FAITH by D. Skiles TEASER OPEN EXT. ROOF - NIGHT Rembrandt and Diana are running across the roof of a skyscraper. The L.A. skyline fills the air around the building. REMBRANDT How much time? DIANA (checking her watch) Just a couple of minutes! (shaking her head) We're not gonna make it! REMBRANDT They'll come back for us! DIANA If there's anything left to come back for... ANGLE - BEHIND THEM A group of seven men runs behind them by about 20 yards. Six of them wear dark blue outfits, and are masked, with plastic eye goggles and ventilated metal coverings over their mouths. One, JOHNSON, a handsome man at the head of the group, is unmasked, and wears simply a suit. The masked men carry silver poles of some sort. ANGLE BACK On Remmy and Diana again. They reach the edge of the building. They lean over, looking down off of the side, then stand back up. Apparently not. Turning back, they see the men behind them have caught up. They stand now, facing them, their backs to the edge of the roof. A beat. The men form a half circle, ready to grab Remmy and Diana if they try to run. Though, they don't. They stand beside each other, facing the wall of men around them. Johnson steps out towards them. JOHNSON I just don't get you people. What are you running from? We're only trying to make you beautiful -- as beautiful as everyone else in California. REMBRANDT Call me crazy, but when your beauty standards are enforced upon everyone else, that turns things... well, ugly. JOHNSON Why? Everyone wants to be beautiful. We're just making the dream a reality. (beat) It wouldn't take long. A few nips and tucks here and there, Mr. Brown, and you'll look and feel 20 years younger. And you, Ms. Davis... you're already quite lovely. Just a bit short. An hour on the hydraulic rack, and you'll be ready to face the world at a glorious new height. (beat) Please. Reconsider. Another quick beat. They remain steadfast. REMBRANDT No way. Johnson sighs. JOHNSON Very well. Then you give me no choi... choi... oi... oi... Something is very wrong. Johnson is choking on the word like a stuck record. And he's not just stuttering. Before Rembrandt and Diana's very eyes, they see Johnson starting to demateralize! Parts of him, specs, fade and flicker out. He still tries to speak the word, but it turns from a skipping stuttering sound into a metallic, inhuman shriek. JOHNSON ...oi... oi... ooooooiiiiiiIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE.... Johnson glows, once, momentarily, and then... explodes! It happens in a fast, three-second-long, spreading burst, where he's ripped to pieces, atom by atom. Every particle of his being flies outward from his body, radiating a blue, thin light. The shriek fades out into nothing. Silence. Rembrandt and Diana are still staring at the space where Johnson was. They're completely shocked. They haven't got a clue what the hell just happened. The other six men are looking around at each other. They're nervous now. Scared where once they were confident. One of them, MASK #1, steps forward. MASK #1 (nervously, to Remmy and Diana) What did you do to them... ? The others look around to each other still. Rembrandt and Diana nod to each other. They move together, holding hands now, pressing their backs up against the concrete edge of the building. Mask #1 looks back to his comrades. MASK #1 Let's take them. For Mr. Johnson. They nod, and extend their silver rods, causing them to spark. Taser weapons. Rembrandt and Diana, still reeling from what they just saw, again share a look. They turn simultaneously and look back, over the edge of the building. Straightening again, Rembrandt nods. REMBRANDT You ready? Diana returns the nod nervously. The men rush at them, and Rembrandt and Diana lean back, tipping over the side of the roof, falling headfirst into the night sky! Most of the men stop. Mask #1 doesn't. He runs to the edge of the roof and looks over the side. MASK #1's P.O.V. Looking down off of the building. All of 10 feet below, on a ledge, Maggie and Mallory look up, towards Mask #1. Maggie holds the timer. In front of them, the orange vortex swirls in midair. Rembrandt and Diana just fell through it. Maggie smiles at Mask #1, both her and Mallory giving him a friendly wave, before they jump into the vortex. ANGLE ON - MASK #1 The orange glow of the vortex shines on his face. He rips off his mask. That's the second unbelievable sight he's encountered tonight. His jaw hangs open as we hear the vortex close up, the orange glow vanishing. FADE OUT END TEASER OPENING SEQUENCE REMBRANDT What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? MAGGIE Where it's the same year... DIANA And you're the same person... MALLORY But everything else is different? REMBRANDT And what if you can't find your way home? [THEME MUSIC PLAYS] WHISPER: "Sliders" END OPENING SEQUENCE OPEN ACT I EXT. STREET - NIGHT In front of a brick building, a white van sits. A man hops out, jogging up to the door with a pizza in hand. We stay on the van as the door to the house is opened, and he steps inside. A sound, and we see orange light eminating from inside the back of the van. The