The Quantum Harem (closed)

[DarkNFrilly]

"Now that I can answer," Stevens said with a smile. "To the door. Definitely to the door."

 

[Armphid]

"Okay then." Will stared at the door for a few moments, not really seeing the lurid pictures of Maria that stared back at him. He felt like he should say something eloquent. "Here goes everything."

Ugh, that was the best he could manage?

He slipped the key into the lock; it clicked firmly and though it was easy to turn the key, there was a sense of a great mass moving as the tumblers locked and rolled to slide the bar away with a faint whispered rush and then a heavy clunk.

Will pushed the door open and stepped through at once, not wanting to give himself a reason to hesitate.

 

[DarkNFrilly]

Maria looked at the clock and sighed. Saturday night, and here she was again, the only person in a small town library. While she was reshelving the books in the children's section, her sisters and her co-workers were out doing...

Well, Maria wasn't sure what they were doing, but she was sure it was more fun than what she was doing. Of course, if Maria hadn't been working, she would have been home eating popcorn and watching the Food Network.

So taking the after hours shift on Fridays and Saturdays wasn't close to being a hardship. On the contrary, her volunteering endeared her to her co-workers and broke up the usual monotony of her weekends.

For a moment, Maria allowed herself to wonder what it might be like to be...well, a little wilder. She smiled wistfully as she looked down at what she was wearing. A gray sweater over a slightly over sized gray blouse, with a darker gray sweater that reached down to well below her knees. The picture was made complete with her hair up in a bun.

Anyone who knew Maria Checa would never believe that she could be anything but what she appeared to be: a dowdy librarian doomed to spinsterhood.

In fact, the most exciting thing that had happened to Maria this week was a book that had gone missing. It was one of those pop science things, called "Universes Beyond" by a physicist named Anatoly something or other. Maria suspected that one of the library's patrons had reshelved the book themselves, and now there was no telling where the book was. Maria was going to have go over each shelf in an attempt to find it.

Maria was in the library's science fiction section when she saw a flash of light coming from one of the library's storage rooms. Grabbing the stapler from the nearby reference desk, she called out in a wavering voice, "Is somebody back there?"

 

[Armphid]

In the moment he stepped over the threshold, he was enveloped in nothing. There was no light, no movement of air, no heat but also no chill, there was nothing under his feet supporting him yet he did not fall. He could not even feel or hear his heartbeat or his exhalation. He hung between all that was, is, would be or could be. It was ultimately thrilling and terrifying.

Then he was in motion; moving impossibly fast yet not traveling at all. Light was all about him, warming and soothing, in all hues and colors blending into white and back again. He shut his eyes. Looking into the Time Vortex drove The Master mad and he was no Time Lord.

Then his foot came down and he was in the cool dark. A more normal cool dark or so it felt. Will opened his eyes and could see...not much. There was some light there, coming from under a door.

He heard a woman's voice calling out then, questioning and commanding while trying without success not to waver. Answering "No" might be contrary and funny but he didn't want to frighten this woman any more than she already was. "Yes, ah, yes, there is. I'm sorry to startle you. I didn't expect myself to be here either."

Will made his way to the door. The room he was in smelled faintly of chemicals; a janitor's closet? Something similar. "If you don't mind, I'm coming out now. Again, I'm very sorry but I promise I am not here to cause any trouble nor do I bear anyone ill will. Well, maybe Zack Snyder."

Would anyone in this reality get that joke? He'd have to be careful with his pop culture references.

Will slowly opened the door and stepped out into what was clearly a library. Was this Maria's library? Was she the one who had spoken? He held his hands up so they could be seen as being empty. "Hello. I'm Will Baker. Nice to meet you, Miss...?"

 

[DarkNFrilly]

"Checa," Maria answered, "Maria Checa."

The man who stepped out of the closet seemed harmless enough. Or, at least, her instincts were telling Maria he was harmless. Which was odd, because a strange man had just stepped out of a storage closet. And the stranger was talking about not wanting to harm anyone except someone named Zach Snyder. Maria didn't know anyone by that name. Maybe this stranger had been laying in wait for this Zach Snyder?

