<<Will the story game turn out good, or just another stinkier...
Will HK handle the job of writing the conclusion...
What will the story gamers eat?!?!?!>>>>>

***

"Ewwwwww!" Obi Wan gasps.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Anakin wheezes.

"YESSSSS!!!!!!!" 300 million audience goers cheer.

"I can't believe Jar Jar got trampled by a herd of 1000 pound Big Feet. Trampled so badly that there is no way he can be cloned or revived or-."

****

"Opps! That's my fantasy beginning for Star Wars, Episode Two. Sorry." SL4ever said sheepishly. "I don't know how that got in there. Back to the real Story Game beginning…"

****

"Check." Remmy said.

"I'm out." Remmy added.

"I fold too." Remmy sighed.

"Check." Remmy finished. He dealt out another card. He looked at the two Remmys who were left. "You can't bluff me, you know. None of us can bluff each other. Because we ARE each other!"

"Just bet." Remmy snapped.

Another round of betting and only Remmy and Remmy were left. The dealer Remmy dealt the last card. "I raise you another thousand and call."

Remmy studied his cards. He had a pair of Unicorns. (Poker cards on this world were bizarre) The other man was bluffing. Had to be! But what if the man had a pair of fairies? Or worse, wood sprites? What if he had all three sexes of the trisexual flame beast?

Quinn stuck his head in. "Remmy who just came with us from the Mustard Nacho World, time's up."

That was him. "I see you and call." He displayed his pair of Unicorns.

The dealer cackled and showed his cards ... five Mermaids. "Come to Papa!"

The other Remmys cat called, giggled, and made fun of the loser.

Remmy growled and rose in a huff. "Have a nice Slide, Mer-boy!" He stormed out.

"How much did you lose?" Quinn demanded at they left the warehouse where the illicit Poker game had broken out.

"Oh, don't worry. We all stopped by the ATM and took turns wiping out this world's Remmy." He sighed.

Quinn shook his head. "You're going to Sliding hell. You know that?"

"Me and Peckinballs."

Maggie and Wade were already waiting in a nearby alley.

The timer ran down and they went through.

It was the worst Slide any of them had ever experienced. They were wrenched around, twisted head over heels, and felt like they were being pulled apart.

And then they were out...

...Wade landed in a deserted wheat field. She lay there gasping for a minute, skin tingling almost painfully. "That was the worst Slide EVER!" She complained. "At least none of you landed on me."

Silence.

"Guys?" She rose to her feet. No one else was in sight. This was impossible. Remmy and Maggie jumped in before she did, they, at least, HAD to have appeared on this Slide!

She searched around her in increasing circles, imagining that the others had been rendered unconscious from the rough Slid. But none of them were laying anywhere nearby.

What a nightmare...

... Quinn landed in a wheat barn several miles away. Fortunately, he arrived in front of the wheat bins and NOT the manure bin which was against the other wall.

He bounced twice and lay there recovering his breath for a long moment.

Then he began wondering where the others were...

... Remmy landed in the middle of a two lane road. He hit the pavement hard and rolled several times before being able to stop himself. Though he was out of breath and in a little pain, he realized immediately that he was laying on a highway, and realized right after that the full and complete implications. He staggered to his feet and dove from the road just as a 36 wheeled truck blasted past. Its wake was so violent that the displaced air twisted him and he landed badly a second time.

"Great." He muttered, wondering where the others were.

Two more trucks zoomed past at something approaching light speed, proving to him that if his friends were on the other side of the road, he was going to have to make damn sure he tried to talk THEM into crossing the road instead of him.

Another truck exploded by so fast he got windburn on his face. He crawled further back from the road. "Great," he muttered again. "We've landed on Indy 500 world."

He wondered again where the others were...

... Maggie wasn't as lucky as Quinn. She landed in another wheat barn several miles from her friends, but in her case she landed right in the manure bin. It was especially fresh, vile stuff too. She spat out about a gallon, crawled pitifully from the bin, and collapsed gasping and gagging at the same time.

Thank God none of the others were around. She was too grateful of that to wonder where they were yet.

The doors to the barn opened, letting in the moonlight. She could see someone's shadow as they stood in the doorway.

She sighed and peered over her shoulder. "I was hoping you three had landed further away-." She stopped herself and gasped. "YOU!"

****

SL4ever sighed and set his quill pen down. "Ahhhhhhh. Moist excellent. It's been a while since we've done a 'YOU' in these things. Heh heh."

Blinker sighed. "So this time you rip off the ep where the vortex splits up the Sliders."

"Heh heh. At least this time I'm ripping off Sliders. Besides, that was never fully explored in that ep. Besides, o' switch-the-Sliders-and-Story-Writers Boy, you can't talk!"

MTwain brought up another page. "I like this idea too!"

SL4ever licked his lips. "This one has fudge! Can I change my bit?"

Mob: Try it and get strung out! Next!

Mychand started sneaking towards the exit.

Mob: HEY! STOP HER!

Mychand, wearing new sneakers for just this occasion, broke into a run. "No! I saw what he just wrote! You can't make me touch the torch! I won't touch it! Besides, I have a Slider's Chicks ep to finish writing!"

Mob: Release the hounds!

SL4ever sat next to MTwain and sighed with relief. "Ahhhhh. I'm safe for about five months until I come up in the next story game."

Hurrikain and Sleepingtiger stopped next to them, each holding out thick stack of papers.

"What's this?"

"Our food bills. Everyone took a vote and whoever starts the story from now on has to pay for refreshments."

SL4ever and MTwain were off the couch and running away so fast it left windburn on Hurrikain and Sleepingtiger's faces. Hurrikain turned to the Mob. "Hey, you got any hounds left?"

Mychand sat down to write her part. Her mind was mush as it had been for awhile. Real life was getting hectic!