van is impacted by four objects, one after another, that we can't see, causing it to shake and wobble four times in a row. The light disappears. The back door of the van slides open. And out jump Diana, Rembrandt, Mallory, and Maggie. Maggie turns and shuts the door behind them. Giving a quick look around, they head on down the street, walking out of view just as the pizza guy emerges from the house and heads back towards his van. We follow the van as it speeds down the road, but hold back on the sliders when it passes them. They glance after it. MALLORY Let's not make a habit of that, shall we? REMBRANDT Of what? MALLORY Of cutting it that close. From now on, let's just agree that if any of us are taken by the local authorities, the others will rescue them. Otherwise, we end up spending all night looking for you after you've already escaped yourself, and things tend to get a bit hairy. DIANA Hey, if we hadn't gotten out when we did, I'd look like Wilt Chamberlain by now. REMBRANDT (to Diana, smiling) Yeah, and that's just not you. (beat, to others) By the way, how come you guys didn't get snatched up? Mallory and Maggie look at each other. MAGGIE Guess we're just too ravishingly beautiful for you to handle. (beat) Well, okay, maybe *I* am. He's just a fluke. Mallory gives her a chagrined look, smiling in spite of himself. Maggie laughs, Remmy and Diana joining in. It's obvious she was joking rather than being egotistical. After a moment, Rembrandt and Diana look at each other. REMBRANDT So, spill it. Just what in the devil was that? MAGGIE Was what? They look at her. Mallory turns to look at Rembrand and Diana questioningly, joining Maggie. Remmy and Diana glance at each other, sigh, and decide to try to explain. DIANA Just before we slid out, we saw a man... explode. Like a particle explosion. Right before our eyes. Now it's Mallory and Maggie's turn to share a look. MAGGIE (to Rembrandt) Kromaggs? REMBRANDT No, not like their "project." That thing seemed to pull them apart in one direction, atom by atom. This was more of a burst. He was blown everywhere. (beat) He just... blew up. Now Maggie turns to Diana. MAGGIE Well? DIANA Don't look at me. I don't have a clue. MAGGIE Well, that's just peachy... MALLORY Maybe you guys just took one too many hits from the beauty standard police. REMBRANDT Hey man, we weren't the only ones that saw it. Those cops looked pretty shocked too. A beat. DIANA Hey, how long do we have, anyway? MAGGIE 18 hours and a few minutes. REMBRANDT Well, unless anyone else has got a better idea, I say we head to the hotel and get some sleep. DIANA You won't hear me complaining... And they head out of frame. EXT. CHANDLER HOTEL - DAY Establishing shot. It's morning. The sun is still low in the sky. People mill about on the street, going to work no doubt. INT. CHANDLER HOTEL SUITE - DAY Diana steps inside with a newspaper, shutting the door behind her. Rembrandt sits at the table, Maggie on the couch. Mallory isn't around. REMBRANDT Good to have the old suite back, huh? MAGGIE Oh, yeah. Especially since we can afford it now. Diana sits down on the couch next to Maggie and flips open the paper. Immediately, her jaw drops. Maggie notices. MAGGIE Diana? DIANA Oh my god... She shows Maggie the paper. Rembrandt walks over and looks in on it. In the midst of this, Mallory emerges from the bathroom, in the background, a towel around his neck. ANGLE ON - PAPER There's a picture on the front, obviously taken at night of a man being wheeled up to the back of an amulance on a stretcher. A familiar man. It's Johnson. Above his picture is a headline -- "SCIENTIST REGINALD JOHNSON IN STABLE CONDITION AFTER USING INTERDIMENSIONAL DEVICE" BACK TO LAST ANGLE REMBRANDT Looks like Johnson took some hits on this world, too. MAGGIE You know this guy? Mallory leans over the back of the couch next to Rembrandt, looking at the paper. DIANA (to Maggie) That's the man that we saw explode. His alternate, anyway. MALLORY (reading the paper) Interdimensional device? (beat) You think these people can slide? MAGGIE From what it says here, it doesn't look like it. It seems that this 'device' of theirs has a history of putting people in the hospital. REMBRANDT Doesn't get too specific about it though. Diana looks around to the others. DIANA Maybe we should pay Mr. Johnson a visit. Says he's in good condition. He's probably able to talk to us. MAGGIE Yeah, but would he? MALLORY Well, it doesn't look like it's much of a secret. It's on the front page after all. MAGGIE Hey, maybe we should just check it out for ourselves. (points to the paper) The address of this place the scientists rent out is right here in the story. DIANA Better for us to know what we're getting into. We don't know a thing about what this device does or if it's even worth anything to us. And I doubt it comes with an owner's manual. MAGGIE Good point. Rembrandt reaches for the paper now, which Diana hands over to him. DIANA Well, if we're going to go look into this, I don't think we should all go together. MAGGIE Yeah, I suppose that might arouse some suspicion... DIANA But I want to go. I'm probably