Quantum Kid

[Kchoo]

It was so ridiculous and implausible that it should have never been confused with reality.
But for a while, everyone in town believed it. Even the FBI showed up to investigate.

Who could have known? Especially Sam's Dad.

He didn't give much thought to what his 5 year old son did when he was at work, but knew his son liked to watch him work on his models, and patiently answered the boy's questions, but he didn't dream that a 5 year old would get so much media attention.

Sam was a very curious boy, who was thouroughly infatuated with Science. He loved magnets ever since his 4th Birthday, when he he got his horseshoe magnet.

When he discovered his dad had stronger magnets in the shed he snuck out to the shed every chance he got to see what he could do with them.

When he discovered copper reactions slowed down magnets falling, it then became an obsesssion.

He Rigged up the wheel of his radio controlled car as a drive wheel to spin a copper tube, and inserted a cylindrical magnet inside. The magnet became suspended inside the copper tube when the tube was spun.

That was how it started. His dad was impressed when his son showed him that..

Lenz's Law was nothing new to him since his degree was in physics and chemistry,
Lenz's Law. The magnetic field induced in the metal attracts the falling magnet, creating resistance. ... Gravity speeds the magnet back up again until it reaches a happy medium speed. Basically, your magnet is creating a whirlpool of electrons around it as it falls through your pipe.

But he never saw anyone suspend a magnet inside a spinning copper pipe. That was an impressive thing even for an adult college student,

"Who showed you that?"

"Me."

"Don't tell your mother."

....

 

[FFH]

Cute. When I was 5, I ate ants at kindergarten. I hope his dad lets his son develop this interest of his in his own way.

 

[Kchoo]

Sam's obsession didnt stop there. He became convinced that reactions between coper and magnetism were just a clue to something more. His imagination was captured.

He began more sophisticated designs, and instructed his Dad on the intricacies of designs. His oldest brother helped him draw blueprints, and worked to help build some of the designs from balsawood, carbon brushes, and soldering wires together.

Sam designed and built a rotor that would feed electric impulses from the carbon brushes as magnets passed over them, feeding the magnetic core of three opposing magnets designed to be a frictionless bearing. And simultaneously using the magnets as a frequency multiplier, feeding back the energy into electric magnets intended to propel the rotors. His theory was that if he could manually push start the rotor to a high enough speed, that it would begin to feed on its own energy and spin perpetually.

But it didn't work, and after several attempts to spin his device, he realized it could not work without a power source. Burnt, he still wouldn't give up. he he wanted a power source external and unconnected.

His brother had the idea to build a Tessa coil, which in theory, if the rotor disc was placed in the electric field, it could suspend itself a few inches off the table and float on an invisible energy beam.

A frequency generator was added, and at 755 megahertz, the device did indeed lift off the table...

The whooping and hollering in excitement had them both out of breath, when the power outage occurred.

The lights in the house, the shed, the street lights, everything went dark... but the disk, stayed afloat, and glowed with a hazy misty blue light... and at first it seemed to be spinning faster, but then the spinning slowed down.

The lights came back on and it was then he and his brother realized the object was not spinning anymore, yet remained suspended above the table. And slowly moving to the West wall of the shed.

Sam grabbed a butterfly net, because he was afraid to touch it, and swooped at it, but the net swished through the object like it was not there, like passing through thin air... and the object was not disturbed in the least.

It just continued floating toward the shed wall until it touched, but kept going... the boys walked around outside of the shed. And the object slowly kept moving west...

Sam- "It is moving..."

Br0- "No... we are... the Earth is rotating... it is not moving at all... "

Sam-"is it getting higher?"

Brother pondered that for a second- "No... the Earth is moving away from it... it is sitting still... frozen in space... "

Sam put his finger up to it... and his finger passed right through the rotor... just like the net did. He got closer,and put his head in the blue fog around it.., and a green alien with almond eyes, big green smooth head, turned, looked right into sams Eyes, and opened its mouth like it was just as astonished as Sam was.

Sam- "Put your head in...".

The older brother studied Sam for a second, and decided Sam was unharmed, so he tried it..,

Bro- "Wow! woah... Woah!" he jumped back. "Ho crap, it pulled my hair!"

Sam- "The green dude?"

"Yeah!"

The object was now too high for Sam to put his head back in it...