***************************************

Wade suddenly felt ill. She started walking towards a large structure. From the distance she couldn't tell what it was but as she got closer she could see that it was the remains of an old house. The structure was still in tact but it was covered with vines and surrounded by tall weeds.

"Quinn! Remmy!" she called out. "Where are you?"

"I'm not feeling so well," she said softly to herself.

Wade walked up to the front porch of the house. All but the bottom step had broken boards. She sat down to rest, hoping that her friends would find her.

"You can't be too far from here," she thought. "I know we all slid off of that world. Where are you?"

Wade felt as if she would pass out. She looked up and saw a storm approaching on the horizon. Quickly, she stumbled up the broken steps of the house and attempted to open the front door. After pulling down several vines she was successful. She slowly opened the door and gasped. "Oh my God!"

*********************************

Mychand put downt her pen and went and sat down on the now vacant couch.

<Mychand>Sorry guys but my creativity is running low at the moment.

<SleepingTiger>Hmmm...maybe we can make YOU pay for the food!

<My>What? Didn't you read above that I just paid $144 for Chandler to have x-rays? I'm broke! Hey...maybe we should get together and play the lottery?! You know...groups always seem to win.

<HK>YEAH! Let's do it! I'll call SL4ever on his cell phone and ask him to pick up a ticket while he's out.

<Sarah>Can I pick the numbers? <Bats eyes at HK>

<HK>Um...sure...of course you can. Oh..uh..where is TM?

Everyone began searching the cave.

<SouthernSlider>Here he is yall! Hey..why is he hiding behind the bar? You lookin to mix us some coctails TM honey? Well, I think that can wait....it's your turn to write.

<TM>Oh, okay...I'm coming! Coctails? Well, maybe after I do my part SS. What would ya like?

<Torch>GET ON WITH IT!!!!!

The people of the cave gather and each take their eponymous drinks as ThomasMalthus begins his part of the story.

Maggie Beckett began circling the person to whom she had just exclaimed "You!!" like any good predator would. "You're that movie guy," Maggie said, demonstrating her usual mastery of all things pop culture. "The one who won the Oscar a couple of years ago. Kevin..."

"Fowler." the man interrupted impatiently. "So you know my name. But that doesn't explain why you're on my farm."

"No, it's not Fowler," Maggie said, surprising the man by correcting him in the matter of his own name. "Spacey, that's it! And I landed on your farm by mistake."

"That I can believe, unless you just happen to like bathing in manure," the balding forty-something man chuckled. "But the rest is pure bunk. My middle name is Spacey, and I'm still not sure why you know that, and I've never won an 'Oscar', whatever that is."

"OK, I'm sorry, I must have mistaken you for someone else." Maggie chided herself on trying to pin a career on a man just because his double happened to have lived that life. There were vast differences between doubles, as she was discovering. "Can you tell me where I am?"

"What did you do, fall from the sky?" Kevin asked jokingly. He was now in better humor, but still ever-so-slightly mistrustful of this vaguely attractive woman who was still covered in animal droppings. "Look, you're obviously not from around here. I can give you a ride into town tomorrow and a clean place to stay tonight."

Maggie began to clean herself off. "Not to press my luck, because I'm very grateful for all that, but do you have any clothes I could change into?"

"I don't think you could fit into any of my daughter's clothes, but some of my late wife's old outfits might do the trick." As Mr. Fowler herded Maggie into the main house, she decided a hot bath and a change of clothes was just what she needed.

***

Rembrandt Brown had no inkling of where he was. The road seemed to stretch on for miles, with what few farms there were showing no sign of people living on them, or if there were, they hadn't been there for a while. And he had traveled a few of them in the few hours he had already been on this world. There was still no sign of his friends or the timer, which he seemed to remember Quinn having (let's hope this wasn't mentioned before :/). Without it, he had no way of leaving this world, not like he would without his friends. Things looked decidedly glum.

Up ahead, he saw a sign. San Francisco 40 Miles. Perhaps if the sliders weren't here, they were there. The Dominion was still their meeting point when they were closer to their old hometown than to Los Angeles, which was getting less and less frequent these days.

Sticking his thumb out as he had many a time when getting his music career started back on Earth Prime, he hoped that this earth was not filled with hitchhikerphobics...or axe murderers.

***

Wade was shocked to discover a large shrine... seemingly to her. A woman dressed in turn-of-the-century (that's 20th century-TM) garb who bore a striking resemblance to her was the subject of many photographs and paintings that were scattered about the musty, dusty old room. Picking up a few of them, she carefully examined the woman who might have been her doppelganger on this very strange world. Suddenly, she heard a noise come from another room. "Who goes there?!?" cried out a hoarse voice and Wade knew she was in for some serious explaining.

***
The nearest house that Quinn had found was turning out to be of no use to the current situation. The phone did not work. No books or newspapers to tell him of the goings-on of this world. But most of all- no people. The one thing he did find that he thought might be useful was an old shotgun. As he began to load it, he heard a small noise coming from the next room. Quickly drawing his interest away from his newly acquired weapon, it turned out to belong to a young girl, perhaps only six or seven years old. As Quinn reached out to her, she pulled away quickly, as though she had never been around another human being before. "Hey, I won't hurt you," Quinn said, in an attempt to comfort the small child. Instead, she skittered away, finding another hiding place to protect her from the mysterious stranger. Quinn sighed and hoped that everyone on this world would not turn out to be as unfriendly as she. It would only be later that he'd discover the irony of that statement.

***

Whew. I forgot how much work writing middle parts was. His fellow cave members didn't hear him, as they were enjoying the mixed drinks.

Blinker: Say, these are great, TM!

SL4ever: Yeah, what's in 'em?

ThomasMalthus: Well, that's the thing. I spent so much time coming up with clever names for the drinks that I didn't have any left to come up with individual ingredients. So I just threw in some stuff from the liquor cabinet.

Hurrikain: Liquor cabinet?

