Torch: Hey, HurriKain... HK? .... HK? .....Hurri?

IHK: Jesus! Not that damn song again. <sits down> OK, I need somehing to liven things up a bit after the last story. Hmmmm....

--------

In a barren alley, a blue vortex appeared and two men and women flew out of it. One and and the women landed on their feet perfectly while the last arrival crash into a nearby dumpster.

"It's a bird... It's a plane... It's SUPER-MALLORY!" joked Maggie as the vortex closed and Mallory rose from the impact.

"Ow... Hey, don't laugh. I'm still new at this." Mallory retorted.

"Well, Diana is too, but you don't see her having any trouble."

Remmy jumped in on the criticism. "Boy, how many times did I tell you, never jump in head first."

"You said who in the what now?" Mallory said, rubbing his aching head.

Remmy sighed and checked the timer. "Never mind. We have 45 hours on this world, let just find a hotel.

"Yeah, and I'm also pretty hungry. I'm dying for some room service." Diana added as the four sliders walked into the main street. After a couple of blocks of walking, the quartet suddenly stopped and looked up at a banner.
Maggie and Mallory suddenly had wide smiles across their faces while Remmy and Diana displayed looks of shock.

"Oh my... God..." Diana said as her mouth dropped.

----------------------------
----23 hours until the
----GREAT ANNUAL METROPOLITAN ST. PATRICK'S DAY ORGY---
Send you kids away and please come play!!!!
----------------------------

"Uh, Remmy?", said Mallory, "How much time we have on this world."

Remmy just looked at the banner. "44 hours and some change."

"Excuse me..." Mallory ran off into a nearby alley.

"WOO HOO!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I'M GETTING SOME BOOTY!!! I'M GETTING SOME BOOTY!!!! YEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!"

Then Mallory walked out of the alley, fully content.
"Shall we get going?"

And so the four walked off, with Diana and Maggie snickering along the way. An hour later, they arrived at the Chandler and luckily, nabbed the last suite available.

"Uh, Maggie?" Diana said. "I don't know about this Orgy thing, I think I'll sit out of this one."

"OH c'mon!" Maggie retorted. "You've acting kinda tense lately, and this world will fix you right up, believe me.!

"Yeah, but isn't this a little... pornographic?"

"C'mon, lighten up. Maybe you get to meet the double of that guy you went out with on that world with the jewel heist. It's like you haven't done it before?"

"Well..."

"All you need to do is clear some of those cobwebs, girl. Lighten up and have some fun... you know I will."

Diana sighed as she was led by Maggie to the bar. Meanwhile Remmy and Mallory were conversing.

"OK, I got the room, I'm going to order some grub." Remmy announced.

Mallory snatched the key from his friend's hand. "And I need to make a few... preparations, for tomorrow's activities."

Remmy just rolled his eyes. "OK, do as you wish. But remember to clean up afterwards. If I stepped on anythinkg sticky, I'll knock you out." And with that he walked off.

Mallory giggled as he ran up the staircase. "Hehe... I'm going to score...."

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

Mychand: HEY! You used the storyline frmo "Feild Trip"! No fair.

IHK: Hey, I couldn't think of anything. I needed a story to lighten things up so I did a bit of recycling.

DMD: :-D...... Exxxxxcellent.
<dellyone starts to think of her own plans for a seg>
<SouthernSlider became entranced in a daze>
<SL4 starts drooling in anticipation>

OK... um... here ya go DMD!

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

"I hope you don't expect me to use THIS!!!!" yelled Maggie.

Mallory tried to contain his laughter. "Oh, no, sorry, that's mine."

"Well, the three of you can go have your fun but I like I said before, I'm going to sit this one out," said Diana. "I don't care how long it's been since I've had sex, I'm not in for public display."

"Suit yourself," replied Mallory. "Anyone know where the television remote went to?"

"I think it's over there on the dresser," replied Maggie.

Mallory found the remote and turned on the television. "I saw on a billboard that there's a five part special on tonight. It's all about some new sexual techniques. I thought it wouldn't hurt to learn a few things while we're here. It's hosted by a famous porno star named Kari. Of course, the odd thing is that her co-host is Richard Simmons."

