Disclaimer: Sliders does not belong to me (duh!) and I in no way claim ownership over it or it's characters. I do, however claim ownership over the characters and concept of this story which originated out of my twisted little brain. So, with all due respect, please don't sue. I am poor and I live in L.A. which means I have a very high rent on my apt. :)

Author's Notes: Uh oh you're saying. What is this? Well, it's a little story that's been lurking in my brain so I've decided to start posting it here. (And unlike some of my other stories, it will hopefully not end up being 30 + pages!) :) It is set right before the third season of Sliders before The Rules of the Game. Enjoy, and please send feedback (Feedback good...munch munch) to Pamburger@aol.com

Rated PG-13

Part 1

A tiny woman with short blond hair sat in a cracked booth of a diner called Mel's. Her name was Dawn Welles, and she'd never felt more alone in her life.

All around her, people were laughing, talking, or engaging in telepathy, Dawn thought miserably. The cheery vibes made life feel so easy. But life had never felt easy for Dawn. Not since they'd taken her fraternal twin away to be a drone.

She reflected on her coffee cup. The doctors had told her worried parents that she was blocked by the trauma of Wade being taken away. They said that her normal "abilities" would return in time. But they never had returned.

And truthfully, if they were what had caused Wade to be taken from her 10 years ago, she didn't want them back. They could keep their telekinesis...their P.K.....their E.S.P. Give them to the next baby that didn't pass genetic testing. Give them to Wade so she could come back.

And now someone else was gone too, thought Dawn miserably. The only person who'd viewed her as normal, despite her blocked "abilities." The only person she'd ever told about the day they took away Wade. She wiped a strand of her hair out of her blue eyes, and a tear slid down her nose. "Where did he go?" she whispered softly. "I need him." He was gone. Simply vanished without a trace. She'd tried everything to find him. Even Logan, his sister, who possessed seer level sensing, hadn't been able to tell her where Colin was.

"If only I knew why he left then maybe I could understand," she thought sadly. "Maybe I could understand why he left me here alone."

With a last glance at the untouched coffee mug, Dawn brushed the tears from her eyes. She laid a dollar on the table and stood up slowly. The she turned, and walked out of the restaurant.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, a disruption of space time was occurring. Leaves whirled as an unnatural wind rustled and a blue ripple formed in the sky.

Wade Welles flew out of the vortex and rolled to one side. She watched as Quinn Mallory, her best friend, and the undeniable object of her affection, came shooting out after her, only to land face first in the grass.

Wade giggled and said, "I give that landing a 3.4. Very poor execution." Quinn rolled his eyes at her and groaned as he moved over to her side.

Professor Maximillian Arturo followed Quinn's example when landing, but he wasn't quick enough at rolling out of the way, and as he tried to rise Rembrandt Brown, their last companion, collided into him knocking him face first into the grass again.

Wade and Quinn laughed merrily at the familiar sight of the portly professor in such an undignified pose. It was a scene they'd seen repeated endless times over the past 3 years.

"I say Mr. Brown," said the professor irritably, his voice rather muffled by the grass, "Must you use me as your landing cushion after every slide?"

Remmie held his hands up in protest. "Hey relax professor!" he said, winking slyly at Wade who bit back a grin with effort. "You cut a presence that's hard to miss!"

The professor bristled, but anyone who knew him knew that he wasn't really angry. "What are you implying Mr. Brown?" he said, standing up to his full height and patting his stomach. "At least I have tasted the finer pleasures in life."

"C'mon guys," said Quinn, breaking up the after slide banter. "Maybe this is home." The others looked at him dubiously as he shrugged and checked the small cellphone like device that he held in one hand. "We have 74 hours and change to find out."

Wade smiled at Quinn and linked her arm through his. "C'mon guys," she said. "Let's explore!"

"Miss Welles," the professor huffed. "Before we go gallivanting off into the unknown I suggest we do some research. He pointed to Bernie's newsstand, which stood about 100 feet from where they were.

"OK," conceded Wade. She eyed Quinn mischievously and shouted, "Race ya!" as she took off running.

Quinn yelled back "Hey no fair cheater!" and he took off after her.

The professor and Remmie eyed each other and shrugged.

"Ah...youth," remarked the professor.

Part 2

Panting from their race, Wade and Quinn entered Bernie's newsstand laughing with exhilaration.

"Hah!" said Wade teasingly. "I won."

"'Cause you cheated," shot back Quinn with a grin that showed he really didn't care whether she cheated or not.

He picked up a newspaper from one of the stacks of neat piles that lay in orderly rows along the shop. A quick glance at the headlines confirmed they they were indeed not home.

"Hey Wade," said Quinn, motioning for her to come over to him, "check it out." He pointed to the lead story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Wade read the headline out loud. "Anti-psychics raid genetic preservation clinic. 3 dead." Her forehead crinkled in confusion. "What the heck is an anti-psychic?" she whispered softly to Quinn, hoping that the proprietor of Bernie's wouldn't hear.

But to her surprise the clerk spoke up. "They're freakin' terrorists that's what. Any normal person knows that."

"Um yeah..." said Quinn. "Well we're not really from around here."

"That much is obvious," said the clerk rudely. "Your thoughts are bouncing off the walls. It's driving me nuts. Didn't you ever get trained to tune them out?"

Quinn stared at the clerk in surprise. "You...you can read our thoughts?" he asked.

The clerk narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Sure...can't everybody? I mean except for the drones that is...but they're just mentally retarded so they don't count."

Wade pulled Quinn by the arm. "We'd better get out of here -- now," she thought hastily. "Oh of course," she replied cheerily to the clerk, while doing her best to keep her mind blank. "C'mon Quinn let's go...NOW."

Quinn allowed himself to be pulled outside of the newsstand, and they soon rejoined the Professor and Rembrandt.

"So my boy," said the Professor. "What's the good word?"

"Well," said Quinn, his eyes darting nervously around the park grounds where they stood, "we're definitely not home."

"Yeah," piped up Wade. "They read minds here guys. Sort of like Oracle world."

"Yeah," said Quinn. "But why do I get the feeling that this world is much more nasty?"

Dawn walked slowly along the streets until she reached the entrance of Golden Gate Park. For some reason, she felt an irresistible urge to go in and take a short walk around. And though Dawn's trauma had blocked her abilities, she was no fool. She never ignored intuition.

"A walk will do me good anyway," she said quietly. "Maybe it'll clear my head."

She entered the park and began to walk among the flowers, hoping the feeling of deja vu would pass her by after each bend in the road.

But the feeling of recognition wouldn't leave her. "Damn it!" she said angrily. "I don't need this today!" She was so busy storming against the games her mind was wreaking on her that she almost missed the cause of her mental unrest.

There, outside of Bernie's newsstand, was a woman whose face she would have recognized in a hundred years. It was her twin. It was Wade.

Dawn's mouth dropped open in shock. "How can Wade be here?" she thought in confusion. "She's a drone...they don't ever let them out!" And who were the men that she was with? One of them looked awfully familiar...but Dawn couldn't process why. She was too in shock at seeing her sister.

Timidly, she approached the small group. "Wade?" she said, her voice brimming with uncertainty.

Wade turned from the conversation she'd been having with the guys to see a petite blond woman addressing her. She didn't recognize her, but something about her struck her as familiar. "Uh oh," she thought. "She knows my double." She glanced at Quinn, who gave her a slight shrug.

"Yes?" she finally replied.

"Wade!" cried Dawn joyously. "It is you! But how did you get out?" Her words bubbled forth in exhilaration, but stopped short when she saw the questioning look in Wade's eyes. "Oh my god," thought Dawn. "She doesn't know me!"

Part 3

"Wade!" said Dawn, shaking from the shock of the encounter. "Don't you know me?" Her eyes roamed her sister's face, hoping for any kind of spark of recognition.

Wade bit her lip nervously. She didn't know what to say. If she was honest and said she didn't know this girl...well it would obviously crush her.

Dawn watched the play of emotions on Wade's face. She could sense the confusion in the other girl. Tears sprang from her eyes. "Wade...you really don't know me." she whispered sadly.

"I...we..." began Wade uncertainly, for there was something about this girl that made her feel strange and uneasy. It's almost, thought Wade, like I'm feeling a connection. But that's nuts!