BritSlider: Uh, we don't have a liquor cabinet, TM. Just that area under the cave sink where we keep all the cleaners and detergents and... oh, bloody hell!

TM looked sheepish as a collective spit take could be heard.

"You've poisoned us all, TM," SouthernSlider chided.

All the story gamers began to chew TM out, at least until the chemicals began affecting them. 'What have I unleashed now?' thought TM, as he passed the torch to a hallucinating SouthernSlider. "Thanks, Statue of Liberty!!" Southern exclaimed.

ThomasMalthus

SS smiled a cheshire-cat smile and place her fingers on the keyboard.

-----------------------------------------------------

Colin stood before her in all his glory. <Wait. There's no Colin in this story. SS is still hallucinating.>

-----------------------------------------------------

Quinn left the house with the eerie feeling that he was being watched. He turned to look as he went down the steps but saw no one. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck as the wind whistled in the trees. He swore he could hear voices coming from all directions calling his name.

As he opened the gate to step into the dusty, dirt road, it squeaked. A shiver went up his spine. He turned to look at the house.

"I'm just imagining things." he said to himself. "It doesn't even look like my house. The squeaking gate just threw me, that's all."

He closed the gate and turned to head down the road. Finding Remmy, Maggie, and Wade was the number one priority now. He stopped dead in his tracks. There, in the middle of the road, stood the little girl that had been in the house. She held the shotgun in her hand. At least she wasn't pointing it at him. That was a good sign.

Quinn took a few steps, then knelt, several feet from the girl, to be eye-level with her.

"Hi, there." he said. "My name is Quinn. What's your name?"

She held out the shotgun as if she wanted him to take it, and then pointed to the barn that was beside the house.

"Quuuiiiiinnnnnnnnn"

His name was being whispered through the branches in the huge old oak trees that sat in the front yard of the house. Quinn looked all around, but saw no one.

"Quuuuiiiiinnnnnnnnn"

There it was again. Someone -- or someTHING -- was calling his name. He turned back to the little girl. She still held the gun in her outstretched hands.

"Did you hear that? Did you hear someone calling my name? Are they in the barn?" he asked her.

She stood stock-still, saying nothing. Quinn finally stood up and inched his way toward her. This time she held her ground and did not run away. He took the gun from her and
again, she pointed toward the barn. He looked that way and then took a few steps in that direction.

"Quuuuuiiiiiinnnnnnnnn"

His name was continually being whispered.

"Come to me, Quinn."

He turned to look at the little girl. She wasn't there. As he looked back to the barn, he saw her standing in the opening of the hayloft. How on earth had she gotten up there so quickly? Quinn knew he should probably just run in the opposite direction, but his curiosity was piqued. He had to see what was going on, and who was calling his name.

----------------------------------------------

SS stopped typing and stared at the screen.

Blinker: Hey, you didn't even touch on the others and what was happening with them.

SS turned toward the voice, feeling woosy and disoriented.

SS: Did you say something, my sweet Colin?

Blinker: Yuuuuuuuuuuuuck! Somebody do something for her. <turning back to SS> I am NOT you sweet Colin! Somebody get her out of here and bring in the next writer.
This is sickening!

Slider Paul: I'm coming! I'm coming!

SS: Ooooooooo. Purrrrrrrple Paul. I like it.

Blinker and SP pulled her out of the chair and threw her ragdoll body onto the sofa.

SS: Now don't you hurt my little Quinn, Purple Paul. You be nice when you write.

SP rolled his eyes, displaying a very disgusted look on his face, and turned to the task at hand.

-------------------------------------------------

SP: (thinks to him self) I do them a favour and not one thanks! I guess its time to begin……

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Meanwhile Wade was still in the old house, "Who goes there" she heard again. "Hello?" Wade said nervously, while scanning the room with her eyes trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

Then slowly a tall figure came from out of the shadows, "who are you? What are u doing here?", Wade had barely opened her mouth when another voice spoke…. "I'm looking for Christine", another figure, a young man walked into the light.
Wade tried again - "excuse m.." but before she could finish her sentence the tall lady replied "I'm afraid she is no longer here"
"Hello?" Wade said as if in question.
But the other two carried on the conversation as if she weren't there.
"What do you mean no longer here?"
"They took her" the tall lady replied
"WHO? Who took her"
"The Mallory's!"
Wade swallowed hard "Quinn?" she shrieked
The two figures suddenly looked at Wade as if it was the 1st time they'd seen her there. There was a moment of silence and then they both vanished.

Wade felt a cold shiver up her spine. She crossed her arms to rub her self warm again as she nervously looked round the room. This wasn't the first time shed seen a ghost. "Where are the others when I need them?" she whispered to herself. Slowly taking one step back at a time she made her way to the front door, "Ghosts or not" she thought to herself, she wasn't going to hang around to find out. And with that thought she was out of there like like the wind.

* * * * * * * * *

Maggie was taking a much needed shower, the steam revitalising her senses as she quietly sang to herself. "I almost forgot what a good shower feels like" she thought to herself. Not taking too long as she had to find the others as soon as possible, she carefully climbed out the shower as not to slip on tiled floor. She grabbed a towl and wrapped it round herself. "Hello?" she called out to the farmer. But there was no answer. She made her way across the landing, the floorboards creaking beneath her. "Hello?" She called again to the farmer but still no answer. She eventually found her way to a bedroom with a wardrobe wide open, it didn't take long to change, a short sleeved blouse and a pair tight jeans, it was just about a perfect fit. "I must find the others," she said to herself.

