The Fourth Season Machine

• • •

by Dorky



Episode U-802: 400 Miles Isn't Far Enough



Before you read the episode, I would like to thank Temporalflux for helping me with the idea to my story and how the season will continue as it will for the entire year, so thanks for the help.

Logline: After the sliders are continuously exposed to the public, Diana decides the only way to escape the hell their in and make sure everyone survives the way home, she decides to change their destination farther away.

Episode 2: 400 Miles Isn’t Far Enough

Starring: Robert Floyd, Alicia Witt, Tembi Locke, Nicholas Lea, and John Haymes Newton as Joel Douglas

Guest Stars: Armin Shimerman as a professor, and John Goodman as the detective

Synopsis: The sliders are running from a crowd who appear to be chasing them; with not many places to hide, they quickly head down an alley way, but they realize there is a dead end, and if people came after them, they would be trapped. Wade looks at the timer, with just thirty seconds until the vortex opens; Wade tells the others and they start running toward the dead end with stopping close to the wall, but they aren’t alone for long with a larger crowd of people racing toward them. Mallory states that the public needs to stop chasing them, since he can’t handle it all. Wade states they are lucky since they’re saved by the wormhole opening in 3...2...1, the portal opens in front of the crowd, with the sliders rushing through it and it closes seconds later with the people confused as to where the group went to. The portal opens up in another alley, tossing the group out in a dumpster. The group is surprised of their surroundings and glad they didn’t land in a public place. Diana states she needs to make a few modifications to the timer, so they will no longer have to suffer the consequences of sliding into a public place. Once the group exits the dumpster, they start heading out, but Joel notices a camera on the side of a building left of them and thinks the slide in was recorded; Joel tells the others, and Ryan states they should just get to a hotel and lay low for the time being. The others agree and take off to the Chancellor Hotel a few blocks down.

Once inside the room, the sliders relax, with Mallory and Ryan sitting down on the sofa, Wade taking a bed, and Joel and Diana taking chairs by the window. Diana states that they may have more problems than one, since if people are chasing them, maybe the same people could get after them and they could get captured. Mallory states it would be impossible, since each world has new people on it. Joel looks to Diana, asking her if they should reveal what they did to save them. Diana at first hushes Joel, but then after Ryan asks what was going on, Diana decides to reveal to the group their previous slide. Diana explains of them sliding into a public place in a park, where they were hunted by secret service, and only she and Joel survived the world, but managed to meet a witch and they reversed time, making sure they didn’t go through the same experience again and losing people close to them. Mallory finds it hard to believe, since he didn’t go through the experience. Joel states that he, Ryan or Wade wouldn’t remember anything, since they were all killed. Wade exits the bedroom, after listening as she was lying down, and states that she would believe anything, since after sliding for so long, she wouldn’t expect anything less of the super natural. Diana takes control of the conversation, stating that they may have to move to a new location, possibly farther than where they are, like across the country. The four sliders looked confused at Diana, with Joel asking why they would have to do it, since if they keep getting noticed, all they should do is just get the timer to drop them off in the same location every time. Diana states that she didn’t want to alarm anyone, but the issue involving the same people, is actually occuring, since over the coarse of the past two days and three different worlds, she has noticed the exact same people from the world they originally slid into, which got them into this mess in the first place. Joel asks Diana if it was possible that their time travel back to the past, caused the same people to get involved; Diana states it would have to be the most logical explanation, and this is why she feels that the only way to escape the chases, is to move to a new location, maybe in Texas or Oregon. Joel states they could try another big city, like New York City, since like where they are now, there is a large population, and it would be doubtful that with so many people around, they wouldn’t notice anything. Diana agrees, but feels that if they slid into a boring state, they would be able to enjoy their lives better and she wouldn’t mind a change of scenery. Wade asks Diana what she would need to make the change; Diana explains that she would just need a few tools, and she could just go to a local hardware store for the supplies. Ryan tells Diana he would go with her to get the supplies, while the rest stayed where they were. Diana agrees, standing up, telling the others to make sure to stay in the room or at least not leave the hotel, since if the video camera they saw, could get them into trouble again. Mallory, Joel and Wade agree with the two exiting the room. Mallory looks to Joel and Wade, asking if they were doing the right thing. Joel and Wade look at each other, with Wade stating that if they didn’t, they could end up dead again.