But Maria's instincts told her this Will Baker was harmless, at least as far as she was concerned.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Baker," Maria continued, setting down the stapler in her hand, "What were you doing in that closet?"

 

[Armphid]

It was her, now that he could see her clearly. That beautiful face and those tempting lips were unmistakable, even if she was dressed like a bad sitcom hermit spinster. Grey on grey on grey. Wow.

But even with that, he felt a...draw to her. "Miss Checa, please call me Will." But how to answer her question? Lying was not something he wanted to do but the reality was insane. It might also be considered "caddish" to lie to her or lead her on. Yet he couldn't do what he would need to if she threw him out or called the cops because he was clearly a loon. But lying again felt...wrong. Especially when he knew the Affinity Factor might twist her into accepting a lie.

"Oh, boy." He understood how Sam Beckett felt now. "Well." Will took a deep breath and decided go trust his heart. He really hoped he wasn't going to regret this. "I was as surprised as you to end up in the closet. I knew I would be traveling and that I would end up near you, but I would not have chosen to startle you so. I stepped through a doorway and then I was in the dark in the storage closet there."

Will licked his lips and shrugged, "You see, I've come here because there's something minor that's amiss. It will seem harmless but will actually cause some significant problems. Whatever it is, you are involved or connected to it, Miss Checa. I'm here to help you, is the short version." Will looked around; the library was quiet and many of the lights were off. Closed for the day? "Hm, may I ask what has you here after hours?"

 

[DarkNFrilly]

Maria's good sense, which hardly anyone questioned, was telling her that she should be stepping over to the phone to call the police. At the very least, the man was unstable, talking about traveling to the library to...end up near her? She didn't smell liquor on the man's breath, but it sounded like he was saying he had stumbled in the front door of the library, somehow ended up in the storage closet and passed out.

So how was it no one had noticed him?

And now he seemed to be asking her if she was all alone.

Maria knew she should call the police. Her good sense was telling her to do just that.

But something told her this man might be crazy, but he was basically harmless, and the police would probably end up hurting him.

"Why don't you come have a seat...Will," Maria said, gesturing toward the chair behind the desk she had put the stapler on. "I'm sure we'll get this all worked out. And yes, the library is closed to our patrons, but it's a Saturday, and we have a lot of younger patrons who have to be picked up afterwards on Saturdays."

 

[Armphid]

The doubt in her eyes and voice was obvious. Perhaps it had been a mistake to be so straight forward, but at least he didn't feel the guilt of lying to her. "If it would make you more comfortable, of course. It would be very nice to sit and talk with a woman as beautiful as you, if you weren't looking at me like I was crazy. Not that I blame you." He took the offered seat and sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm sure this is all very bizarre and uncomfortable. I know I have no way to reassure you, since you don't know me, but I would ask you to just consider the facts."

"You've been here most of the day, I'm guessing, and don't remember seeing me before now. You don't seem the type to forget who or what you've seen so easily. So you know I didn't come in the doors. You can check the windows and I promise to stay here or within your line of sight while you do so, but I also don't look like I've been crawling through anything. The storage closet, based on the way the handle felt and how it clicked twice on closing behind me, locks automatically and was locked when I appeared inside. I have keys but none of them will fit that lock or turn it. If there is an air vent in there, it would be much too small for me to fit through and, again, I'd show the signs of crawling about." He tipped his chair back so the front legs were a bit off the floor. "That light wasn't me flashing the lights inside; they couldn't be that bright. So then, how did I get inside?"

Will shook his head, "Star Trek has used this line but it was Sherlock Holmes' first. When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. I appeared in that closet from another place. I have come here to help you. I know it may be shocking but it is true."

 

[DarkNFrilly]

Maria wasn't sure what "Star Trek" was, since the genre had never come into being in her reality, but she was more than familiar with Arthur Conan Doyle.