"Is there some way we can help you Miss...um...Miss," said the Professor interrupting Wade, and putting a hand on Dawn's shoulder.

Dawn looked up at the large man who was smiling so kindly at her. "My name is Dawn," she said, breathing shakily. "Dawn Welles. And you...whoever you are...have already helped me beyond measure by saving my twin," here she indicated Wade, "from the drone camps. I've been trying to find her for over 10 years."

The four slider's eyes widened in shock at this revelation.

"Twin?" said Wade weakly. My god! she thought in shock. She glanced at Quinn. He too was clearly taken aback by the news. But that explains it, her mind insisted on saying. That explains why I felt like I knew her...even though I don't. We're twins! Briefly she thought of her *real* sister Kelly back home, and a twinge of guilty sadness overcame her.

"Dawn," said Quinn, his blue eyes wide in shock. Suddenly he saw Wade's face, Wade's mannerisms and Wade's expressions all within this girl who he didn't even know. It was disconcerting to say the least. "There's something we need to explain about us...and about Wade."

Dawn's eyes narrowed when he spoke. Something about him was so familiar...

They were interrupted by the sound of a large pealing siren, tuned at a frequency high enough to make their ears bleed.

"What is that god awful sound?" shouted Remmie, clutching his ears.

Dawn's face went white. "Drone police! C'mon we've got to get out of here...now!" She clutched at Wade's hand and began leading her down the path.

"Wait! I..." said Wade, glancing back at Quinn, who was also clutching his ears in pain.

"Hurry!" said Dawn, not listening.

"Mr. Mallory, I think we'd best follow...er...Miss Welles here. My ears can't take this noise much longer!" said the Professor.

"C'mon you guys! They'll sense us if we hang out here any longer!" Dawn shouted.

Frightened by Dawn's demeanor, the Sliders began to slink through the crowd out of the park.

A few minutes later, a black van pulled up to the spot where they were just standing. A man got out of one of them.

<<I'm picking her up.>> he thought to his compatriot in the van.

<<Good.>> came the response. <<She can't hide from us this time.>>

The first man pulled out a nasty looking gun from his holster and loaded a dart into it. He began walking, eyes darting over the crowd of people that Dawn and the Sliders had just disappeared into.<<Tranquilizer ready.>> he thought.

<<Wait.>> thought the man in the van. <<She's not alone. And I'm picking up a very strange aura...>>

The man with the gun frowned. <<Yes...>> he thought. <<I'm getting it too.>>

The man in the van frowned. <<Better take care of all of them...they must be drones she hasn't placed yet.>>

<<Yes sir.>> thought back the man, who was now out on the streets, swiftly tracking aura colors with his mind to see where the Sliders' trail went.

<<Don't disappoint me Jenkins.>> thought the man in the van. <<She's valuable.>>

<<I won't sir.>> Jenkins thought back hastily, and continued walking down the street.

Part 4

The sliders rushed through the street, following the tiny blond woman who held fast to Wade's hand. Wade could hear the Professor struggling to keep up the pace behind them. But as she looked back, she didn't see anyone. There was no mass of angry people, no police squad...it was just normal everyday people, roaming the hilly streets of San Francisco. She watched Dawn in confusion. "There's no one there," she thought. "But she looks terrified."

"Hurry!" Dawn said, still pulling her along.

"Where are we going?" said Quinn, running just behind them. They were in a very familiar neighborhood to him. In fact, they were about two blocks from his house...or rather, where his house would be if this was home, he corrected himself.

"Sanctuary," Dawn said.

"And what...what...the devil is...Sanctuary?" shouted the professor in between gasps.

"Sanctuary from the mind abductors! Don't you know anything?" said Dawn.

<<I've got a lock on them sir. She's trying to get to Sanctuary.>> thought Jenkins.

The man in the van folded his hands. Yes...of course that 's what she would do. It's what he'd always told her to do.

<<Take her.>> he thought.

Jenkins concentrated of the five running figures. Two multiminds? he thought in confusion. There's only supposed to be one with that mind pattern!

<<Sir?>> he thought.

<<Yes>> came the irritated response.

Jenkins shut his eyes. <<The strange pattern that we thought was drones? It's not. She with another multimind. And I can't take two of them!>>

<<Two? That's impossible! The only other is with us already...>> thought the man in the van. He twisted his fist into the seat cushion, causing an indention in the fabric.

<<Sir? What do you want me to do?>> thought Jenkins uneasily.

The man in the van sighed. <<Take the one that's easier to get and tranc her. We can identify the other afterwards.>>

<<Yes sir.>> replied Jenkins.

"Almost there," thought Dawn in relief. She could see the house up ahead, gleaming like a beacon of safety. "Sanctuary," she said, and pointed at a quiet looking house with a gate in front.

"Oh my god!" said Quinn.

"Oh man...this gets weirder and weirder." said Remmie.

"Mr. Mallory...isn't...that your house?" said the Professor in a low voice.

"Yes," said Quinn. "But god knows what it is here."

Jenkins closed his eyes and placed his fingers on his temples. <<Almost there.>> he thought.

Wade was starting to not feel very well. "It must be all this running," she thought.

"Guys..." she began.

"C'mon," said Dawn with urgency in her voice. They were almost to the front gate of the house.

"Guys...I think I'm going to be sick," continued Wade.

"No!" said Dawn, pulling her harder now. "No! No!"

Wade was feeling lighter and lighter. She felt floaty even. The sensation was a little like being tipsy.

"Wade!" Quinn said, fear in his eyes. "Wade look at your arm!"

Wade glanced down though her dizziness. Everything looked fuzzy. Then she finally got a clear picture of her arm...and she could see through it!

"Quinn!" she screamed, fear mounting in her heart. "What's happening to me?!"

"Wade!" Quinn, yelled out. He went to grab her arm...and it passed right through.

Dawn was sobbing now. "Got to...get in the house..." she said, still trying to pull Wade and clutching only empty air.

"What is happening to her?" Quinn demanded angrily.

"Quinn!" Wade screamed again...and then she was gone.

And the last thing she heard before the darkness was Quinn screaming her name in terror. "Waaaaadddddddeeeee!"

Part 5

Wade awoke to find herself bound up in a moving van. Her friends were nowhere to be seen. "What happened?" she thought groggily.

A voice answered her unspoken. question. "We're taking you to your new home Wade. It is Wade isn't it? We're very interested in you...especially where you came from."

She looked around and saw the man in question. He'd read her mind! "I'm not going anywhere with you!" she said defiantly. "I'm a person! I have rights!" She tried her best to keep her mind blank...but her thoughts kept coming. No matter what she did, she couldn't clear them. "What's wrong with me?" she thought, frightened at her lack of ability to work her mind.

The man moved to sit next to her. "We've given you a drug called Lycothen," he said casually. "Basically what it does it allows us the keep your thoughts centered on any direction we implant in you. You won't be able to clear them." He leaned closer to her, and his breath brushed against her cheek, causing tiny hairs on her neck to rise. "And I mean any suggestion," he whispered, his hand reaching down to touch her knee.

Wade shivered in undisguised fear. "Quinn...oh god Quinn you have to help me!" she thought frantically.

The man smiled. "You are calm and happy Wade," he said.

A feeling of dizziness hit her. "No!" she thought, but already peaceful, cheerful thoughts were invading her mind. "Rainbows, birds, love," was all she could squeak out.

The man touched her knee again, and this time, to her rational dismay, she didn't feel disgust or loathing. She felt..."calm and happy."

Moving forward, the man went to kiss her neck. She watched his lips approach with a sense of detachment, like it was a movie scene, not actually happening to her.

Suddenly the man froze.

"Jenkins...what are you doing to our guest?" said a voice from the driver's seat.

Jenkins glanced fearfully at the man in the driver's seat. He'd let his intentions slip out, and the boss had heard them.

"You will not touch her. Is that understood? Come drive here...NOW!"

Jenkins scurried up to the driver's seat, while the man came back to sit with Wade. The new man gazed at Wade with, if she wasn't mistaken, wonderment in his blue eyes. He touched her arm gently.

"You ok?" he asked, concern in his face.

"For being kidnapped...sure I'm just peachy," she replied sarcastically.

His eyes narrowed. For a moment she thought she caught a glimpse of his real thoughts, but just as swiftly the mask was on his face again. "You have no idea how special you are," he said. He stared meaningfully at her. "We need you."

