Prologue: Rebirth Part I, July 23rd, 2015
Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator - and vanished. More than two decades later, Ben Fuller steps into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanishes. He awakes to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that are not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Ben can see and hear. And so Ben Fuller finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time, that the next leap, will be the leap home.
Ben Fuller stepped out of the elevator at Project Quantum Leap, where his mother had worked at for almost twenty years. He had heard about it as a kid, but seeing it was always a treat. Ben was interning at the Project, since he was very into string theory, especially Professor LoNigro's.
"Ben!" Gooshie called, as Ben made his way over to the programmer. "How are you today?"
"Doing good, Gooshie." Ben said. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Today we're doing the yearly tune-up of the Accelerator. Even though Dr. Beckett's been gone for a while, we want to make sure that if he ever needed it, we could send someone after him."
"A noble goal." Ben said.
He walked down the hallway to the offices, and found his mother, Samantha Jo Fuller, sitting in her office, looking over papers.
"Hey, Mom." Ben said.
"Ben! There you are!" she said. "Have you gotten bored of this place yet?"
"Bored? How could anyone get bored here?" Ben asked.
"Trust me, it's possible. Especially if you're doing all the paperwork." she said.
"You seem busy, I'm going to go look around some more. Think they'd let me see the Imaging Chamber?" Ben asked.
"They might. Go ask." she replied.
Ben walked out and back into the main control room, where Gooshie was absent. Ben looked around and noticed that the door to the accelerator chamber was open. He walked over and poked his head in. It was a big room, with a large circle in the center. Ben stepped into the room and started to look around.
"Wow." Ben said.
He walked to the center of the room and looked at the circle sunk into the floor.
"Can't believe that this is where Dr. Beckett vanished." Ben said.
Suddenly the door to the Accelerator Chamber closed. Ben jumped, and ran towards the door. There was no handle or button to re-open it. He began to pound on the door.
"Help!" he shouted.
Meanwhile, Gooshie and Tina stood at Ziggy's console and began punching in sequences.
"Ziggy? Are you prepared for the test?" Tina asked.
"Yes I am, Dr. Martinez-O'Farrell." Ziggy replied. "Shall I commence the test of the Accelerator Chamber? It's all I ever get to do anymore."
"Test without the sarcasm." Tina said.
"As you wish." Ziggy said. "Testing commenced. Accelerator Chamber is now locked. Will be unlocked as soon as the test ends."
"Wait a minute, Ziggy." Gooshie said. "There's a bio-sign in the Accelerator Chamber. And it's not a bug, it's human!"
"Human?" Tina asked.
"Who's unaccounted for?" Gooshie asked.
"The only people working today are the two of us, and Dr. Fuller." Tina replied.
"Ben!" they both shouted at the same time.
Ben continued pounding on the door, but had sat down next to it. He heard pounding from the other side.
"Ben!" Gooshie shouted.
"Gooshie!" Ben shouted. "Get me outta here!"
"We can't! The chamber is locked until the test is over." Gooshie said. He turned to Tina. "Go get Dr. Fuller, and call Admiral Calavicci."
"Got it." Tina said, running down the corridor.
Al sat in his chair in front of the television. He was watching a re-run of an old episode of The A-Team, when the phone rang. He picked it up.
"You've got Al, what's up Gooshie?" Al asked.
"It's Tina, and we've got a problem." Tina replied.
"Problem?" Al asked.
"Ben Fuller is trapped in the Accelerator Chamber during a test." Tina replied.
Al's face turned from shock into a dawning realization. He dropped the phone, only to quickly fumble it back up.
"I'll be right there." Al said, running to his car.
Dr. Samantha Fuller was standing in front of the door, her face a look of anguish, as her son was trapped behind a sealed door with an unstable time machine.
"Ben!" she shouted.
"Mom! If anything happens... I want you to know that I love you!" Ben shouted.
"Don't say that, we'll get you out! Don't worry!" Samantha Fuller shouted.
Al rushed down the corridor and ran up to Dr. Fuller. She turned around and her eyes widened when she saw him.
"Admiral! I thought you were retired!" Dr. Fuller said.
"I am, but this is an emergency." Al said. "A big one."
"Well, he can't leap right?" Dr. Fuller said. "Only you and Dr. Beckett can... Right?"
"That's complicated..." Al started. "You might want to sit down."
"Why?" Dr. Fuller asked.
"This is going to be a kick in the butt." Al replied. "Back in '99, during the last year before Sam went off leaping as himself, Sam leapt into Sheriff Clayton Fuller."
"My grandfather?"
"Yeah. Then he leapt into Will Kinman."
"My father?"
"Well, your dad in the sense that he was married to your mother."
"What do you mean, Admiral?"
"Sam leapt into your father, on the night of your conception. Your biological father, is Sam Beckett. That's why you have a high IQ and eidetic memory."
"What?" Dr. Fuller asked, shocked.
"And since Ben is your son, and your father is Sam Beckett...he could potentially leap." Al replied. "If his brain-waves matched Sam's."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Dr. Fuller asked.
"At the time, you had just joined the Project, and Ziggy said that if I told you, you'd leave the Project, and you're the only one keeping this place running aside from Gooshie and Tina. We needed you." Al replied.
"Admiral, Dr. Fuller! The Accelerator is about to activate!" Gooshie shouted.
"Won't those doors open?" Al asked.
"They're sealed for safety, and there's no backdoor to get through!" Gooshie replied.
"Crap. Let's hope that I'm wrong and that his brain-waves don't match." Al said. "Ziggy! What are the odds that Ben will leap?"
"Almost 100 percent Admiral." Ziggy said.
"I'm sorry, Samantha." Al said, solemnly.
Dr. Fuller sat in front of the Accelerator Chamber door.
"Ben! I love you!" she shouted.
"I love you too, Mom!" Ben shouted back, as the light engulfed him.
Ben felt as if he was floating in a void. He couldn't see anything, but it felt... blue. His vision faded in, as he saw an older woman sitting in front of him. One that he didn't recognize. In fact, he didn't recognize anything. He was in a classroom, the blackboard still having remnants of a lesson from earlier in the day. He felt like something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what. What he knew was that the woman in front of him was very angry with him.
"Mr. Tessaro! Are you paying attention to me?" the woman asked.
"Who?" Ben thought. "I'm not Mr. Tessaro, whoever that is. But who am I?"
"Mr. Tessaro?" the woman asked. Ben glanced at the placard on her desk. Mrs. McRichards.
"Uh, sorry Ma'am." Ben said.
"Ma'am? Looks like you can learn to be respectful." Mrs. McRichards said. "If you don't start to shape up soon, you'll be heading for a life of dereliction!"
"Oh boy." Ben sighed.
To Be Continued...