Sliders

Go! Go! Go!

"Join the sliders! Travel to exotic lands!"

"Meet interesting people!"

And get eaten by them!

The next time you decide to go native on me, count me out!

There's one minute to go.

Hey, it's your fault, you offended them.

Yeah, well, instead of shaking your groove thing with the chief's daughter,

maybe you should focus on finding your home world.

We really should try and learn as much as possible about these worlds we visit,

someday our survival may depend on it.

Q-Ball, the girl was looking at you like a rare veal chop.

Hey, have you guys lost your sense of adventure?

Yeah. Well, we're gonna lose more than that

if we don't get out of here now!

Hit it. Three, two...

Bon appétit.

Oh, I hate sand in my shorts.

Oh, great, public housing world.

Looks like we're tenants for three days, four hours, six minutes.

It's just enough time to figure out where we are.

Well, if this is your Earth,

maybe these ruins are left over from the last time

that the humans and the Kromaggs duked it out.

No, these buildings aren't battle-damaged.

Looks like a demolition zone.

No!

How long have we been here?

Over an hour.

Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Brigadier General Randall Simmons.

I'm Quinn Mallory. This is Rembrandt Brown,

and that's Maggie Beckett over there.

What the devil is going on? Where are we?

Didn't anyone tell you?

No one's told us a thing.

I'm sorry, I thought you already knew.

You're home.

Home?

You mean we're back on Earth Prime?

It's not possible. We've been to Earth Prime. It's overrun with Kromaggs.

Was overrun. Three months ago,

we cracked the Kromagg communications protocols.

We were able to access most of their tactical and defensive systems,

turned their own technology against them.

Two weeks ago we celebrated VK Day. Victory over the Kromaggs.

This way, please.

What if you found a portal to a parallel universe?

What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds

where it's the same year and you're the same person,

but everything else is different?

And what if you can't find your way home?

Sliders.

If you've won the war against the Kromaggs, what was that battle we saw?

Yeah, we nearly got our heads blown off.

Ninety percent of the planet is back under human control.

But there are still pockets of Kromagg resistance.

You had the bad luck to slide into a hot LZ.

In addition to Kromagg weapons technology,

we've also adapted their sliding capability.

This display shows our tactical status on all multi-Earth battle fronts.

These yellow ribbons indicate worlds which have been liberated, Mr. Brown.

We've got the Maggots on the run on over two dozen parallel worlds.

And I'd say that calls for a drink.

Will someone tell me what's going on?

Just relax. It's okay.

Just relax, try to remember.

You've been having memory lapses since the attack.

The docs say it'll pass.

We've seen this kind of thing before.

Thanks.

Almost bought the farm from a Kromagg plasma cannon.

I remember something.

An explosion, a hospital.

That was three days ago.

Three days?

We've found this kind of disorientation is common

when a person has been exposed to certain types of Kromagg energy weapons.

You will recover.

And when you do,

we need people who've had experience with the Maggs.

Feel like strapping on a Harrier again, Captain Beckett?

Our campaign is expanding.

We're kicking the Maggs off more worlds every day.

But we're spread thin.

We need help.

Mr. Brown, there's a naval commission in this for you, if you want it.

All the same to you, I just want to go home,

try to find my family, see if they're okay.

Can you help us, General?

My mother was shipped off-world by the Maggs.

Yes, and a friend of ours, Wade.

She was taken by the Kromaggs to a breeder camp.

We found thousands of human refugees on other Earths.

There's a chance, a good one,

your people are alive.

What about my offer, Captain?

I know you've been eager to get back up there again.

I might still be a little fuzzy,

but I don't recall mentioning that to anyone.

You're a pilot.

What self-respecting marine wouldn't want to get back up there and mix it up?

This is all happening too fast.

Ah. I understand.

You've been sliding so long, it must be tough to accept the idea

that your journey is finally over.

You can start a brand new life on our world.

Or any other world, for that matter.

Of course, we'll have to debrief you,

get the details of your Kromagg encounters,

or any other worlds you may have encountered.

Their culture, natural resources.

I have some questions of my own.

Such as?

Such as,

what is a one-star general doing in charge of a unified command?

With all due respect,

you seem a bit light on the brass

to be running a campaign this size.

You're not from our Earth, Captain.

Your military may be different than ours.

Granted.

But is it also customary on your world

for a marine officer to be handing out naval field commissions?

The last time I checked, we worked for the Navy.

Tell me what you want. I can make it happen.

It wasn't a battlefield we slid into.

I've seen bombed-out buildings.

This was a demolition site.

No! No way. This is a trick!

Quinn! Remmy!

What are you talking about?

You can stop the charade. You're a Kromagg, aren't you?

What?

I've seen what you do.

Twist people's perceptions,

make us see what you want us to.

Calm down.

You stay away from me.

Welcome back to reality, Miss Beckett.

Who the hell are you?

I'm not a Kromagg, whatever that is.

Oh! Take it easy.

Coming out of virtual space can be disorienting.

You'll need to get your land legs back.

Where am I?

You're in virtual reality recovery at Chandler Federal Hospital.

I'm Randall Simmons, your case worker.

Recovery? Recovery from what?

The short version?

You were buried alive.

Though what you and your friends were doing

in the middle of a demolition site

is a question only you can answer.

My friends. Where are they? Are they okay?

They're fine. They're in VR recovery, too.

Speak English.

VR is an effective technique.

Although you seem to have an aversion to it.

Tell me, do you feel that you're resistant to pleasant thoughts?

I don't like people poking around in my head.

Obviously.

I've never seen anyone outsmart VR therapy.

I'll have to have a word with our programmers.

Still, you and your friends are quite a mystery.

No medicards, no subdermal ID chips.

It's almost as if you just

materialized here.

And then there's this.

I need to see my friends. Now.

That's right.

Oh, yeah. Come here.

That's right.

Yeah.

Get those things off of them.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, now, we need to bring them out slowly.

Sudden reality shifts are dangerous.

There can be seizures, even brain damage.

What are those?

We use them to monitor the therapy.

You monitor their mind? Invade their thoughts?

No, we monitor their therapy.

In order to stimulate the healing process,

the mind is immersed in pleasant desires.

Memories, the like.

The machines read those thoughts, enhance them,

then play them back to the patient.

Tuna casserole, my favorite, Mama.

Rise and shine, lover boy.

I was in a park.

Welcome to the world of VR medicine.

Incredible.

Nurse, maybe these gentlemen are hungry.

Oh, no, thanks, I ate already.

I think. How long have we been under?

Long enough.

The timer's counting up.

We missed the sliding window.

We're stranded here.

Are you sure? Maybe you read it wrong.

There's no mistake. We missed the gateway.