She frowned...something about his eyes. It was then that it clicked.

"He has Quinn's eyes!" she thought. But the man in front of her wasn't Quinn!

"What happened to her?!" Quinn yelled, forcefully grabbing Dawn by the shoulders and spinning her harshly to look at him. Worry marked his angry face.

Dawn was still sobbing. To have found her twin for so brief a time...only to have her taken away again...it was too much. She felt the pain of separation all over again.

"Please get in the house," she said bitterly. "As you've just seen, it's not safe here. I can explain everything inside."

Remmie glanced at Quinn...the kid looked like he was gonna blow his top. He walked over and patted his friend's shoulder. "Q-ball c'mon man...we'll find Wade...let's get in the house before any of us do a vanishing act too."

"I quite agree Mr. Brown." said the Professor. He spoke in a lower tone, and glanced at Dawn. "We don't know what...or who we are dealing with here. Perhaps Miss Welles here can help us."

Dawn shook her head. It was hopeless...she knew that much having searched the drone camps for 10 years. But as she glanced at Quinn's worried eyes, she felt a sense of familiarity. Suddenly it clicked. My god! she thought. He has Colin's eyes! And with that the decision was made for her. She couldn't turn her back on the reminder of Colin's eyes. And she didn't want to lose Wade...not again.

"I'll tell you what I know. Maybe it will help us," she said.

"Good because we only have two more days to do it." said Quinn.

Dawn looked at him dubiously. "Why do you only have two days?"

They'd reached the front door of the house now, and Quinn watched in amazement as Dawn placed a palm on the front door and a keypad came out. She began typing in some sort of command.

"Dawn," Quinn said "You may not believe this...but the reason we have to leave in two days is that we come from another universe. We're sliders. And our Wade...well in our universe she doesn't have a twin."

Dawn stared at him, uncomprehending.

"Mr. Mallory!" the Professor hissed. "Must you spout off every secret in two minutes time?!"

"She needs to know the whole truth if she's gonna help us save Wade Professor," Quinn replied shortly.

Remmie nodded. "Q-ball's right Professor."

Dawn took in a deep breath. "So you're saying that I never found my Wade at all," she said.

Quinn nodded, his blue eyes gentle now. "Yes," he said softly.

Tears formed in Dawn's eyes. "I still want to help," she said, belief in this crazy story starting to form. "She's still Wade...and maybe my Wade will know how much I miss her."

"Thank you my dear," said the Professor, patting her slender arm. "Now I suggest we'd best get inside." He nodded in the door's direction.

"Oh...yes," replied Dawn, distracted. She punched a final command, and to the sliders' amazement a door slid open that led into the ground. Dawn smiled shakily.

"Welcome to Sanctuary gentlemen," she said.

Part 6

The three sliders followed Dawn into a room filled with electronic equipment. Quinn touched a wall in wonderment. It was coated with a strange metal that he'd never seen before.

"Voice identification please," said a computerized voice.

"Dawn Welles," replied Dawn.

"Identification confirmed...surveillance patterns activating," said the computerized voice.

"Woah," said Remmie. "Is this a Star Trek rerun or what?"

"What's Star Trek?" asked Dawn, her face curious.

Quinn sighed. "Never mind that...what is this place Dawn?"

Dawn was busily punching in a keyboard. "Recent mind abductees please," she said to the computer. "Identify Wade Welles." Pictures began flashing across the screen. "Searching," said the computer.

She turned to Quinn. "My world prizes psychic abilities above all else," she said. "They test all children for them." Her expression became sorrowful. "If the children don't have them, they send them to what we call a drone camp at age 15." A tear trickled down her cheek. "That's what happened to my sister," she whispered.

Quinn nodded in understanding.

"My boyfriend Colin and I saw the injustice that was happening in our world," continued Dawn. "We wanted to stop it...the drone camps are no better than concentration camps. In fact, that's what they were modeled after. Plus, I wanted to find Wade. So we set up Sanctuary...the hub of the anti-psychic movement."

She gestured around the room. "The mind abductors have no power here, because the walls are coated with Lycothen."

"Lycothen," mused the Professor. "Isn't that a mind altering drug?"

"Yes," said Dawn. "But my boyfriend was a quasi-inventor of sorts, and he wanted to make sure our movement remained secret. So he melded the drug into a metallic form, one which even the most powerful psychic couldn't penetrate."

"Was?" said Quinn. "Where is your boyfriend now?"

Dawn looked down, and a shadow fell over her face. "He disappeared four weeks ago," she said.

The van pulled up in front a stark white building. Wade felt the blue eyed man haul her up over his shoulder, but the drug made it impossible for her to resist. "Who is this guy?" she wondered, frightened at the view of the lab-like building in front of her. "What do they want with me?"

"All of your questions will be answered in time," said the blue eyed man. "But first we have a few to ask you."

He began walking towards the building, carrying her effortlessly. Jenkins followed behind, holding some kind of tranquilizer gun in front of him. Wade shivered as she looked at his menacing eyes.

They reached the front of the building. "Voice identification please," said a computerized voice.

"Harvey Jenkins," said Jenkins. The door cleared for a moment and he stepped through.

"Colin Mallory and guest," said the blue eyed man.

Wade stiffened at the name.

"Oh my god..." she whispered softly as they stepped through the door.

Part 7

Still under the influence of the Lycothen, Wade watched the blank white walls move past her passionlessly as Colin walked down the hallway. Her thoughts were a mixture of shock, fear and emotion. This man....this man who was holding her hostage was some kind of alternate relative of Quinn's! At the same time she had this thought, she knew she was betraying herself. After all, the man could read her mind.

They turned down an empty looking corridor and approached a small room to the left. From her vantage point, Wade couldn't tell what the room contained.

Colin opened the door to the room. A hospital-like scent greeted Wade's senses, and she scrunched up her face in distaste. She could hear, though not see, the beeping of a heart monitor and the sound of a respirator.

"Can you please put me down now?" she asked timidly.

Colin said nothing, but he did pull over a chair with his free hand. Gently, he placed her in it, and began tying her hands and feet.

"I'm sorry to have to tie you like this," he said. "But we can't have you going anywhere right now."

Wade looked over his shoulder at a still form laying in of the two beds in the room. She couldn't see the prone figure's face.

"You'd like to see her?" asked Colin.

Wade nodded mutely, though she had a disturbing feeling she wasn't going to like what she saw.

Colin moved her chair by the bed, and gently rolled the unconscious girl over. "She's been in a coma for many years," he said. "The doctors think she's brain dead."

Wade gasped and shut her eyes.

She was looking at herself.

The computer was still searching through pictures of mind abductees. It had not yet located Wade. Quinn glanced at his watch and sighed. It was late. Everyone else had gone to sleep in the house long ago. He buried his head in his hands, and rubbed his tired eyes.

"Where are you Wade?" he thought disconsolately. "I've got to save you."

A tear made its way down his his face and he brushed it aside angrily. Once again, his friend's life was in danger.

All because of him.

"Stupid, selfish idiot!" he thought to himself. All he wanted right now was to know Wade was safe.

His thoughts were interrupted by Dawn's entry into the Sanctuary.

"Go to sleep Quinn," she said gently. "You won't help Wade by torturing yourself."

Quinn blew out a frustrated breath. "I know...but this waiting...it's driving me nuts!"

Dawn walked over to Quinn and put a reassuring hand on his arm. "We have a good chance of catching her before they get her to the drone camp," she said.

"And if they take her to a drone camp?" asked Quinn bitterly.

Dawn said nothing, but her eyes gave away it all.

"We won't find her if they get her to a drone camp will we?" whispered Quinn.

Dawn shook her head sadly. "They kind of make drones...disappear."

Quinn shut his eyes. "That can't happen," he said. "I'm not leaving this world until I find her."

Dawn nodded in understanding. "I know," she said. "Get some sleep Quinn...you can't do her any good down here."

Quinn didn't respond, and sighing, Dawn headed back up the stairs to the main portion of the house.

Quinn slept fitfully in the chair he'd occupied all evening. His dreams were full of Wade's face.

She was running in the grass ahead of him, just beyond his reach. He could hear her merry laughter. Try as he might, he couldn't touch her. She was always just beyond arms length.

"Catch me Quinn!" she said with the mischievous smile he knew so well. "Catch me!"

Running faster now, he tackled her to the ground.