As she made her way to the landing and the stairs she saw something in the corner of her eye.- "Hello – Kevin?, ive really got to go- can you still take me to town" but there was no answer, she made her way back across the landing to the room she had seen the figure go into, as she approached the half opened door she herd voices
"I DON'T CARE who she is, you don't bring strangers into the house" –
" But she's human dear",
"Human?".
Maggie took a step closer towards the door to get a better listen, but accidentally placed her foot on a floorboard that let out a loud squeak, Magie gasped and Kevin and the lady he'd been talking too spun round looking deep into Magies eyes before vanishing. Now it didn't take a lot to scare Magie but she was out of that house and across the nearest field quicker than lighting.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Remmy had had is arm stretched out for over an hour now, trying to hitch a lift into town, every car or lorry that has passed him shot passed with no intention of stopping what so ever and there was very few of them too. "Whys everyone in such a hurry" he thought to himself. "Its as if they want to get past this place as quickly as possible, either that or I smell" he chuckled to himself.

*******

Just a short way away, Quinn wiped his forehead with his wrist, it was quite hot day and he was feeling quite nervous about what he was going to find in the barn. The little girl stood at the entrance giggling, Quinn didn't even want to think how she got to the barn so quickly it had taken him just under 5 minutes and Quinn was considered a quick walker.

"Quiiinnnnnnnnnnn" – he herd the voice again.

"Remmy", "Wade", "Maggie" "are you there"

-silence-

Quinn reached into his pocket and glanced at the timer "2 Days" he read quietly to himself. Ive got to find the others and quickly"

The little girl started Giggling again as Quinn walked into the Barn…..
It was cold- Quinn shivered "hello"

There was silence again.

As Quinn made his way across the dark barn he suddenly walked straight into something very big and solid, "What The!"

There was a giant machine of some sort filling out the entire barn and touching the ceiling, given the size of the barn we are talking about one big piece of Metal Machinery. It was covered in dust and hay. There was writing across the main bulk of the machine but was difficult to read, due to how old it was. He reached out a hand and wiped the dust free from the Machine to get a better view of the words. "Project Hologram - Module 30x 2001" – clearly this was a very advanced bit of equipment.

"Quinnnnnnnn"

He herd the whisper again

"Quinnnnnnn"
This time right behind him- he spun round – his mouth droped and...........

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Slider_Paul layed the pen to rest.
SP: So err how is everyone, did my cure work?
BritSlider: Yea Cheers Mate, were all fine!
Slider_Sarah: Except for a horrible after taste
Slider_Paul: Well Id love to stay and chat, but I ve really got to go.
Blinker: Oh by the way weve all voted you to clean the toilet has you caused us all to be ill in there, with that cure of yours.
But Slider_Paul was already halfway out the cave.

Slider_Paul: Ill be back tommrow, don't continue without me!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(I wrote this in 'Word' and pasted it in so fingers crossed its worked ok)

~Robin

Maggie ran out of the house and past the manure bin where she had landed. She kept going, running into the wheat fields, never turning back. Suddenly she stopped. "Quinn?" she called. She could see her fellow slider up ahead, but Quinn did not stop. "Quinn!" she called louder. The figure ahead stopped, then slowly turned around. But just as Maggie could see her friend's face, he vanished. "Oh no," she breathed. Was that a double? Or had Quinn become one of... them?

<Robin puts the pen down triumphantly.>
Robin: There. All done.
SS: <peering over Robin's shoulder at what she had written> Uhh.... so what happened?
Robin: I left it ambiguous, so the next writer can decide if Maggie saw a double or if whatever Quinn found in the barn turned him into a "ghost."
Everyone: <simultaneously> Ahhh.
Robin: Wow, that was really cool! <strange looks from everyone> You all said it at the same time.... <more strange looks> Um, never mind, forget I said anything....

~Robin

misswells nodded slowly, vowing silently a blanket party (or something nasty) for Robin.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He heard the whisper again:

"Quiiiiiinnnnnn . . . "

This time right behind him. He spun around - his mouth dropped open, and . . .

Maggie vanished.

<What was going on?> Quinn looked around. The field was exactly the same as before, only, no Maggie, where Maggie had been, only moments before. He turned back. Wait. Something was wrong. He couldn't tell what - something slightly different - the sky just a bit bluer, the grass a smidgen greener, and - hadn't the building been *exactly* in front of the sun before, instead of where it was now, a foot to the right?
Quinn shielded his eyes - his hand more to the right than exactly on his forehead - and walked into the building.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

"Quinn!" she called louder. The figure ahead stopped, then slowly turned around. But just as Maggie could she her friend's face, he vanished.
"Oh no," she breathed. Was that a double? Or had Quinn become one of . . . them?
Maggie turned around, surveying the area. There didn't seem to be anything different, except that Quinn had vanished like the others. <Of course, she chided herself, there hadn't been anything different when the others had vanished.>
She began to spin in circles, not sure where to go. People had disappeared from the house, from the field, and - wasn't the house directly across from the barn? She remembered the sun being in her eyes as she had run, blinding her. But now. . . . The sun was right on her back, but the house . . . it was about - oh, a foot left. No more. And come to think of it, everything seemed darker or drearier, the sky had more clouds in it, the grass, more brown patches. <What was going on?>

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Wade ran and ran. She only stopped running when she got to major highway, trucks and cars racing down the road as if it were the Autoban. She couldn't even see the other side of the street, it was so thick with traffic. No way to cross it. . . . Wade sat down, her head in her hands.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Remmy kept thumbing for a ride, not really paying attention anymore. He continued walking, and his right arm was getting tired. It had been hours, and he hadn't seen any of his friends. And no one had stopped.
He kept walking, the cars rushing by to the right of him. All of sudden, he stopped, looking at the road. He was on the left. On his world, the cars were going the wrong way. <Oh, well, he thought.> It wasn't as if that was so weird. <I've seen weirder.>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

misswells sat back. She set her pen down, and yawned. "There."

SS got up from the game of Parchesi she'd been playing with SliderSarah, Brit, and HK, and walked over to misswells. She smiled.
"Good job, honey. You wanna play a game of Parchesi? I'm losing. You can take my place . . . "
misswells smiled wanly. "Thanx, SS, but, I think I'd just like a 'misswellington' - without the cleaning supplies - ThomasMalthus!"
TM grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, misswells."

