Some people say that the world, also known as a dimension, is the only one existing in space. However, what if more of these existed, but people didn’t know about them yet?

An older man that went by the name of Marshall U. Johnson was busy doing research inside a lab. He looked over and took notes on a clipboard to make sure things went to plan. The colored liquids were in each specially shaped flask, the lights on the individual devices were still on and had functioned, and the machines nearby operated smoothly. One of which printed out some paper as the man went over to rip it out and looked at the results.

“This is incredible!” He declared proudly to himself. “The progress in this is astounding!”

“Hey, uh, Marshall?” A younger scientist named Sam asked politely.

“Yeah, Sammy?” Marshall asked without looking at him.

“Ok, now first off, please stop calling me that,” Sam told him, scratching his black hair. “Second of all, aren’t you going to take a break?”

“No, thanks, I’m good.” Marshall waved it off, his eyes still fixated on his notes.

“But you’ve been working on that all day,” Sam pointed out with his pencil.

“He’s right, you know!” A female scientist agreed as she entered the room.

Sam turned as he raised his arms. “Mandy, I thought you wanted me to ask him myself?”

“I know,” Mandy squeezed her arm and glanced at the floor. “But I overheard your conversation through the door, and I couldn’t help but...”

“Guys, look,” Marshall interrupted them both. “I appreciate your concerns, but I want to finish this project. It’s almost complete, and soon, I will revolutionize the world!” He handed the two younger scientists the research prints out from before. “See? Look at that!”

“Yeah, it sure is great,” Sam commented, scratching his head.

Mandy, however, shook her head in protest. “Look, if you don’t eat or sleep, your body will get weak. You won’t be able to do much work at that rate.”

After thinking about it, Marshall decided. “All right, you win. I’ll take a break.

“We can work on more stuff tomorrow. Why not call it a day and relax a little?” Mandy suggested, playing with her black hair.

“All right, all right.” Marshall nodded.

Mandy and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Sam put the clipboard away as the duo headed out of the room with Marshall following close behind.

.-.-.-.

“Wow, I can’t believe that worked,” Sam muttered as he exited the area and closed the door behind him. “Maybe you should’ve taken my place and talked to him yourself.” He glanced at Mandy, who stood right beside him.

“Yeah, I guess I am better at pep-talking than you, no offense.” Mandy teased.

“Eh.” Sam just shrugged in response.

“Aw, you’re no fun.” Mandy pouted and crossed her arms.

“Hey, wait a minute, did Marshall come out with us?”

“Well, now that you mention it—”

An explosion set off from inside the room. The two scientists turned and found the fire surrounding the window on the door. They tried to open the door, but it wasn’t budging. Sam kicked the door open as the two rushed in to find Marshall, all while calling out for his name. The place fell apart all around them.

“Look, over there!” Mandy exclaimed, pointing at a body lying on the floor.

The scientists rushed over to offer aid as Marshall laid there, coughing.

“Guys, I’m sorry.” He said weakly.

“No, don't apologize,” Mandy interjected with a shake of her head. “How’d this even happen?”

“I wanted to check something out real quick, but... I think I made a mistake.”

“Come on; hang in there!” Sam exclaimed, desperately shaking his body.

“Guys, please, tell Maggie that I...”

“No, you’re going to make it out of here, ok, I swear! So bear with it a little longer, ok?”

Marshall responded with a nod, and nothing more.

.-.-.-.

Sam and Mandy escorted Marshall out of the Lab of Intervening Cosmology, then dialed the number for emergencies. The two scientists waited for the ambulance to arrive as they watched the firefighters put out the fires in the burning building.

Sam looked over and placed his hand on Mandy’s shoulder as she sighed and stared at the smoke flying out from the architecture.

“I know he wanted to unlock the potential,” Sam said as he looked away from the collateral damage. “But if you ask me, I think—”

“Let’s finish it.” Mandy interrupted as the fires reflected in her glasses. “We can’t have any of his efforts go in vain!”

“But do you realize how much weight would be on our shoulders and how much we would need to do?”

“We won’t know until we try. We can’t give up!" Mandy looked him in the eyes, her brows creasing. "Are you with me or not?”

“I never said I wouldn't help, but it won’t be easy...”

“Nothing is secure in this world; you know that...”

“I do," Sam stared off at the horizon. "But who knows how long this will take to get it done...”