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It was time to relax. After all the calamities of the last few weeks, the sliders were ready for a break. On the next normal world, the sliders were going to settle down for a while. Of course, they had to get there first. They'd just endured a variety of crazy worlds. First, they hit an Earth where pollution was out of control. Then, they touched down in the middle of World War III (thankfully only for a matter of minutes), and now, they had slid into Mexican World, conveniently landing in the middle of the Running of the Bulls. Arturo was gored, but his injuries weren't severe. He would recover fully, but they were prepared to leave. REMBRANDT Arturo was noticeably angry. ARTURO Quinn was ready to go. He was the most tired. He was emotionally drained, and the realization that he'd hardly reacted to Wade's apparent death weeks ago made him feel all that much worse. Now, Quinn just wanted to rest. But rest wasn't in his future. A red vortex opened beside the sliders. Rembrandt and Quinn feared the worst. That blood red color meant nothing but trouble. But Quinn was pleasantly surprised by the slider that emerged. It was Colin Mallory. Quinn looked at his brother for the first time in well over a year. Colin didn't look as happy as Quinn and Rembrandt did. QUINN REMBRANDT COLIN Quinn was ecstatic, but one thing stuck out in Rembrandt's head. How did Colin recognize Quinn, when he now looked like Mallory? And why did he come out of a vortex that appeared to be Kromagg? QUINN Colin seemed to avoid the question. COLIN ARTURO Quinn took the hand of his brother and activated the vortex. The brothers jumped inside, followed by Wade, Rembrandt, and Arturo. The five explorers landed, and Colin and Quinn immediately resumed their conversation. Arturo, Wade and Rembrandt decided to let them catch up on each other's lives alone. ARTURO QUINN Quinn tossed Arturo the timer. The Professor glanced at it. They had just about eight hours on this world.  Quinn and Colin walked to the hotel and checked in. Quinn had seen the timer and knew the time they had on this world, but he decided it would be better if he and Colin talked alone in the room. They reached the room and sat down to talk. QUINN COLIN QUINN Colin looked curious. COLIN Quinn felt weird about this for the first time. Maybe this wasn't Colin after all. QUINN COLIN Quinn was intrigued. QUINN COLIN QUINN COLIN Quinn was excited. The experience of talking with his brother temporarily erased much of the heartache of the last couple years. QUINN Colin didn't seem to understand. COLIN Quinn was disturbed by this. Was this really Colin? QUINN COLIN QUINN COLIN QUINN Colin became serious again. COLIN QUINN COLIN QUINN COLIN Quinn was unsure about this, but he decided to go along with Colin. This was his chance to see his true home. QUINN Minutes later, a vortex opened. The vortex was a Kromagg-like red color. QUINN COLIN Quinn was very unsure. This could easily be a Kromagg trick. He had been tricked more times than one by those Maggs. QUINN Colin's eyes became furious. He attacked Quinn, who was not expecting a fight. COLIN Quinn could tell that something was seriously wrong. Before he could think to shout for help, Colin had forced Quinn and himself through the mouth of the vortex. It quickly closed behind them, leaving the hotel room empty. Rembrandt, Wade, and Arturo wandered the streets. They had to occupy themselves for a few hours to allow the two brothers to talk. This world seemed boring. Not many people were on the streets, and there seemed to be nothing to do. A woman ran in the same direction as a lot of others. Arturo inquired what was going on. ARTURO WOMAN The sliders began to walk with the others. Arturo tried to explain to Wade what had happened on this world, while Rembrandt was concerned with Colin. Something wasn't right there. REMBRANDT WADE REMBRANDT ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO The four sliders approached the observatory, only to find it sold out. And despite this world's primitivity, the astronomers running the observatory seemed to be very wealthy. ARTURO With nothing else to do, Rembrandt and Wade decided to join the Professor at the library for his research. Rembrandt wanted to check in on Quinn, but he knew the brothers had a lot to discuss. The vortex opened, and Quinn and Colin toppled out. Quinn picked himself up, but saw himself surrounded by Kromagg officers. Despite their recent fight, Quinn feared for Colin. QUINN Colin revealed himself, in the midst of the Kromaggs. COLIN Quinn couldn't believe it. What was happening? QUINN KROMAGG Quinn looked up and saw the same Kromagg officer that had interrogated him the last time he had been captured. Quinn was a little worried that being captured by the Kromaggs was becoming common. KROMAGG Quinn was annoyed by this. He had been tricked, and he wanted some answers. QUINN KOLITON The Kromaggs and Colin took Quinn to another Kromagg laboratory. This one was a medical center, where there were a large number of Kromagg scientists. Quinn noticed that they were working on a viral agent. QUINN KOLITON Quinn didn't like the sound of where Koliton was heading. QUINN KOLITON As if to underscore the point, a Kromagg biologist sitting several workstations away suddenly stiffened and collapsed against his monitor. KOLITON Quinn reluctantly sat down to work... The other sliders returned to the hotel in a cold sweat. ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO While Arturo and Rembrandt argued, Wade walked over to the kitchen counter and saw Quinn's note. WADE It had been written hastily, but the note got the point across. ARTURO WADE ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO The professor didn't want to leave without Quinn either, but the time to slide had come. Arturo had never had a harder time activating the vortex. The three sliders slid to the next world, without Quinn. In the Kromagg facility, Koliton had brought Quinn a palmtop computer. It listed the number of Kromaggs alive in the building. Quinn was worried. He wasn't a doctor. The greatest doctors in the multiverse had created this virus, and he, alone, was supposed to stop it? The disease was indeed an ingenious piece of work. It was armed with a continually mutating self-defense system that hypothesized and built defenses against immunities before they could even attack it. Quinn was in for it. He knew he wasn't going to finish the work. The number of Kromaggs was dropping rapidly. Only ten minutes ago, there were over eighty Kromaggs. Now, the number was at 41. This was a lost cause. At least he had the grim satisfaction of knowing that if he couldn't save the Dynasty from its death throes, neither would anyone else. On their second slide after leaving Quinn behind, Wade was anxiously waiting. She never thought that she would get attached to another Quinn, but she did. She loved her Quinn, but she liked this Quinn in another way. She wasn't ready to accept that he was gone. This world had attracted Rembrandt and Arturo. Its national pastime, played on an enormous parabolic arena by roller skaters wielding oars, managed to mix elements of all the major sports together. It was known as "Ultraball". It had attracted their attention the entire slide, like a magnet. While they watched, Wade wandered the streets. There, she saw him. WADE Quinn ran up to Wade. This Quinn looked just like Mallory. He was excited to see Wade. QUINN WADE Quinn ignored what Wade said, and they rushed to a theater. WADE QUINN DOUBLE Wade realized that this wasn't Quinn. She enjoyed the opera, until it was time to leave. She had a hard time explaining to Quinn's double what had happened. She then returned to the hotel and slid with the others. Quinn glanced at the handheld. There were twelve Kromaggs left. Only two weren't yet showing any effects of the disease. Koliton himself had entered the terminal stage an hour ago. Quinn was going to die. He had made some progress, but not enough to get anywhere as fast as he needed... The number had dropped to seven. Everyone in the building was showing symptoms of the virus. He had calculated it in his head. The last Kromagg would succumb within minutes. Koliton had moved from his office, and was being attended to by another scientist. He ordered the scientist to move him to the table where Quinn was working. KOLITON QUINN The Kromagg scientist was angered by this, but he was too sick to yell at Quinn. His face was very pale, indicating the final stages of the virus. He resolved to die upholding the dignity of his superior. KROMAGG The Kromagg was unable even to finish his sentence. His face contorting with anger and pain, he sunk to the floor. Quinn glanced at the monitor. There were two Kromaggs left. KOLITON Koliton was struggling to talk. Quinn felt sympathetic towards Koliton. This showed Quinn how desperate the Kromaggs had become. They needed the help of humans, but they were dying too fast. Even with the Slidecages, the humans would win soon enough. KOLITON Suddenly, Koliton pressed a button on the nearby computer. KOLITON Koliton's voice trailed off, but his words had left an impact on Quinn. What did he mean? Quinn looked at Koliton's computer, and he saw a DNA strand on the computer. QUINN But Koliton could no longer speak. Suddenly, Quinn heard a voice. It was the Kromagg computer's voice. VOICE A crimson vortex opened to Quinn's side. Quinn consulted the computer. There was one lifesign in the building. He looked over at Koliton. Was he dead yet? Maybe the person was human? Unlikely. Quinn wasn't going to go into this blind like he had with Colin earlier. QUINN VOICE Out of the air vents, a green gas began to escape. Quinn placed the top part of his shirt over his nose and jumped inside the vortex. It closed behind him, shortly after. The three sliders were sitting in a desert-like area. This was their third slide without Quinn. This world had showed no civilization, so they stayed in this place for the twenty minutes on the timer. Rembrandt and Arturo had begun to accept the loss of Quinn, and they focused on the future. Wade, however, had not. She saw Quinn everywhere. She was embarrassed to tell the others about the incident with Quinn's double, so she didn't. She tried to focus, like the others. ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO WADE Quinn landed over 100 yards away. He held onto the hope that he had been redirected to his friends. In theory, if they were on the same world, he should have landed in the exact same place that they had. This was a desert-like world, and he couldn't see much. Then, he looked over, and he saw the other Sliders. QUINN Wade was the only one that heard Quinn. She ignored it, even when she saw a figure running towards them. Wade saw the figure as a mirage, as she watched Arturo open the vortex. Quinn saw the vortex open. This was bad. They couldn't hear him. He broke into a run, yelling as loud as he could. Arturo jumped inside the vortex. Wade still heard Quinn's voice, but the sound of the vortex deafened Rembrandt's ears. He jumped inside. Quinn continued to run. How could Wade not see him? She was looking straight at him! He continued to yell. QUINN Wade ignored the Quinn mirage and jumped inside. She knew that they would find him soon, but she didn't trust her tired, dehydrated eyes. Quinn ran as fast as he could. He saw the vortex begin to destabilize, and ran faster. He lunged toward the gateway, barely making it inside. Wade flew out of the vortex. She tried to forget what she had seen. Rembrandt came and tried to calm her, but everyone's attention soon turned to the vortex, and the exhausted person emerging from it. WADE QUINN WADE Wade couldn't put the right words into a sentence, so she ran and hugged her friend. QUINN The Sliders began to walk towards the hotel. Quinn had a lot of explaining to do and more questions than answers, but all he wanted right now was to get some rest.
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