"Sounds interesting," said Maggie while still searching through the grocery bags. "Oh, energy bars! All this talk about sex has made me hungry."

Remmy chimed in, "Me too!"

After snaking, Remmy, Mallory and Maggie became totally enthralled in the television special while Diana decided to do a little more research about the practices of this world.

"Uh oh, guys, I think you need to hear this one," said Diana. "These public orgies have a cause."

Mallory laughed, "Yeah, well, we can figure out the cause without you doing the research."

Diana wasn't amused. "No, I'm serious. They hold these public orgies for mating purposes. Since there isn't marriage, it makes having children less complicated. No one knows who the father is so there are no strings attached."

"Geez, so much for having roots," said Remmy.

"Oh great, you would have to put a damper on this," said Maggie.

Diana's attention was suddenly drawn to the television. "OH MY GOD, IT'S HIM!!!!!!"

*********************************************
Tigs; Oh no you didn't!

My: LOL…sorry, couldn't resist. That line always comes up in our stories and I wanted to try it out this time! Besides, I didn't know where else to go with this and I have major writer's block.

SL4ever: You threw a wrench into their free sex!

My: Had to do it. When did the Sliders ever go to a world that was perfect? There had to be a catch somewhere. But hey, where there's a will...there's away. :o)

Next?

With that impetus, delly took up the pen and began to write.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Diana’s attention was suddenly drawn to the television. "OH MY GOD, IT’S HIM!!!!!!"

"MISTER ROGERS?!?!?" replied an incredulous Remmy.

"Who's Mister Rogers?" asked Maggie as she turned to Remmy.

"You got to be kidding. You don't know who..."

Several knocks on the door, interrupted Mallory.

"I'll get it!" said Mallory as he put down the remote control on the dresser near the door while Diana listened closely to the TV.

A young woman holding a toddler was in the doorway. "Is there a Quinn Mallory here? I'd like to talk to him."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



delly puts down the pen and began to reread the segment she wrote.

delly: Can you ask TM to make me a double tall mocha with whipped cream?

Recall: <rolls his eyes> Can't you ask him yourself?

delly: You do want to write your part soon, don't you?

A mischievous smile appeared on her face.

Recall: Don't you dare make me wait three days. <sighs> I'll ask him. Are you going to be done soon?

delly: Yep, when you come back with my mocha.

Recall: It better be. Be back in a few.

delly: Later.

As soon as Recall was out of the room, she pulled out her small notebook and turned it to the last written page.

delly: Hmm... distance, angle of inclination, and speed look correct.

She closed the notebook before donning her helmet and tightening the chinstrap. She checked her rollerblades then quickly wrote the last few lines of the story before skating out of the room.

About ten minutes later, Recall came back with her piping hot coffee.

Recall: Jeez, she took off again. Well, she can get her coffee next time. I wonder what she wrote.

He placed the coffee at the edge of the table, sat down and began to read.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Laura held her baby so that Mallory could see his face. "He's our son, Danny."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Lady, I don't even know who you are. We've never met and I'm sure as hell that he's not my son," Mallory protested as he moved away from the Laura and her baby.

Laura was shocked by his response and began to cry as she held her child close. She went to the bed and sat down, rocking her child.

Remmy added, "How do you know for sure that Mall... Quinn's the father?"

"We've never been here before," Maggie commented.

A sudden realization hit Diana as she turned her attention to the TV. "Um... Quinn, was your hair and fingerprints taken?"

"Yeah. So what? Everyone was... Oh man..." Mallory began pacing the floor.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile...

delly had help from the guys in setting up a wooden ramp near the chasm according to her notes she took during her trial and error session in the theater.

After several dry runs, she adjusted the length of the rope that would serve as her lifeline that DMD, SE, CoolSlider, Brit, TM and HK, as the anchor, would be able to pull her up.

delly raced to the back of the cave where a line was drawn with chalk.

delly: I'm ready. Are you guys ready?

The guys nodded and answered yes even though they thought she was insane for trying this stunt.

Yeontoo: Aren't you going to wait for Recall and SL4?

delly: I'll do it again for them later. Anyone wanna try after me? There's a stash of rollerblades, elbow and kneepads in one of the storage areas.

