The Observer Effect
Hello people~ This is my first fanfiction. I'm guessing there aren't many sci-fi stories around here, so I'll take a try at it :]. If you're wondering what kind of sci-fi it will be, it's not the kind with all the cyborgs, fancy guns, and gadgets (hamsters with laser guns, hm...maybe another time). I like to keep things real. What? Alternate universe, real? Well I've got scientific theories to back them up, and Maxwell will be my mouth :3.
Here comes the setup of the story.
Ch. 1 Just Another Day in the Old Town
"Is she going to be okay, doctor?"
Relying on his trained eyes, the man in white coat closely examined the little fur ball that was shivering in a cage. He shone his miniature flashlight left and right, checking for any serious symptoms. Satisfied that he didn't find any, he assured the young woman.
"Yes, she will be. Hamster babies tend to catch the flu quite easily, all year round. Make sure she gets plenty of food, water, and rest, and she'll be better in no time."
"She has a brother at home whom she often plays with. Do you think it's good to have them both together right now?"
The doctor shook his head, "No, that won't do. She needs peace and quiet right now, or else it could take up to twice the time for her to recover. Worse, she might even give the flu to him. Do you have a separate cage?"
"No…but I'll think of something. Thank you."
"Great. Now, Hillary, why don't you come with me to the other room? There's this medicine you can put in her water bottle that I want to give you. Then there is some paperwork to be done." He beckoned her to the door and turned off the already dimmed light, leaving the room in darkness aside from gentle moonlight coming from the open window. The breeze of the summer evening leaves the room warm and humid. "Let's give her some rest in the mean time."
"I'll see you in a bit, Sandy," Hillary said, and closed the door behind her.
The lone critter, glad to be surrounded by the hamsters' natural nocturnal setting, crawled to the corner of the cage to burrow herself in the bedding. She dug and scooped out wood chippings only to find that the bottom is not the warm earth, but cold plastic. Placing some wood chipping back on the base of her bed, the tiny hamster prepared herself for slumber. Curled into a ball, the only thing that differentiated her fur from the bedding are the three dark brown fur markings on her head.
As the peaceful weariness began to surround her, Sandy was jolted awake by pawsteps in her cage. She tried to make out who the intruder was, but he was coming from the direction of the moonlight, and she could discern was a shadow, about the size of a grown hamster.
"Who…?" Having barely just learned how to talk, she could only manage a half comprehendible sentence.
"Shh…I'm here to help. You're sick right? This will make you better," the unknown hamster said while approaching her. "Now…it might sting just a little."
Sandy grimaced as the hamster pressed a needle into her arm. She yelped at the sudden pain. Being the first time experiencing a foreign object intruding into her, Sandy panicked and resisted. "Go…away!"
"Shh…That's it. I'm done. Sleep well, Sandy."
The tiger-striped baby hamster pressed her paw against the wound and cried. She looked up to catch the silhouette of the hamster jump out the window.
The door opened and Hillary came back with the doctor. "It's time to go, Sandy. Say thank you to the nice doctor." She took the cage in her hand and headed for the drive home.
Comforted by the presence of her owner, Sandy was now able to sleep more pleasantly. By the time she woke up the next morning, she couldn't tell if what happened last night was a dream or not.
-Two years later-
"When we see a sunflower seed in front of us, is it really there?" Maxwell pulled out a sunflower seed and presented the question to the hamsters at the table. "How do we know what is real and what isn't?"
"Well what kind of question is that now?" Howdy said. "Ya'll can feel it and ya'll can eat it."
"Now close your eyes and imagine the sunflower seed in your head. Can you still see it in your mind? Can you still remember the smell and the taste?"
"Oh I most definitely can," Oxnard peeped. "I can never ever forget the mouth-watering taste of a sunflower seed. Yum…just thinking about it makes me so hungry." He opened his eyes. "Are you going to eat that seed, Maxwell?"
Slightly fazed, Maxwell handed the seed over and continued, "You can still think the sunflower seed to be there because mass, space, energy, and time are created as an image in your mind by your senses. This is the power of perception."
Bijou whispered to Boss, "Boss, what is mass again?"
"You don't know what mass is? Well! Good thing you asked the brightest ham around here!" Boss laughed. Cappy turned his head toward him in admiration.
"Mass is…you know, the…" his plan to impress his crush failed once again, Boss went red in the face. "Dexter, help me out here."
"Mass is the amount of material in an object. It is also associated with weight due to gravity," Dexter stated confidently.
"Well aren't ya a big smarty-pants?" Howdy retorted.
"To be fair, a mere shopkeeper doesn't really have the mental capacity to learn anything constructive about science. The comparison of me being a know-it-all is hardly valid."
"What did you say?"
"Guys, break it up," Pashmina yelled. "We're trying to listen here!"
"Yeah you two. What Maxwell is saying sounds interesting," Bijou said. Interesting in the sense of utter bewilderment, anyway. She thought.
