop playing with your web suit.” 

“Yes, Mrs. Pfeffer.” Bobbie sheepishly answers.

“Today we are going to the Great Barrier Reef where we will learn about the life that abounds there. Please stand and put on your web suits and goggles. Be careful not to tangle your umbilical cord with your neighbor's.  Stand only on your mat, not on your neighbor's.  Do you understand Bobby?

Bobby nods in acceptance.

OK.  We are going to a briefing in the blue grass field, first.  The one with the magnolia trees around it. “Everyone adjust your video to your liking.  I'll be with you in a second or two....Are you all rezzed in? Good then, let us proceed”

“YES Mrs. PFEFFER”

“All right. Let me get my control panel up. Hm, let me see: this one, that one, and the rest of these should do it.” the 3d floating panel disappears after depositing 12 different fish in front of her. As she touches each one, the fish begins to swim. “The fish you see swimming in front of you are the 12 we shall study today in our outing. Memorize the color patterns and names as there will be a test on them tomorrow.” The Yellow Fin Tuna.  Next, we see the Hammerhead Shark, and...”

“Mrs. Pfeffer, Mrs. Pfeffer,”

“Yes Cindy?”

“Can I download these so I can memorize them?”

“No Cindy, no downloads today. We will catch each one of these fish, one-by-one, until each of you has caught all twelve.  Scientists used to study primitive life forms by catching, killing, and preserving them in fluids, for examination later. But we know better now, and rely on daily observations from quadrillions of autonomous nano-cameras in the oceans.”

“Just the 12 fish you see here in front of you will be your concern.  Jot your notes down by placing a thumbnail picture of each one in your HUD.  Please identify the genus and species. OH ...and one more thing I forgot to tell you. We are all going to be Bottle Nosed Dolphins.  In this way, you will have a reason to "eat" the fish. As you eat them they will be downloaded into your memory chips whether you have wetware , a chip in your skull. or the standard 10 terabyte thumb drive you have been given. Bobby I believe you are the only one with wetware. Do you know how to access the data?”

"Affirmative, I will comply!", Bobby tones happily like a robot which gets a giggle out of the class and Mrs. Pfeffer

“What are the controls Mrs. Pfeffer, how do we swim as a dolphin?” asks Penny once the giggles dye down.

“Well, your legs power you forward just bend from your knee down and it will propel you through the water. You steer with your arms, put your arms straight out and your hands flat facing down, this is for straight cruising. To turn right dip your right shoulder and arm down like you are an airplane. Left is left shoulder. To go up arch your back and look up, to go down bend over and look down. The web suits should give you sensory feedback like the water is rippling past you.”

"How does it do that?", Bobby chimes in.

"The suit has nano motors that will simulate up to 3 mm of penetration, which means you only feel the first 3mm of force against you.each suit has 4096 Quadrillion nano fibers attached to those motors and each assembly is being controlled by the Cloud Computer.* I know this must be difficult for you, so we shall practice here in the fields before we go to the actual reef. Angie I want you to swim in the air just above the grass. Swim over to the magnolia trees on the far side of the hill and then turn around and come back. Remember fly your dolphin like an airplane.”

“Yes Mrs. Pfeffer, this is fun!“ Angie is the first to squeal in excitement.

“Ok Bobby you follow Angie, then Andrew follows Bobby, and the second row follows Andrew. Stay in the simulation, do not swim outside the pattern of lights I am providing for you now. Yes that's it just bend your legs and fly with your arms”


A broken line of dolphins swims in the blue grass fields casting shadows over the ground as they go. Round the old magnolia tree that must be 100 ft high. coming back there are several collisions as the students pass each other.

Outside the classroom  the two Priests confide in each other.

“And what class is this Father John?”

“That would be Mrs. Pfeffers class Monsignor. They are scheduled for a field trip today.”

“Can they hear us? What are those kids doing, exercising?”

“No they cant hear us as long as they have their headgear on they are immersed in a 3 dimensional world. The web suits were a donation from the Institute. They allow us to digitally recreate the body in cyberspace and provide limited tactile responses back to the user, so they actually feel the world they are in. The headgear gives them a 260 degree view of their world. And I believe the class is experiencing a PEFT. A Physical Education Field Trip., where we combine athletics with classroom activities Its all quite fascinating...”

“Yes it is but lets get back to the point you and this school are bankrupt. The mortgage is overdue for 6 months. And your classrooms are getting empty. You have no new sources of income. So what are you going to do?”

“Pray Monsignor, just pray that we find and Angel to guide us from this mess and into prosperity.”


*Cloud Computer is a term for a bank of servers in a parallel fashion that are off site and houses all applications data concerning the end user.