Murmurs of "No way", "I'm not insane" and "I'll pass" were heard.

Brit: She's got to have something up her sleeve or she's really gone off the deep end.

SE: <joking> You shouldn't have killed off Ryan.

TM: Hehehe... that was an awesome ending.

Tigs: I think she already was in the deep end.

DMD: At least I'm not one after her. Bwahahaha…

delly took off steadily increasing her speed as she barreled her way to the ramp. Her attention was diverted when she saw a smiling SL4 eating her pie from across the chasm. She went by Vig without grabbing her lifeline.

Vig: Oopsie.

delly: <still looking at SL4> MY NAME WAS ON THAT PIE!!!!!

Vig: THE RAMP!

Alarm went through the writers as they saw her skates hit the end of the ramp.

DMD: She's not going fast enough.

SE: She's gonna land right in the center of the chasm.

Yeontoo: DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

CoolSlider: Throw her the other end of the rope, HK.

HK: It shot me back out when I fell in the first time.

Sarah, MY, SS: THE SACRIFICE! WE FORGOT!

JennX and SweetOne: Sacrifice?!?!

A furious Recall came running, clutching the papers tightly.

Recall: AHHHH!!! SHE DID IT TO ME AGAIN!!! SHE...

Recall's mouth dropped as he saw an air-bound delly fly through the air. He dropped the papers he was holding.

At the apex of her jump, a wan smile appeared on her face as she waved bye just like Wiley E. Coyote right before the rock smashes him on the way to the bottom of the ravine. All that was missing was Roadrunner's BEEP BEEP with his long tongue mocking Wiley.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



"That's standard procedure," Laura replied through her tears.

"Diana, get to the point," ordered an irritated Maggie.

"The DNA in Quinn's hair matched certain sequences in her son. So technically..."

Remmy finished for Diana. "Oh man...he's the father."

"How can this get any worse?" mumbled Mallory.

Laura tearfully pleaded, "We need to start right away. Danny doesn't have long to live. He needs a transplant soon."

Mallory asked "What kind of transplant?"

"The kind that..."



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



She hit the dead middle of the carpet and...

began to laugh hysterically as she rolled by SL4 taking the pie from his hand.

All: What the... impossible.

delly: Later, guys and gals. Gotta watch some X-Files mytharc reruns.

She raced off to the theater while the others were still mystified as to how she was able to do the stunt.

After about a minute, SE and Brit rushed to the carpet and pulled it off, revealing a thick and wide board covering the entire hole.

Brit: She's going to pay.

All: Oh yeah she will.

dellyone

P.S. Congrats if you know where to reply title came from. :-P

While the rest were still recovering from dellyone's stunt, ThomasMalthus, Sabre_Edge, and Recall317 were huddled over the bar.

TM: I don't know guys. I feel like we're doing something terribly wrong.

R317: Relax. This is going to be good! How's the programming going?

SE: Almost there. I just have to activate the universal translator to transcribe the Blinkerese...got it!

Tigs: [joining them] Hey guys. Watcha doin'?

TM: I renounce my association with the project! Gotta go!

TM flees.

Tigs: What's with him?

R317: Tigs, I proudly present the new and improved, PeckinTorch! Say something for the lady.

PeckinTorch: I see that skinny chick I fired in an underground city surrounded by circus freaks...go with it!

Tigs: You what?!

PeckinTorch: Well I thought it was pretty clever.

SE: I linked Torch up to the Peck-o-matic. Pretty neat, huh? Now Torch is craptacular!

Tigs: You guys are deranged.

Tigs walks off, leaving SE and R317.

SE: So, you ready to write?

PeckinTorch: I'm looking to make this more of a family oriented story. Something the kids can watch with mom and dad.

R317: That's exactly what I had in mind. Heehee...hahahaha...MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

---

"...requires bone marrow. He has leukemia," Laura said. "I'm not a match; you're his only chance."

"How the hell did you find me?" Mallory asked this strange woman.

"Well I tracked you down to San Francisco, but your answering machine said you'd be here in LA for the entire week. I hopped the first train and I've been going to one hotel after another ever since," Laura said. "You know, I really didn't recognize you. Oh well, you know with those orgies. People sticking things..."

