Chapter 31:
The trio slid out of the portal and looked at their surroundings. Michael checked the timer and put it away.
"Two days." Michael said. "Not that bad."
"Best we can do is head to the Dominion Hotel and get a room to spend the next two days in." Sam said.
"Good idea." Rebecca said
The trio walked up to the front desk and rang the bell. A man walked out from behind a door and Michael fished in his pocket for money.
"We'd like a room." Michael said.
"Sorry, no vacancy." the man said.
"No vacancy? What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"The sci-fi convention's in town. This place has been booked up for months." the man said.
"Damn. What's going on at the convention?" Sam asked.
"Apparently a Sliders reunion is happening."
"Sliders?"
"Yeah, that television show from the 90's starring Jerry O'Connell." the man said. "They've never appeared at a convention together before. The nerds are really eating it up."
"Wow." Michael said. "Thanks anyway."
The trio walked into a library and sat down at a computer. Michael opened up the search engine and typed in, Sliders.
"Wow. Five seasons. Starring these pretty famous people, the guy who played Quinn is pretty famous. So is the guy that played Professor Arturo." Michael said.
"Something's not adding up though. Five seasons, and they match up to the stories that Quinn and Remmy told us. Right to when Remmy jumped through that Kromagg portal and then the show ended right there. But what about us?" Rebecca asked.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"We've met them, but the show ended way before you invented sliding. Where do we fit in?" Rebecca replied.
"She's right. I wonder..." Michael said, typing in, Sliders, Josephson, Collins, Evans.
"Wait, click that." Rebecca said, pointing to a link.
"Fan fiction? That can't be right! We're fan fiction?" Michael asked.
"Sliders: The Next Generation. Written by this guy named Jack Smith." Rebecca said. "It all correlates."
"There's me inventing sliding. Then we meet Rebecca, then we go on our journey, run into Quinn, the Kromaggs, there's even that run in with M*A*S*H we had." Michael said. "It's missing a few stories though, it seems to be written as if time goes on when the story isn't being written. Lost stories, if you will."
"So, we're written by some sweaty guy in his mother's basement?" Rebecca asked.
"Not necessarily. It could just be a universe where we don't exist, and so in order for the world to create us, we had to be fictionalized." Michael said. "For all we know, our universe could be prime to this one."
"Uh oh, guys." Sam sad.
"What?" Michael asked.
"Look at the note at the end of the last story." Sam said, pointing to the screen.
"Well guys, it's time for a shake-up to the status quo. I won't reveal what it is yet, but it's gonna be killer." Michael read.
"One of us is going to die." Sam said.
"Maybe not. Maybe it's adding a new character!" Michael said.
"Come on, don't give this guy that much credit. He said "killer". He's killing someone." Rebecca said.
"We have to find him." Sam said. "Track him down and tell him not to kill us!"
"How are we going to find him? It's not like we can just find this one person who posted a story on the internet!" Rebecca asked.
"Huh... According to this, he's at the convention." Michael said. "I found his Twitter."
"But that thing's probably sold out! And even if we get in, how will we find him there?" Sam asked.
"He's obviously a Sliders fan. We just have to get into the Sliders panel, and find him there. The upside, is if his profile picture is to be believed, he looks like me." Michael said.
"So he's your double?" Sam asked.
"I guess..." Michael said. "We have to get into that convention. The Sliders panel is tomorrow."
The next day, the Sliders walked up to the block that the convention hall was on and stopped in their tracks.
"Look at that line!" Rebecca said.
"We'll never get in!" Sam said.
"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye to Sam." Michael said.
"What makes you so sure that I'll die?" Sam asked.
"I'm the main character and Rebecca is the girl and probably intended to be the main love interest. You're kind of expendable." Michael said.
"I am not!" Sam shouted.
"Boys, calm down." Rebecca said. "There's no reason to make a scene here."
"How else can we get in?" Michael asked.
"I have an idea..." Rebecca said.
The trio walked through the doors of the convention hall and started walking towards the panel hall.