As Diana and Ryan walk down the sidewalk, they start to notice cameras placed on buildings, looking at the sidewalks and roads people walk and drive on. Ryan states that it could have been possible for a camera to be in the room and someone may have over heard their conversation. Diana states that she hopes no one saw anything, or at least let the people find out after they slide out. Once they found a hardware store, they enter the building to find it quiet and empty, except the clerk at the check out lane. Diana and Ryan start to look around for tools and the clerk asks if they needed help; Diana asks where the location was at for tools like screwdrivers or hammers, and the clerk tells Diana to go to aisle seven. As Diana and Ryan walk down the aisle, Diana searches for a screwdriver, with Ryan asking if she needed anything else; Diana sarcastically asks for a laboratory to complete her work, since she feels the tools she is looking for aren’t located on this earth. Diana finds a screwdriver as well as equipment for looking at small objects and checks out, with paying the clerk and the two leaving. After a few steps down the sidewalk, Ryan stops, telling Diana her request may be given to her, since he believes the San Diego State University may be of help. Diana asks Ryan if he knew where it was at, and Ryan quickly heads out into the road to fetch a taxi for them to ride in. When a taxi stops, the driver yells out the window, telling Ryan there are better ways to hail a cab. Diana and Ryan get in, with Ryan stating they needed to get to the San Diego State University. The driver steps on the pedal, taking off quickly.

Once there, Diana and Ryan exit the taxi with Ryan paying the driver and the two head into a main building, where they find a map of the school on the wall on the right side. Diana over looks the map and looks at a list of each building, with her noticing the science department being on the 3rd level of the fifth building. Ryan and Diana take off with soon entering the building and heading to the third floor by elevator. As the doors open, they exit off onto the third floor with Diana unsure of which direction to go; Ryan suggests they split up and when they find a lab, find the other by returning to the spot they were at now. Diana heads left, while Ryan goes right. After both take time to go through the level, Diana manages to find the last room at the end of the hall as a large laboratory with enough equipment to complete her work. Diana tries the door with it being unlocked and she enters with turning on a light to look more closely at the machines inside the room. A man in his fifties enters, yelling at Diana to get out of the lab since no one was allowed. Diana explains to the man that she was a new student to the campus and was just looking for her class which she found. The man asked for confirmation to explain her reason for being the classroom, but Diana stated she didn’t have anything on her, since she left it back at the dorm. The man tells Diana again to leave the room, but Diana resists, explaining she needed the lab equipment to complete her work. Diana pulls the timer out of her bag, showing it to the man, explaining she is from a parallel world and she is in need of equipment to solve her problem. The man is confused, asking what the timer was for and how parallel worlds could possibly exist. Diana tries to explain to the man, but he still refused to believe her. Ryan soon arrives at the room, with the man getting even more upset. Ryan tells the man he wanted to report a stolen car which belonged to the man; the man gets shocked and quickly exits the room, rushing down the hallway. Ryan enters, stating the guy must have been gullible to believe that. Diana thanks Ryan, stating she had some time, but she would need more time than just a few minutes to complete her work. Ryan states he was a master of breaking into buildings after nightfall, and they could return then. Diana reminds Ryan of the alarm system and Ryan states he can get passed them as well. Diana puts the timer back in her bag along with a few additional tools she needed that she found on a table close by. The two quickly exit the building and returning to the hotel.

Wade, Mallory and Joel are in the bar when Diana and Ryan arrive. Diana told the three that they should be in the room instead of the bar. Wade tells Diana that she did say they couldn’t leave the hotel, so the bar was the next best choice. Joel asks how things went with the tools for the timer; Diana explains things went well and they managed to find a lab which she could work at to get the timer refigured. Mallory states that he is sure going to miss California, and hopes one day they will return. Mallory tells Diana to take a break and have a beer, but Diana refuses, stating she had a lot of work to do before the slide. Joel asks Diana if she wanted company, but Diana declines the offer, stating they should enjoy their beers and she would celebrate later.

