|
MAGGIE Maggie, Mallory, and Diana were sitting at a podium, conducting a press conference. REPORTER The three sliders looked around at each other. None of them had an answer. Back at their hotel room, the sliders had the same subject on their minds. MALLORY DIANA MAGGIE DIANA MALLORY Diana picked up the journal she was writing with the information on the timer, as well as her PDL. She explained to Mallory her plan to build another timer. Maggie looked out the window at the sky. MAGGIE (whispering)  The vortex opened, and all four sliders came out. They were screaming, happily. Their last world was a huge party world. They'd enjoyed a five-day Mardi Gras celebration, and Quinn, Wade, and Rembrandt partied the whole slide. Arturo stayed at the hotel, working on the timer. He was the only quiet one, now. WADE REMBRANDT Quinn and Arturo looked around. ARTURO QUINN Wade and Remmy continued to laugh and banter back and forth. They were bonding. Down the street, a couple of dogs began to bark. A man opened his window and yelled at the sliders. MAN Wade and Remmy quickly turned quiet as the man closed the window. The sliders looked at each other, wondering what had just occurred. It was the middle of the afternoon! They walked quietly to the hotel, because there were no cabs. That was strange, for this time of day. Finally they reached the lobby desk, where a man was half-asleep in his seat. REMBRANDT MAN ARTURO MAN WADE MAN Quinn agreed and they paid for the suite. MAN The sliders looked outside. It seemed light to them. Why was everyone acting so strange about the time? Quinn caught on fast. QUINN MAN ARTURO Wade tried to fit in as well. WADE The man at the desk smiled. What a weird bunch of people! He looked at their eyes. They were brighter than most. Not as green. He shrugged it off and went back to sleep. Up in their room, the sliders talked about it. ARTURO WADE ARTURO QUINN Arturo was tired, so he couldn't disagree with Quinn. But before he got some rest, there was something he wanted to do. Quinn went into his bedroom, grabbed a laptop, inserted the disk with the data, and went to work. Wade decided to explore this world. She wasn't done having fun. Before Rembrandt could go with her, Arturo grabbed him. ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO REMBRANDT Arturo had to laugh. Last time he saw his double, he didn't seem too much like him. REMBRANDT ARTURO REMBRANDT Arturo laughed. He had missed a lot. REMBRANDT Arturo was touched. He missed Wade, and her innocent charm. REMBRANDT ARTURO REMBRANDT ARTURO REMBRANDT Wade was walking around town. It was getting dark, so life began to flourish. She was amazed. There wasn't much light, but the people could see perfectly. She thought of their eyes like cat's eyes, able to see in the dark. The man at the desk had eyes that reminded her of her cat back on her Earth. She walked along, but was seen by a man. MAN WADE MAN WADE TOM Wade thought to herself. Husband?! Ryan?! She'd dated a Ryan in high school, but they'd certainly never married. What was his last name? Simms! Ryan Simms! Could she have wed him on this world? TOM WADE TOM WADE Wade was bewildered. Her double had everything she wanted. She had always loved computers, she was rich, she had a husband. But Ryan? She thought that she would have married Quinn. She had liked Quinn for a while, but Quinn always thought of her as a friend. She thought that her sliding adventure would have sparked their love, but Quinn was always working on the timer. Maybe sliding again was a last-ditch effort to do the same. REMBRANDT It was so funny! Maggie was this space hero, and Mallory kept selling her things for money. He was running this weird Maggie souvenir shop. That Mallory was a weird one. Diana liked him a lot. Oh Diana, we wouldn't have gone far without her. She saved our butts about a million times. She wanted to split Mallory, but never got it done. Man! We have to hurry, Professor! I bet she will build her own timer sooner or later, and then Q-Ball will be lost. Arturo loved these stories. He missed sliding as much as Wade had. While he was alone on Quinn's world, he had tried to find himself. He found that sliding was the greatest adventure possible, and even the vicarious thrill of the stories brought him joy. The next day, Arturo looked at the timer. 25 hours. Wade had come home late, and she felt she had to go out again today. Although it was the afternoon, this world's "nightlife" was roaring. Wade was searching the bars on this world. Something about this world intrigued her. It was although she belonged here. She went to the library to look up "her" company, "her" life, and Ryan. It was a very interesting confrontation when she had to explain to the librarian why she was there so early. She gave "the early bird catches the worm" cliché, but the librarian didn't quite understand the meaning of her quote. Back at the hotel, Remmy talked to Quinn about Wade. QUINN Arturo and Rembrandt looked at each other. Although they hadn't gone home as a group, their friendships had been created, and they were equally devoted to getting home. With 20 hours until the slide, Quinn came rushing out of his room. QUINN ARTURO REMBRANDT Quinn was so excited that he didn't hear Rembrandt's question. He just kept on explaining his discovery. QUINN REMBRANDT QUINN Rembrandt shook his head. She hadn't come back. Wade was looking at the computer. It was amazing to her. Her life was so different. She had written the most popular operating system on this world. She was rich. Soon, people began to trickle into the library. She realized how weird it would seem for her to be looking herself up, so she finally pulled herself away, and walked back to the hotel. When Wade came back, Quinn told her of the news, and quickly opened the gateway, and the four jumped in. Wade was the last one. She took a last look around at this world. She wanted to stay, but felt strangely out of place, now. She jumped in, and the vortex closed.  |