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Harvard Labs- Fringe division -April 2010
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Walter Bishop walked around his lab at Harvard. he had been working on something great. A portal that could cross between the dimensions. the portal that his alternate had created had been incomplete. He knew he could make it better. he thought everything could be better.
Peter walked into the lab. it was a mess. components were strewn everywhere. He frowned. "Walter, what are you doing? I thought you were going to clear all this stuff..."
"I can do it Peter." Walter said. "I almost got the formula..." He stood at his Blackboard. "I just need to..."
Peter stared at him. his father was eccentric. he was used to that, but something was wrong. being from the other dimension, he could sense when something was off. "What is it Walter?"
Walter stared at a glowing form in front of him that appeared out of nowhere.
The image spoke. "Ziggy! Center me in on Sam! " The middle-aged man was tapping his headset, looking around confused.
Walter pointed. "What are you?"
Peter thought Walter was having another hallucination. "Have you been hitting the LSD again? there's nobody there Walter."
"No... not this week." he extended a finger, trying to poke a small middle-aged man in front of him.
"Ziggy!" the man was frustrated. "I gotta upgrade this thing...he touched his headset again. he noticed the extended finger pointing at him. "hey!"
"Oh, sorry." Walter said.
The man's eyes went wide. "You can see me?" he looked puzzled.
"Of course I can. you're right here."
"Who's right here?" Peter asked.
Walter looked at Peter. "The man in the red hat and tie. I used to have one just like it in yellow..."
The man stood there staring at Walter. "not everyone can see me. I'm a hologram."
"Really? how delightful!" he turned to Peter. "he says he's a hologram."
"That's ridiculous Walter."
"I'm not really here. I'm really in a research lab in New Mexico. I'm connected to my partner who is in the Imaging chamber."
"Imaging Chamber? New Mexico?" Walter questioned.
"yeah... I'm part of a government project called Quantum leap."
"Quantum Leap? how delightful! I've been working on a formula to cross dementions. I work for the fringe division of the FBI."
The man glared at him. "More government stuff, huh?"
Walter shrugged. "Never a dull moment here."
"Sadly, I can relate." the man replied. we always seem to have problems. I lost my partner. my comm link isn't working."
"Your what?"
"My comm link." he pointed to his Bluetooth headset.
"Oh." Walter said.
"I wish I could see your imaginary friend." Peter said.
"He's not imaginary." Walter stressed. "he's a hologram."
"Yeah sure..." Peter said. "I guess I'll leave you to it." Peter started to walk from the room. "Oh hey Liv... " He greeted Olivia as she walked into the room.
A loud, whooshing sound could be heard. Just then, a huge Circle of energy opened up a hole in the ceiling. two young men fell out of it.
"Ouch!" the smaller of the two yelled. "Colin, you fell on me again!"
"Sorry brother." the larger man said. "I shall try not to stand so close next time."
The smaller man rubbed his head. "you would think I'd be used to this by now."
Colin noticed the cow over in the corner of the room and went over to it. "Hello." he said.
"holy cow." the smaller man said.
"That's her name." said Walter.
"That's not a hallucination." Peter said, staring at the the two men who had just fell through the ceiling.
"Where am I? The smaller man said suddenly. Looking confused and befuddled.
The Halogram rushed over to him. "Sam! There You Are!"
The man rubbed his head again. "Al. That was really strange I felt really funny coming here."
Colin came over to him. "Who are to talking to Quinn?"
Al nodded, chomping on a cigar. "That's right. Your name is Quinn, Quinn Mallory and ..."
"I'm talking to Al my friend." Quinn/Sam said.
"But there's nobody there. Boy, you must have really hit your head hard this time brother."
Walter had a fascinated look on his face.
Liv looked at Peter. "Does your dad always talk to himself?"
Peter rubbed his head. "He has hallucinations, but this other guy is talking to thin air too."
Walter pointed at Al the Halogram. "You can see him too?" He looked at Sam/Quinn.
Quinn/Sam's eyes widened. "You can see Al?"
Al shrugged. "Weird, huh?"
"Yes, I'm surprised you can." Walter said.
"We're linked together through my brain waves." Quinn/Sam explained.
"This is my partner I mentioned, Sam Beckett." Al said.
"HE says his name is Sam Beckett." Walter said.
Colin shook his head. "Brain waves? brother, what are you talking about? and your name is Quinn Mallory."
Quinn/Sam sighed. "How do I explain this?"
Al looked exasperated. " I already tried to."
"Brain waves, Quantum Leap, Holograms... this is all so fascinating."
"Let's start with why you're here Sam." Al started, tapping on his comm link. "You're Quinn Mallory, you're a scientist from Cal tech who created a portal to an alternate dimension..."
Walter beamed, clapping his hands like an excited child. " That's exactly what I've been working on myself." He pointed to the blackboard. "But I haven't figured out the formula."
Quinn/Sam looked at it, walking up to the board and stared at it intently.
"The Einstein - Pulaski bridge..." Quinn/Sam started.
Walter nodded. "That's right. Crossing dimensions with space-time."
Quinn/Sam stared at the formula, the determined, passionate writing in chalk. He looked at Walter. "You did it, didn't you? You crossed dimensions."
Peter glared at him, smiling crookedly. "We came from an alternate dimension." He nodded to Olivia standing next to him.
Colin smiled "me too. Me and my brother Quinn." He looked at Quinn/Sam.
"Hmm..." Al said, nodding. "He's right. I think that's why you're here Sam. Quinn and his brother have been trying to get home for years now."