"It is getting away!"

"I don't think we can stop it.., we can't even touch it..,"

Dad came around the corner of the shed... "I heard some whooping. It is getting near bedtime..."

Then he noticed our rotor, and scratched his head.. "Okay.. where is the string?"

...

 

[Kchoo]

Sam replied to Dad first,
"No strings, It is working... not like we expected..but we can't stop it... it is moving away from Earth... "

Dad, "I don't believe it."

Brother-"It is true."

Sam,
"Get a ladder, and put your head in it before it gets too high."

Dad,
"What? Ehhh... no."

The rotor continued to slowly move higher and to the west.

Dad,
"What did you do?"

Sam explained as best he could...

Dad,
"Doesn't make sense... No, we are witnessing something else.. You didn't do that..."

Sam,
"What do we do? I could build another one? "

Brother, "I don't think that is a good idea... I am not sure what happened, I didn't really think it would work... maybe the power outage did something... I don't know."

The object disappeared into a cloud...

Dad,
"if we can't explain it to ourselves, we can't explain it to anybody. Let it go. These things are best left alone... If anybody asks, tell them you are just building models... "

Sam,
"So I can build another one?"

Dad,
"No... It wouldn't have worked anyway something else is going on... and I don't trust it. Time for bed. This never happened."

Sam,
"But Dad, I made it. I can do it again, and we can prove it..."

Dad,
"No son. It isn't that... its that I can't control what will happen even if you could do it...there are people that will kil for stuff like this. Our lives could be in danger... do not play with magnets anymore."

Dad confiscated our plans, and burned them in the hibachi,
"Go to bed, and dont talk about this to anyone. If you do, They may take you away."

Brother, "He is right... I am sorry..."

The next morning, the shed was clean, everything was gone....
Dad was at work, and Bro was in school, and Sam opened a model airplane box, and pulled out his copy of the drawings, and some magnets he stored there... and started cutting some more balsa wood...

 

[Kchoo]

Sam worked fast and hard all morning, and built a new rotor, soldered the connecting parts, and designed a new start system using a dynamo he hacked from a toy car and a metal lawn more wheel. It could generate some good speed and the clutch would disengage when the device started to spin at the same rate as the dynamo.

Then he gave it a start....

The rotor spun a long time on its frictionless bearing.... but it never started flying...

A knock on the shed door, and a man was standing outside,
"Hello. I hear you working in there, may I speak to you a moment? "

Sam tentatively opened the door and recognized his neighbor. He seemed surprised to see the boy working by himself,
'IS YOUR Dad around? I wanted to talk to him about the object that floated from your yard last night. '

 

[CasualBystander]

Kchoo...

Interesting creative writing exercise.

 

[nivek]

This fiction is written in the same manner as books written and promoted as nonfiction...

 

[3FEL9]

Interesting..

I will read more.. If the Quantum Kid story develops further

 

[Kchoo]

Sam thought about it for a second.... remembering his Dad's warning, he decided to play it cool.
"I saw it too. My dad has a bunch of balsa wood, so I thought I would try to build a model of what I saw...."

Sam opened the doors, and the Neighbor's eyes widened,
"I heard you talking... you and your brother built it... you are starting another one? Let me see those drawings.... "

After studying the plans and the model for a bit....
"This wouldn't work.... What else did you do that is not in these plans?"

"We tried adding a tesla coil, but it didn't work... the power went out... we don't know how it works... We think it was something else..."

" I know, I heard your dad and brother... and I saw him take your plans and burn them...Dont worry, I wont say anything... but I want to talk to your Dad."

Mom poked her head into the shed... "Lunch time. What are you doing?"

"Your son is building a model.. I heard some noises... I thought it was burglars... "

Mom studied the tools and scraps and the rotor... "I don't want you messing with your Dad's tools or his models... clean up the shed and come inside."

She escorted the man out... "Everything is fine... please call me next time you have concerns... I am always here..."

 

[Kchoo]

Sam put the tools away, cleaned up the work bench, folded the plans and stored them in a box. He left the rotor on the table, covered it with a towel, and put the padlock on the shed door.

His mom greeted him at the door with a sandwich and sat at the table with him as he ate,
"What are you doing out there?"

"Inventing."

"You are smart... I wouldn't have thought about the things you think about at your age..."