"I can't believe it." Sam said. "You got us in."
"I can't believe that scalper wanted $100 for each ticket." Michael said. "That's highway robbery!"
"One of our lives is less important than money to you?" Rebecca asked.
"Whatever, keep an eye out for him." Michael said. "The Sliders panel starts in like 10 minutes."
"There he is!" Sam said, pointing to a man carrying a large Sliders poster with him.
"You sure?" Michael asked.
"Yeah!" Sam said, running after the guy. "Excuse me, sir!"
"Yes?" the man asked, turning around.
"You're the guy who writes that Sliders fan fiction, right? Sliders: The Next Generation?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Wow! I didn't expect to be recognized." the man said.
"I didn't expect to find you. I love that story, you could say it's my life." Sam said.
"That's really nice of you to say, thank you!"
"I have a few questions about it, actually."
"Listen..." the man looked at his watch. "I really have to get to the Sliders panel. But it was nice to meet a fan."
"Yeah, but my friends are huge fans of the story too, but they're in line for autographs, is there anyway I can introduce them to you later?"
"I'm going to the McDonalds down the block for lunch after the Sliders panel, does that work?"
"Yeah! Great!"
"See you after the panel." the man hurried along.
"So what did he say?" Rebecca asked, running up to Sam.
"He'll meet us down at the McDonalds down the block after the panel."
"Great!" Michael said.
The trio sat in the McDonalds as they watched the door, Michael keeping a newspaper in front of his face. The man walked in and Sam waved to him and he walked over to their table.
"Hey. I'm Jack, the guy who writes Sliders TNG." Jack said.
"We know!" Rebecca said. "But you know us already."
"Do I? Have we ever met?" Jack asked.
"Not met, exactly. But you've encountered us at least 30 times." Sam said.
"What's this about, you're getting weird." Jack said.
"Hi, I'm Michael Josephson, and we're Sliders." Michael said, putting the newspaper down.
"Oh my god." Jack said, covering his mouth. "You look like me."
"I'm also a character in your fan fiction. Self insert, really?"Michael asked.
"If you're Michael, then you're Sam and you're Rebecca!" Jack said.
"Yep." Rebecca said.
"But you're not real! I invented you!" Jack said.
"Infinite universes, infinite possibilities." Michael said.
"Now what's this about a killer change?" Sam asked.
"Uh..." Jack said. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I haven't written it yet! I know I'm changing something, but I don't know what I'm changing yet!"
"Are you serious? We went to all this trouble to find you and you don't know what you're changing?"
"Pretty much."
"Were you going to kill one of us?" Sam asked.
"Of course not!" Jack replied.
"So you don't have notes of what it might be?" Rebecca asked.
"Not really, I just sort of write this as I go along." Jack said.
"Well... Okay. Can we count on your to promise not to kill any of us?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. At least you guys. I can't say the same for random characters that are introduced." Jack said.
"Can you kill Tiberius for us?" Michael asked.
"You'll have to wait and see, I haven't thought that far ahead yet." Jack said.
"That's good." Michael said. "And good things come to those who wait."
"Couldn't have put it better myself." Jack said.
"You probably did." Michael said.
The Sliders stood in Golden Gate Park with Jack. Jack held the timer in his hand and looked at it mesmerized.
"Wow." Jack said. "Never thought I'd ever get to hold it."
"Well, it's about to time out. We need it back." Michael said.
"Of course." Jack said, handing it to Michael who activated it. "Wow."
"Good luck on that next chapter!" Michael shouted, as he jumped into the portal.
"Hey... can you write me in a girlfriend?" Sam asked.
"Sam!" Rebecca shouted, dragging Sam into the portal.
Jack laughed as the portal closed. The Sliders fell out of the portal in the next universe and stood up.
"Say, do you think that the shake up of the status quo was that we'd realize that there are universes where we don't exist?" Sam asked.
"Come on, he wouldn't write something like that, right?" Michael asked.
"Nah!" they all said in unison.
To Be Continued...