Five minutes later, misswells sat back, her eyes closed, her misswellington in a margarita glass in her hand. She sipped, and smiled.

<Whew! Oh, and weren't we voting? Chinese for me!>
~misswells~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And with that, Brit began to write..............

----------------------------------------------

Quinn looked around the building. It was the strangest feeling; he had only been in here less than quarter of an hour ago, and yet things were subtly different somehow. Most people wouldn't have noticed it, but to his ever inquisitive eye for detail the nuances were there to see. The picture that had decorated the main hall was still there, but where it had once been a portrait of a man and his wife, now it was just the man on his own. The curtains, whilst retaining the same colour, had a slightly different pattern. Somehow he knew this had have something to do with that machine he had found in the barn. Could this all be some kind of holographic image? Surely they only had that kind of thing on Star Trek, didn't they? He found it hard to believe that a world could have such advanced technology as a holographic projector, and yet appear in every other way as if it were his own world.

He knew that the only way to find his friends and slide off of this world was to figure out exactly what was going on around them. If the world could change itself, then the others might never find their way to him. Even getting together at the Dominion might not work if the Dominion itself could warp and change it's appearance from moment to moment. He sat down in a chair in the living room, to ponder the situation. As his mind drifted, he remembered the oft quoted Sherlock Holmes line from "The Sign Of Four";
'When you have eliminated the impossible, what you have left, no matter how improbable, must be the answer."
What did he know for sure then, he thought to himself. That in the barn, there was some kind of holographic projection device. That the world around them could shift and change without warning. That the little girl he had met seemed no more than a ghost, or an image.

It was then that something by the fireplace caught his eye. Who knows how or why he saw it. Maybe he was so caught up in his thoughts that only the smallest and tiniest of details could find their way into his mind? But in any case, he saw it. Half hidden by the coal scuttle, seemingly etched into the base of the fireplace were the words;
'Quinn Mallory Experiment #47'

The pallor drained from Quinn's face as he saw those words. All of a sudden things seemed to click into place, and the thoughts he had were not pleasing ones. What if his double on this world had invented holographic projection equipment instead of sliding technology? What if another Quinn had slid in from a more advanced world with this technology in his head. Somehow he knew that the key to solving this mystery was to find his double on this world and confront him about this "experiment".

---------------------------------------

Maggie was disoriented by the changes around her. All her military training seemed to collapse and crumbled to nothing. This was not what she was trained for; she was used to an enemy you could see, predict, and at least shoot the crap out of! But things were obviously beyond her control in this world, and that frightened her. It was an odd feeling, being so out of control; as a Marine Captain she had always had the chain of command to fall back on when things got out of hand. Now there was no-one left but her to sort this out. She couldn't even rely on her fellow sliders, wherever the hell they might be.

Okay, the thought went through her head; back to basics. I need to find a way to contact the others, and to find some kind of food and shelter. She wasn't about to go back into that house after her experience with Kevin, and so she decided to head off into the city to find the Dominion. If all else failed, then she knew that the others would make their way back there. But which way to go? She knew that heading west would get her to the coast, but could she trust the position of the sun after this last episode?

That was when she noticed the shadows. She had thought something was odd about them, but it was only now her panic had abated that she realised what it was. They were on the wrong side! If the position of the sun as it is now was right, then the shadows should be on the other side of the trees, rocks, and buildings. Somehow, someone must have made the illusion that the sun had flipped one hundred and eighty degrees. She remembered an old trick taught to her back at Marine Basic Training. She lined up the hour hand of her watch with where the sun should be, and knew that half way between there and 12 o'clock was magnetic north. Finally able to get her bearings, she headed west, off to the coast.

There was only one nagging doubt in her mind: What if the shadows were the illusion, and the sun was in the right place?

-------------------------------------

Wade sat by the edge of the road, as tears streamed down her face. What kind of a world was this, where things and people could appear and disappear? It wouldn't have been so bad if the others had been here, but her loneliness only made the situation worse.

***

Remmy had been walking for what seemed like forever. The direction of the cars on the road had changed a couple of times since he had begun his journey; but only when he wasn't paying attention to the road. At first he had tried to change direction each time the cars did, but this only proved frustrating as no-one stopped for him. Eventually he decided that this would only lead him to cover the same ground over and over, so he choose his original heading and stuck to it.

In the distance he saw a figure huddled by the road. Thinking it might actually be human contact at last, he hurried his step. As he got closer, he seemed to recognise the figure; it was Wade! Remmy broke into a sprint, and started shouting her name.

***

Through the sobs and tears Wade thought she heard her name being called. Looking up she saw a figure rushing towards her, and even through the veil of tears she recognised the figure of Remmy. Hurrying to her feet, she ran towards him and straight into his arms.

"Oh Remmy, I thought I'd never see any of you guys again!"

Remmy held her tight against his chest. "I was beginning to thing the same thing sweetheart, but you sure are a sight for sore eyes."

Wade stared at him for a second; "You aren't going to disappear are you? Not like those other people I saw. Oh, please tell me you're the real Remmy?"

Remmy seemed a little bemused by this, but knew he had to reassure Wade as best he could. "I'm the Crying Man all right, and nothing's going to make me leave you now! If you want, I'll sing you a song to prove it's me?" He smiled down at her, hoping to drive any negative thoughts from her head.

Wade looked up and smiled at him. "I guess you are the real deal, and maybe a song might be in order? But how are we going to find the others?"

"Come on girl, what do we always do in this kind of situation? We have to make our way to the Dominion Hotel and hope that the others get there in time to make the slide. As far as I can figure out, San Francisco should be a few hours walk down this way," he said, pointing in the direction of the traffic on this side. "We'd better get going if we want to make it there by sunset."

