Sci-Fi and Science

Sora Ichinose's childhood was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant and the iconic white color of hospitals. His fragile body made him a frequent visitor to the inpatient department from a young age.
Every day was the same in the hospital. Same injection time, same meal time, and even same bedtime... Dedicated nurses supervised him strictly to follow the schedule arranged by the doctor.
Fortunately, he managed to have fun every day thanks to a high school student in the same ward as him.
"Hey, little buddy, look at what I've got here!" The high school student shook his hand, exposing a bottle inside the wide cuff of the hospital gown he was wearing.
Sora blinked innocently: "Big brother, you stole pepper from the cafeteria again. The nurses will be angry if they find out."
"Shush! Keep your voice down. This is an important prop. I won't be able to perform my magic for you without it!"
The high school student made a hushing gesture and poured the pepper into a bowl full of water, then stuck a finger coated in soap into it. The pepper spreads out quickly, and none of it sticks to his finger.
"How amazing! It's like you're holding the legendary water-repelling orb!" Sora clapped his small palms to express his approval as the audience.
"Hehe, you know a lot for your age." The high school student said with raised eyebrows as he patiently explained the principles behind it. "This has nothing to do with mythological stories. The reason why pepper powder dispeses is that the soap dissolves in the water, which reduces the surface tension and makes it flow to other places with a higher surface tension. This is the power of science."
Similar scenes took place in this ward every day. There was a cup of water that could change the direction of an arrow in it after it was filled with water, a balloon that couldn't be burned when it was filled with water, an a plastic bag that wouldn't leak even when pierced by a pencil... All these common items became props that brought him surprises in the hands of this high school student.
He couldn't remember the principles of convex lenses or understand the coefficient of the surface tension of liquids when he was young, but he already started to yearn for understanding and exploring science before he could rasp such concepts.
The high school student was very pleased with this and constantly reminded him that they must become someone like Tommy Stack.
"Who's that?" Sora asked casually while making a non-Newtonian fluid.
"He's the main character of Metal Man, a person who also suffered from congenital heart disease like you and me. He became the richest man in the world after he underwent surgery to replace his heart with a mechanical heart.
Sora vaguely remembers that sci-fi movie. He scratches his head and bursts the high school student's bubble without holding back.
"But that's a sci-fi movie. My sister says that everything in sci-fi movies is fake..."
"What's true or fake depends on whether it is realized or not, Sora." The high school student who was reclining on the hospital bed straightened up and leaned over to look him in the eye. "The fantasies in sci-fi works are hpes that humans have for the future, as well as their vision for technology and predictions."
This was the first time Sora saw the high school student make such an enthusiastic and sincere expression.
"Do you know why I love the color blue? It's because I've had plenty of time to stare at the sky while lying here in the ward since I was little. Maybe we'll both be able to replace our hearts with mechanical hearts one day nd won't have to suffer from this pain anymore. Then, we will be able to run on the grass together. Then, I think I'll fall in love with the green of the grass too."
"Will that really happen?" Sora asked softly.
"It will."
Probably because he recognized Sora as a fellow fan of science, when the high school student was discharged from the hospital, he left a special gift for Sora among the amulet he left for the nurses who took care of him.
It was a sheet of A4 paper that was filled with the numbers 0 and 1. To a child his age, it was too difficult to decipher this code, so Sora stored this paper with the intention to solve it when he grew older.
However, this code was more complicated than Sora imagined, and he couldn't crack it even after he taught himself programming.
It wasn't until many years later when Sora rewatched Metal Man while watching old classic movies that he noticed this line of numbers in the corner of a frame. He translated the code into a short sentence using the method th main character used in the movie and read it out softly...
Let us make our lives a scientific dream and then turn that dream into reality.