The scene changed. He lay in the desert, and Wade was nowhere to be seen. In his arms, he held a silver necklace with her name.

"Wade!" he cried out fearfully. "Where are you?"

He spun around. No one was there. He was alone.

"Waaaaaadddddeeee!" he screamed out in fear.

The sound of his own cries broke him out of the dream, and he lay huddled in the chair, shivering and sweating.

"Wade...." he whispered.

Two identical figures slept in twin beds in a small laboratory-like room. One, her hands tied to the bedposts, thrashed restlessly in her sleep. A cry of "Quinn" could occasionally be heard from her lips.

The other made not a sound. But when her double cried out, something extraordinary happened, though no one was there to witness it. One of her fingers moved of its own accord.

Part 8

It was four am when Quinn awoke to the sound of the computer's monotone voice.

"Positive match identified. Please confirm. Positive match identified. Please confirm."

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Blearily he looked at the screen until it kicked in. The damn thing had finally located Wade!

"Guys!" he called out. There was no response. "GUYS!!" he shouted louder.

Remmie's drooping head peaked down the stairs. "Man Q-ball you could wake the dead with that voice o' yours," he said. His expression turned to worry. "What's up? Did the computer find Wade?"

Quinn nodded impatiently. "Where's Dawn?" he asked.

Remmie stifled a yawn. "She's sleeping Q-ball what do you think?" He smiled reassuringly at Quinn. "We'll get Wade back, don't you worry." He turned and motioned for Quinn to follow him up the stairs. "C'mon we'll go wake everyone up."

Wade woke from a restless sleep to find that she was still tied to the bed. She shivered as she realized she was no longer alone in the room with her unconscious double. Jenkins stood in the corner, watching her with leering eyes.

Wade watched, horrified, as he walked over to her double's bed, and began casually caressing her lifeless cheek.

"Hello honey," he murmured to her still form.

"Don't touch her!" Wade cried, and then instantly regretted it as his gaze casually razed over her own prone form. It was then Wade realized how helpless she really was.

"Don't .." she whispered, as he began advancing towards her menacingly.

"I know she thinks you know. I'm the only one who knows," he said in a low growl. "I know what you think about too."

"Do you see him when you look at me?" he said, and Wade blinked, because suddenly, Quinn's face was in front of her.

"Quinn?" she said, uncertainly, and he smiled.

His hand reached out to touch her hair, and the vision faded. It was Jenkins touching her! Wade drew back, trembling in revulsion and fear.

A familiar voice interrupted the caress.

"Jenkins...I told you not to disturb our guest."

Jenkins turned toward the voice and to Wade's surprise, his eyes were full of fear.

<<I didn't mean to sir...I swear!!>> he thought fearfully.

<<Yes. You did.>> was the stark response.

Colin Mallory stepped from the doorway of the room and walked over next to Wade's bed. "And for that my friend, you will have to pay."

"No! Please sir!" Jenkins cried out as Colin placed two fingers on Jenkin's forehead. Wade watched, terrified and fascinated, as Jenkin's eyes rolled back into his skull and he slumped to the ground.

Dawn raced down the stairs to Sanctuary after Quinn and the Professor. Remmie followed close behind.

The computer was still chirping away, "Positive match identified. Please confirm. Positive match identified. Please confirm."

Dawn walked to the console. "It's her," she said with a smile. We've got you Wade, she thought happily.

"Well," said the Professor, still rather out of breath from their run downstairs. "Where the devil have they taken her?"

Dawn frowned. "Identification confirmed," she said in a clear voice. "Location."

The picture on the computer screen whirled. After a few seconds it stopped and a picture of a plain, white lab building came in place of the blurred picture of Wade that had presided on the screen a minute before.

"Cranial Institute?" Dawn, said in confusion. "That can't be right."

"What can't?" asked Quinn. He was itching for them to get out there, now that they'd pinpointed where Wade was.

Dawn looked at the three men who were glancing at the screen with worried faces. "They usually take drones to a genetic preservation clinic before shipping them out to the camps. That's where we intercept them," she said uncertainly.

"So?" said Remmie. "That place sure looks sterile to me."

Dawn's frown grew deeper. "The Cranial Institute isn't a genetic preservation clinic," she explained. "It's a lab...where they perform radical experiments on the brain."

She turned to Quinn, whose face had gone white. He watched her silently, his mind filled with fear.

Dawn's voice was tight, and her eyes blazed with a painful fire. "The Cranial Institute is the group of scientists that started the drone camps in the first place back in the 30's. Their goal is to force mankind to the next step in evolution...through forced brain surgery, genetic separation of the drones and tons of other horrible acts." She shook her head. "And the sick thing is, is that they hold so much power in our government, nobody even protests all the horrific things they do."

"Preposterous!" exclaimed the Professor. "And just what, pray tell, would they want with Miss Welles?"

"What they want is her brain," said Dawn angrily. "But it's why they'd want it that I don't understand."

Part 9

Wade stared mutely from her chained position on the bed. She was in utter shock. Jenkin's body lay in a still huddle on the floor.

Colin turned away from Wade and faced toward the door.

<<Dispose of this>> he thought stiffly, staring at the body. Two orderly-looking men entered the room at the request. They picked up Jenkin's body by the shoulders and quickly dragged it out of the room.

Colin smiled at Wade then, but she felt no warmth from it. The man was a killer. No show of kindness could change that fact. And yet...he had just saved her from a most probable assault at the hands of Jenkins. Wade shuddered as she looked at her unconscious double. Was Jenkins the reason she lay there like that?

Colin wandered over to her double's bed and answered her thought out loud. "No, he's not the reason she's in this state."

Wade sighed. She'd nearly forgotten Colin could read her mind. She felt scared to speak, but finally she managed to squeak out. "Then...who?"

Colin stared at the bed. His expression hardened. "She keeps herself in this state. Out of pure selfishness and spite."

Wade felt stunned at the admission. But the statement was ludicrous. "What?!" she said. "Nobody can MAKE themselves be brain-dead."

Colin turned and looked at her. His eyes were lit with a strange glint. "She can." He stepped towards her. "And so could you, if you'd been here as long as she has."

Wade had no answer for this. She had no idea where she really was after all.

Colin fondled his chin thoughtfully. "Tell me Wade. You already know I can read your thoughts. Tell me about Quinn Mallory. Tell me about sliding."

Wade felt defiant. "I don't have to tell anything to a...a...killer!"

She tried to keep her mind blank. "Think of the ocean," she thought. "The nice, peaceful ocean."

To her surprise, Colin didn't grow angry at her outburst. His eyes actually appeared sad. For a moment, he reminded her of Quinn. God she wished he was here right now...stop it Wade! she thought angrily at herself. Think of the ocean!

Colin spoke softly, and his tone was almost kind. "I'm sorry you had to see what I did to Jenkins. But he's been obsessed with our Wade for a very long time. He didn't know I knew it, but he had these fantasies about her...dark fantasies. His skills as a mind abductor were superb, but he'd become a danger to our mission." Before Wade could ask "what mission," Colin continued. "I'm sorry Wade. I can't tell you that." His expression darkened. "I'm sorry about a lot of things when it comes to you."

Wade didn't know what to say to this.

"Tell me about sliding Wade," he said again.

Wade scrunched her face in irritation. She wasn't going to feel sorry for him! So what if she sensed he was telling the truth! "I'm not telling you anything," she said. "You'll just have to read my mind."

Colin nodded. "As you wish," he said, and shut his eyes.

Wade suddenly felt herself drowning in memories. She had no control over her own thoughts! She felt detached from herself, like someone was playing her life for an audience. Suddenly she realized therewas an audience. Colin was literally invading her mind. She struggled against her restraints. "Get out of my head!" she screamed. "Get out!" But the tumult of images didn't cease.

Colin smiled as he learned the answers he'd been seeking. Wade's screams didn't bother him. His mission would be fulfilled...and sooner than he's thought. For with Wade on the line, he knew he no longer had to try to abduct Dawn against her will. She would come to him.

"And then, she will know why I've done what I had to do," he whispered.

"Is everybody clear on the plan?" asked Quinn anxiously. It had been a day and a half since he'd last seen Wade, and now armed with the knowledge of where she was, he was feeling very frightened he might lose her.

"If they've touched her I swear I'll kill them," he thought angrily.