As the two of them walked off, Wade holding firmly onto Remmy's hand to make sure that he didn't disappear, Remmy began to sing the most appropriate song he could think of at the moment:

"Well we know where we're going,
But we can't say where we've been.
And we know what we're knowing,
But we can't say what we've seen.
And we're not little children........."
------------------------------------------------

BritSlider got up from the desk, and made sure the torch was safely in it's holder before going to find MTwain so that she could start her part. He saw her sitting at the bar, along with most of the other writers; all enjoying TM's cocktails now that they were free from cleaning fluids.

Brit: You're up now Twainy, hopefully you'll be able to follow on without too much trouble."

Sarah looked at the manuscript on the desk, that last little bit puzzled her.

Sarah: Hey Brit! What's this song then? I don't recognise it, and what relevance does it have to the story?

Brit: It's something from before your time young lady, a little number called "Road to Nowhere", by Talking Heads. Now do you see?

Sarah looked less than convinced, but the others who knew the song agreed that it seemed suited to the situation the Sliders found themselves in.

Misswells: Hmmm, aren't we supposed to be giving Robin a blanket party for that bit she wrote?

Blinker: I think that's a little harsh, it wasn't that bad! Besides, I've just seen a much better candidate.

Blinker silently motioned to HurriKain, who saw who Blinker was motioning to. HK stealthily crept around the group, moving towards the approaching figure. Everyone turned to see Slider_Paul coming up to the bar; obviously figuring that he was in the clear for that little stunt he had pulled earlier. However, seeing the fury on the faces before him, he turned to run from the cave once more. But HurriKain was too fast! In a move that would have left LaVar Arrington gasping in awe; he leapt over the sofa, and brought SP crashing to the floor with a clean tackle. As he held onto him, SL4ever, Blinker, TM and Brit grabbed some handily placed blankets, and wrapped him tight so that he couldn't move.

SL4ever started handing out socks with an orange in the bottom so that the punishment could begin. SP looked up helplessly from his prostrate position, a pleading look in his eyes.

SP: What did I do wrong?

THWACK!!!

TM: That's for making us think we had ingested something rather unsavoury!

THWACK!!!

Blinker: We had that concoction analysed, it contained nothing more than a mixture of various caffinated products, along with pepto, and alka-selzer.

THWACK!!!

SL4: Nothing to do with the urine of a camel or washing-up liquid.

THWACK!!!

Brit: And that's for making me sound like a damned commoner! How dare you attribute such appalling grammar to me! I would never IN MY LIFE say something so vulgar as "you was"! It's "you WERE", you imbecile!

THWACK!!!

Blinker: And that's just because I felt like it!

THWACK!!!!

Blinker: And that one too!

SP was curled up into a ball now, trying desperately to shield himself from the blows. But it seemed that vengeance had been served now, so perhaps his punishment was coming to an end?

HK: You must promise that you will never try to pull a stunt like that again; or you'll face banishment from the cave.

THWACK!!!

Brit: Blinker! You can stop hitting him now, the blanket party is over!

Blinker: Sorry, I thought he wasn't paying attention properly.

SL4: Okay, do you promise to behave now Paul?

SP: Yes, no more evil concoctions; I'll leave that to TM.

THWACK!!!

TM: Hey! Don't look at me, it was Blinker!

Blinker tried to look innocent, but failed miserably.

Blinker: What?

Brit: Okay, I think we can let.........

THWACK!!!

All: BLINKER!!!!!!!

Blinker: All right! I'll stop! Geez, you guys can be such a drag at times!

Slider_Paul was released from the blankets, the orange juice still dripping from his head; where a number of welts had already started to appear. As the others started to walk away, HK noticed that someting had fallen from Brit's pocket. Bending down to pick it up, he was shocked when he saw what it was.

HK: Hey Brit! What the hell is this? You've got a cheque made out to you from Slider Corp!

Brit: Bugger! I was supposed to have put that in the bank already!

Blinker, TM, and SL4ever looked at the cheque, and whistled softly at the size of it.

SL4: Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do!

Brit: Well come on guys, what do you expect? I get a cut of every advert that has been shown in this story cave; I did invent the damned thing after all! I put a lot of hard work and effort into making this cave habitable for us to write our stories in!

TM: Rubbish!

Brit: Okay, I put SOME hard work and effort into it then! But I have earned every penny of that cheque!

Blinker: Hmmm, I think we've found a way to fund this round of supplies for the bar! Get a list up of pizzas for everyone; Brit's paying!

Brit resigned himself to the fact that this time he had been caught, still; he had all those other cheques banked, and no-one would get their hands on that money! He put in his order for a pepperoni and spicy beef pizza, and started getting Domino's prepared for a delivery that would need two or three drivers at least!

MTwain: Is it my go now? Can I finally start?

SouthernSlider: Yes dear, I think you're free to go now.

MTwain walked over to the story desk to see what Brit had written.

MT: I think we might still need those blankets.............

They all go back to their places, but Blinker doesn't let go of the beanie baby.

She picked up the official pen out opf respect and began to write...

-----

Quinn looked around him. The only evidence in here was the inscription in the base of the fire place. He seacrhed the room. Nothing else had the same kind of bond to his double. It could have deon, but not that he could see. But the barn wasn't far away. the barn with the holographic projector. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but he left the house and went back to the barn again.

Just as he reached the door to the barn, the world around him shimmered and was slightly different again. not very different. Only minute differences. That was really starting to annoy Quinn.

Slowly, he opened the door to the barn. Even inside it was slightly different. The holographic projection room was still there in all it's glory, but it didn't look quite so old. Or rather, just as tarnished, but not as rusted. The dust was still coating most of it.

This time he thought he'd investigate further. The machine had to have something to do with what was happening. It had to. There was a walkway along his side of the huge machine. He looked from end to end and finally took the left route. There was nothing there but more solid machinery. However it worked, it needed a lot of power.