Later in the evening, the sliders all head to San Diego State University with Ryan managing to get into the college building they needed to be in and they manage to get to the room they were at earlier in the day. Mallory is placed outside of the building, so with it being cold, he lights up a cigarette and smokes as he watches to make sure no one is around. Inside the room the sliders needed to be in, Diana worked feverishly to complete what needed to be done in a short amount of time before the security arrived again as it did 20 minutes earlier. Wade and Ryan enter the room, with them noticing Diana at a desk, working under a small lamp, shining over her note pad and the timer which was taken apart. Wade gets near Joel, stating that she didn’t notice any cameras in the hallways and wonders if there was a reason for it. Joel states it could be possible for only cameras to be outside of schools, but it wouldn’t make much sense if someone wanted to watch a classroom for certain reasons. Ryan heads to Diana, asking how things were coming; Diana takes a quick break, puts her pencil down and looks up to Ryan with a short laugh, explains she is doing what she can, but she should have positive results in the quantum matrix. Ryan apologizes, telling Diana he would leave her alone and remain quiet so she could get her work done. Diana thanks Ryan, and gets back to her equations on the notepad. Mallory soon arrives up at the room, stating no one was coming and it was obviously clear, so they should have plenty of time before security returned. Wade gets close to Mallory, and she quickly comments that he must have gotten bored and lit one up and figures he littered on the ground with tossing a cigarette in the grass; Mallory states he couldn’t find a trash can, and he didn’t want to put it in his pocket. Wade tells Mallory that smoking will kill him, but Mallory tells Wade at least he is enjoying it in his youth. Diana finishes up her equations and heads over to a machine, turning it on and establishing power to a stasis chamber; Diana works out a few more controls before inputting data into a computer close by. Diana begins to explain that in order for their slides to shift to a new location, she will need to test the experiment before it occurs, or they could start having problems when sliding, not to include the chasing by citizens that want to learn who they are. Joel asks Diana how this would help them in changing their location; Diana states she would have to explain it in a way for them to be lost, so it would be better if they just trusted her in doing this to help them. Joel, along with the other sliders smile and look to Diana, hoping she knows what to do.

By the following morning, the sliders awake to a pounding knock on the door with Joel answering it and having police officers enter the room, pointing guns. The rest of the sliders enter into the main room, where a detective walks in, stating that they were being watched last night and they were going to be arrested for trespassing on private property and for littering on school grounds. Joel tells the detective to let them get dressed and they would be ready to go with him and the officers. The detective allows Diana and Wade to change first; once in the room, Diana grabs her jacket, placing the timer in an inside pocket, Wade mouths to her good idea and they quickly get dressed. Ryan, Joel and Mallory then go and get dressed with the detective asking Diana and Wade questions as to why they were in the building. Diana explains that she was a new student, and thought her professor had explained to whoever that she would be staying over to complete homework since she had join the class late. The detective states that he spoke with the professor of the room and he had said that Diana had entered earlier in the day, and showing him some device, which she had explained opened a portal between worlds. Wade laughs, stating it was highly impossible for such a thing to exist; the detective agrees, stating that he had no proof of such a device to exist. Diana states that she had talked to the professor of such an experiment, but he refused to believe the work could be done. The three guys exit the bedroom and they all head out of the hotel room and downtown to the police station, where they get put in a cell.

When the sliders are alone, Joel looks to Diana, asking how long they had until the timer reached zero; Diana pulls it out of her pocket which she had in her hand, smiles, and states that they slide in two minutes which wouldn’t be much longer. Ryan asks Diana where they would be ending up, and Diana states that after some thinking, she programmed the stabilizer to place them in a small country side town in Oregon. Mallory comments that at least they wouldn’t be far from California, just in case they returned to his home and things could get fixed.

The door close to their cell opens, with the detective that arrested them earlier, stating that he knew that they were hiding something and he would now realize the group were liers and they would be punished by his decision. The police officer opens the cell, with the detective heading to Diana, telling her to hand over the timer; Diana refuses, but she is forced when the police officer holds her against the bars while the detective takes out the timer. Mallory and Joel attack the detective, while Wade and Ryan attack the officer. Mallory gets the timer back and Diana heads out to the desk in the room to find handcuffs to cuff the detective and officer to the cell bars. As the detective is held up against the bars, he says that they wouldn’t get past the gate since guards would be on them instantly. Diana cuffs the officer’s hand to the cell bar, and doing the same to the detective. The sliders soon rush out the of the room and down the hallway. Wade stops and tells the others to follow her; the sliders back up a few feet and follow Wade down a stairwell where they continue at the bottom, down a somewhat lit hallway. They make it to the end to realize there was a door, Joel tries it, but it's locked. The group starts to head back up the stairs, but hear voices, so they stop. Mallory looks at the timer, then the others, telling them they shouldn’t worry, since they slide in 20 seconds. The group hears the detective yell out about their location, so they return back by the locked door. Mallory looks at the others and opens the vortex. The sliders start rushing into the portal, with two guards soon approaching the group, but as Mallory looks back to notice them, he quickly jumps into the portal, with it closing seconds later. The two guards head to the door, to see what they just saw, but they look at each other in confusion.

The wormhole opens on the side of a highway and the sliders get tossed out. They all stand up, surprised there weren’t any vehicles around to pass them. Wade notices a sign in front of them and is shocked; she tells the others to look forward and they are surprised to realize the sign in front of them saying, “Welcome To The Great State Of New York ”

Executive Producers: Jerry O’Connell
Bill Dial




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