"Crystal Mr. Mallory," said the Professor. "You and Miss Welles here will try to gain access through the front entrance of the Institute, while Mr. Brown and I sneak in through the service door."

Dawn smiled reassuringly at the group. "One of our groups is bound to get in," she said. "And just for a little back up...I've got this." So saying, Dawn pulled out a large syringe.

Remmie's brow furrowed. "What the heck is THAT girl?" he said.

Dawn smiled sweetly. "It's a little drug called Arconquin-XZ," she said. "It will keep our thoughts cloaked."

Remmie backed up a step from Dawn. "Girl if you think I'm sticking that needle in my arm...you got another thing coming."

Dawn's smile grew wider. "Oh Remmie, YOU'RE not going to have to stick it in your arm."

Remmie's face relaxed a bit and he chucked. "Good girl. I hate needles."

Swiftly, Dawn pinned down Remmie's arm and jabbed in the needle.

"OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!" Remmie cried out.

Dawn looked up at the others innocently. "I never said I wouldn't stick the needle in his arm."

Despite his worry, Quinn bit back a smile. Then he took his turn with the needle. The others followed suit.

20 minutes later, the foursome stood outside the gates of the Cranium Institute.

Quinn turned to the Professor and took out the timer. He held it out to his mentor, who looked at him with serious eyes. "If I don't make it back...slide without me."

He looked down for a minute. The Professor started to protest, but Quinn interrupted. "I'm not leaving here without her Professor."

The Professor nodded in understanding. Then he said softly, quoting Hamlet, "Now cracks a noble heart."

He patted Quinn on the shoulder. "Good luck my boy," he said. "But keep faith. We shall find her...and all slide out of this wretched world...together."

Quinn watched in silence as Remmie and the Professor stole off around the back side of the building. When he could no longer see them, he turned to Dawn.

"Now what?" he said.

She pointed to two people who were heading towards the building.

"Them." she said. "That's our way in."

Part 10

Colin and two orderlies pushed a tied and gagged Wade into a room filled with medical instruments and operating equipment. Wade surveyed her surroundings apprehensively. Charts of the brain lined the walls, some covered with markings. A desk stood against the corner, and Wade could make out two framed pictures, but she couldn't tell who they were of.

Colin motioned for the orderlies to strap Wade down on what looked very much like an operating table -- except for the fact that it had four cuffs to hold her down by the wrist and legs. Wade struggled, but the men totally overpowered her, and soon had her strapped down.

She looked up. Above her was a weird looking metal contraption, which had a series of lights flashing in and out.

Colin walked over to the table where she lay and the two orderlies left the room. He carefully began removing her gag. Wade tried to move her head away from her touch. He made her sick. She felt utterly violated. His mind assault had felt worse than a physical attack. It was like...he'd emotionally raped her soul.

"Welcome to my office and laboratory Wade," Colin said pleasantly. Wade avoided his eyes, turning her head away to face the wall. A better view, she thought sourly.

"You are probably wondering why I've brought you here," Colin continued in the same pleasant tone. "Well, now that I know that you are a genetic match for our Wade, it's time to bring you up to what her level of mind capabilities would have been." His face hardened for a minute, but then shifted back to the benign half smile. "Of course she no longer matters now that you're here."

"You see Wade," Colin continued. "You are a very important person for the welfare of my world." He walked over to an instrument panel by the table and began to press some buttons. "Our Wade understood this; yet she still selfishly put herself in that coma state which you observed."

The light panel above Wade's head began to descend.

"Please..." Wade whispered. "Please don't hurt me. I don't understand...why are you doing this?" Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, and one slowly fell down her cheek.

She felt Colin brush the tear away, and shuddered at the contact. His little kindnesses actually terrified her more than if he'd simply been awful. They showed her that inside this man resided a person who could have made better choices.

"Wade," Colin said seriously. "I am going to free your mind of its conscious barriers. It is necessary for the mission. It will be painful, but it must be done."

"Why!" cried out Wade. "Why do you have to do this?"

"Because," said Colin, staring at her with what looked like almost a tender expression, "once you are at your full mental status, you will become what we call a multimind."

The lights moved closer. "Then you can join with another multimind and make the ultimate sacrifice: Die to save the innocent drones of our world."

Wade screamed then, both from the sudden pain that flooded her senses, and from what Colin had just said.

Dawn and Quinn stepped behind the two orderlies who were moving toward the front door of the Cranium Institute.

"Now!" said Quinn, and they both rushed the two from behind.

"Hey!" said the orderly, as Quinn swiftly punched him out. Dawn meanwhile dispatched her orderly with a swift choke hold to the neck. Both were soon unconscious.

Quinn stared at the orderly Dawn had brought down, as they began dragging them to a spot hidden with some bushes. "Remind me not to get on your bad side," he said, taking the orderly's lab coat off and putting it on.

Dawn shrugged. "Self-defense classes can do wonders," she said. "Although I usually don't have the element of surprise like that."

When both of them were dressed like orderlies, they tied and gagged the two men. Then they walked over to the front door of the Cranium Institute.

"We need to override the voice identification system...and quickly!," Dawn whispered to Quinn, putting a hand on his lips. Quinn followed her gaze over to a small panel in the doorway of the wall. He took the instruments they'd brought with him from his pocket, and unscrewed the panel.

"Simple," he thought. "I'll just uncross these two connectors...there."

The door slid open and the two stepped inside the stark white building.

"Oh to be reduced to such levels of indignity," moaned the Professor to himself." He was dressed as the laundry service man that he and Rembrandt had tackled a few minutes before. "I should be shaping young minds...not pushing this infernal cart! You are heavy Mr. Brown!" A muffled voice came from the cart filled with towels that he was pushing towards the service entrance for the Institute.

"Geez professor at least, phew! At least you're not stuck in the dirty laundry."

The Professor nodded. "Take heart Mr. Brown," he said. "We'll have you smelling April fresh once we find Miss Welles."

He produced the key card he had stolen from the same laundry man. Placing it in the card holder the back door slid open.

"Child's play," said the Professor, and he rolled the cart -- and himself -- through the door.

Part 11

Quinn and Dawn crept quietly among the stark white halls of the Cranium Institute. Peeking around a corner, Quinn whispered to Dawn, "Where do you think they're keeping her?"

Dawn thought for a minute. "From what I know," she said. "I think maybe she's upstairs. That's supposed to be the place where they keep the...er...patients." The last word was pronounced with a decidedly sarcastic flair.

Quinn nodded. "Let's go then," he said. Something troubled him however, and he began to voice it as they walked toward the stairs. "Dawn...doesn't this place feel a little too empty to you?" Dawn turned to answer, but was stopped by the sudden appearance of four armed guards facing them from either direction.

"Um...not anymore," she said in a dejected voice.

Wade sat shivering in the chair, a heightened sense of awareness flooding her senses. Her face was wet from crying and her head felt numb. But the pain had finally stopped, and for that, she was blissfully grateful. She blinked, and vaguely saw the figure of Colin through her blurred vision. Suddenly she heard voices. She shook her head a little. No...she distinctly heard voices -- and one of them was Quinn! She heard Colin too. <<Are the prisoners secured?>> he was saying. <<Yes sir.>> came the reply. <<Good. Bring them here.>>

Suddenly the voices ceased.

"Quinn," she cried weakly. "Quinn, where are you?" She looked frantically around, but the only person in the room was Colin. She glared hatefully at his backside.

<<You must understand Wade,>> thought Colin. <<This is for the best.>>

Wade blinked again. Had she heard him in her mind? "My god," she breathed. "What did you do to me?"

<<You are at your full potential Wade.>> Colin thought. He still faced away from her, and when she looked closely, he seemed to be shivering slightly.

Colin looked at her then, and she stared in his eyes. "He's troubled by his own actions," thought Wade. "As well he should be." She knew Colin could read her thoughts but she didn't care.

"How dare you," she said fiercely. "Who are you to play God with my mind? Who are you to decide that I will die?"

Colin came closer to her and touched her arm. She simply glared at him. "Wade, you don't understand," he said softly, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. "I'm sacrificing here too. But this is the only way to save the drones. It is the only solution my government would accept to dismantle the camps."

Wade stared at him stonily, and Colin continued. "When you join with the other multimind, the vibrations given off by your shared energies will bring the drones into full use of their minds! They'll be normal, like the rest of us! No more camps! No more death."