Maria pulled up a chair on the other side of the desk.

"The thing is, Will, that we haven't eliminated all the possibilities." Marie actually felt a little thrill at presenting a logical argument to the crazy man, even though she didn't know where the courage to make the argument was coming from.

"Just because I didn't see you come in, doesn't mean you didn't. There are several places in the library where I could have been when you came in," she began, "Where I wouldn't have seen you come in and go the storage room. And just because the door locks doesn't mean it was locked. So your somewhat byzantine story isn't the only explanation. And certainly not the most feasible one."

"Still..." Maria paused, "Your story aside, you said you were her to take care of something minor. Can you tell me what it is?"

 

[Armphid]

This was actually kind of fun. Perhaps it was just because she was bright and charming, at least he found her so, as well as beautiful. Will tapped a finger on his chin at her statements regarding his "story" as she called it. "I grant you it is possible that I could have come in without you seeing but there is still the matter of the door. It doesn't have to be locked, you say, but it seemed to do so automatically. So if it automatically locks, it was and is locked, and thus I had no way inside beyond what I have described."

He sighed at her question and shook his head, "Yes, I suppose how I got here isn't really the issue. I would be happy to tell you what it is that I must do except that I don't know." He ran a hand through his chestnut hair, accidentally mussing it a bit. "The...individual who sent me here said I would need to find whatever it is. All I know is that it is likely something minor and that it is connected to or involves you, Miss Checa."

He looked around them. Despite what she'd said earlier, he didn't hear the sounds if anyone else moving about or speaking. Were they alone? Will looked back at the luminous beauty in her frumpy clothes, "Miss Checa, is there anything that's been out of place or not quite right for you today? Or recently? It would be something big enough to notice, even cause some delay and frustration, but not big enough to be harmful, threatening or worrisome."

 

[DarkNFrilly]

"You're engaging in a false dichotomy, Will, and making quite a few assumptions not necessarily based on facts." Maria said, a smile tugging at the right corner of her mouth. Her 'good sense' was telling Maria to stop talking to this crazy guy and call the police. But there was something compelling about him. Maria didn't know what it was, but she not only didn't feel Will was a threat to her, she felt very comfortable around him, even if he was trying to convince her of this preposterous story that somehow he had just appeared in the janitor's closet.

"First, I'm glad you concede that I might not have seen you enter the library in a more mundane fashion. We are a small library, but not quite that small," she said in an amused tone. "We have more than a few employees. And since I was staying late this evening, I wasn't the one who opened the doors this morning. For all I know, you walked in this morning, headed straight to the janitor's closet and waited for the library to close."

"Now, as to the janitor's closet door, we keep a small box of cleaning supplies under the main desk, so I rarely have to go into the janitor's closet. It it for the janitor, you understand. And we are big enough to have janitors," she chuckled.

"Each of the few times I've been in the janitor's closet, it's been open. So I couldn't tell you if it locks itself every time the door is closed, or if it used to lock itself in the past but doesn't any more, or if it never did. And if the door does lock itself, I can think of several ways to get around that situation, the simplest one being you have a key in your possession. Or that the door was open when you entered it, and you closed it behind yourself. So in the parlance of the detective genre, there is no locked room mystery here."

"That being said," Maria continued, "It's still an interesting story, and I can't help but wonder if this is an elaborate practical joke." Maria certainly hoped so, though she didn't think she was close enough to any of her co-workers for someone to go to this much trouble. She was just little Maria, who everybody got to do favors for them, but never thought much about otherwise.

As to what's missing," she shrugged. "You always have something that's misplaced in a library. Somebody reads a book, for instance, and then reshelves it themselves. I was just looking for one right now. But that's just a run of a mill thing. Although..."

 

[Armphid]

"I'm beginning to feel like the joke's on me," he said with a rueful expression. She had rather thoroughly dismantled his theory and he felt like a fool. That wasn't her fault, though. It was also kind of...nice? She was showing a keen wit and that smile was the kind that made a man walk on air. Her laugh was probably wonderful.

