4.6. 2021, Geneva (Switzerland)

Research has shown no visible progress in this stage so far however comprehensive data analysis indicates that breakthrough is within reach. The following results could either confirm or disprove my hypothesis, in both cases it'll be a crucial step in our understanding of...

A (h/c) haired woman put down her pen and allowed herself to relax a bit in her chair. Looking down from a control booth through a glass wall she saw this all so familiar large hadron collider (LHC for short) coated in countless colourful metal wires and plates, a small fragment of the largest particle accelerator in the world. It kept her company for the past 4 years working here at CERN. Its low humming sounded calming and put her at ease every time she heard it.

The hard work paid off. Well, to be exact it wasn't really that much of a hard work. When we say that we typically think of someone struggling and making it through in the end, however (Y/N L/N) never had such trouble. Being called a prodigy from a very young age, straight A's student throughout whole high school, graduating at the top of her class, scoring no.1 on entrance exams into one of the best universities in her country, and then getting a Ph.D. in nuclear physics at age 24 wasn't hard at all, thanks to her everlasting lust for more knowledge and understanding. She just wanted to figure this world and its inhabitants out. From the tiniest atomic particles to the biggest galaxies.

Everything flew by so quickly. She couldn't help but smile. This was right. Everything was exactly how she imagined it.

People talked about (Y/N) as one of the greatest minds of this generation. To no one's surprise, European Organisation for Nuclear Research reached out to her and offered her a prestigious job when she was working on an international atomic research project. She couldn't care less about prestige except it brought countless possibilities and resources. Right, she was here to bring her lifelong hypothesis into practice.

She checked her watch. 18:01 Leon should come in no time, his shift is about to start. I better pack my stuff I can't allow anyone to see what I am working on yet... altering the process of nuclear fission bit by bit so that no one instantly noticed that I was messing with it. Blowing up the progress by leaving traces behind would be plain stupid. She stood up from a chair she was sitting on, simultaneously putting a plain black backpack on her desk. It was overflowing with books and it looked like it couldn't take any more. To rearrange them and fit everything in she took the thickest one out. It was a brand-new encyclopedia she planned on giving as a gift to her niece. (Girl's name) will be celebrating 9th birthday tomorrow.

Although (Y/N) was never close with members of her family, as a matter of fact, she wasn't very close with any living human being, she still loved them. Especially the little one. She just didn't know how to show it without appearing weak and unreasonable. Yes, she thought emotions, especially negative ones, were pointless. A mere burden, slowing down development, forcing rationality and reasoning into shadows. So her solution was distancing herself altogether from everyone. Watching from far away, taking notes, as you would often do with laboratory mice.

The smallest thing she still could do (as a scientist and as a loving aunt) was to spark curiosity in her niece's soul. That's what the world needed right now. Young, creative minds that are not afraid to ask questions, that are not afraid to think for themselves and see the world bright and full of possibilities. We should encourage this innocent curiosity before life drains it out. Before it's too late. And that's what (Y/N) was planning on doing.

Changing from a white lab coat into a long black one was a mere routine at this point. Backpack on and she was ready to leave. Checking once more she didn't forget anything and prepared her security card...

At that moment the alarm went off. High-pitched, eardrums piercing siren. A glance at the control panel told her everything. The numbers were skyrocketing.

Overheating.

A focused frown formed on this young woman's face. All right then, I should start the cooling immediately. She knew exactly what to do.

Except it didn't work, the control panel stopped answering. Circuits were fried. The focused expression became worried in a blink of an eye. She stormed out into a sterile white corridor, the unbearably loud alarm hurting her ears and clouding her mind.

A secured door at the end of the corridor that led to the overheating collider was directly working against her together with time.

C'mon (Y/N)

She failed two times when trying to enter a pin code and swipe her card before she was finally able to open the door.

The sight that was now right in front of her eyes sent shivers down her spine. It looked like an experiment Nicola Tesla himself would do... except this wasn't intentional. A word that has never been a part of her vocabulary escaped her mouth.

"Impossible"

Electric buzzing filled the air, purple flashes of light surrounding the massive construction from all visible angles, heating it even more every second. If not immediately stopped, it will most likely explode.

Why is no one else here?

Where is everyone?

Am I all alone in this?

How?

She quickly made it to the collider, dangerously close to it.

There was still a way she could shut this madness down manually.

In the centre of it all.

She acted quickly, but right in the middle of this emergency procedure, everything went south...