They were crouched in an alley in a very seedy-looking part of town.

"Colin?" Maggie asked tentatively. He stood up and looked around.

"What are we doing here?" mumbled Colin. Then, louder: "Where are Quinn and Rembrandt?"

Maggie let out a sigh of relief at the names of her friends. "Thank God." She noticed Colin staring at his surroundings in confusion and motioned him closer.

"Is this the part where you explain to me our situation?" he asked.

Maggie thought, trying to decide where to begin. "This world has just about the strangest health care system I've ever seen. They've found some sort of way to store memories, 'engrams' this guy said they were called, as computer data. Apparently with the memories tucked away on some central ... disk drive, and wiped from the person's head, they can... extend a person's life by a factor of two or three." She shook her head. "I'm not the scientist, I don't understand it myself. Anyway, residents of this Earth are only allowed to hold onto a few of their most cherished recollections inside their own brains, as well as their unedited memories of the past week." She snorted. "For their own well-being, it seems."

"That is indeed a bizarre system. But what has happened to Rembrandt and my brother?" He was becoming increasingly agitated.

Maggie turned away, unable to face them. "The Engram Police got them. We were discussing stuff we'd done a couple weeks ago, and the hotel owner got suspicious, and..." She stopped and turned to face him again. "They'd knocked you out with anaesthetic, but it looks like I got you out before they wiped your mind."

She took a deep breath.

"Quinn and Remmy weren't so lucky."

"Ohhh. Where am I? Who am I? And what the devil is a Magg?"

Rembrandt took a look around his surroundings. It looked like your typical dressing room: a mirror with lights, clothes strewn this way and that. 'I must be on tour. But as what?' A sudden flash of himself singing in a choir with his mother looking proudly at him reminded him. "Oh yeah, I'm a singer."

"You can say that again, honey." Remmy said to the attractive woman standing in the door way wearing a chorus girl's outfit.

"Wh-who are you?"

"Aw, c'mon now, you don't remember your biggest fan, Sherrie De Wine?" When Rembrandt shook his head negatively, she just frowned. "Well, let's see if I can refresh your memory." She then began to give Rembrandt a kiss he wouldn't soon forget. He heard a knock on the door and had a sudden urge to send whoever was behind that door into the nearest large body of water.

"Remmy? Remmy? You in there? It's Artie."

Sherrie pulled away from Remmy and sighed. "Well, aren't you going to open the door?"

Remmy opened the door as Sherrie attempted to hide behind it. "Remmy, you're on in five minutes. I see you've, uh, already got your make-up on," he said wiping Sherrie's lipstick off of his face. His voice suddenly became much quieter. "Listen, Remmy. I got your wife outside the stage door there, so you better not have a woman in here. You remember last time?"

'I don't remember anything, much less having a wife', Rembrandt thought, but decided to keep that to himself for now. He nodded his head dumbly and with a sigh. "Yeah."

"Uh oh, here she comes now."

"Rembrandt!" she said in a loud voice that sounded vaguely familiar. "Why didn't you call me last night? I was worried sick!" As she started to lecture him, he threw his arms around her and began rocking her back and forth. Shock was registered over both their faces. "Oh my god!! Wade?!?!"

To Quinn's surprise he came up with more information than he had ever imagined. He began reading the stories about him and his friends and how they slid between worlds. "How strange! I've never done anything like that." Quinn thought. Quinn began to probe even further. This time he came upon a posting board. On this board other people were making comments about him and his friends and the things that they had done. "Now this is really getting weird!" thought Quinn.

Suddenly a large man in a white suit entered the room and startled Quinn. "What do you think your doing?", he shouted. "I am sorry." said Quinn. "I just woke up here and I thought it was alright to check out the computer." "This is classified information." the man replied. "Come with me!"

The man took Quinn down a long narrow hallway for yet another session of brain "wiping".

Maggie gestured for him to follow her. "We have to keep moving." After they crossed the street, she continued. "We've been here less than a day, but I have had a chance to talk to a couple ... let's call them 'insiders.' The theory is that without the stresses, angers, and depressions caused by bad and hurtful memories, the body can last a lot longer. It is punishing to the human body to constantly dwell on past traumatic events. It is a good concept, but the 'powers' that be have gone way too far with it."

Night was falling, and the streets were crowded with pedestrians returning home from work. Colin had to admit that everyone looked at ease, even cheerful. That was not the sight that usually greeted him as surly worker bees rushed home to retreat into their compounds and block out the rest of the world (and perhaps their own memories).

"You three were talking in the hotel lobby, and I had gone to the bathroom while we waited in line to check in," Maggie was saying. "When I came out, the bruisers in red zoot suits had you guys jacked up against the wall. They were stuffing gas masks in your faces. I got out of there, and followed the van that took you to a hospital." She hesitated. "I was too late for the others. I had to beat two male nurses up to get you off the machine they had you strapped to." She stopped and touched his arm. "Keep this in mind. Threats do not work on this world. People have no memories of violence, so threats will not work. They have no frame of reference to use to be scared. Obviously, memories of things like cars being dangerous are retained, or people would be walking into the street left and right. But person to person threats are ineffective."