"Oh I am just playing with stuff... and benefiting from Dad's tools and wood and magnets, and some copper... Did you know magnets are effected by copper?"

She smiled, "Yes, I had a horseshoe magnet... almost magical. I used iron filings on paper to see the magnetic lines, and later I learned all about how magnets are used to find north on the earth's magnetic field. "

Sam,
"Dad showed me his compass..."

Mom,
"Have you seen it lately?"

She pulled it from her purse, and set it it on the table. Sam couldn't believe where it pointed. He grabbed it, held it near the window...
"Right at Dad's shed!"

Mom,
"Yes... since last night, when the power went out...."

Sam,
"How much do you know."

"Mom's know alot of things. We even know that impossible things can happen sometimes. Unexplainable, wonderful, incredible things."

"Yeah... I really want to make it work again... but Dad... he doesnt want me to... "


Mom poured some milk for Sam, and gave him a cookie,
"Your Dad is worried... he worked for the government, and he knows they will figure out the shed, and he thinks they will come... he is going to set up a lab at work, and duplicate your work... that way they wont bother you or your brother. You stop working on it now, and trust that your Dad knows how to handle things."


"Okay..."

"Good."

She smiled and gave him another cookie,
"Play with your toys, and just be a young boy... this is too serious for you and me... how about a story?"

Sam understood, and he loved reading time, and just spending some with his Mom,
"Yeah, science is,alot of work... and I miss our reading time..."

 

[Kchoo]

When Dad came home, Mom greeted him and visited quietly with him for a few minutes, then Dad grabbed the key to the shed. Sam knew this was about the new model... and followed.

Dad lifted the towel off of the new rotor,
"Wow... you built that fast, then pointed to the new dynamo mechanism, "What's this? Did it help?"

"No. The neighbor heard me working... he saw what I was doing, and saw what happened the night before...."

Dad picked up the rotor, and turned it to study it's construction..."Okay, I will talk to him...."

"He said this wouldn't work,"

"Yeah, I don't see how it could. I gotta hand it to a five year old though, you learn quickly. Did you build this from memory?"

"Not completely... "

Sam pulled out his stashed set of plans and handed it to his dad.

"I see. I should have known. Don't worry, It's on me now. If anybody asks anything, or any strangers come around, just tell them to talk to me. "

Dad wrapped up the device in the towel, tucked in the plans and patted his son on the head as he carried them out.

"Just play with your toys... be a young boy... this is was a cool idea, but It may be more trouble than it is worth... heck if I can even understand it. But I promise, will try to get to the bottom of this, and if anything happens, I will take the heat, ok?"

He put the items in the trunk of his car, and drove away.

 

[Kchoo]

The next morning, Sam slept in, and didn't bother getting out of bed. He was a bit depressed to he kicked off his own project, but he knew getting anywhere near the shed would be nothing but trouble, and somehow, his toys seemed less interesting afyer all the recent excitement.

He layed there, and thought about all that happened the last few days.

What was the deal with the green guy?

Sam played it over in his head in slow motion.

It was as if peering into a room, a cylinder mounted on tge wall, a desk of some sort next to that. It looked up from its desk, toward Sam, stood still, turned to face Sam, then in a few quick, long stides, it was face to face with Sam, peering at him.

"Robot, or living?"

Sam got out of bed, grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper from his brother's desk and drew a line drawing of the face.

Mom knocked on Sam's door,
"Breakfast is ready."

Sam opened the door, still holding the paper. He held it up,
"Have you seen these before?"

Mom shook her head slowly,
"What is it?"

"He was in the rotor fog... "

Mom grabbed Sam hand and took the peper from him eith her other hand, and folded it in half,
"This needs to be our secret, ok? Please do not mention it to anyone."

"Brother saw it too!"

"SHHH!"

Sam knew better, but she lookd frightened, really frightened.

 

[Kchoo]

This fiction is written in the same manner as books written and promoted as nonfiction...

Titles? Authors?

 

[Kchoo]

Of course, Sam didn't have any reason to fear the Green Guy... he was more curious than afraid...

When brother got home, Sam redrew the line drawing, showed it to his brother,

"Ooooh... I don't know what it is... But maybe we opened a portal, and maybe he Was just as surprised and curious as we were...

The way we saw him, he seemed surprised, and I think he pulled my hair to try to find out if I was real...