"René Descartes, Aldous Huxley, and many other curious minds have ventured into the field of perception, in hopes of understanding more about it, and perhaps, take advantage of its uses. What was found was that, in a nut shell, perception is the key to transformation." Happy that he was able to arrive at the main point of the topic, Maxwell enthusiastically carried on. "Reality is both subjective and malleable. If you can dream a better world, you can make a better world.
"Think back to when you were a hambabe, when everything in the world was new and mysterious. The mind of a pup soars. Your whole life experience runs on the juices of imagination." Some of the hamsters looked into the distance, thinking back to their childhoods.
"By simply using your creative minds, you could paint the world into a whole different palette. Nevermind that rusty cage of yours, your home is actually a castle, surrounded by sunflower fields, and carved by the most beautiful marble there is."
Bijou's eyes lit up, "Oh I most certainly can remember such a time. I was ze princess in the kingdom of fairies and had ze whitest dress and—" Realizing she had said that out loud, Bijou blushed madly.
"Say, Bijou, was there ever a prince in your kingdom?" Boss asked.
"Not now, Boss," Sandy sighed.
Maxwell ran his eyes around the group and said, "Some believe, as I do, that the intelligent mind is infinitely capable at birth. However, with every force it encounters, be it physical, intellectual, or social, it becomes diminished. In fact, there are some who are looking for ways to enhance—"
"Hamha everyone!" Hamtaro bursted through the Ham-Ham clubhouse door. "Sorry I'm late! I had to wait longer today because Laura overslept again." His expression was saddened for a few milliseconds, only to brighten up right away. "Say, is everyone ready for the picnic up at Acorn Mountain?"
"Of course we are, little hamdude. We were just listening to Maxwell blab on here while waiting for you," Stan said.
"STAN! Don't you ever say that about Maxwell! He's smarter than you'll ever be!" Sandy could not help but shout at such an inconsiderate comment by her twin brother.
"Chill out sis. Way to be overprotective over your hamboy." Stan made smooching noises.
"At least I HAVE a hamboy. That's one more than the number of hamgals that you have."
Stan's face dropped. "Ouch."
Well, I'll never get their attention back now, Maxwell thought. Might as well wait for tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the other hamsters were chatting about the trip they were about to set out.
"Are you all ready, Pashmina?" Panda asked.
"Yub. I packed Penelope's favourite roasted corn and lettuce sandwich."
"Ookwee, ookwee!" Penelope jumped happily.
Hamtaro was trying to contain his excitement while talking to Oxnard, "We should playing acorn soccer first when we get there! No! Berry picking first! No wait! Maybe we can…"
"Let's go guys! Time to go!" Boss called. Everyone cheered. The Ham-Hams scuttled out of their clubhouse, excited of the upcoming fieldtrip.
"Zu…zu…zu…" Snoozer remained indifferent to anything except getting his sleep.
"Ticki ticki…" The thirteen Ham-Hams trekked up the slope to the summit. The path is lined by gentle green shrubs and red wildflowers. In the bright summer sun and the gentle breeze, the mountain appears animated and lively, as if it is whole-heartedly welcoming those who wish to conquer it. To the right is a near-straight drop. The surface of the steep slope, blanketed with rocks and roots protruding from the ground, provides a base to the perfect bird view of the town. From a glance, houses and stores seemed compacted and jammed together. However, humans and cars can be seem bustling in the tiny pathways between the houses. It was quite a magnificent sight.
"Ookwee, Okwee!" Penelope suddenly tugged at Pashmina.
"What is it, Penelope?"
Penelope pointed a flower on the side of the cliff. The lone plant sticked out of the side of that cliff at an angle. It had a garnet colour as red as a ripened apple and shaped like a star. Such a brilliant colour amidst of the foul and unfriendly ground seemed to suggest that it defied the natural order of things itself.
"You want to pick that flower, Penelope?" Pashmina asked.
"Ookwee!" Penelope started to scurry toward the flower, but Pashmina held her back.
"Wait Penelope! It's dangerous to go that close to the cliff. We'll have to be careful," Pashmina surveyed the flower's position and gauged the situation. "This might take a bit of time…"
She looked up to find that the group did not notice that they had stopped, and were already a way ahead.
"Penelope, we don't want the rest of the group to worry about us. We'll get it when we head back okay?"
"Ookwee…" Disappointed, Penelope started jogging a bit with Pashmina to catch up with everyone.
"GOAL!" Boss shouted as an acorn flew past a scared hamster cowered in fear.
Oxnard tentatively raised his head. "Is…is the game over?"
"Oh yeah," Boss smirked. "We totally beat you guys. What's the score, Cappy?"
"Five-one, Boss."
"Nice goal, Boss!" Bijou called from the side. Boss froze at that comment, and only meekly waved back. What would I do without her? He sighed.
"Everyone did well!" Sandy also yelled.
While the game was over, the competition was not lost between Howdy and Dexter.
"You're so useless, Dexter! Stan went straight by you and you let him by!"
"For your information, I had taken the acorn from the other team way more times than you had, Howdy!" As expected, the two started fighting immediately after the verbal dispute. Normally, Pashmina would have noticed such a quarrel over something to petty, but she was preoccupied at the moment. Penelope kept pestering her to go back for the flower.