the best equipped to figure out how we can use this device of theirs anyway. The others nod. REMBRANDT Sounds reasonable. MAGGIE (to Diana) Well, if you're going, I want to go with you. You never know what kind of trouble you might run into. Just in case you need someone to watch your back, might as well take along the marines. DIANA Believe me, I have no problem with that. They share a grin. MALLORY Guess that leaves us guys. REMBRANDT Yeah. Well, if you ladies are going to be spending the day with Johnson, I might as well make the best of it. (nodding towards the paper) Says here that it's Sunday. MAGGIE Is it? MALLORY Kind of easy to lose track of days with this lifestyle. REMBRANDT Yeah, well, I see this as an opportunity to catch up on my churchin'. MAGGIE Church? Remmy, you haven't gone to church since... (beat) When WAS the last time you went to church? REMBRANDT (chuckling) Probably that time just before we went to The Seer's world. It's been kinda hard to find the time to stop and genuflect when you're busy facing off with the Kromaggs or the Thatchers or the Volsangs... He laughs, shaking his head. REMBRANDT But... through it all, I've kept my faith. I think it's finally time I thanked God that we've lasted so long. (beat) And maybe hedge our bets a little that this new 'device' will be worth something. MAGGIE Well... amen to that. Diana stands up. Maggie does so after her. DIANA Well, I've guess we've got a plan. What about you, Mallory? MALLORY Oh, I think I'll hang back. We've been living the hard life a little too much lately. I'm gonna enjoy relaxing for once. DIANA Well, if this little investigation of ours doesn't pan out, I'll be more than happy to join you. REMBRANDT (to Mallory) Sure you don't wanna come along with me? Mallory just smirks at him. MALLORY Thanks, but I'll pass. REMBRANDT Suit yourself. MAGGIE (to Diana) Let's head out. They go for the door and do so, giving a quick wave to Rembrandt as they go. Remmy returns the wave on his way over to an end table. In the background, Mallory jumps over the back of the couch and falls into a seat, picking up the remote and flicking on the TV. Remmy bends down and opens a drawer in the end table, pulling out a phone book. Dropping it onto the end table beneath the lamp, he flips it open and turns a few pages to the "C" section of the yellow pages -- "Churches." ANGLE ON - PHONE BOOK We follow Remmy's finger as it runs down through the listings. "Churches - Buddhist", "Churches - Taoist", a smaller entry for "Churches - Hindu"... nothing Christian. Or Jewish. Or even Muslim. ANGLE ON - REMBRANDT He looks up from the phone book, confused. His face unreadable. END ACT I OPEN ACT II INT. HOSPITAL - DAY Diana and Maggie walk in through the glass doors at the front. We follow them over to the front desk, where a NURSE looks up at them. NURSE Can I help you? DIANA Uh, yes, we're looking for a Mr. Reginald Johnson? NURSE Aren't you a little late? Diana and Maggie glance at each other. MAGGIE Excuse me? NURSE Most of the other reporters took care of this last night. (beat) Unless you're a family member, or a colleague? MAGGIE Uh, yes, I'm his... sister, Maggie. The nurse looks skeptical. She flips types something out on her computer. NURSE There's no mention of a sister on his approved guest list. MAGGIE Well, that's just because we haven't spoken in ages. DIANA Yes, she's been living in... MAGGIE Vancouver! DIANA Yeah, in Canada. NURSE Canada? (beat) You one of them Canada-Hindu girls? Maggie looks up and down at herself. Diana does the same. Both end up returning their eyes to the nurse. Is she serious? NURSE (looking Maggie over) One of them... slutty Hindu girls? Maggie and Diana look at each other in confusion. Maggie's look is somewhat pissed. She finally calms enough to speak out again. MAGGIE Uh, well, yeah. Sort of. I, uh, we, my brother and I, Reginald, he hasn't spoken to me since I joined the Hindu community in Vancouver. DIANA Yeah, but, us... uh, me and her, I'm her best friend... well, we couldn't quite handle that lifestyle. MAGGIE Yeah, you know, sometimes a girl's just gotta cut it loose! She says this with a flourish of her hands, causing the nurse to further raise an eyebrow. DIANA So we headed back here, and when we got here, we saw the paper. MAGGIE (smiling sincerely) You have to let us in. I haven't seen him for ten years, and now that he's been hurt, oh, I just couldn't live with myself if I wasn't there to remind him that his dear sissy still loves him. The nurse looks at them like they're nuts. A beat. Maggie and Diana just stare at her expectantly. Finally, the nurse heaves a sigh. NURSE Come with me. Room 131. I'll ask Mr. Johnson how he feels about this. The nurse waves down another nurse, who takes the counter for her. Our nurse walks off down the hall. Maggie and Diana hang back a little. MAGGIE (quietly) 'Slutty' Hindu girls? I oughta kick my "slutty" foot right up her bitchy little... DIANA (interrupting) Breathe, Maggie, breathe. