As the dinner went on, Samuel found his attention more diverted from his food. He couldn't stop thinking about the other hamster Clara said she saw. While Samuel didn't feel a particularly strong mating urge (unusual for a rodent), he still want a companion of his own species. While he was grateful that Jessica would choose to become an Animalian to still be his friend, he was somewhat disappointed that she chose to be a rabbit instead of a hamster. Perhaps that was what gave Samuel's eagerness to meet this new hamster a sharper edge.
Fortunately, Jessica could notice her former pet fidgeting and not eating. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he wanted to do. "So, Samuel, you want to meet this Samantha?" she asked.
"Uh, yes, if you don't mind," said Samuel.
"Not at all," said Jessica as she got up. She turned to her other friends and said, "Excuse us for a while, we're going to see this Samantha." The others nodded in understanding and the two rodents (well, one rodent and one lagomorph) walked off.
It didn't take them too long to get back to the displays that Samuel and Jessica had been looking at earlier. After a bit of looking around, they soon spotted Samantha. She was an anthro hamster like Samuel, though brown and white compared to Samuel's grey and white fur. She had a smaller body frame than most uplifted animals, which indicated she had only been exposed to a single dose of the Animalia virus. Jessica noticed her body language was more timid and reserved than some of the other animals. If she were human, Jessica would think she'd be the shy, glasses-wearing bookworm type. But perhaps hamsters were usually timid beings.
"Excuse me, are you Samantha?" asked Jessica.
The hamster woman jumped a bit before saying, "Uh, yes I am. Do I know you?"
"No, but I have a friend who'd like to meet you," said Jessica, pushing Samuel a little forward.
"Uh, hi, I'm Samuel, my friends call me Sammy," said Samuel.
"That's weird, I get called Sammy by my friends too," said Samantha.
"Really? Do you have a lot of friends?" asked Samuel.
"Well, I suppose some of them are more acquaintances than friends," said Samantha, "We all were at the same pet store when the virus got in the water."
"I was Jessica's pet before I got uplifted," said Samuel.
Samantha looked at Jessica and asked, "Do you have a pet rabbit too?"
"No, I got the virus from another rabbit named Judy," said Jessica, "She's pretty nice. I wonder if she's here. If she's working with the scientists, she ought to be helping out here. Sammy, you mind if I leave you while I look for Judy?"
"Fine with me," said both hamsters before they looked at each other.
"Maybe I should have named him something other than 'Sam'," muttered Jessica, "Well, have fun, you two." With that, she headed off.
"So...what do you want to do?" asked Samuel.
"Get something to eat," said Samantha.
"Good idea. I hadn't had enough yet," said Samuel before the two hamsters headed back to the buffet.