associations1

As the Sliders prepare to leave an America that was colonized by the Chinese more than 700 years ago, a ghost-like image of Oberon Geiger appears in the Sliders� hotel suite. He informs the group that he is downloading a series of codes, algorithms, and coordinates into their timer that will take them to Home World, the world of Colin�s natural parents. Geiger says their presence there is vital but that he can�t explain further; please come quickly. He fades out.

Rembrandt is leery of Geiger�s intentions, given his past experience with the man�s double, but Colin believes that Geiger must have sent the message on behalf of his parents, and he convinces the group to slide to Home World, hoping to help the parents he never even knew.

After a lengthy, complicated slide�during which they once again encounter the wormhole creatures, this time dozens of them�they arrive on Home World (which is not to be confused with Earth Prime), and find it to be very technologic-ally-advanced. Upon emerging from the vortex, the Sliders have a brief conversation about the unusually large number of the creatures.

Dr. Geiger arrives and overhears the last part of their conversation. He tells the Sliders something that comes as quite a surprise to them. The wormhole creatures are not natural entities but engineered ones created nearly twenty years ago by Dr. Michael Mallory. The creatures were created to protect Home World from the KroMaggs, but they proved to be unsuccessful deterrents (you�ll recall that by the time the Sliders encountered the creatures in �Libra,� the creatures had already become so used to them that they didn�t attack; given how quickly they became submissive, it should be no surprise that Dr. Mallory felt he had to find something else) and so the Slidecage was developed to replace them as such. The creatures, though, have evolved quite rapidly and continue to live and reproduce to this day and are allowed to do so because they could serve as backup protectors of Home World in the event that the Slidecage ever fails.

That explained, Wade asks Geiger how he found them so fast. He explains that he located them by tracking their wormhole. When Rembrandt, still skeptical as to whether or not this is actually Home World (they�ve been tricked before), asks why this world�s ecology isn�t in ruins (as he was told it was in �Strangers and Comrades�), Geiger explains that the ecology was severely damaged twenty years ago but that they have since managed to repair it for the most part.

He then explains why he brought them here. The Mallorys�Michael, Elizabeth, and their 19-year-old daughter Rachael�have been kidnapped by Don & Liz Wells. The Oberon Geiger of this world (who, by the way, was not killed like all the other Geigers because Home World is shielded by the Slidecage system) is a colleague of the Mallorys and Senior VP of Mallory Technologies, Inc. (a.k.a. MalTec), the software company Michael and Elizabeth Mallory founded in 1981, shortly after the end of the Great Struggle. The Wellses, who own MalTec�s rival company Omnisoft, have kidnapped the Mallorys to compel Geiger (the acting head of MalTec in Michael and Elizabeth�s absence) to merge MalTec with Omnisoft. Geiger suspects that the Wells� plan is to wait a few months and then cause an �accident� of some sort in which the Mallorys will die, at which point the Wells will be the senior owners of both companies and will rake in more than twice the profits they do now. So why did Geiger bring the Sliders here? What can they do? Furthermore, how did Geiger even know that the Sliders were out there, let alone know where and how to reach them?

Geiger explains that the Mallorys had been tracking the Sliders ever since the �Slidecage� incident. They monitor the Slidecage from here on Home World to make sure that it doesn�t fail and allow the KroMaggs to return, so they saw that their sons were alive and sliding. However, they�ve never been able to communicate or influence what happens in the Slidecage in any way. But once the Sliders escaped, the Mallorys did have the technology to track their wormholes, which they did in hopes that they�d some day find a way to bring Quinn and Colin home without compromising the security ensured by the Slidecage. The way Geiger brought them here was through an experimental method that was being developed for just that purpose. His use of it just now was its first real test; evidently, it was successful.

Why did he bring Colin here? Because, unbeknownst to the Wellses (well, they either didn�t know, didn�t believe, or didn�t care), MalTec�s central computer database is heavily-protected by a security system which requires retinal, DNA, brain, and fingerprint scans in order to even gain access to the system. And in spite of Geiger�s important position in the company, he simply doesn�t have access to the particular computer files he would need in order to authorize a merger. If the Mallorys were declared officially dead by the government, then the computer would be able to adapt to that and allow Geiger access because he would be the new president of the company, but since the Mallorys aren�t dead, the computer wouldn�t allow Geiger access. However, when Colin and Quinn were each born, their retinas, DNA, brains, and fingerprints were all scanned into the central database, and would still be on record there. And because the computer would recognize who they were and that they were now old enough to have access to the files, Colin and Quinn would�as immediate family members�have the authority to enter the central database and authorize the merger on Michael and Elizabeth�s behalf (Note: the Mallorys could have easily reprogrammed the computer to not accept Colin�s DNA, etc�like if he had remained on this world and grown up to be a thief or something�but since he was gone forever and the Slidecage would prevent any doubles from coming here, they never bothered to put in that block).

Geiger is still not even sure if all this will work (he�s assuming a lot about how much the computer will accept�it may be an A.I., but it does have limits to how much it can adapt), but he�s desperate and so took the drastic measure of bringing the Sliders here. Of course, Geiger could not have known that Quinn was not with the Sliders at this point (because the Sliders were just being tracked via their wormholes), but since only one of them was really needed to access the central database anyway, having just Colin will work fine.

In spite of the precarious, unsure nature of the plan, Colin is indeed able to gain access to the central system, and with the help of Geiger and hacker Wade, he�s able to navigate his way around. They authorize the merger. The Wellses release Michael, Elizabeth, and Rachel and arrange a holo-press-conference to announce the merger. What the Wells don�t know, though, is that the merger is very temporary, and is to dissolve in less than twenty-four hours.

The Wellses only learn about this when, at that holo-press-conference, the Mallorys divulge the brilliant plan that Geiger hatched. (The reason they don�t announce Colin�s part in the whole thing is that the public knows that the Mallorys sent their sons away to other dimensions years ago, and if they were to find out that a way to bypass the Slidecage had been discovered, no amount of reassurances would convince them that they are still protected from a KroMagg invasion.) The Wellses respond to the trick with murderous rage. Don grabs an energy weapon from one of his security guards and fires it at Michael and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is hit, but Michael is unscathed. Before Don can fire again, he is wrestled to the ground by the Mallorys� security guards. Don and Liz Wells are both arrested for kidnapping and extortion, and Don also has the charge of attempted murder. Elizabeth is rushed to the hospital and, with the help of this world�s advanced medical technology, is quickly healed.

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