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY The nurse peeks her head in. Johnson... this world's Johnson... sits up in bed, reading a magazine. NURSE Mr. Johnson? JOHNSON Hm? NURSE Your, uh... (beat) Your Hindu-Canadian sister is here to see you. Johnson drops his magazine from his face and tosses it aside. He looks at her like SHE'S the one that's nuts. JOHNSON Hindu-Canadian... ? (beat, muttering) This I *gotta* see. (beat) Alright, uh, send her in. The nurse still looks incredulous, but she waves them in, shutting the door behind them. They stand at the foot of his bed. JOHNSON So, which one of you is my... 'sister'? Let me guess. He points at Diana. JOHNSON You, right? They both smile. MAGGIE Actually, it was me. JOHNSON Oh. And a lovely sister you are. MAGGIE (not amused) Mm. Thanks. DIANA Listen, we're sorry about the charade, it's just that we really had to get in here to talk to you. JOHNSON Really? MAGGIE Yes. You see, we're fascinated by your, uh, interdimensional device. JOHNSON I see. Well, you can read all about it in the papers, like everyone else... DIANA Well, we're sort of new in town. MAGGIE Yeah, we're not quite up on current events. Being from Canada, and all. JOHNSON I see. So, that part was true? DIANA (uncertainly) Yes... JOHNSON Well then. Suffice to say, the project is a failure. To most, anyway. DIANA Really? Why? JOHNSON Well you see, ever since the Kromaggs were banished... MAGGIE You fought the Kromaggs? DIANA Banished? A beat. JOHNSON Boy, you people really are out of it. How in the hell did you miss the Kromaggs? Maggie and Diana once more share a look. MAGGIE Oh, we didn't miss the Kromaggs. DIANA Yeah, we've had our experiences with them. JOHNSON But, I thought you... DIANA How did you banish the Kromaggs, though? MAGGIE We kind of missed the specifics up in Canada. JOHNSON I see... it was a virus. Came in over a year ago and started wiping them out. Diana and Maggie nod to this, understanding, pushing him to continue. JOHNSON As the virus quickly spread across the globe like wildfire, many of the Kromaggs destroyed their technology, or shipped it off to another world as they fled. MAGGIE (looking at Diana) We've heard THAT before. JOHNSON. Yeah. A lot of Kromagg transdimensional technology was lost that way. With what was left, though, we tried to piece together a working transdimensional device, of human design. Took a piece here, a piece there, and tried to use the Kromagg technology to our advantage. It wasn't easy. Most of their machines, we didn't even know what they were. No one bothered to give us the key to translating the Kromagg language. We just had to hit a few buttons, see what came out. (chuckles) Sometimes, we'd just blow it up... (more serious again) ...though we actually lost some good men that way. Other times we'd damage it, and still other times we'd get something running. At least for a little while. (beat) It didn't help that we lost our best expert on the subject of interdimensional theory. He died in the war. Maximillian Arturo. At the name, Maggie is jarred, and looks to Diana. It takes her a moment longer than Maggie, but Diana remembers the name, and returns the look to her. JOHNSON At least his theories gave us someplace to start. It took us months, and we finally got something going. The idea was simple enough, in theory. First, you stood underneath the arch, and got your quantum signature scanned. Then, you got up on the pedestal, the equipment washed this... wave... over you, and you were off to another dimension. After thirty seconds or so -- the intial trial length -- the machinery was supposed to locate you in spacetime using your quantum signature and then reel you back in, so to speak, materializing you back on the pedestal. Sort of like the interdimensional version of sending someone into a cave on a tether. DIANA (nodding) I understand. It's ingenius. JOHNSON Yeah, well, that's what we thought. MAGGIE (realizing, matter-of-factly) It didn't work. He nods solemnly. JOHNSON Without any kind of specific portal to another dimension, something to take you to a set destination, or at least a device to open a portal with, the person on the pedestal wasn't sent into a parallel universe at all. Or at least, not one universe. They were sent between all of the infinite worlds of the multiverse, and became what Dr. Arturo called "unstuck" in spacetime. DIANA (realizing) "Unstuck?" JOHNSON Yeah. Like taking a trip through every destination in the multiverse, a new world hitting you every second, and you have no control. DIANA But... couldn't you still, uh, "reel" them back in? Johnson laughs. A bitter laugh. JOHNSON Afraid not. That was another one of our screwups. We didn't configure the Kromagg technology quite right. See, we had two biotech boards in the machine. We pieced them together from the technology on a manta ship. On the mantas, the biotech was used keep up the outer shielding of the ship. There was a bioskin on those things that was constantly regenerating. All thanks to new cells being generated for the skin any time it was damaged. By this point, Maggie has her eyes rolled towards the ceiling. She shakes her head, muttering to herself in confusion. JOHNSON Naturally, we figured we could configure