Rembrandt cut her off. "Yeah, yeah, we get the idea."

Mallory looked at his 'son.' He couldn't have been too much more than a year old, likely a product of the 'extravaganza' from two years ago. *Two years ago I couldn't even walk, let alone...*

"Would you excuse us for a moment? I promise I'm not going to bail out the fire escape."

Laura nodded "I have to change him. Could I...?"

"Yeah, door on the left."

Laura took Danny into the bathroom and closed the door, leaving the four in the common room of the suite.

"Well at least it's not a kidney," Diana said, trying to be funny. No one laughed.

"What are you going to do, Mallory?" Maggie asked.

"I'd be a hypocrite if I did nothing. I've benefited from the DNA of my doubles. Maybe it's time to give back," Mallory said. "Besides, did you see that little face?"

A cry is heard from Danny from the bathroom.

Mallory sighed. "As soon as she comes out, I'm heading for the doctor or hospital or whatever."

"Want some company?" Rembrandt volunteered.

"I'd appreciate it."

"We'll come too," said Diana.

"Actually, I'd like the two of you to do me a favor," said Mallory. "I've been in and out of hospitals for years. These operations aren't like a drive-through. They take time and we've only got another 40 hours or so. If we have to slide, I want to make sure the real father is there for him."

"You want us to track down your double?"

"He's here in the city. How hard can it be?"

"There are five million people in this city!" Diana said.

"It's either find him now or find him later. We do know where he'll be 18 hours from now. Your choice, D."

"We'll find him now," Diana quickly replied.
---

"Laura already canvassed the hotels north and east of the festival. I say we stick to a tight radius. He's bound to be nearby," Maggie said as the two sliders strolled down the street. All around them there were women pushing strollers and supervising children. No men were to be seen with anyone under twelve.

"I can't believe this world."

"I know, Diana," Maggie said, rolling her eyes.

"No, it's not just the sex...it's the society. Mallory's double has no responsibility to this child at all, the burden is entirely on the woman. I'm all in favor of women being single mothers, but the pendulum has swung too far," Diana said.

"Maybe they get good tax incentives."

Diana glared at Maggie.

"What?" she shrugged. "It's a parallel world, who cares? We'll be out of here soon enough."

Not long after, the two arrived at a hotel. "The Chancellor Arms?" Diana asked, reading its marquee.

"I've got a hunch," Maggie replied.

The two entered and approached the front desk. Maggie leaned over, "I'm looking for Quinn Mallory."

"Who isn't today?" the clerk replied. "Room 317."

Upstairs, the two found Quinn's room. Maggie knocked, but there was no response. She placed here ear to the door. "Someone is in there. I can hear...giggling."

Diana put her ear to the door just as a loud moan was heard.

"Oh jeez!" Diana cried, quickly backing away from the door.

"This guy is quite a cad," Maggie said to Diana. She knocked on the door again and yelled out, "Mallory!"

Still no response from inside. Maggie then got a devilish look in here eye. She knocked again. "Anyone up for a threesome?" Diana put her hand over her mouth. Maggie gave her a wink.

"Hold on!" came a cry from inside.

The two heard the knob jiggle and in a second Maggie was staring into the his piercing blue eyes. It was Quinn Mallory all right. Her Quinn Mallory.

"Who is that?" asked the woman inside. Maggie's jaw dropped as she caught a glimpse of her.

"Oh my God..."
---

R317: Well Vig, what do you think? Vig?

Vig is drooling. He's not alone.

SL4Ever: Please let it be Wade. Oh please let it be Wade...

CoolSlider: No way! It's time for some hot hot Maggie on Maggie action!

PeckinTorch: Go with it!

"YOU IDIOT! YOU DESTROYED THE MAYBE MACHINE!!" "Well, I just wanted to see." "It was made for Sliders, what DID you do?" "Well, I just fooled around with some wires in the back." "Chaser is going to be SO mad!" SL4Ever stormed off to get his pie.

---

"Course it's me." Jennifer The Wonder Janitor replied. "Now, if you excuse me I think there is some vomit I need to clean up on Lombard st."