She sighed and seemed indecisive.

"What are we going to do?" Colin wanted to know.

Maggie shook her head. "At least I have the timer. But I have no idea how we get the others back, or what shape they'll be in when we do."

Remmy looked at her in amazement. "I'm sorry I didn't call, but I got tied up at the hospital with a sick friend."

"Sick friend, huh. Seems I've heard that before."

About that time, Sherrie peaked out from behind the door. "Excuse me, I was just leaving," she said, as she scooted out.

Wade looked at her and then Remmy.

Remmy swallowed hard and said," Wade, really, it's not what you think." How could he tell her what had transpired over the last several hours? Slowly, but surely, as time passed, he was remembering more. He and Quinn, 'Did she remember Quinn?', had been kidnapped by gas mask toting fiends and taken to an environment much like a hospital. While there, they had tried to erase his memory. It was definitely becoming much clearer now. Apparently, with his having been held captive by the Kromaggs, his brain had retained something he wasn't aware of, and he was able to escape the total wiping of his memory. Much like what had happened when he tried to kill Quinn. He wasn't so sure of Quinn's ability to escape that fate.

"Remmy, haven't you been listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry, darlin'. My mind just wandered for a moment. What were you saying?"

"Just that, from now on, please call me when you're going to be late. You know how hard it is for me to explain something like this to Quinn."

"What? Quinn?"

She looked at him like he had a screw loose, and said, "You know...Quinn...your son. Cute little guy, 3 years old."

Oh my gosh, he thought. Not only do I have Wade for a wife, now I have a son named Quinn. How in the name of God was he going to save 'his' Quinn from the brain washers, find Maggie and Colin and then have to leave this world where Wade is his wife? And as far as leaving, who had the timer and how much time did they have left to perform this not so small miracle?

"Look, Colin, I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with, which is NOTHING! We're just going to have to wing it and hope for the best. Time is running out and we have to act now." Maggie was growing impatient with Colin and his insecurities. Just as they turned the corner, she heard a noise. "Colin, be quiet. Someone else is close by."

Rembrandt grabbed Wade and scooted behind the trash dump. He heard someone talking and could not afford to be seen. He had remembered being in this hospital and hoped this is where he would find his three friends, and hopefully, with their brains intact. As he listened to the whispers he recognized Maggie's voice. "It's her!" he said aloud. Wade hit him on the arm and said, "You brought me to this alley to meet another woman?! I can't believe you're doing this to me!" "Wade, please. It's not what you think. Those people are our friends, and they're going to help us get the other friend I told you about." Rembrandt uttered. "Maggie, Colin. It's me, Rembrandt. And have I got a surprise for you!"

"Rembrandt, thank God, it's you. Are you alright? Have you got Quinn with you?" Maggie joyfully cried out as she grabbed Colin and ran toward the trash dump. "No, but I do have another one of our 'friends'." he said as he raised up with Wade in tow, just as Maggie and Colin got to them.

"Uuuhhhhhhh!!!! It can't be you!" Maggie screamed. "What is wrong? Is this someone from your past who has wronged you?" Colin questioned. Wade just stared at her and said, "This is someone you call 'friend'?"

...the other side of the door was nothing like the stark white hallway-it was a room bustling with activity. There were groups of people with charts huddled in pockets conversing. Computers lined the walls, manned by more men in white coats. In the middle of the room was a large chair upon an even larger platform. Over the chair hovered a strange device. Quinn was thrown roughly into the chair and strapped in.

"Why is he here? And why isn't he drugged?" asked a woman who was obviously in charge.

"He's still weak from the last time...he needs to go again, I found him on the computer" replied Quinn's companion.

Quinn addressed the woman, "what's going on here? where are my friends?".

"Be quiet Mr. Mallory, I'll deal with you in a minute." She turned to the man in the white coat and hissed "it was foolish of you to bring in here - he's obviously alert - I'm going to have to report this - leave here now. I'll deal with YOU later."

"Yes Ma'am", he turned to leave as the woman turned toward Quinn. Her nametag said Dr. Kariis Aslute. "Now Mr. Mallory, what is it you're so uptight about? We can fix that here you know."

"How do you know my name?"

"Simple. I can read your mind and it has proven to be a very valuable resource." She smirked. She was going to be rich..."sliding", adventures, Kromaggs...she had already captured most of this information on disk and put it out there for the mindless popluation to "surf" their virtual internet with and fill their desolate lives. She called the program "Quinn's Excellent Adventures" and in the two short days the population had access to it she calculated that two thirds of the people were hooked. It was ingenious her plan, they'd get hooked on it this week and buy the game. Then next week after their memories were erased they'd get hooked on it again to the tune of $29.95. And so on and so on. Ha..she almost laughed out loud..

"Are you going to tell me what's going on??" Quinn's shout broke her train of thought.

"Why bother...you're not going to remember it anyway". With that she flipped the switch and the device, labeled "The Engramator" descended slowly....

Wade loked confused, "My son is at home in bed, what the hell are you talking about? Remmy, what's going on here?"