the ship's biotechnology to help us out. The cell generation abilites were perfect to help us physically stabilize the transdimensional "unstuck" traveler that we were trying to reel in. MAGGIE (sarcastic, parrotting) Naturally. Johnson shoots her a sideways look and continues on. JOHNSON But we didn't know the technology, and we configured it all wrong. It took us three months of desperate trial and error to finally get it set up right. (beat) Will Marcus was our first tester. He was out there, unstuck the whole time. He didn't show any negative effects at first, but he's been slowly detiorating ever since. Who knows where he'll be next year. DIANA Wait a second. Are you telling me that you've found a way to anchor anyone who becomes unstuck? Maggie perks up suddenly and leans over, showing an interest once more. JOHNSON Of course. DIANA Permanently, without any need of specific fields? JOHNSON As long as the details of their quantum signature are saved into the machine, yes. (beat) You seem awfully impressed. Maggie and Diana look at each other and share a hopeful smile. Maggie grabs Diana's arm and shakes her happily, still grinning. MAGGIE You see? I told you we could do this. Johnson is looking at them both with great interest... and confusion. JOHNSON Have you... worked with technology like this before? Diana's face falls, as she realizes she's stuck trying to come up with another story. She comes up with something simple enough... DIANA Uh, no. But I read over some similar physics theories before my... time in Canada. It still interests me greatly. JOHNSON Really? Maybe you could study the machine with me. I intend to go back as soon as I'm out of here. A beat. Maggie and Diana's faces fall to a look of disbelief. MAGGIE You want to go back?! DIANA I thought this thing injured you! JOHNSON It did. I was unstuck by it. Another beat. DIANA ...you?! MAGGIE For how long? JOHNSON Just since last night. Only for a few hours, and then one of my colleagues found out and pulled me back. (beat) And that's how I got here. Diana and Maggie share another look. JOHNSON Being unstuck can be damaging. But I wasn't gone long enough to be hurt very badly. Putting me here was mostly a precaution. I'm just milking it for the relaxation and leaving tonight so I can get back to the lab tomorrow. DIANA But why would you put yourself in that kind of danger?! Johnson smiles, leaning forward towards her. In speaks in a quieter, but strong tone. JOHNSON Because science DEMANDS it. Will went in there. Robert did. I had to try it too. To see new worlds, new dimensions. Even if I only flew past them for a second. How could I pass that by? A beat. He leans back once more. JOHNSON You aren't a scientist. You couldn't possibly understand. DIANA You might be surprised. And on that, we... CUT TO - EXT. STREET - DAY Rembrandt is walking down the sidewalk, absent-mindedly staring at the paper in his hand. CLOSE ON - PAPER It's yellow, clearly ripped out of the phone book we saw earlier. It advertises something called the 'Temple of Light' - no denomination specified. PULL BACK As Rembrandt glances over to the bulidings alongside him. Stops. He looks up, looking over it, and we follow his gaze, to see... ANGLE ON - TEMPLE The sign says 'Temple of Light' -- and there's a statue of Buddha out in front. BACK TO LAST ANGLE Rembrandt turns and faces the street. He purses his lips. Again, his expression is unreadable. INT. CHANDLER SUITE - DAY Mallory is sitting here, laying on the couch, vegging out. He holds the remote in his hand, his face bathing in the glow of the television, which is off-screen. TV ANNOUNCER (V.O.) Coming up next -- the premiere episode of the hilarious and controversial new animated comedy, 'Shiva, Kali, and Bob', here on NBC! Mallory just shakes his head in disbelief, smiling to himself. He flicks off the TV and lays back, closing his eyes for a nap. And, at that moment, the door flies open. It's Remmy, who marches in looking like he has a purpose. Mallory opens his eyes again and looks at Remmy in frustration. MALLORY Can I help you? REMBRANDT You notice anything strange about this world? MALLORY (sarcastic) Other than the fact that I'm in an alternate dimension that I travelled to with an R&B singer, a military captain, and a scientist after getting melded physically to one of my alternates from another earth? (beat) No. REMBRANDT That's not what I mean... (beat) I mean the relgions. Various Hindu gods, Buddha, Taoism... MALLORY (interrupting) Uh, I thought Taoism was a philosophy, not a religion. REMBRANDT Apparently that's not the case on this world. There's people around here that almost worship nature. Maybe they needed more kinds of faith to choose from, and it just happened naturally due to that drive. I don't know. But, well, you see, what I was saying was... there no sign of any Christians or Jews or Muslims. MALLORY So? Maybe this world's America was founded on the basis of a different religion than what we're used to. REMBRANDT It's more than that. I mean that I don't think those religions exist. A beat. MALLORY You sure about that? REMBRANDT (nodding) Yeah, yeah, pretty sure. Mallory considers this for another brief moment. MALLORY Well, if there's one thing I've learned about sliding so far, it's that you don't always like what you see. (beat) It's kind of natural. No one likes to find out that their life isn't the only universe out there. No one necessarily likes to see how things could've gone or maybe should've. The realities of the multiverse are pretty harsh. A quick beat. REMBRANDT Man, how can you say that? Don't you care about what's going on here? I remember a time when you thought you were communing with God... MALLORY (interrupting) ...through the nanotechs invading my body? REMBRANDT Yeah, but... MALLORY (interrupting) But nothing. I've seen a lot of nasty things since I started sliding with you. And no amount of nanotechs can take that away from me. You want to see god? Science is god, and it doesn't have to be worshipped. It doesn't even lay out any rules. I can be used for evil or for good. It wasn't god that was inside of me, it was a network of machines. And when I was paralyzed with muscular dystrophy, it wasn't god that cured me, it was a scientist. Someone who was using me all along. You think I was blessed? You think god was in him? In Geiger? (quick beat) Bull. I got lucky. I got charity from a man who wanted to take my body in return. And when he tried to collect, it wasn't god that saved me. It was Diana. Rembrandt is about to protest and say something, but the door swings open AGAIN. It's Diana and Maggie. Rembrandt looks up to them... REMBRANDT Man, you guys are never gonna believe what I found today... MAGGIE No, I think it's *you* who aren't gonna believe what *we* found. (beat, to Diana) Tell him. Diana sighs, nods, and smiles. DIANA I think I've found a way to reconstitute your friend Colin. A beat. Rembrandt can hardly believe it. He's half-grinning, half just extremely surprised. DIANA And there's more. (beat) I think this might be the key to separating Mallory and Quinn. OFF Rembrandt's pleased reaction... END ACT II OPEN ACT III INT. CHANDLER SUITE - DAY A few minutes have passed. No one has much moved. Rembrandt sits on the couch, nodding. REMBRANDT You're saying that this guy... 'unstuck' himself last night? DIANA And that's why we saw his alternate wiped from existence. Every alternate of his on every parallel earth was destroyed. It always happens when someone becomes unstuck. REMBRANDT Yeah, I guess that makes some sense. (beat) But how can we bring Colin back? I mean, do we have his quantum signature? DIANA Quantum signature is determined by your home earth. The dimension you were born into. We don't have a stable, exact sample of his signature, per se, but we do have someone here who's carrying that signature in his body. (turns and looks at Mallory) After all, Colin and Quinn were both from the same homeworld. Mallory smiles over-enthusiastically and gives a cheesy thumbs-up to Diana. She shakes her head at him and turns her gaze away. REMBRANDT Okay, gotcha. Just one more: What's this about Quinn and Mallory? MALLORY Yeah, how does your little unstuck-in-ator device help us separate me? Diana is whispering something to Maggie, who nods and reaches into her sweater pocket, pulling out the timer and handing it over to Diana. Diana pulls out her PDL and sits down at a table, beginning to hit buttons on both devices as the conversation continues. DIANA Well, the last time we tried to separate you, we found that only one of you could survive. Two essences, intertwined inside only enough physical matter for one. One of you would've had to die in order for the other to live on. MALLORY (sarcastic) Right, I think I remember that. DIANA Well, if this Kromagg circuitry has some kind of cell-generation technology, maybe we could somehow recalibrate it to help us build enough physical matter for another entity. MALLORY An entire human body, constructed by Kromagg technology? (beat) Doesn't that sound like kind of a long shot? Unfortunately, Diana rolls her eyes and nods vigorously. DIANA Very much. But it's the best chance we've had for a very long time. I don't think we should pass it up. REMBRANDT Can you do all that with the technology here? DIANA No way. I'll need Dr. Geiger's original Combine technology. That's why... A beat. She hits a final button on the timer and looks up to Mallory, smiling. DIANA We're going home. Mallory smiles a little and nods. Rembrandt and Maggie share a hopeful smile as well. Rembrandt then goes back to his last posture, looking down a little, straight-faced once more. REMBRANDT Well, I guess that settles it, then. Maggie notices Remmy's face fall and moves over to him. MAGGIE Something wrong, Rem? REMBRANDT Actually, yeah. It's this world. There's no presence of God here. Not the one I know. No Christianity, no Judaism, no Muslims. And no writings of any of those faiths. MAGGIE No Bible? REMBRANDT (shaking his head) Nothing. Maggie and Diana share a look, and then another one with Mallory. Mallory's expression is one of 'don't look at me', leaving Maggie and Diana to try and support Rembrandt in this. DIANA