That said, he had the sense he was failing miserably. Perhaps he should have lied. But that still felt like a dirty thing to do and potentially dangerous for him since he didn't know what the multiverse would consider poor behavior or abusive use of his Affinity Factor.

"I'm pleased I've made you smile at least, and though I feel like a fool, I am not joking. I don't know anyone here who could have set this up. I don't even know the name of this library. Or what city or state we're in." He let the front legs of the chair thump down and leaned forward, elbows on the desk. "Although, you say? Something misplaced that has stuck in your mind? What, if I may ask?"

 

[DarkNFrilly]

"It's minor, really," Maria said, still wondering why she was playing along with the crazy guy's delusion. "We've been trying to make ourselves more relevant recently. Not that books aren't relevant," she quickly added, "But they're no longer the only medium our patrons want. So we recently acquired a number of DVDs to lend out. Since you have to get one of the staff to get the DVD you want, they're easier to keep track of."

"Anyway, last week I had a request for a TV series called 'Sliders.' Specifically, for season two. The patron who asked for it made an odd comment. He told me I had something in common with one of the guest stars in episode four of that season." Maria shrugged. "When I went to open the DVD container, the disk for the episode in question was missing. The gentleman who asked for it said he could come back this coming Monday if I thought I could find the missing DVD, which I assured him I could. But I haven't been able to find it."

"An annoying problem, but hardly a pressing one," Maria concluded. "If it weren't for the gentleman's odd comments, I wouldn't have even brought it up."

 

[Armphid]

"It is minor. And it is weird." Will had his fingers steepled in front of his face, leaning forward on the desk. Sliders, huh? He'd seen some of that show as a kid but not a lot. Season 2, episode 4...and she was similar to someone in it? And this guy just happened to mention it. "A beautiful librarian? Or did he mean something else..."

Huh. Did he have an opposite number? God forbid, he had no idea what he was doing. Nit enough to succeed at this task, let alone thwart Murdock or whoever. Maybe it was just a hint from the multiverse?

"Minor and weird enough that it may be exactly why I'm here." He put his hands down flat on the desk. "What have you done to locate it so far? Do you know for sure that all the DVDs for that season were confirmed back when it was last returned?"

"I know you think me a lunatic or a trick on you, but please humor me. Let me help you find it, Miss Checa. And if you can think of anything else odd like it. I think we're on the right track, but just in case."

 

[DarkNFrilly]

As illogical as it felt, Maria decided to continue humoring Will.

"I checked all the unwrapped DVD cases, to see if the missing disc had somehow gotten mixed into another case, but no such luck. We have some software on discs in our back office, and I checked all the sleeves, but I didn't find the missing disc either."

Maria shrugged. "If you think it's important, I'd be more than happy to have your help in finding it, but I wouldn't know where to start looking for it, other than the places I mentioned." Maria's common sense was telling her to send Will on his way and, if he didn't go voluntarily, call the police to help him on his way. But Maria found herself thinking of Will more as an eccentric friend than a crazy stranger.

 

[Armphid]

Will nodded, "A free perspective can help. So the question in my mind is if the disc went missing here or if it never made it back when it was last checked out? Is there a check-in log of any kind, Miss Checa? If we can confirm that all the discs were present when it was brought back, that would narrow the options considerably."

He rose to his feet, "I'd also like to check the DVD players you have here on site, as well as the DVD drives in the computers. Perhaps someone was watching it here." He paused, "If you'd allow me to, of course."

 

[DarkNFrilly]

"Since I don't know your last name, it seems rather silly for you to keep calling me 'Miss Checa.'" Maria said. "Why don't you call me Maria?" she added, suddenly feeling a little shy.

"All our DVDs were new and wrapped before we got them," Maria continued. "And that particular one had been opened and checked already. Plus, the more I think about it, the weirder it seems that he mentions an episode that was on the missing disk."

