A reality where infanthood, toddlerhood and childhood were the only stages of maturity

The machine began to buzz and whir with an assortment of mechanical noises loudly filling the basement as the quantum particle began to glow a bright shimmering collection of colours. A light so bright, that Megan and Cassandra began to shield their eyes from the intensity of their machines work with both a worried glance exchanged between the two. The frame of the machine along with its tubes, wires and central box unit began to shake uncontrollably as the whirring became ever louder than before -- the particle was starting to react to the machines capabilities, only for it to overheat and begin emitting a warning siren.

"No... no, no, no!" Megan quickly dashed over to the control box and attempted to pull the level back to its original position. "Something's not right! We need to shut it down!"

Dr. Cassandra stood still, mouth agape at Megan's reaction, "Isn't it supposed to that? What do you mean we have to shut it down?!"

Before the two could react, a pulse of bright white energy formed inside the central unit containing the quantum particle slowly leaking out from the machines inner tubing and slowly floating mid-air before finally being sent outwards in all directions through the basement walls as the frame of the machine began to crack and struggle under the mighty pressure. Waves of quantum energy was starting to ripple through their bodies. Megan reached for the power cable behind the control box, grunting loudly before finding the strength to yank it out with considerable ****. The machine began to dim down, its mechanical buzzing and whirring eventually growing silent as the quantum particle slowly disappeared into nothingness.

"What happened?" Dr. Cassandra stepped forward over to Megan, her expression dropping from sudden frustration into a look of confusion. "Did it work or not? I thought you said you ran tests, calculations and a--"

"I know!" Megan yelped back, tears streaming, "It w-wasn't supposed to overload like this! The quantum particle needs a lot of energy to be activated and the machine couldn't didn't have enough to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow!"

Megan fell to her knees clutching her face with her hands as she sobbed. "I don't believe it! Three years of work down the d-drain..."

Dr. Cassandra stood silent and glanced back at the machine before looking back at Megan's sobbing form. "Hey, hey. It's okay... We can ask the science team to capture another quantum particle after adjustments are made to the machine. The government wants their money's worth out of out this and we're going to give it to them."

Still sobbing, Megan slowly rose to her feet and wiped her tears away to stamp her foot repeatedly in frustration. "B-But it isn't fair! We were so close to creating an infinite energy source!"

She turned to face Cassandra. "I--I... I gotta to keep going! What if we accidentally merged another reality with our own?!"

"Megan... stop..."

"The consequences would be--!!!"

"Stop!"

Cassandra grabbed Megan by the arm, pulling her in for a cuddle, "You need to take a break. You've been working yourself to **** over this project and I can't accept you falling on the verge of tantrum every time we have a setback!"

Megan's sobbing slowly dims, she looks up and meets Cassandra's gaze. Her stern demeanour seemed to disappear as her voice began to lower to a caring parental whisper. "If there's a chance the machine can be improved then I'll get the engineers to come down and make adjustments for the power surges. It shouldn't take too long to find another quantum particle floating around, after all..."

"Y-You're serious!?" Megan blinked, sniffling. "B-But we need to continue right away, I... I--"

Cassandra leaned down and gave Megan a little kiss on her forehead. "There, there... Don't be upset, sweetie. We've been working so hard... You're doing such a good job to make the machine work and we're nearly there."

"Okay." Megan nodded, accepting the situation completely. She leaned into Cassandra's hug and closed her eyes. "A break... r-right. I guess I can sit down... think this through before we do it again."

"Good girl!" Cassandra smiled back, her former stern tone of voice turning more softer and maternal by the second. "Go home and relax. You deserve a little break."

Megan broke away from Cassandra's cuddle and made her way over to the locker. She slowly removed her work-issued shoes and pulled out her pair of velcro light up sneakers adorned with images of flowers and smiley faces plastered all over. She headed up the stairs and left the basement.