On the other hand, the right walkway yielded results. At the very end, next to the wall and in the shadows, hidden from sight, was a door. The handle turned freely in Quinn's hand and he heard a little click as the mechanism turned.

The door opened onto a small control room, lightly blinking, panels flashing. But there was no one there. The control room was partially covered in dust, but certain areas were void of the grey annoyance. None of the screen were coated with more than a smidgen and there was an impression in the chair where one layer had been disturbed. But most certainly no people or humanoids and seemingly no other exit.

He sat down in front of the screen and set about finding what he could.

* * *

Wade and Remmy sat in the shade of a tall tree. Wade refused to let go of Remmy's hand still. She was worried. Normally she could handle what was thrown at her, but when you weren't sure what was real and what was an illusion you ran into difficulties. And it was the not knowing that scared her. That and that she wasn't sure how to find Quinn.

They were still by the road, but for some reason it was deserted again. They couldn't see far in fron or behind; they were in a region of hills and everytime they reached the top, they could still see little further than the next hill other than the vivid blue sky. Or at least sometimes it was vivid. Othertimes it paled.

Still holding Remmy's hand, Wade began to drift to sleep. As she drifted she had on of what could be called a waking dream. She was half-asleep, half-awake. The events since the Slide mixed around in her head, playing over and over again, distorting. Maggie and Quinn were there too for some reason, but she couldn't tell if they were real and they taunted her in her dreams playing on her worries, until she was woken up by Remmy, screaming and crying her eyes out.

"Shhh, Wade. It's okay," soothed Remmy. "It was just a dream." He pulled her close to him and let her relax. Gradually her breathing slowed and she was off to sleep again, this time safe in the comfort of his arms and without the same fear.

As they sat there, Remmy watched the road. There was nothing there, but he watched it anyway, eyes shaded from the sun. Or they were until there was a shimmer and the sun was glaring directly into his eyes. The shimmer was barely perceptible and he wouldn't have noticed it were it not for the sudden alteration.

He shaded his eyes with his hand. "What the..." he murmered, careful not to wake Wade. The road was in the same place, the sun too by the look of things, but the shadow had inexplicable shifted 180 degrees. This was strange. Very strange.

Suddenly, in the distance he spotted a jeep, throwing up dust behind it as it came over the hill.
"Wade, look!" he shouted, shaking her awake.

"Huh? What is it Remmy?"

He pointed excitedly to the jeep. "The first vehicle in ages! Maybe it can help us!"

But the jeep stopped just below the top of the hill.

"Come on, Wade. We're going to it!" He didn't wait for a reply from her, he just took her hand and ran towards it.

* * *

Maggie could see the coast. But there was something strange about it. There was a harbour and a lighthouse in the far distance, but no boats. Not a single one. The lighthouse flashed for nothing and there was no movement at the small harbour. Well, there were waves but nothing more. But it was the lack of boats that surprised her. Even if something happened to the population here, she had been certain that there would be sea vessels passing by, even if it was at a distance. she had keen eyesight and she saw none.

Plus there was still no sign of her companions. She'd found a road, but as she followed it had petered out to a ill-kept track. She didn't know where she was really or which way to the hotel, if there even WAS such an equivelent here.

She picked up a few sharp flints from the path. It was never wise to be unarmed and she had no weapon. She wasn't used to that. Being in the army gave her a sense of security. Here she felt vulnerable and open. The stones gave her a small measure of security, but nowhere near enough for her tastes.

Maggie knew she had to find the others, but she had no idea where to start looking. They could be anywher, in any direction. She was sure they were here, but not where. There was that ghostly Quinn, but she wasn't even sure whether that was a double or a figment of her imagination. But it couldn't have been her Quinn. That just made no sense.

She rambled on, not saying a word. Some people talked to themselves when alone, but Maggie's training was strong. She kept up a running commentry in her head, but it was only in her head. No sense in giving out information to the enemy at random. Although here she wasn't sure what the enemy was...

* * *

Quinn studied the screens. With his quick mind, he worled out the basics easily and was able to pull up a map. It was an exact hexagon, and this barn was placed as being in the exact centre. But there was no way he could use this to find his friends. No life forms were shown. And most of what was he couldn't interpret anyway, not without knowing what was going on.

At one corner though, there seemed to be another section. a small, mini hexagon attached on the end. Somehow, Quinn knew that was where he wanted, nay needed, to go. THAT would be where his double was.

Using approximate directions from the map, Quinn set off. The only way to get there was to walk.

Quinn walked for a very long time. He didn't stop much, only pausing to makesure he was still on target or to rest his tired legs. As the hours wore by, the sun lowered in the sky, as was to be expected.

Finally, as it was nearing dusk, he reached his goal. The lighthouse.

The lighthouse was stuck out to sea slightly, balanced on the dangerous rocks it warned against. The path was narrow, but he had to cross. He tried to go forth, but it was no go. The waves were too strong. So he sat and waited.

And his waiting proved useful. At what he guaged was around midnight, the waters subsided and he made a quick climb across.

Quinn didn't even need to open the door. It was done for him.

"So there IS another me!" exclaimed the man behind it. "No wonder the machine went haywire! It sent you to Control Centre because it thought you were me, but knew I was at Observation Tower!"

"Huh?"

-----

The other players look on.

SL4: Reminds me of The Matrix.

HurriKain: Uh.... why? It's not really like it other than non-reality stuff.

SL4: Matrix rips off Chalker... Sarah borrows half her stuff from Chalker... including half her beginning skit!

Sarah: Oops, I was hoping you wouldn't notice.

SL4 <splutters>: Not notice? It's staring me right in the face!

Sarah: Oh well, it was good originally. Hmm, where's that pizza?

Brit: You haven't ordered yet.