"We have three DVD players, two in the main office and one of our media room. And three computers with DVD drives, also in the main office. I've checked all of them already, but..." Maria shrugged. "Maybe they're in a drawer nearby or something that I've overlooked. It wouldn't hurt to look again."

 

[Armphid]

"Thank you, Maria." He'd told her his last name he introduced himself but he wasn't about to correct her. Being on a first name basis with this gorgeous woman was excellent and hopefully progress. After all, even if he found the DVD, he still had go get her naked and get her to cum.

He rose, "Let's check the players and the drawers of any desk near them. Before this man asked for it, had anyone else borrowed the set?"

He followed her through the dimly lit stacks. "Hey, does this library have the Internet? Maybe we should watch that episode or find a synopsis that might tell us what this strange fellow was implying?"

 

[DarkNFrilly]

"We're a small town library, Will, but we do have internet connection. Quite a few patrons of ours come in just to check their emails," she added, waving at a row of cubicles with computers.

Maria led Will to the main office behind the main desk. She turned on one of the desktop computers in the office, entered her password, and a screen with the library's logo as its background appeared.

"We recently switch over to KemKool Hundred as our web explorer," Maria added, bringing up a internet search engine entitled KemKool 100. "Feel free," she added, waving for Will to take the seat in front of the computer.

 

[Armphid]

Will blinked. "Kemkool what now?" All right, that hadn't been smooth exactly. It should be all right. It was just a search engine and they all worked about the same. Right?

That said, this seemed like a bigger change than a Native American Wesley Snipes. Was Bailey wrong earlier? Or had things changed more dramatically?

"Sliders might not even be the same show or have the same episodes in the same order. Just as well I don't know much about it," he mused. He typed the information he had on the episode in and hit Enter.

 

[DarkNFrilly]

Marie looked over Will's shoulder as the description of the episode in question came on the screen:

*****​

"The Good, the Bad and the Wealthy" is the fourth episode of the second season for the science fiction television show Sliders. It originally aired on March 22 1996. In the episode, Quinn's fast draw with a gun embroils him in a corporate takeover.

A boy named Jamie finishes practicing his fast draw in time to see Arturo, Quinn, Rembrandt, and Wade emerge from the sliding vortex. Coming "from a world of dust to a world of dung" (in Arturo's words), the Sliders are directed to the Wall Street Saloon to get something to eat. They find that this world's San Francisco is part of the Republic of Texas, an amalgam of the real state of Texas and areas to its north and west. Quinn steps in to prevent a fight between two saloon patrons and is drawn into a gunfight with one of them, which he wins by shooting him dead. Quinn is arrested, but Billy Ray, an associate of the Drexel-Bullock Corporation, has him released into his custody. Quinn's offered a position by Mr. Bullock, for the man he'd shot was one of his best lawyers -- a gunfight is the method of settling legal disputes in the Republic of Texas.

Arturo, Rembrandt, and Wade check into their room at the Dominion Hotel (standard operating procedure for each world they slide to) and learn from Priscilla Hardaway, co-founder of Hardaway Computers, that Bullock had her husband killed so he could buy out the company. She also reveals that Quinn didn't kill Jed, she did as he was the one Bullock had murder her husband. Priscilla needs to maintain the impression that her company can resist a hostile takeover, so she buys a seat on the stock exchange, which is conducted like a poker game. Cliff Sutter, the man who's supposed to sit in the chair, is found hanging in his apartment, so Rembrandt fills in for him, winning $40,000 to keep Hardaway Computers solvent.

Jamie, Priscilla's son, is convinced that the Sliders are here to help them defeat Bullock. While Quinn's being encouraged to work for Drexal-Bullock, he meets Priscilla and learns what Bullock's done. After Jamie's failed attempt to kill Bullock, Quinn and "Billy the Kid", a hostile takeover specialist under contract to Drexal-Bullock, are set to face off at high noon. Quinn removes his gun and holster, and Billy refuses to gun down an unarmed man. Bullock pulls a gun on him (a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission violation), and Billy Ray, Priscilla, Jamie, Rembrandt, and Wade come between Bullock and Quinn while Arturo activates the timer. Before the Sliders enter the vortex, Bullock is arrested for Cliff Sutter's murder and Quinn tells Jamie that it's harder to put a gun down than pick one up.