Well, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. We don't have any proof of who really wrote it. Maybe it was written by one man, who didn't exist on this world. Or maybe it's like a domino effect... without one man to write one book of it, the next wasn't influenced to write the next book, and so on. REMBRANDT Yeah, maybe. Though that still doesn't explain why the library had no historical record of Jesus at all. You'd think he'd have raised some kind of trouble. (beat) If he even existed. MAGGIE Well, maybe there was just no need for him on this world. Don't they always say 'the Lord works in mysterious ways'? Maybe the way God worked on this world just didn't include that as part of the plan. REMBRANDT Yeah... maybe. A beat. MAGGIE (to Rembrandt) Well, what do you think it means? You're not thinking that God doesn't exist... ? REMBRANDT No, no. Nothing could make me think that. But, I admit, for a few moments, since I've been here, I've had my doubts. DIANA You? REMBRANDT Yeah, I know. It's a bit out of character for me. But, trust me, I only wondered for a moment. Now I'm just wondering some other things. MAGGIE Like? REMBRANDT Like where God IS. The people on this world are unsticking themselves and destroying countless doubles in the process... and he hasn't even intervened enough to put a Jesus on this Earth. Why hasn't he done something? Maggie sits down next to him. MAGGIE Well, maybe he has. Maybe he brought us here. Rembrandt pauses. He nods once more, slowly becoming more heartened by this thought. A beat. He finally cracks a smile. REMBRANDT Yeah, that's me. Rembrandt Brown, Cryin' Man and unknowing tool of the Lord. MAGGIE Amen! Rembrandt laughs, in high spirits once more, giving Maggie a light hug. Mallory raises his hand with a question. Diana grins. DIANA Yeeeeess? MALLORY I was just wondering... what kind of security are we looking at? MAGGIE Johnson said the building they rent out only has one or two token guards, just to scare off any scientists that might want a peek. Most people aren't interested in faulty technology, it seems. MALLORY Sounds like no sweat. DIANA Yeah... but I'm going to need some tools. Some stuff I can use to get into the machine. MALLORY And maybe break in? That doesn't require an answer. MAGGIE There's a hardware and gardening store down the street. I imagine we can get some materials there. And maybe I can grab some fertilizer, too. (grin, quick beat) We can blow up this doohickey on the way out. DIANA That might not solve the problem. MAGGIE Maybe not, but we can't leave without trying. A beat. MALLORY (to Diana) How's the time look? DIANA A couple of hours left. Another quick beat. REMBRANDT So what're we waiting for? Nothing, apparently. They stand up and walk for the door. INT. LAB - NIGHT It's dark now. The camera pans it across and around the room. The room is silent here, but large. There's a lot more room than the technology requires -- it's largely relegated to one metal archway off to the side of the room, one tube-shaped hollowed-out podium in the wall, and one computer console that stands half as high as an arcade game, complete with a slanted monitor and with a keyboard that's just as wide as an arcade control board (and therefore has keys on it that most keyboards do not). The ceiling is as high as a cathedral, though we can't quite see it in the shot. Moonlight streams in from the ceiling, through an off-screen skylight. As the camera hits the moonbeam on the floor, it holds there for a moment... And a rope drops into frame. It's soon followed by a pair of feet, which quickly move out of frame to allow another pair of feet to land, followed by another, and another. As we pull back, we, of course, see that these are our sliders. Maggie has a backpack on her back, and Remmy holds a tool kit on his waist. Diana removes the timer from her jacket. DIANA Well, 10 minutes. Here goes... She stuffs it back in her coat. Rembrandt is the one to head over to the distant wall, clicking on the lights in the lab. He walks back to the rest of the gang. Diana, meanwhile, heads over to the computer console and types something quickly. DIANA (nervously) Well... this looks fairly user-friendly. Mallory steps up beside her. MALLORY (mumbling) Well, if it's so simple, why do you sound like such a wreck? She glances at him for a moment, and continues typing on the console. DIANA (quiet, to Mallory) The same reason I was a wreck back when we last tried to separate you -- everyone's counting on me. This doesn't look like it'll be too tough, but I can still feel the pressure of everyone's hopes and dreams that I'll be able to reconstitute their friend. Mallory places a hand on her shoulder. MALLORY Don't worry about it. I think we all know that you're going to do your best. Diana gives him a warm smile at his kind words. Maggie walks up behind her. It's no secret that she overheard, since this place is as empty as it is. MAGGIE Yeah, we're not trying to pressure you. We'll be satisifed as long as you give it a shot. We have faith in you... just have faith in yourself. Diana gives a "yeah sure" look with a jerk of her head. DIANA