Remmy took Wade into his arms and spoke in his most sothing voice; "Wade honey, she's not on about our son. She means the other Quinn, the one I was telling you about, the one I go 'sliding' with." He turned back to the others. "I guess he must be back at the hospital. Do you have any idea how we can get him out of there?"

Maggie just looked Remmy straight in the eyes, "Well I supose we'll just have to break in and steal him won't we?" She drew the timer from her pocket and stared at the readout. "Looks like we don't have too much time to discuss it either, we slide out of here in less than an hour, it's now or never boys."

"Then let us go without further delay." said Colin.

"I'm right behind you on that one," Remmy responded. Then turning to Wade once more; "Wade, honey, I think it would be best if you go home. I don't have time to explain it all properly, just remember that I love you, sweetheart, and I always will."

Wade looked as if she were jut about to argue, but then she caught the look in Remmy's eyes and decided that this was one difference of opinion that would have to wait until they were alone. "Okay" she said, "you just be careful. I love you." And with that she left them.

Maggie gathered the others about her. "This may not be easy, judging by the security they had there when I busted Colin out. Although we do have one advantage; this time we don't have to get out of the complex the normal way, we can just slide out when we have Quinn. Let's go." With that she strode out of the alley, with the other two trailing behind her.

It took them half an hour to reach the hospital complex, and by that time, Maggie had laid out her plan for rescuing Quinn. It was not one of her more subtle ones. As they approached the gate to the hospital, they were seen by a guard. "Halt," he cried, "what is your business here citizens?" Not being used to violence, the guard was somewhat shocked when Maggie punched him hard in the stomach, collasping him to the ground. She dragged him into the little security booth, and tied him up there with the belt from his trousers. Just for good measure, he punched him hard in the face to knock him out. "That should buy us enough time," she said with a sly grin.

"Come on," said Remmy, "let's just get Quinn and get out of here."

They rushed into the complex. The plan involved them taking Quinn from the patients' quarters, restoring his memory with the machine, and then sliding out. First though, they had to find Quinn.

When they reached the patients quarters, he was nowhere to be found. Colin began to look worried, "Where could they have taken my dear brother?"

"Easy Colin," said Remmy, he's got to be here somewhere."

Maggie, however had already taken matters into her own hands, or rather; had taken a passing doctor's throat into her hands. "Where's Quinn Mallory?" she screamed at him. The doctor sagged a bit in her grip, but he wasn't about to play the hero. "He's down the hall on the left. They're going to use the Engram machine on him again, it seems it didn't work properly the first time, some of his memories started to come back."

Maggie threw the doctor to the ground, "Come on you guys, let's move!"

They ran down the corridor to the room indicated, and Maggie kicked it open. They saw the machine slowly descending over the helpless form of Quinn, strapped into the chair. Maggie saw Dr. Aslute at the controls, and quickly moved to her side, grabbing the lapels of the doctor's coat firmly in her hands. "I'm going to count to one. By that time you are going to have turned this damn machine off, is that clear?"

Dr. Aslute looked like she was going to argue at first, but then Maggie lifted the woman a few inches off the floor. "Okay," she said, in a somewhat high-piched voice, "I'll turn it off, just let me down."

Maggie let the doctor down, and she pressed a red button on the console, stopping the descent of the machine. Remmy and Colin rushed to Quinn's side, and started to unstrap him.

"Are you alright Q-Ball?" asked Remmy.

Quinn looked a little shaken, but he seemed otherwise okay. "Yeah, I think I'm okay. It seems like my memories are coming back to me. I guess their machine couldn't properly erase everything that I had experienced, it's only supposed to erase a month's memory at a time. Apparently they have a program in the conditioning that makes people come back every month for a 'top-up'. When they tried to erase my memories, it sort of over-loaded it, so it only erased them temporarily."

"I'm glad to hear it Mallory, but we slide out of here in three minutes," said Maggie.

Quinn looked up at her. "Fine, but first I'm going to erase the good doctor's memories of our ability to slide. It's too dangerous to leave that information in her head. Help me, will you guys?"

Quinn, Colin and Remmy grabbed Dr. Aslute, and with her struggling and screaming all the way, they placed her in the chair, and strapped her down. Quinn walked over to the console, and scanned the array of buttons and lights. By chance, or maybe just for ease of use, there was a green button with the legend 'Start' underneath it. "Oh well, here goes nothing" he said as he pressed it.

The Engram machine began to descend once more but this time it was Dr. Aslute who was going to lose her memories of the past month, and with them, the memories that the sliders were anything other than a game called 'Quinn's Excellent Adventures' that she had written sometime in the past. As the machine went to work, the doctor fell unnervingly quiet.

"Okay people," said Maggie, "It's time we weren't here." With that she pressed the button on the timer, and the shimmering blue of the vortex began to form. She took one last look around the room, and then jumped.

"I hate all these lights and buttons," said Colin, "I want a world that is run by farmers." And he too jumped through.

Remmy hesitated for a moment, "I'll miss you Wade, look after little Quinn for me," and he followed.

Quinn smiled to himself, "So long Dr. Aslute, and thanks for the memories." It was a bad pun, he knew, but he felt that it just had to be said......