Trivia:

In the original version of the script, a deleted line suggested that Billy "The Kid" is this world's version of Bill Gates.

The episode title is a reference to the Clint Eastwood movie "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

Moments before the credits roll, Jamie steps forward and repeatedly calls out to Quinn, calling for him to "come back." This is an homage to the iconic ending of the classical Western "Shane."

Rembrandt wins $400,000, not $40,000, in the poker game. Initially, he lost $40,000 before going on a winning streak. And yes, Karen Witter, who plays Priscilla Hardaway, was a Playboy Playmate El Supremo.

*****​

"Is there anything on there that you think might be useful?" Maria asked.

 

[Armphid]

He tried to ignore the way that Maria looking over his shoulder brought her close. He could smell the scent of her hair and it sent jingling electric signals of enjoyment and want down his spine. Then he got to the end of the synopsis and a chill dulled the previous impulses. "Oh, boy," he said again.

What did this mean? Her odd customer had pointed out an extra dimensional similarity. Not to the show or it's characters but the actress. Who was he? Was he a threat? A helper?

And what would he say to Maria? If he told her the truth, she'd think he was a pervert, for sure. But what lie could he possibly come up with that would be feasible? She didn't resemble any of the actresses physically. Well.

"Possibly," he said, in answer to her question. "First is providing a comparison, I'm in a situation similar to the sliders. I'm not from this universe but another one. There are things you've said that I have no idea what they are. I've never heard of the "Chemical" web browser, for example." Will scooted his chair back a little and slowly stood. "Unlike them, I was sent here as I said earlier. But this customer of yours...what he told you shows knowledge of universes other than thus one."

He looked down at her with a sheepish expression, "It sounds crazy, I know. Do you think that maybe we could check the closet I came in from? As that's my entry point and this other man knows about things from other universes, maybe he entered there too. Perhaps the DVD is there or there's a clue as to my task here."

Will paused on his way back out of the office. "I'm sorry. You want go know what he was talking about, right? What you have in common with the guest star? Well." He could get his cheeks heating. "The synopsis mentioned that Karen Witter was a Playboy Playmate. Ah, in my universe, Maria...so were you. I can't think of any other similarity between the two of you."

 

[DarkNFrilly]

Maria refrained from rolling her eyes at Will talking about being from another universe. She supposed it was a logical extension of his delusion of just appearing in the janitor's closet, like magic. Her common sense was screaming at her to call the police to deal with the lunatic, but the scream was just a whisper in her mind. Maria still thought Will was mentally unbalanced, but it was an entertaining unbalance.

"I suppose it could be in the janitor's closet," Maria said tentatively, though I don't know why it would be there. But no harm checking, I suppose."

And then Maria's eyes went wide when Will talked about her being a centerfold in some other reality. She immediately curled in on herself, pulling her sweater tight. She would never do anything like that. Never!

"I...no one's ever seen me naked," she said meekly, even though part of her brain actually wondered if Will knew what she looked liked nude.

 

[Armphid]

The janitor's closet was a shot in the dark. There was a certain amount of reasoning to it but other than this other multiversal traveler there was nothing in particular to recommend it. But if they did share an entry point then it was worth looking at just to see if there were any clues about who this guy was. "It's a long shot but if he and I came here from the same entry, then maybe there's something there. After all, he's the one who called out your similarity to that actress."

He glanced back st her in surprise and a bit of guilt. She was clearly deeply embarrassed. But it was her admission that surprised him the most. "I'm...stunned. You must know you're gorgeous. I can't imagine that you haven't had many men wanting to be with you. I admit I find you very attractive." Should he mention that he'd seen some of the pictures of her? "Despite hiding under those sweaters, you have the form of a goddess and you deserve to be admired and feel the worship of o a lover."