---

Dellyone gave Vig a cold stare. "That wasn't very good." "Course not." "Why wasn't it Wade?" "Heck, anyone could of used Wade, I stuck with the more creative approach." "Jennifer the Wonder Janitor?" "Hey it's a parallel world, who cares?" Vig smiled sadistically.

---

"But YOU... you look so familiar." Maggie said. "Hm. That's funny." "Oh wait..."

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/Maggie's Flowery Flashback/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Maggie was looking at the flowers at the florist. "I like the SHHIIIIINY ones best sir." "Uh ma'am. Those are ceramic flowers." Then a woman walked by. "What type of flowers are these?" "Uh Ma'am that's the cash register."

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

"Hee hee. Flowers."

---

Vig was mining. Hurrikain walked over. "What are you doing now?" "Well, I figure, there has to be oil. Think about how rich we could be if there was oil here." "There is no oil here." "Oh yeah. What's this??" Vig put one huge swipe of the pickaxe into the group and suddenly all the lights went out. "I would suppose the power main."

---

Diana walked past Maggie and her weird flashback. "Quinn you need to come with me." "Excuse me, can't I finish?" Jennifer the Wonder Janitor walked out "Sorry, I have to clean up." "Ugh. Whattdya want?" "Well, you see you have a son and he well the thing is that your son.." "Lady, do you know how many sons I have?" "No." "At last check 102. Really, I don't care." "Your son is dieing!" "Doesn't matter!" "He has cancer!" "Don't wanna listen!"

---

Recall317 carried around torch until he found the circuit breakers. "Lesse.. emergency lights.. uhh.." Meanwhile an echo reverbated down the corridor. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stop the power and break the MAYBE machine." "Okay." "Can you let me out of the maximum security cell then?" "Nope."

*CLICK*

A few emergency lights turned on around.

---

(our) Mallory was frustrated by the news Diana brought. "Well, there is one way to fix this." "No, we can't do the operation." "Hey, I wasn't going to suggest that. You see I have this plan.."

---

Later...

Vigeant was sitting in back of a booth. Sabre Edge and Southern Slider talked. "They say he's gone out of his mind." "Naah. He's always like this." "Yeah but the 'Fill In the Cave Project?" Vigeant yelled at them from behind the booth. "You can stop the evil! Fill it in! Stop the horror!"

She goes off to her little study and everyone does their duties which they somehow instinctively know how to do, under the watchful eye of Jen_X.

-----

Quinn Mallory sat in his room on his own, head in his hands. He knew this day would come. With the amount of kids he had, which was far more than most, he knew one of them one day would become sick and would need his help.

I had happened to his half-brother, Colin, two years previously. The pair of them had grown up together and were very close. They worked and lived together, which wasn't uncommon for brothers who were close in age. They had other siblings too, but they were never as close to the others as to each other.

Both of them had always followed society's rules. Colin was a lot shyer than Quinn, even though Quinn had tried to persuade him that it was right. Not that he hadn't done his part, because he had. Quinn was a little excessive with his sex, but Colin kept it to a minimum, preferring not to overpopulate the world.

And then the worst had happened.

Quinn had been there when she'd arrived. Christina. She was a woman Colin had had a child with, though as society preferred, he had had little, if any contact with the child. Colin's face was like Quinn had never seen it before, in all the years since he was born.

He had just been told his child was dying of lukemia.

Even though he had never met his child, Colin instantly agreed to the proceedure. He was a kind, gentle bloke and would not let this child die.

All would have been fine if something hadn't gone horribly wrong.

Quinn had never asked about what had gone wrong. He'd been devastated, and couldn't bear the thought of details. He hadn't even gone to see the body, for he wanted to remember Colin as he'd known him, rather than as a body.

And now it had happened to him. Tears rolled down his cheeks. It wasn't just fear for himself that had caused him to shun the people who came to ask for his help, it was the pain it brought with it. Colin had died from that proceedure, and his mother had died not long after, apparently from grief. He now lived with a sister, but it wasn't the same. He'd never got over their deaths and he probably never would.

He stood up and walked to the window. The memories were burning a hole through him. He couldn't stand it anymore. He opened the window wide open and then stopped. This wasn't the way; they wouldn't want this.