Listen... don't talk to anyone about this... they either wont believe you, and say you are crazy. Or... worse, they will believe you, and want what you know... Dad was right... This could get ugly. If anybody asked me, I would tell them nothing really happpened.. it was just a prank I played ok?"

Sam,
"But we know it was real."

Brother, "Dont be so sure... I could have fooled you... I studied magic..."

Sam, "Okay! I wont say anything."

Brother waded up the paper and lit a match to it...

 

[nivek]

Titles? Authors?

Yours...

 

[Dundee]

Mate this story had me transfixed. You got some serious talent. I was in the shed with the two brothers the whole time. And was disappointed to find myself at my work desk. I cant wait to see where your going with this.

Well, don't just sit there man, keep telling the story!!!!

 

[Kchoo]

Sam watched the ashes crumble under their own weight after the flame had gone out,
"Do you think Dad will get it to work again?"

Mom knocked and informed the boys that dinner was ready.

Brother just put a hand on Sams head,
"Get what to work?"

Sam nodded the affirmative,
"His new model airplane?"

Brother,
"Sure... he is a master at that. It will be the best one yet."

Dinner was quiet. So quiet that Sam laughed when his dad made a smacking noise as he ate.

Dad,
"What's so funny?"

Sam,
"You."

Sam tried to mimic his Dad's involuntary noise...

Mom smiled,
"Sam, it isn't polite."

Dad didn't look up,
"Sorry, I am extra hungry tonight... I skipped lunch working on a new experiment... "

 

[Kchoo]

After Dinner they all went to the living room to watch TV.

The door bell rang, and Dad was greeted through the bug screen by the neighbor holding a six pack.
"Hi. I was wondering if you wanted to have a cool one with me and visit a little?"

Dad, "Sounds good... I could use some air. Mind if we walk around the block while we visit?"

Sam could hear two pull-top cans being opened as they stepped off the porch to begin their walk.

Sam turned to his brother,
"He saw it..."

Brother,
"You mean he saw our kite? Yeah, that glow paint worked pretty well... "

Sam nodded and Mom sighed, "Oh you boys and your dad's tinkering!"

 

[Kchoo]

The next Day, same woke up and wandered into the kitchen.

Dad was busy at the kitchen bar, using sissors to cut an oval shap around the swirly from a laundry soap box, grouped it with another of equal size and color, and cut a slit in the middle, then he joined the two oval pieces with a flat cross member that just fit in the slots... then poked a small hole in the front and back in the center of that with the point of a pencil... tied a stein o. It, and held it up to examine his creation.
He noticed Sam, "What do you think?"

Sam, "Looks like the kite brother was talking about... now we just need some glow paint..."

Dad, "Exactly... see if it flys... ".

Sam took it out to the street in front of the house... a nice breeze was blowing perfectly to the North... straight up the street.

It wasn't long until the Kite had pulled half th pe spool, at least a hundred feet of string, from his spool,
Dad watched from the front porch with a grin...

Sam, "Nice!"

The neighbor came walking up... "That isn't the same"

Dad, "No, the first one got away... I told them not to fly it in the dark... "

Neighbor, "Okay.. whatever your hiding, I don't think you understand it any more than I do, but I work for the FAA, and after our talk last night, I got a call from some higher ups... some Airline pilots reported seeing it too, and one reported that the object flew right through their fuselage... the plane had to be grounded because their instruments started giving weird readings... a flight recorder was removed... FBI is involved.... If I were you, I would keep flying kites, and building models, and pretend you don't know anything... but this is going to be hard to keep quiet."

Dad, "Okay, enough... leave Sam alone... I do pn't think I want you filling his head with ideas of such nonsense. I told you, it was nothing... it still isn't nothing, and you need to let it go, or you will be answering to the men in the white coats!"

 

[Kchoo]

Neighbor, "It's out of my hands. I don't even think I want to know as much as I do... I was just trying to warn you. They will probably trace it's origin back to the shed... what you do with that is up to you... I will stay out of it... in fact, I want nothing to do with it at this point, but I may have to tell them what I know."

Dad, "Go ahead. All you know is some boys were playin in the shed... I am a scientist, and I will be darned if I can make their ideas work.. it is just coincidence.., nothing more... We are just going to have to live with that..."