Wade laughed bitterly. The man's idealism was twisted, she could see it. "Except me and the other 'multimind' as you call her or him...who is it anyway?"

Colin looked down, and Wade watched his eyes. To her surprise they were filled with an intense longing. A picture filled her mind.

"No..." breathed Wade.

"The other is my love," said Colin sadly.

The Professor and Remmie crept along a deserted hallway.

"Man this place creeps me out," said Remmie softly.

"I quite agree Mr. Brown." said the Professor. "After all Dawn did say these 'drone camps were modeled after our own Nazi concentration camps. I daresay their science is similar to the horrific experiments that were performed by the Nazi's as well."

Remmie gave a low whistle. "I sure hope not Professor," he said. "I hope Wade is okay."

The Professor patted Remmie on the shoulder. "Not to worry Mr. Brown," he said with false heartiness. "Miss Welles can hold her own...even with me!"

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming around the corner.

"Quickly Mr. Brown!" said the Professor urgently. "We must hide!" Remmie didn't argue, and the two of them bolted to a doorway that was at the end of the hallway. Remmie opened the door and both of them ran in.

Not bothering to observe his surroundings, the Professor peered out of the tiny window in the doorway and watched as two lab technicians walked by, then stopped to have a conversation in the hall.

"Blistering idiots," he muttered. "Well it looks like we are stuck in this alcove for a while Mr. Brown...Mr. Brown?" Turning, he he saw Remmie pointing at the hospital-like bed, mouth open. He looked like he was in shock.

"Pro...Professor...please tell me...that's not...who I think it is?" Remmie asked, his eyes filled with fear.

The Professor opened his mouth then shut it again. His eyes were filled with pain. "Dear god," he said...and then in a broken voice, "Wade...what did they do to you?"

Part 12

Quinn and Dawn struggled against their bindings. Their hands and feet were tied, and they were being pushed through a corridor that felt like it stretched for miles.

"Let us go!" Dawn said fiercely, but the orderly pushing the her ignored her pleas.

Finally he stopped outside of a doorway.

<<Sir?>> he thought to the occupant of the room.

<<Bring them to me. I'm ready.>> came the stark reply.

The Professor knelt,crouched by the bed where the unconscious figure lay. Remmie wiped a tear from his eye. This time, the Crying man had a reason to cry, he thought in despair. "Pro...Professor?" he said uncertainly.

Arturo waved him away with an impatient shake. "Very interesting," he murmured, holding the limp wrist which fell from the bed. Around them, the heart monitors bleeped in a steady monotone.

Remmie glanced at his friend in shock. "Interesting!" he shouted. "Wade is lying there like...like some kinda vegetable and all you can say is interesting?!"

Arturo faced Remmie with a red, irritated face. "I say 'Interesting' Mr. Brown because I am quite fairly certain that the girl in this bed is NOT our Wade!"

Remmie stared in shock. "Huh?" he said.

"To the best of my knowledge Mr. Brown, our Miss Welles did not have a drone camp tattoo on her upper forearm." the Professor continued smugly.

"So that means that this girl is...Dawn's Wade!" Remmie said in relief.

"Precisely Mr. Brown," said the Professor. "And perhaps we can help her."

"How can you live with yourself?" said Wade softly. Colin was facing away from her, looking at the framed pictures that graced his desk. With her newly enhanced mind abilities, Wade felt...or rather "saw" what they were. One was a picture of Dawn, smiling innocently at the camera. The other was a picture of Colin and Dawn, holding each other in front of an amusement park ride.

"I wasn't supposed to love her," Colin said flatly. "I was there to ascertain if she was in fact a multimind. I was a fraud."

Wade blinked. "You were a plant?" she said incredulously.

Colin nodded.

Wade shook her head. "How could you?" she whispered.

But Colin's answer was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Two orderlies led two struggling figures in the room.

"Wade!" said Quinn, catching sight of her strapped in the chair.

"Quinn! Dawn!" said Wade in despair. They'd captured them too!

"Colin?" said Dawn, confusion and shock in her face. "What? How? You've been here...this whole time? Have they hurt you?"

Colin didn't answer, but Wade could hear him mind speak to the orderlies. <<Strap her to the other chair. As for him...secure him to the stretcher, and shoot him with Lycothen. Then leave us.>>

<<No!>> thought Wade.

<<Yes sir.>> replied the orderlies in unison.

Dawn's look turned from shocked worry to betrayal as the orderly moved her towards the chair next to Wade. "Colin!" she screamed. "What are you doing? Help me!"

"Let them go!" shouted Quinn, struggling as his orderly prepared a needle with Lycothen. The orderly stuck him with the needle and Quinn's body went limp.

"You feel calm and happy Quinn," said Colin sharply. Quinn relaxed on the stretcher, a bleary smile plastered across his face.

"I like to slide..." Quinn slurred. "Wade...love...good."

Dawn locked her blue eyes on Colin's own, an accusing, hurt stare in her eyes. "Colin," whispered Dawn. "Why?"

"I'm sorry my love," replied Colin shortly, sadness tinging his eyes. "This must be."

Part 13

The Professor studied the charts hanging from Wade's double's bed intently.

"Hmmm," he muttered to himself.

Remmie watched the unconscious girl. "What's wrong with her Professor?"

"Well, according to these charts Mr. Brown...she's keeping herself in a petite moire." He frowned. "That's impossible...damn fools,"

Remmie looked confused. "A peteet more-wha?" he said.

"It means 'little death' Mr. Brown. In other words, a coma," the Professor explained. "But these witch doctors seem to think that she's imposing the coma-state on herself." He smiled superiorly. "Of course, that is impossible."

"Well," Remmie said slowly. "I don't know Professor. They do some funky things with the brain on this world. I'm not gonna discount anything."

"Hrmmmph," was the Professor's sarcastic reply, and he went over to the door. The two lab technicians were still chatting. "Aren't those two idiots off yet hmm? My word, dilly dally in some other hallway!"

Remmie knelt by the bed and took the unconscious girl's hand. "I want to try to help her Professor. What can I do?"

Arturo looked irritated. "Mr. Brown there is nothing..." he began but stopped at the look on Remmie's face. "Very well..." he said resignedly. "Most coma patients are treated by being spoken to. They can hear what we say. You might try to tell her something that she will respond to. Though I highly doubt it will work."

"I'm still gonna try," said Remmie. He watched the familiar face of the girl on the bed. "Wade," he said tentatively. "Wade, can you hear me?"

The Professor walked over and watched the scene with a disinterested expression. "Speak normally Mr. Brown. She's in a coma...not deaf," he said.

Remmie glanced back at the Professor. He wasn't taken aback. He knew the older man was acting unusually gruff because he was worried about their own Wade -- it was the Professor's way to try and cover painful situations with sarcasm and anger.

"Wade," Remmie said again, louder this time. "Dawn misses you Wade. She's here."

"My word," said the Professor . He was watching a screen monitoring the girl's brain wave pattern. At the mention of Dawn's name, a spike interrupted the zig zagging line that continuously flowed on the screen.

"What?" asked Remmie.

"She responded to Dawn's name. Say it again Mr. Brown." said Arturo.

Remmie turned back to the lifeless girl.

"Wade," he said urgently. "You need to wake up. Dawn needs you. Dawn misses you."

Remmie kept repeating the phrase over and over. At each mention of the name the spike rose higher on the monitor until the brain wave patterns cascaded.

Finally, Wade Welles, twin sister to Dawn Welles, slowly opened her eyes to view two very astonished men.

"Where...where...is Dawn?" she said weakly. "Where is my...sister?"

Dawn watched Colin in misery. Her life felt like it was literally going down in flames all around her. Her love...the man she'd trusted for five long years was a fraud. All the planning to liberate the drones...every ideal he'd espoused...tainted by his association with the Cranium Institute.

Colin walked over to her to prep her for the machine which, according to him, would make her a "multimind."She glared at him, fire eating her eyes.

Colin Mallory stared at her. She was still so beautiful, he thought miserably. He remembered when he'd first gotten the assignment. He was supposed to seduce her...make her trust him. Then he was to find out about the brain pattern...that was when they had just started the research on Wade.

And he had done it. Done the job to perfection in fact. But he hadn't counted on the fact that Dawn's soul was as beautiful as her face...or on the fact that he would fall so hard and deeply in love.