I'll try... She finishes typing in a few more details and then nods to the arch. DIANA Uh, Mallory? Go stand under the arch. Mallory nods and walks over, positioning himself underneath it in the middle. He looks to Diana. Remmy and Maggie now stand beside her, watching. DIANA Ready? Mallory nods. She types in a few more buttons. Suddenly, a thin blue beam emerges from the top of the arch. It runs up and down Mallory's body, scanning him from head to toe. Mallory is slightly disturbed by the experience. MALLORY Uh, Diana... ? This IS what it's supposed to do? DIANA Yes, just let it run the cycle. He nods, standing at ease now. The light on the beam goes out. MALLORY Finished? DIANA Yup... ANGLE ON - MONITOR SCREEN It flashes "Multiple Signatures Detected" BACK TO LAST ANGLE Diana nods. DIANA Okay. I don't think it likes the idea of searching for more than one quantum signature. I'll just have to override it to search for the quantum signatures in turn... She types in a few more things furiously. Mallory walks over, watching. Rembrandt and Maggie are also peering over her shoulder. REMBRANDT You sure this is a good idea? DIANA Maggie said that you guys trust me. Just have your faith and let me do my best. Rembrandt nods. REMBRANDT Of course. Sorry. We do trust you. DIANA No problem... She looks up, towards the podium-tube. Types in few final things, and stops. DIANA Okay. Now, all we can do is wait. The others stare intently at the same tube. Ripples, like heat waves, seem to appear in it. Maggie reaches over, taking Rembrandt's hand, sharing a look of hope with him. Mallory places a hand on Diana's shoulder, smiling at her in trust. In specs, gradually, a body seems to fade into the waves, rippling into existence. Maggie grabs Rembrandt's arm, biting her lip, hoping against hope. Diana's looks like she's holding her breath. In a matter of seconds, the body fully materializes, and falls over, to the floor. MAGGIE COLIN!! She races up to him, followed quickly by Rembrandt. Hanging back, Mallory shares a smile with Diana. MALLORY Congrats... we all knew you could. She grins at him and pulls out the timer. DIANA Oh god... two minutes and 30 seconds! She hands the timer quickly to Mallory and runs over to Rembrandt. Mallory stuffs the timer in his back pants pocket. Maggie cradles Colin's unconscious head gently in her arms, Rembrandt kneeling beside him. They block our view of his face. DIANA Rembrandt! The tools! He turns and nods, pulling the kit off of his belt and tossing it to Mallory, who is following Diana over to the side of the tube machine. Maggie jumps to her feet, unslinging her backpack. MAGGIE (to Rembrandt) Watch him. Rembrandt nods and stays with Colin. Over by the machine, Mallory is unscrewing a panel quickly with an electric screwdriver. Diana pulls off the panel the instant he finishes, tossing it to the side. She sticks her head inside. DIANA'S P.O.V. We see inside the machine. To the left of it, amongst the wires and metal, are two pink boards. Clearly Kromagg biotech. BACK TO LAST ANGLE As Diana removes herself from the machine, she nods to Mallory, pointing her arm into the machine, towards the boards. He pokes his own head (plus arms) in and begins to unscrew them as well. Maggie, meanwhile, at the front of the machine, is laying the wires and cannisters from her backpack. One wire seems to resemble a fuse. She attaches it quickly and begins to back up, unraveling it, carrying her backpack over her shoulder once more. Rembrandt watches her nervously, still holding onto Colin. Mallory pulls out of the machine, and, reaching into it, draws out the two boards. Diana reaches out and takes them from him, and he jumps up to his feet. He pulls the timer from his back pocket. MALLORY (checking the timer) This is it! 4... 3.. 2... 1... He hits the button, and vortex opens in the middle of the room, sending an orange glow out, bouncing off of the walls. MALLORY (shouting over the vortex sound) Let's go! He runs into the vortex. Diana, carrying her two circuit boards as best as she can, sends a smile and a nod back to Rembrandt and Maggie before following. Rembrandt stands up, holding Colin over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, Colin's face still blocked. Maggie finishes unraveling the fuse, and drops the wire there, looking over to Remmy as she pulls something else out of her backpack. MAGGIE (shouting over the vortex sound) See, Remmy? You just have to have faith! Rembrandt grins at her. REMBRANDT (grinning) Oh, I see it! And I believe it! After one last shared smile, Rembrandt runs into the vortex, taking Colin with him. Maggie finally pulls out what she was digging for -- a book of matches. With a slight, mischievious smile, she lights one off of the back and drops it onto the fuse. As it begins to spark, she immediately turns and races for the vortex. ANGLE ON - FUSE We following the burning trail, as it leads up to the cannisters by the machine. It hits. A quick moment of nothing. And the cannisters explode, taking the machine with them, along with most of the console. And on that... FADE TO BLACK CLOSING CREDITS END