Outside, a child bobbed along next to his mother. It wasn't his sick son, for this was a girl with blonde ringlets down to her shoulders. She looked so happy and cute. In less than twenty years, she would be like her young mother: attending orgies and raising too many children. She wasn't to know how hard her life was going to get. She watched her mother, but she was too young to understand. She was just beginning her life…

As the mother picked her up to make it easier to cross the road, Quinn made his decision. He had to swallow his fears and his painful memories in order to help this child. He couldn't bear the guilt if he didn't. Quinn knew he'd been harsh and abrupt earlier, but it had hit him like a canon ball he wasn't expecting and iy had sent him in millions of different direction.

Picking up his leather jacked and hotel keycard, he ran out of the hotel, with the intent of finding those women who had been in his room earlier. he didn't recognise either of them, so they were probably here on behalf of a friend. No matter, he'd look everywhere unntil he found them again.

Unfortunately, he never got that far, for as he dashed out across the car, a taxi jumped a red light and knocked him over, sending him into the realms of unconsciousness…

-----

Sarah: There we go! That looks good enough!

Vig: What about Mallory's plan?

Sarah: I thought I'd leave that for someone else. I'm not good at thinking like Mallory.

The other players have finished their duties for the moment, except for TM who is serving drinks from behind the bar, but he doesn't have long until he finishes his shift. They're all lounging around the cave as usual. As Sirta enters in front of Sarah they look more alert, and wait for what she has to say.

Sarah: Okay, who's next?

CS: I think that would be me.

Tentatively he takes the torch from Sarah and goes off the write the story. Someone vacates a comfy chair so Sarah can see the Maybe Machine better. She thanks them.

Sarah: Oh yeah, I'd better fix it first!

she waves her hands theatrically a few times, recites a short incantation and it smokes a little. The smoke disapates and when she next presses a button, it turns on.

Sarah: Ah, this is more like it. Who's up for some Maybe Machine!!!!

Mallory flipped through the pages of the Los Angeles area phone book. Diana watched him for a couple of minutes until finally,

"Umm...can you tell me what you're doing, Mallory?"

Mallory smiled, not looking up from the book, "I dunno. Can I?"

"Seriously," Diana's annoyance showed "I want to know what you're up to."

"Well, if you HAVE to know...the closest match for that boy other than his father would have to be his relatives, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's see if we can find a Mallory that would be willing to pull through with this"

Maggie and Rembrandt came down the stairs and into the lobby where Diana and Mallory were.

Rembrandt chuckled, "Come on Fog Boy...I would have figured you to be still preparing yourself for HOT HOT SEXENGS"

"Yeah, quit fooling around," Maggie ordered...sometimes it sucked to have a military woman in the group; especially one with such an attitude "I need SEXENGS too. You know how long it's been since I've had a good lay?"

Mallory looked up "This is serious guys...that boy is going to die, and all you can think about is SEXENGS? That's horrible"

Rembrandt and Maggie's smiles were wiped off their faces in shame. Diana looked Mallory in the eyes...the eyes, the most effective way to get one's attention.

"Look Mallory, you have to be rational. Do you know how many Mallorys could be in this book? How are you going to find a Mallory that's a relative to your double?"

"Trial and error"

"We'd be sitting here all day, then"

"Maybe not..." Mallory's finger trailed through the phone book and stopped at a line. "Jessica."

"Jessica?"

"Jessica Mallory"

"And how do you know she's a relative?

"Because, my mom told me if she were to ever have a girl, or that if I were a girl, she'd name me Jessica. I know it's just a hunch, but it may as well be the first number we try."

Mallory dialed the number as the others watched in silence.

The phone rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times...

*click* "Huh...eh..Hello?"

The voice that came on was that of a woman's...it sounded rushed and a little panicked.

"Hello? Jessica Mallory?"

"Yes...who is this? I mean, I uh, look. I can't talk right now, I have to be somewhere"

The voice started sobbing on the phone.

"Why? What is it? Are you okay?"

"Yes...*sob*...it's my brother. He's....he's...."

Oh, and what a perfect time to stop. Hope this is long enough, and ignore any spelling mistakes. Like I said, I'm in a rush.