She hated him now. He knew that. But he felt the purity of his chosen path. Two lives were nothing compared to the thousands they would save. Dawn wanted to save the drones. Surely she would see that his was the right course...the only way to achieve then end of the camps.

Because when it came down to it...when he'd been told to bring her to the Institute, he'd done it without question. His sacrifice didn't matter in the face of the mission. He believed that!

So why were his hands trembling as he fumbled for the controls to the machine?

And why was his heart splitting as he watched Dawn's accusing glare -- and Wade's mocking one?

Dawn looked away from him then. She locked eyes with Wade and they shared an unspoken moment of comfort.

And Colin flipped the switch.

Part 14

Dawn felt pain flooding every tendril of her senses. It was like her skin was being torn from her body, and then reattached in all the wrong places. Her mouth opened to scream, but she found she couldn't make a sound.

Colin couldn't look at her. Instead he walked over to his desk.

Wade watched Dawn's pain helplessly from across the room. "I have to do something!" she thought miserably. But she couldn't...could she? Colin usually sensed her every move. But now...he looked like he wasn't even paying attention.

Quinn lay listlessly on the stretcher next to her. But the drug was wearing off a bit, and she could see he was able to think more clearly. He began to struggle against the ties that held him.

"Wade," he hissed, glancing at Colin. "He's distracted by Dawn's pain. He's not paying attention to us! We've got to try and make a move!"

Wade nodded. It was true. Colin was at the far corner of the room, staring at the pictures on his desk, while Dawn writhed in agony in the machine. Surely he wasn't listening to their thoughts.

Nevertheless, she felt afraid. Afraid of what that machine had done to her mind. She could feel the power residing in her, and though she knew that all it would take was a simple thought...she was afraid of how that very same thought might change her.

"Okay," she whispered hesitantly. "I'm going to try and untie you...that machine...he put me in it...and it gave me some kind of mental powers Quinn!" The last part of her sentence was almost a cry of muffled agony.

Quinn's eyes burned with anger. He wanted to kill Colin. He'd hurt Wade! But he swallowed it down, because he knew Wade needed his encouragement, not his outrage.

"You can do it," he whispered. "Just concentrate."

"Er...hello Wade," said the Professor to the girl who was now sitting up on the bed. The girl was glancing at Remmie and himself warily now. "I am Professor Maximillion Arturo, and this is my friend Rembrandt Brown."

"Where is my sister?" she asked again, more forthright this time. If these were more of those doctors, trying to get her to participate in their insane experiment...

"Your sister is with a friend of ours sweetheart," said Remmie. "You see the doctors here took our other friend, and your sister is trying to help us get her back. She doesn't even know you're here."

"No," sighed Dawn's Wade, relaxing a bit more as she sensed the truth of the man's story. "She couldn't know."

"Those fools are still outside," said the Professor, taking a quick glance through the doorway window. "Won't they ever stop blathering? How are we to help Quinn and Dawn find...er..." he stopped, not wanting to have to explain the whole sliding concept to Dawn's Wade. "How are we to find our friend if we can't even leave this blasted room!" He paced irritably, while Remmie began to question Dawn's Wade.

"Why are you here Wade?" asked Remmie. "Dawn told us they'd taken you to a drone camp."

Dawn's Wade laughed bitterly. "Oh those idiots did at first," she said. "That is, until they reexamined my tests and found out my mental capacities were just dormant, and my real psi reading was off the charts."

"That was when Colin Mallory brought me to this place," she said, spitting out Colin's name in disgust. "The damn fool was so idealistically blind, he didn't even realize the government was using his project for their own purposes."

"Colin Mallory?" the Professor thundered. "You mean Dawn's boyfriend Colin? The one who's been missing for four weeks?"

Dawn's Wade nodded sadly. "He wasn't missing. He's been here, reviewing his tests on her. He'd come in here and speak to me. He didn't know I could hear him." She shook her head angrily. "He just had to get into her head. Couldn't leave her alone. That bastard's been lying to her for five years!"

She laughed sarcastically. "He wants to use the multimind program to free the drones. Very noble and all that right? But the government has other plans for me and Dawn. They want to use our minds as a weapon...to destroy the drones...and of course kill us and Colin in the process."

The Professor and Remmie stared at her, openmouthed.

She shrugged. "I found out three years ago. I even tried to tell him. But he just wouldn't listen. So, I just went to sleep. That way if they killed me, at least they wouldn't get to use my mind. But I guess they just kept hoping I'd wake up."

"Woah," said Remmie. "We've got to get outta this room Professor. If that's all true, then Dawn and Quinn are in more danger than we thought."

The Professor stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Wade my dear," he said. "Do your abilities allow you to implant suggestions?" he said.

Dawn's Wade's eyes sparkled as she read the thought on the tip on the Professor's tongue. "Yes!" she said excitedly. "That's a brilliant idea!"

"Yes," said the Professor smugly as a wide smile crossed his face. "I know."

Part 15

Dawn's Wade opened the door to her room silently, as the Professor and Remmie followed closely behind. Once in the hallway, however, her stance abruptly changed, and she strode confidently past the two lab technicians, who merely gaped at her in shock.

Before they could say a word, however, she spoke. "You see her when you look at me," she said, silently projecting an image of the woman she despised more than any of the other doctors...the one who had leaked out the government's plan for the Welles twins. The Professor had told her, after all, to project the person with the highest authority. And Logan Mallory was probably the head scientist in the camp...and the most heartless.

Dawn's Wade snorted softly to herself...after all, Logan was the one who'd devised the plan to use the Welles twins' minds to get rid of the drones...and kill her own brother.

The two techs blinked as she walked by, then stood at full attention.

"Hello Logan...uh...I mean ma'am," stuttered one.

"Thank goodness. Low-level techs," thought Dawn's Wade. If they'd been high-level, they probably wouldn't have fallen for her ruse. As it was, she couldn't break the image by speaking. So, she projected an image of Logan nodding her head haughtily, while suppressing a grin..

The Professor and Remmie grinned at each other knowingly. It was working!

"Come Rembrandt," said the Professor, his eyes twinkling. "To the lab."

Wade concentrated on the rope that held Quinn's hands in position. But she was untrained in the mental arts...and unsure of how to use her so called multimind.

She narrowed her eyes, picturing the rope unraveling as she concentrated harder, and as she watched, the rope began to slowly loosen.

"I'm doing it!" Wade thought exuberantly.

Which was a mistake.

Colin, distracted as he was by Dawn's ordeal, clearly sensed Wade's gleeful thought.

He turned and faced her, his eyes cold. Wade saw the knowledge of her actions reflected in his face, and drew in a deep breath of fear.

Colin turned then, and approached Quinn, his hand outstretched. "I'm afraid your friend Quinn here is giving you the wrong ideas Wade," he said sternly. "I will have to eliminate him."

"NO!!" screamed Wade in horror, as she struggled against the bonds that held her to the chair. "Don't you touch him!"

Quinn watched Colin approach, his mind reeling. But then he felt the ties on his hands. They were still loose from Wade's attempt to untie him! Frantically he struggled to pull his wrists free -- and escape Colin's deadly touch.

"Colin...please," came the weakened voice of Dawn from across the room. Tears were flowing openly down her cheeks. "If you ever loved me...you won't do this!"

Colin hesitated, looking back at her, his face pained.

Quinn saw his chance. He finally got his hands free, and leaped out of the chair, connecting his right fist into Colin's turned cheek.

Colin staggered back, clutching his face. "I'll kill you!" he sputtered.

Quinn faced him defiantly, his fists raised, despite the fact he knew he was no match for Colin's mind powers.

Dawn wept, silently now.

Suddenly the door swung open to reveal the Professor, Remmie and...Wade?

Quinn blinked in confusion. Dawn gasped in shock. And Colin spun around to face the intruders.

"You!" spat out Colin, scrunching his expression into a look of twisted hatred.

Dawn's Wade looked at him, her face calm and unruffled. "Hello Colin," she said evenly.

Part 16

Colin glared at Dawn's Wade, who watched him calmly as the Professor and Remmie lurked behind, ready to spring on him.

"Selfish bitch..." he spit out. "You decided to wake up."

Dawn's Wade stood and stared at him stonily. "I came for my sister," she said.

