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The trio slides into some sort of weird man-made compound that appears mysteriously empty. It takes Rembrandt only a moment to realize that they�ve returned to the Slidecage, a feat which should be impossible because Quinn (in �Slidecage�) rigged it so that no one would ever be accidentally trapped there again. Things only get more confusing from there. First of all, the timer isn�t counting down; in fact, no numbers are being displayed at all. And before our Sliders can even begin to speculate as to what is causing that, they run into another team of sliders that claims that our group is now the seventh team of sliders they�ve encountered since arriving here fifteen minutes ago. Just as they finish saying that, another team of sliders slides in right before their eyes. Another follows a few seconds later. Then another, and another, and another, and so on.

[Opening credits]

A half hour has now passed since our group�s arrival here, and there are now several dozen groups of alternate sliders in the compound. Since it can hardly be a coincidence that so many sliders have arrived in the same place at the same time, the groups decide to work together to solve the mystery of who or what brought them here...and why. As the various teams go exploring in search of answers, the only thing they manage to find is more groups of sliders. The teams don�t dare split up because if they do so they could very easily end up rejoining the wrong group. Things become even more frustrating when it is discovered that whatever route any group takes, it ends up in the same central room. Emotions ranging from fear to anger to just plain confusion begin to take their toll on all the groups. Most groups (including ours) are convinced that the KroMaggs are somehow to blame for all this, though no two groups can agree on what their plan is, and some of the groups have never even heard of KroMaggs. After three very confusing, nerve-wracking hours, the source of their collective captivity is revealed when a large holographic image of an Asian woman appears in the heart of that central chamber. Their captor is none other than Mary (from �Invasion�).

Not all the groups recognize who she is, but most of them who do (including ours) are utterly confounded by her presence. Most of them (again, including ours) thought she was dead. Before anyone can ask any questions, Mary begins to explain herself. She brought all these sliding groups here in search of one particular group because she has something very important she has to tell that group. But she had no way to locate that group except to use this compound�s equipment to direct all detectable non-Dynasty wormholes here. She has spent the last several hours using the compound�s sophisticated sensor web to scan for a particular quantum signature. And now, she has found it. She turns off the electromagnetic interference that was preventing the timers from counting down. Now that she�s found the group she was looking for, all the others can leave as soon as their timers reach zero. She�s reprogrammed the entire Slidecage so that it operates very differently now. People again slide here when trying to reach Home World, but they are no longer trapped here. They can slide out to anywhere but Home World just as they would from any other dimension. As the crowd begins to slowly dissipate as more and more groups slide out, our sliders mysteriously disappear.

They reappear in another room, this one completely vacant, except for Mary. She must have beamed them here, or teleported them here, or something. She again begins speaking before anyone can even ask a question. She explains to our trio that they are the group of sliders she was searching for; Rembrandt and the Professor�s quantum signatures match exactly the one she was scanning for. She tells our group that she has a few things to confess. First of all, she did not actually die on Earth 113 as they had been led to believe she had. Secondly, their homeworld has not been invaded by the KroMagg Dynasty. And thirdly, the Quinn Mallory they know is not from Home World; it was all a lie perpetrated by the Dynasty so that Quinn�s genius could be used to unlock the Slidecage and allow them access to Home World.

Arturo angrily breaks in at this point and says that they already know all this and that this whole fiasco was for nothing.

Mary resumes her explanation undaunted. She has more to reveal. The woman that Quinn encountered on the False Earth Prime was not his mother, nor was she even a double of his mother. The woman he encountered was Mary. Quinn had perceived Mary as his mother because of KroMagg mind-manipulation.

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