See ya at the beach!
CoolSlider

SS gave DMD a glance and a wink as she went to the chair.

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

"Yes....*sob*....it's my brother. He's....he's...."

"What? He's what, Jessica," Mallory growled impatiently into the phone.

"My brother, Quinn, is about to die," she screamed into the phone. "I can't talk now. I have to go to him."

Mallory heard the click of the receiver, and cursed as he slammed the phone down.

"What's wrong, Mallory? What happened?" asked Diana

"The Quinn on this world is dying, too," he whispered.

Diana reached up to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Poor Mallory. He had started out so excited about this world and its orgies, and now things were just getting worse.

Maggie and Remmy came rushing in.

"We found Quinn," Maggie said, gasping for breath. "He's been in an accident. We need to get to the hospital right now."

"So that's what she meant," Mallory said as they ran out the door.

***

They arrived at the hospital to find a girl, very much resembling Quinn and Colin sitting in the waiting room sobbing. Mallory strode up to her and knelt beside her.

"Are you Jessica Mallory?" he asked.

She sniffed and looked up. "Ye...yes. Who are you?"

"I guess you could say I'm a cousin of yours, sort of? How's Quinn?"

"He's still unconscious. The doctor says there's a chance he'll live, but it's almost time for the Great Annual Metropolitan St. Patrick's Day Orgy. I'm not sure he'll be ready for it, if he does regain consciousness."

Maggie knelt beside Mallory. "He's fighting for his life and you're worried about the Orgy?" She couldn't believe the girl's words.

"Well, of course. He's going for the record. It's very important."

"Good grief," said Remmy. "This world is off the scale of being loony."

Mallory and Maggie stood and went to confer with Remmy and Diana. "We need to see Quinn .... and the doctor. Maybe if we tell the doctor about Quinn's child, he can do something to help it," said Mallory.

Jessica heard them talking and went to join them just as the doctor came through the double doors of the surgery wing.

"Are you relatives of the Mr. Mallory?"

"Yessir, I'm Jessica, his sister and this is..." she turned to Mallory, but realized she hadn't gotten his name. "....this is his cousin."

"Well, he's resting comfortably now. He came around a few minutes ago. We were worried about the head injury, but I think it's just a bump. You can go in a see him now, but don't stay long. We want him to rest up for tomorrow, you know."

Maggie, Remmy and Diana looked at each other in disgust. Was that orgy all this world ever thought about? Mallory and Jessica almost walked on the heels of the doctor to get to Quinn's room.

Jessica opened the door and ran in. Mallory followed. He gasped as soon as he saw the figure in the bed. Jessica frowned and turned to look at him.

Maggie, Remmy and Diana entered, uttering their own gasps.

"Colin?" they said collectively.

Colin looked at the trio and frowned. He didn't know them, but why would they mistake him for his brother. And who was that with Jessica?

"Sorry, you're mistaken. My name is Quinn. My brother Colin died over a year ago."

The whole crew was stunned. That was definitely the face of their Colin sitting in that bed, but he called himself Quinn. He said Colin had died.

"There must have been a freakin' accident with the names. I guess their parents swapped them."

"You're kidding?" Mallory said.

"I don't know any other way to explain it," Remmy answered.

"Now what?" asked Diana. "Can we do anything with this guy to help that little boy with lukemia?

"Who knows?" said Maggie. "We've got to get our minds set about this, and at least tell Colin, I mean Quinn, about the boy."

They all took a deep breath and approached the bed.

"I guess I scared you to death, Sis. Sorry. I was on my way to check on my son. He's dying, you know."

"What about tomorrow, Quinn?" Jessica asked, not even acknowledging the impending problem. "Are you going to be able to make it to the orgy?"

"You bet, sweetheart. You know I wouldn't miss it."

Maggie groaned and stomped out of the room. She wasn't going to have any part of this.

"What's with the lady? And who are you people anyway?" Quinn (Colin) said.

"Quinn, don't you know them? He said he was our cousin." She pointed at Mallory.

"A cousin? I don't believe I remember you. What's your name?" he asked Mallory.

"Uh..........." Mallory stammered.
----------------------------------------------

DMD: ARRRGGGGGGGGGG!! You put Colin in the story?