Colin laughed. "Of course you did. The Project...the lives you could save...they've always meant nothing to you!"

Dawn's Wade's face grew harsher, "Logan's played you from day one Colin. And you're so damn thick you don't even realize it."

Dawn watched her sister. Shock permeated her brain...and then anger...more anger than she'd ever felt in her life. She felt it bubbling inside her like a volcano ready to burst. Logan, her supposed friend, and Colin, her lover...had *lied* to her all this time?

"That bastard!" she fumed. "That liar!" After all, it was one thing for Colin to simply betray her...she could almost forgive that because she knew he pursued a course of action he believed to be right and true. He was twisted in his belief. But the belief itself was a noble one. Saving the drones was a course she had, after all, pursued for years. But the fact that he had obviously hid his knowledge of Wade from her...when he knew...HE KNEW...how it had killed her daily to think of her sister in a camp!

And Logan...where did she fit into all of this?

Dawn could clearly remember the day she'd come to Logan, trying desperately to find Colin after his *disappearance.* "Nothing," Logan had said, after trying to sense him, and she'd believed. Dawn shook her head. "HOW was I so gullible!" she thought reproachfully.

That was when she felt her sister's mind touch hers. <<You couldn't have known Dawn.>>

<<I...I believed him.>>

<<He was a plant...sent to determine your mind pattern...he wants to save the drones. But Logan has other plans.>>

<<What?>>

<<She wants to use us as a weapon...merge us to destroy the drones, kill Colin...and when we've outlived our usefulness...to kill us.>>

Dawn felt the powers of her mind bubbling up with her anger. They felt tangible, and ready to surface.

Her sister's thoughts hit her one more time, hesitant this time.

<<He did love you Dawn.>>

<<That>> thought Dawn darkly. <<makes it worse.>>

<<Then join with me. Merge on our own terms. We can defeat them together>> came the voice inside her head.

<<Yes>> replied Dawn, the heat of her anger flashing in her eyes.

And the fusion began.

With Colin distracted by Wade's double, Quinn took the opportunity to untie Wade.

She stood up, exuberant to be free of the chair, and threw her arms around him.

"You idiot," she said softly admonishing him through her worried tears. "He could kill you."

Quinn held her tightly. "I'm not gonna let him get near you," he said, gazing fiercely at Colin.

Suddenly, Wade's face looked cloudy. "Something's happening Quinn...I can feel it!" she whispered.

Evidently Colin felt it too, because he took a step backwards away from Dawn's wade. "Noooo!" he yelled. "You can't join yet! The Project! It's not time!"

But Dawn and Wade's double did not heed his protests.

A light emanating from their foreheads enveloped both their bodies. It swirled, clouding the view of the two girls, until neither one could be seen.

Then, sparks of light began to flow between the two pulses of energy. Back and forth light, like some crazed fireworks display, growing ever closer and ever faster, the two energies shifted and focused in on each other.

Quinn stared at the display openmouthed. He was too shocked even to move from what he knew was a dangerous position.

The Professor broke him out of his reverie. "Mr. Mallory..." he hissed. "I suggest we help our young friends?" He gestured to Colin and the chair that Wade had just been sitting in.

In unison, all three male sliders moved towards Colin. Before Colin realized what they were doing (his attention completely taken in by the joining), they had tackled him and strapped him into the chair that Wade had so recently occupied.

"Good show Mr. Mallory," cried the Professor.

Remmie stepped behind Quinn. "Let's see that turkey get out of that trap," he quipped.

Quinn smiled, as he looked at Colin's enraged face.

"Fools!" Colin cried. "Do you think you can hold me in this!" He shut his eyes for a moment. With that one of the straps on the chair broke off.

The smile on Quinn's face faded.

"No brother...but I can," said a feminine voice from the doorway.

Colin gaped...frozen in the chair.

A tall, brown haired woman smiled viciously at the huddling sliders. "I see you have nearly performed my tasks for me."

Wade held tightly to Quinn's hand, as they stepped back. A name flashed in her mind, and she gasped. "It's Logan!" she said, her worried voice betraying the fear they all felt.

"This just keeps gettin' better and better," muttered Remmie sarcastically.

Part 17

Logan smiled at the figure of her brother, who lay in the chair, a look of confusion plastered on his face. Meanwhile the bodies of Dawn and her sister had completely merged together. They stood, one figure softly glowing, features indistinguishable, making no comment as Logan waved her hand and allowed her brother to stand for a moment.

"Logan...?" said Colin in confusion...and more than a little fear. He knew his sister. She could be ruthless. A thought crossed his mind, and he looked at the figure of the multimind glowing softly to his right. "Was Wade right? Was Logan operating on her own agenda?"

Logan laughed again, louder this time. She completely ignored the huddling sliders as she addressed her brother. "Brother dear, you played right in my hands. The multimind is ready. Ready for the destruction of the drones."

"No..." whispered Colin, with a look of realization.

"Oh...yes," responded Logan.

"Oh my god. She was right. No! Dawn!" said Colin, and he sprang in front of the glowing multimind. He held his hands up, drawing on a reserve of strength he didn't even know he had, and sent a force of wind into Logan, blowing her hard against the wall, and knocking her unconscious for a moment.

Colin turned to the sliders. "Get away! Get away now! I can't hold her!" He knew he was a dead man. But it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

The multimind began to swirl.....sparks of light flying, blinding the sliders. It was growing brighter, and hotter in the room, and Wade could barely distinguish where the light was coming from.

The Professor and Remmie ran out the door. Quinn started to pull Wade out of the room. But Wade looked at the multimind that had once been her double and her alternate twin. "We can't leave them!" she protested. "No!" For she realized what they were about to do, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"We can't do anything Wade!" Quinn shouted. "Go!"

She felt a presence touch her mind. Dawn's voice spoke to her. "Go...Wade. Perhaps we will meet again someday...until then go...get to Sanctuary."

Her double's voice joined with Dawn's and Wade felt a feather light touch. "Live in peace...without the burden of your mind."

Dimly Wade realized that her double had just closed her off from the powers that Colin had released.

Mutely, Wade allowed Quinn to grab her hand and run out of the room.

They ran down the hallways of the Cranium Institute, ducking to avoid guards until they finally ran out the door. Alarms were screaming within the Institute, and people were running around in chaos.

Quinn held tightly to Wade, as they followed the Professor and Remmie into the street away from the Institute.

Suddenly a bright flash filled the sky, and a deafening roar hit their ears in a rush.

"Hit the deck Mr. Mallory!" shouted the Professor, as he dove for the nearest bit of shelter he could find.

Quinn dropped into a roll, grabbing Wade to him and sheltering her with his body.

Another explosion sounded. Then another. The sky was lit up with the flames coming from the burning remains of the Cranium Institute. Quinn watched it burn with round, saddened eyes, holding tightly to Wade. He realized what it meant. The Cranium Institute was gone. But so were Dawn and her sister.

"Two minutes to the slide Mr. Mallory," said the Professor with a flourish. "And I will be so very incredibly happy to be off this hellhole of a world."

"You're tellin' me Professor," remarked Remmie.

Quinn didn't answer. He was watching Wade, who was holding a picture of a younger, laughing Dawn, looking very full of life. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"There was nothing you could do," he said softly.

Wade shook her head sadly. "She sacrificed herself. All for the powers of her mind." She put the picture in her pocket. "I'll never forget that," she said.

Quinn nodded as the timer beeped, and the Professor activated the vortex. He wouldn't forget it either.

He grabbed Wade's hand and the four interdimensionial travelers leaped into the next world.

The vortex closed with a whooshing sound, leaving the remains of Sanctuary quiet.

But only for a moment.

Suddenly three etheral forms floated into the room. Their features were indistinct, but their voices weren't.

"Voice identification please," said the computer, detecting a new presence.

"Dawn Welles," one figure said with an unearthly smile.

"Wade Welles," said the other laughing merrily and twirling brightly across the room.

"Colin Mallory," said the last, as it merged to make contact with the first spirit form for a brief moment.

"Time to say good-bye to the drone camps," said the first figure serenely.

The three figures joined hands...and disappeared.

Pictures began to light up the computer screen. "Prisoner #16256 freed...Prisoner #16257 freed," the computer spouted. Lights began flashing, and the endless stream of numbers continued on and on.

The End

Ok...I know this story was a little scifi...thanks to everybody who stuck with it!