Logan St. Clair shakily held the revolver in her hands, eyes wildly searching the seemingly empty building for any signs of life. Of all the world's to follow these damned Sliders too it had to be a world without people. Logically a world without humanity was her best opportunity to kill the sliders without unwanted interference. The problem however was how truly alone she felt with these monsters who stole her from her home. These monsters who…no, she couldn't go there, not now. She had to keep her senses sharp.
Taking in a deep breath she slowly pulled out her timer. 8 minutes 34 seconds remaining until the next slide. Looking at the crumbling remains of the hotel's hallway she wondered to herself what could have caused the extinction of humankind on this earth, granted all of humanity was in fact dead here. She didn't have the time or resources to conduct a thorough search, and it wasn't her primary goal regardless. Straining her ears for any kind of sound, she turned sharply as she heard footsteps and the sound of a closing door in the stairwell.
Quickly she followed, trying to move silently through the darkness until reaching the door for the stairwell. Slowly she opened it, stepping inside and cautiously descending the countless steps, soon reaching the ground floor. Opening the door and stepping into the hall she heard the sound of conversation nearby, following it until she soon spotted two of the sliders standing close together in the otherwise empty lobby with their backs turned, unaware of her presence. Rembrandt Brown and Wade Welles, she recognized. Slowly she lifted her gun, aiming at the back of the woman she knew Quinn had feelings for.
"I'll make you feel what you made me feel, you bastard" she hissed quietly, finger sliding over the trigger. She felt a hot rage seering through her entire being, her teeth involuntarily grinding together as she remembered what they did to her, and to him. As she prepared to pull the trigger and end this miserable excuse for a living being she felt something cold press against the back of her head. With an internal curse she realized what just happened. They led her into a trap.
"Drop it," Quinn demanded, voice cold and harsh.
Letting the gun fall from her grip she couldn't help the feeling of revulsion at seeing Rembrandt and Wade turn to her with sickening smirks on their faces. Quickly Rembrandt swooped down and took the revolver, aiming it at her.
"Good idea with the distraction, Q-ball," Rembrandt said with a hint of pride, "you and the professor were right. She is an idiot"
"Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to fall for such an obvious ploy?" Wade asked with a pompous air about her.
With a low growl, Logan held her tongue. If she could hold out a few more minutes her timer would save her. It was the only chance she had now.
That was until Quinn snatched it from her back pocket. With a startled breath, she turned to face him, only to see him grinning back at her, waving her timer in her face as if to tease her.
"To think you followed us without perfecting this first. You truly are a fool, St. Clair." Quinn taunted, walking over to a nearby desk and opening the timer. He pulled some small tools from his pocket, beginning to fiddle with some of her timer's inner components.
"I couldn't let you get away with what you did to him, you hypocrite" Logan hissed, her voice laced with venom.
She would never forgive them for what they did to her, or to him. Maximillian Arturo was the bright spot of her life. He had been her teacher and her lover. She didn't care about the difference in age, she cherished that man with every fiber of her being. So when he had come down with cancer she knew what she had to do. With her company's resources, she would invent a device capable of traveling between dimensions and find a world that could cure him.
Together with her Arturo, they had done it. They made a timer with wormhole tracking, however, the timer was incomplete. It could not bring home whatever slid out. She needed to perfect the device before it was too late, before her Arturo fell to his disease.
Then the Sliders came and ruined everything. When she detected their wormhole she naively ran to them alone, believing they would agree to help her solve her problem. Her mistake cost her everything. They pulled out guns and used her as a hostage so they could use her sliding systems. Apparently, they were lost and believed her systems could get them home.
They did not have much time, having to slide before they could find the coordinates of their home. Unfortunately, this angered Quinn, who planned to vent his frustration by murdering her. However, her Arturo stepped in front of her, taking the bullet.
After holding her lover for the last time, watching his eyes close never to open again, she grabbed her incomplete timer and tracked their wormhole. She may lose her home in the process but she didn't care. The four of them would pay for what they did to him.
Breaking out of her thoughts she caught the timer Quinn tossed at her, looking down at it with a hint of worry. 5 minutes 23 seconds counting down.
"What did you do to it?" Logan asked, her voice filled with terror.
"Oh, nothing special," Quinn replied with a smug voice, his lips twisting into a vile grin, "just corrupted the safety parameters, that's all"
Her eyes widened at that, shivering as the numbers continued to count down. Could she possibly repair that damage before she had to slide? Not with the three of them watching her so closely, and not without the proper tools.
"What does that do exactly, Q-ball? Doesn't sound pleasant" Rembrandt asked with a chuckle.
"The safety parameters do many things," Quinn replied, "Such as the densitometry circuit which prevents us from exiting the wormhole inside solid objects like a wall. Another safety parameter prevents us from exiting the wormhole thousands of feet in the air. For all poor Logan knows she may exit the next wormhole above the clouds or in someone's wall"
She began to shiver, watching her previous lifeline as if it were a death sentence. It wasn't like she could avoid the next slide. She would be trapped on this dead and barren world, granted the sliders didn't kill her where she stood.
"That's not all," Arturo added, entering the room from the hall, "it prevents us from landing on a world without an atmosphere, or in the dead of space. Imagine poor St. Clair suffocating on an Earth whose atmosphere was destroyed or in the cold vacuum of space in a universe where the Earth never formed. Without the safety parameters sliding opens up an infinite number of inhospitable worlds that would kill you the moment you exit the vortex. What are the chances our dear St. Clair will land somewhere safe when she slides?"
As he spoke the professor approached her, running a hand through her hair. She went to step back, halting as Quinn once again pointed his gun at her. She hated his touch, it felt like poison against her skin. How her Arturo could have such a cold and cruel double astounded her.
"Please, don't touch me" Logan whimpered, squeezing her timer as he was about to place his hand on her cheek.
To her surprise he retracted his hand, giving her an unreadable look as he stepped away, honoring her request.
"I must say I can understand my doubles fascination with you, St. Clair. You are a beautiful woman"
She squeezed her eyes shut, tears falling down her cheeks. Hearing those words spoken in his voice, it was too much for her to handle. Especially knowing it came from one so twisted and vile. It was then she heard the familiar sound of her timer reaching zero.
The four friends laughed, watching as Logan was pulled into the vortex. Turning to Quinn, Arturo placed a hand on his shoulder, a gesture meant to show how proud he was of his pupil.
"So, Mr. Mallory, how do you think she died?"