SS: Of course. I told you there were ways to get that boy back in. This place is magic. Remember? <She elbowed him in the side>

DMD: Yeah.

SS limped off, walking through the crowd toward her secret place. Everyone noticed the sly grin on her face and wondered what was up.

SS: Carry on, everyone. Don't mind me. I'm just going to slink off to finish getting well. I have too much to do. I have to get this knee in good working order. Just go on with the story. Ta-ta.

Brit: <eyebrow raised> Something's up. She's too happy. A knee operation wouldn't leave her in a good mood like that.

SL: Who cares? She wrote her part. Now on to the next one. Who is it? <goes over to the desk to scan the list> TM!! Get your sorry butt over here. Move it, move it, move it. And be sure to get the orgy going again. Thank goodness SS got it back into the front burner of the story. I was afraid it was going to die out before I could have a part in it. Now keep it going, TM.

SL was on a rampage, pushing and shoving through the crowd to get TM on his way.

SS

The Torch: Just get on with the friggin' thing!!

***
"I'm your cousin...uh...", he looked to the others for support and got nothing, "Thomas and I just wanted to..."

At that moment, Mallory was interrupted by Quinn moaning in pain. He fell back flat on his bed and squeezed his eyes shut tight. Some of the machines by his bed seemed like they were going crazy. Jessica moved closer, ignoring the sliders now, and started calling for a doctor. Soon enough, they were treating their patient.

"We're losing him!!" One of them cried out frantically.

Jessica looked distraught. "What can I do?!? Is there anything..." But she was merely brushed away by the physicians attending to her brother. Eventually one of the doctors escorted the two Mallorys, Remmy and Diana outside of the room.

**
Maggie Beckett wandered through the hospital aimlessly. She honestly didn't know what to make of this world. Honestly, it wasn't the worst parallel earth they'd visited. She idly wondered why it now bothered her so, when at first it seemed like a nice little world to spend some time on. It was just one of the many inconsistencies in her character, she supposed.

"I just know I'm going to miss out on that orgy now," Maggie sulked. As she walked down an empty-looking hallway, she saw a door with a sign that said "Morgue". 'Hmm,' thought Maggie, 'might be fun to go in there. Take my mind off things.'

As she walked in, she was surprised to see lots of corpses lying around covered by bedsheets. On her world, the word 'morgue' meant a place where you bought snow cones. But she was even more surprised to see a man with a hypodermic needle, sticking it into one of the corpses skin and extracting some sort of blue fluid. "Hey!!" Maggie cried out. "You can't do that!! I..." The man then looked up at her. "It's....YOU!!!!"

*
Jessica Mallory paced nervously outside the hospital room. "What's happening in there?!?" she asked rhetorically in frustration.

Rembrandt came up to the girl to offer her some advice. "He's in good hands. I'm sure they'll be out here to let us know something in no time."

"Do you need anything?" Diana asked her.

"Not right now." She then went back to pacing the room.

"I wish there was something I could do," Mallory said to the others.

Diana pointed Mallory towards the door behind them. "Maybe there will be. Here comes the doctor now." The three sliders and Jessica moved towards one of Quinn's attending physicians and listened intently as she spoke.

"I'm afraid it doesn't look good," she spoke frankly. Jessica nearly collapsed, but Mallory caught her. "He's suffering from a rare inherited genetic deficiency called malathana. His injuries from the accident exacerbated the condition. He's worsening by the second."

"What can we do to help?" said Mallory.

"There's only one thing that will save him now, but I'm afraid it's a long shot. You see, we need..." She hesitated.

Rembrandt's face showed quite a bit of impatience. "Spill it, doc. If we can help, we want to know how."

The doctor nodded. "It just sounds so silly, I didn't want you to think it was a joke. You see, the only cure for malathana is..."
******************

TM: Well, that's it for my part!

Sabre_Edge: Gee, thanks a lot, TM. Now I've got all this mess to clean up.

TM: Hey, leaving messes for other people to deal with is what writing the Story Game is all about!

Sabre_Edge takes the torch from ThomasMalthus, who breathes a sigh of relief.

ThomasMalthus