Sarah: Oh. Well, I'll have... er... I don't care! So long as there's not tuna or baked beans on it. and if we're getting mega spicey one, order me a glass of water too!

BritSlider hands her a pad Brit: Write it down yourself.

Sarah grumbles, but does so anyway.Sarah: Okay Tigs... you're up!

Tigs: Eugh... I don't read Chalker.

Sarah <shrugs>: Nevermind. you'll manage.

"Hmph"

****

Maggie stopped and looked around. Deciding she needed another tact she filled her air full of longs and in her best Scream Queen persona let loose, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Everthing shimmered....

****

<britslider looked offended> "You can't do that!"

"Check the card." <sleepingtiger, books and all disappeared and Tigs was nowhere to be seen>

<hk handed brit the card>

"How'd she get a cop out card?"

"She did me a favor." <hk hung his head>

"How many does she have?" <sarah batted her eyes>

*POP*

"What the hell! We didn't see anybody leave here." Remmy said.

Wade opened the passenger door for further inspection. The interior displayed nothing unusual, except that the car keys were still in the ignition.

"I say we rest here for a while." Wade said as she sat inside.
Remmy agreed and walked over to the driver side door and opened it.
"Well, we should try to figure out how are we going to find the others." Remmy said as he sat down.
Suddenly, the cars started itself up.
Wade looked worried. "Did you do that?"
"No, I didn't even touch the keys." Remmy said.
The car then drove itself to make a U-turn, and Remmy wasn't even touching the steering wheel.
"What's going on?" Wade said.
Remmy just said, "I don't know, girl."
The car proceeded to drive off over the hill, leading the sliders on a mysterious joyride.

Maggie proceeded to the lighthouse cautiously. All that shimmering has made he a bit uneasy. After taking a few steps, she saw Quinn, and he appears to be talking to someone.

"Quinn!!!!!!!!" Maggie yelled.
Suddenly, he disappeared.
"Damn it! What the hell is going on?!?!?!?!" she yelled.
Then she looked at the lighthouse. There was something strange about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It looked normal, but she felt drawn to it somehow. When she reached the door, she took a deep breath, and turned the knob. The interior was not what Maggie was expecting. The walls were covered with machinery and on the center of the floor was a green glowing disk. on the bottom of it was a plaque that read:

A. Simulator: Sector III
Teleporter AS-84

Without thinking, Maggie walked and stood on the disk.
"What is this place." Maggie said. Then some of the Machine sprung to life, lights and beeps filled the tower.
"Oh no." Maggie said, lowering her head. Looking down, she aw the disk she was standing on glowing brighter.
"What is going on?" Maggie yelled.
And with a flash of light, she vanished.

more to come.....

"What is this place?" Quinn asked.
"This is a Holographic Simulator." Quinn explained, "It's used to monitor identical environments in distinctly different situations. Like the farm setting that the computer is displaying. Each grid is at the same setting, but the Holobots, time of day, seasons, and events are different. It was supposed to be void of human contact... until now."

"Wait I can explain...."
"No need... I saw your arrival at in Sector 2, and your friends in Sectors 3 and 5. If I didn't know better, it looked like you came out of some sort of "tunnel of light."
"My friends? Where are they?"
"Don't worry, they should be here right about...."

Maggie suddenly appeared in that looks almost like the one in the light house, except there is 4 of those green disks instead of one.
"What the hell just happened?" Maggie thought aloud. She glaced around to see a lighted pathway leading to another room. Curious, she cautiously walked on in and reached a lighted doorway and the end. With a deep breath, she turned the knob.

When Maggie went thorugh the mysterious door, a flash of light filled the room. When the light dimmed, Remmy was standing on one of the disks.
"Whoa..." Remmy said, then he heard some beeping thats seemed to filled the room. Remmy stepped out of the disk to investigate, and the beeping stopped.
"What's going..." Remmy was interrupted by a flash of light that nearly blinded him.

"Remmy!"

Rembrant opened his eyes and saw Wade standing the green disk.
"Wade."
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. One thing we were on a jeep that drove itself to a lighthouse and we went inside to find a strange room. I stepped on the green disk and suddenly I found myself here."
"Let's hope we find the others. I don't even know how much time we have left on this world.
Remmy looked at a lighted passage way
"Maybe there's some answers down there." Remmy said as the both of them walked towards the lighted door.

"Maggie!" Quinn yelled.
"Quinn!" Maggie yelled. "Where the hell were you?"
"Nice to see you too."
Quinn2 looked at the sliders with amusement. "Heh heh. Well, we will meet your other two friend shortly.
After the double made his statement, Remmy and Wade walked through the door.
"Quinn!" Wade yelled, giving him a hug.
"Q-Ball!" Remmy said with a smile on his face. Then he looked at Quinn's double. "Who's he?"
"Oh," Quinn said, "he created the world you were lost in."
"Huh?"
Maggie stepped in, trying to command the situation. "How long till the slide?"
Quinn pulled out the timer. "We should be here for about anothe da... What the hell?!?!?!"
Quinn looked at the timer and saw that the LCD read 30 seconds!
"I'm sorry that you have to leave so soon." Quinn2 said. "There's so many things me and you need to explain to each other."
"Same here." Quinn replied.
"The magnetic field surrounding the facility probably messed with your timepiece. I hope it didn't leave any inconvenience."
"It's looks fine to me." Quinn said as he held the timer in the air and pressed the activation button. A stream of light from the device hit the open air and a swirling tunnel appeared. Quinn2 was amazed at the sight.
"My God..."
"I'm sorry we didn't have longer to talk. I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Quinn yelled as he jump in the vortex.
"It was nice meeting you." Wade said and she followed suit.
"Good luck with your research." Remmy said as he followed his friends.
Maggie just looked at the scientist coldly and jumped in the tunnel.

HK: That's that. Now, let me get going. I have a crossover to finish.