Hamster Battle Suit Part 2

One evening, Lumina navigated a makeshift obstacle course, her hamster-powered battle suit glowing with energy as Nutmeg scurried inside his wheel, generating an endless supply of power. The fleece fabric of the suit might have looked childish, but beneath its adorable exterior lay an untested weapon of revolution.

Aiden clasped his hands together, his face alight with manic excitement. “It’s magnificent! Powerful, discreet…a masterpiece of integrated adorability and cutting-edge technology! But since we're the first to invent it, this baby needs a name!”

Lumina, striking a heroic pose amidst the clutter, her small fists clenched at her sides, the floppy hamster ears of her hood twitching with anticipation, chimed in with an eager nod. “Yeah! A super cool name!”

Aiden stroked his chin with theatrical gravity, his brow furrowed in mock contemplation. Then, his gaze swiveled, landing squarely on me, where I was meticulously cataloging a surprisingly robust litter of newborn hamsters in a repurposed storage container.

“And what profound insights emanate from the esteemed Junior Scientist Delia? You’ve been…uncharacteristically quiet amidst your fascinating preoccupation with our furry brethren. Surely, a mind as sharp as yours has conceived a suitably brilliant designation?”

It was something I did not expect that they would want to ask me for my opinion. Most of the development on the perpetual motion system (or PMS network) was made possible because of Aiden. He possessed the intellect to claim sole credit, to bask in the incandescent glow of scientific acclaim without so much as a passing mention of our contributions. Yet, the pursuit of personal glory seemed utterly foreign to his singular, almost manic, focus.

I offered a dismissive shrug, the familiar knot of weary frustration tightening its cold grip in my chest. “How about…the Power Synchronization Matrix? Or perhaps the Integrated Energy Conduit?” Practical, descriptive, utterly devoid of any potential for puerile amusement. In essence: me, distilled into a sterile label.

Aiden wrinkled his nose, his entire body leaning back as though my suggestions had physically repulsed him. “Too…clinical. Too…sterile. It needs pizzazz! Something memorable—something that will strike fear into the hearts of the World Governance…or at least mildly confuse them.”

He snapped his fingers, eyes glinting with theatrical inspiration. “I’ve got it! Since Delia here has been our rock, our unwavering force of…well, unwaveringness in all this chaos—we shall christen it…Big D Energy!” 

A wave of mortification, hot and prickly, washed over me from the tips of my toes to the roots of my hair. “Absolutely not,” I said flatly, my voice leaving no room for negotiation, for even the slightest hint of argument. “It sounds utterly ridiculous. And…and rather crude.”

It truly amazed me just how much of an enigma he was. Everything about this was revolutionary yet Aiden continued to be laisse-faire about the seriousness of it. It was almost as if he was telling the science community that his best work was yet to come so lets just have laugh before then.

Lumina, on the other hand, was overjoyed.

She erupted into giggles, nearly doubling over in delight. “Big D Energy! How cool is it for Aiden to name it after you, Sissy!” She bounced on her toes, the floppy hamster ears of her onesie flapping wildly with her movements. 

Aiden grinned, completely and utterly ignoring my vehement protest, basking in Lumina’s innocent amusement. “See? Lumina gets it! It’s catchy! It’s…energetic! It’s…powerful!” He winked conspiratorially at Lumina. “Just like our steadfast Delia!”

I groaned, utterly exhausted by his nonsense. First PMS, now this? This is why I hated boys.

"Aiden, I know that it's not wrong to joke around but you need to stop teaching Lumina lewd things," I said as I glared at him.

Aiden tilted his head, feigning an exaggerated innocence that fooled absolutely no one. “Lewd? My dear Delia, I have absolutely no idea what dark corners of the human psyche your mind has just ventured into. It is simply a testament to your…significant and undeniably large contribution to this perilous endeavor.”

He exchanged a conspiratorial smirk with Lumina, who was now skipping around the bunker, chanting “Big D Energy” under her breath, clearly delighted by the scandalous undertones I was desperately trying to ignore.

I exhaled sharply, the last reserves of my patience crumbling to dust. 

“It’s vetoed,” I declared, my voice firm, brooking no further discussion. “We are not, under any circumstances, calling our potentially life-saving energy network ‘Big D Energy.’”

Aiden and Lumina exchanged a look, a silent, mischievous communication passing between them. Then, in perfect, infuriating unison, they chorused, “But…Big D Energy!”

I sighed, the fight draining out of me like air escaping a punctured pressure seal. It was a losing battle, and they both knew it. They were clearly deriving an immense amount of childish amusement from my discomfort, and frankly, after weeks of relentless work, mounting anxiety, and the constant gnawing fear for Dad, their fleeting moment of levity was almost…endearing. Almost.

“Fine,” I conceded, my voice laced with a heavy dose of exasperation. “Call it whatever ridiculous, potentially embarrassing name you want. Just as long as it actually works and it helps us save Dad.”

Aiden and Lumina exchanged a triumphant fist bumping, Lumina’s stubby hamster tail swishing back and forth with unadulterated excitement.

“Big D Energy it is!” Aiden declared, gripping a tangle of brightly colored wires like some deranged conductor ready to orchestrate technological brilliance—or utter catastrophe. “Now, let’s see if we can get this Big D flowing!”

I groaned inwardly, my face threatening to betray me with a persistent flush of mortification. How had this happened? How had our life-or-death mission to rescue Dad—the culmination of weeks of planning, engineering, and pure reckless determination—been saddled with a name so utterly ridiculous?

Yet, somehow, despite my protests, despite the humiliation, the term stuck. Big D Energy became the unofficial, deeply regrettable, yet frustratingly enduring moniker for our improbable project. 

It was a constant, low-level source of embarrassment—a nonsensical joke amidst the chaos. But in its own way, it was also a symbol. 

A symbol of us—of a grieving older sister, a madcap scientific prodigy, and a little girl in a hamster onesie, bound not just by desperation, but by something stronger. Hope. Resilience. A shared, albeit highly questionable, sense of humor.

 Because when the time came to storm Zone E, when the world governance tried to stop us, it wouldn’t be strategy or science alone that carried us through.

It would be us. 

The impossible, ridiculous, unstoppable trio powered by sheer audacity and a hamster-fueled battle suit.  And whether I liked it or not… Big D Energy was about to change the world.