"Penelope, I told you that we would go back for it at the end of the day, remember?"
"Ookwee, ookwee, ookweeee!"
"Penelope! You're so stubborn sometimes. Fine, we'll go." Eventually Pashmina caved.
She walked over to Sandy and Maxwell, who were busy sharing their lunch in the comfort of each other's company.
"Sandy, Penelope and I are going to take a little walk, okay? We'll be back in a bit," Pashmina said to the distracted hamster.
"Uhm, what? Oh, okay. Sure Pashmina," Sandy quickly replied and turned her attention back to Maxwell. "So, Maxwell, what suddenly got you so like, interested in these confusing and complicated stuff?" Sandy continued their conversation while Pashmina and Penelope walked away.
"I just think, the things I used to enjoy reading about, like history, math formulas, or biology, are always about me simply reading, memorizing and learning the facts. But this… Quantum mechanics is completely different. They give the room to think for yourself, to really dig into the different possibilities and perhaps discover what no one else had thought imaginable. It is quite something." Maxwell turned to look at Sandy eagerly. "In fact, I planned out more things to tell all of you guys. Do you want to come over today after this picnic so I can show you the books? My human won't be home until later in the evening."
Sandy nodded and replied, "Hillary is going to the gym after dinner, so I will be able to leave my cage." Maxwell is so amazing, Sandy thought. He's going to become someone important someday, I'm sure.
Boss, Stan, Dexter, and Howdy had now started a second round of acorn soccer. Other uninterested hamsters went off on their own to find something else to do. Oxnard, Cappy, and Panda took this time to start eating their packed lunch. Hamtaro, seeing Bijou atop a tree, climbed up to join her.
"Hiya Bijou! Wacha doing up here by yourself?" Hamtaro scooched onto the branch that Bijou was on and sat beside her.
"Oh 'amtaro. I was looking at ze view from up here." Happy to see him join her, Bijou scooted closer to the orange hamster. "See? Look over zere," She pointed to the west. "You can see the ocean from here. It sparkles in the sunlight. Isn't zis so romantic?"
Hamtaro nodded. Romantic, huh? Well it sure looks pretty, anyhow.
Taking in the marvellous scene, the two hamster leaned against the tree trunk, and gradually fell into a doze in the shade of the leafy canopy.
"…uys! Guys! Bijou, Hamtaro!"
"Mm…euh?" Bijou startled awake. It was now late afternoon. The sun was already more than halfway down the sky.
"Come on down guys!"
"Be right zere!" Bijou called. "Wake up, 'amtaro."
Hamtaro stirred in his sleep, then slowly got up and stretched, trying to chase away the drowsiness. Bijou blushed from just looking at him. Aw…'e looks so cute like zat. She shook her head to clear the thought. "Come on, 'amtaro. Zey're calling us."
"Right be—," Hamtaro yawned. "—behind you."
The two hamsters scurried toward their friends, basked in the gentle shimmer of sundown.
Oxnard grinned at the two when they approached the group. "Hey guys, guess who showed up?"
"Oinky, oinky!"
"Nice to see you, Hamtaco and Bijou."
"Jingle!" Bijou greeted the wandering hamster happily. Jingle responded with a strum of his guitar.
"It's HAMTARO, Jingle!" Hamtaro said. He gets Bijou's name right and not mine?…
"You here to join the picnic dude?" Stan asked. "Getting a little late you know."
"In life there is no early or late, only the will to pursue what awaits," Jingle recited his poetic lines. "If you wish to change your life, there is only do, not 'no time to'" The thought, heke? went through every hamster present.
"I met him on the way back from picking this flower that Penelope wanted," Pashmina explained while sniffling a bit. "She was so happy when we got it." She smiled slightly.
Sandy looked concerned. "Are you okay Pashmina?"
"Yeah. Penelope ran to the side of the bush to play, and when I caught up with her, we both fell into this puddle," She sniffled again. "I think I might have a cold now, so Penelope and I are going to go home right away. I was just about to go get her, she's still in the bush there, drying up."
"Well then hop on to the ride and we'll see where the wind takes us," Jingle offered a seat on his pig.
"Why, thanks, Jingle. Let's go get Penelope then," Pashmina looked at Jingle with thankful eyes, then turned to the group. "Bye everyone!"
"Bye Pashmina!"
The Ham-Hams watched Herbert slowly march down the trail. Knowing that the rest of them have to walk the way back, they felt slightly envious of Pashmina.
But then Bijou popped in a comment, "Poor Pashmina. She must really be getting a cold. Just look at her, she's shaking."
The others agreed, and started to scour around to pack things up and get ready to leave. The mood livened up once again as the busy hamsters chatted about their day on this outing. The Ham-Hams then began their own journeys down the mountain. Backpacks secured on their shoulders and all hands held, the hamsters happy trotted their way toward their homes while watching the flaming sunset in the distance.
A perfect ending to a perfect day.
…but is anything ever perfect?
That's it for the opening. Does it seem like a pointless part of the story? Well, I included some foreshadows in there.
Also, future chapters probably won't be as long as this one. I had debated whether to put the first part as a prologue, but ultimately decided against it.