"So how can I help them get back?" Quinn/Sam said.
"We always use the timer." Colin said.
Quinn/Sam turned to look at Colin. "The what?"
Colin pointed at Quinn/Sam's pocket. "In your pocket."
Quinn/Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the remote control looking device, staring at it. "Hey Al, this is kinda like the old hand link."
Al looked at the digital screen. The numbers kept changing, blinking in and out. "Looks like it's broken."
Colin nodded. "Yes. It does that a lot." He looked at the timer in Quinn/Sam's hand.
"So this device is used to move you through dimensions?" Quinn/Sam asked.
Colin nodded. "We push the buttons and it opens up a hole that we jump into."
Al chomped on his cigar, musing. "Like jumping down a rabbit hole?"
Walter laughed. "I simply adore Lewis Carroll, though I doubt there will be any rabbits or red Queens on the other side."
"Sounds fun." Peter mused.
Quinn/Sam looked back at the blackboard. "So...what are you trying to do here?" He asked.
"The portal is unstable. I've been trying to fix it." Walter said, frowning.
"Ziggy says Quinn was doing the same thing. He and his brother Colin have been trying to find their way back to their own world to find their real parents."
Walter put his head down, looking sad. "Peter and Quinn have that in common. I'm not Peter's father."
"What's your imaginary friend saying now Walter?" Peter asked, only hearing Walter's answers to Al's talking.
"Quinn is looking for his real parents." Walter said.
"You mean Sam." Al said.
"Sam.. Quinn ...who ever." Walter said "this is all very confusing."
"You're telling me" Al said, sighing. "Sam, I guess I better go talk to Quinn and get the whole story. Seems like there's a lot we need to learn before we proceed.
In the meantime, maybe you should talk to the Professor there." He nodded to Walter.
"Doctor." Walter corrected him. "Doctor Walter Bishop."
Quinn/Sam smiled. "Doctor Sam Beckett." Quinn/Sam extended his hand to Walter. "PHD, of course, not MD."
Walter shook his hand vigorously. "Pleased to meet you."
Al rolled his eyes. "Okay you eggheads chat while I go get some more info. Seeya later Sam. I got a feeling I may be awhile. I may hafta take notes." He grimaced.
"Okay Al." Quinn/Sam smiled at Al as he tapped his headset, then disappeared through a door that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Colin's eyes widened. "It's like our hole we jump through." He pointed at the door that appeared, then immediately disappeared as Al stepped through it.
Al rubbed his head and shook it. This is going to be an interesting leap, he thought. All this tech stuff will give me a migraine, though.
He sighed and prepared himself for another adventure.
The young man in the imaging chamber was pacing, looking around at everything and studying the technology in the room, talking to Tina and Ziggy as he did so. This must be Quinn, Al thought.
"This is quite a place you got here." Sam/Quinn said.
"I'm sure someone like you can really appreciate all this stuff." Ziggy said.
Sam/Quinn nodded. "Yeah. This is kinda like my lab in my basement back home in San Francisco."
"Well, you're a long way from home." Al said as he walked over to them.
Sam/Quinn rubbed his head. "This is weird. Ziggy says I'm in New Mexico and I'm not me, I'm this guy Sam Beckett."
He looked in the mirror that Tina had handed him, looking at Sam's reflection and not his own. "This is bizarre. I'm trying to wrap my head around this."
"Trust me, Sam is going through the same thing in Boston right now."
"Boston?" Sam/Quinn questioned. "How can we be in Boston? The timer only has a radius of 300 square miles, and..."
Al put up his hands. "That's why I came back. I'm going to need more information so I can relay it to Sam. He should be able to help you and Colin."
Sam/Quinn's eyes lit up. "Oh. So Colin is there too?" He sighed, relieved. "Good. I was worried. We got hit by lightning as we jumped through the vortex. I thought we might get seperated. Are Remmie and Maggie with him too?"
"Who?" Al asked.
"Rembrandt and Maggie. Our companions."
Al shook his head. "Nobody came with Sam..., er, you. Just your brother Colin."
Sam/Quinn bowed his head. "Great. We got seperated again, and now we're off course as well. Something must be wrong with the timer."
"Timer?" Ziggy asked.
Al nodded. "Yeah, it's like their hand link. It opens up the portal they travel through."
"The vortex." Sam/Quinn corrected.
"Yeah, that too."
Walter’s eyes gleamed.
“A vortex, a leap, a bridge — it’s all the same principle. Controlled displacement through space-time.”
Quinn/Sam blinked. “Wait… you’re saying my leap interfered with your portal?”
“Not interfered,” Walter corrected. “Enhanced.”
Peter frowned. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Suddenly, the equipment began to hum.
Lights flickered.
The cow mooed nervously.
Olivia reached for her gun. “Tell me this is normal.”
Walter stared at the monitors. “It is… not.”
Al reappeared. “Uh, Sam? Ziggy says the energy spike just tripled.”
“Tripled?” Sam said. “That’s not possible.”
“Neither is being in Boston,” Al shot back.
Colin grabbed Quinn/Sam’s arm. “Brother… I think we’re opening another hole.”
The hum in the lab grew louder, vibrating through the floor.
Walter’s eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning.
“Oh my… do you hear that? That’s resonance. Harmonic convergence between two dimensional gateways.”
Peter frowned. “That sounds like a bad thing.”
“Only if it explodes,” Walter replied cheerfully.
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Only?”
Quinn/Sam stared at the blackboard.
“My leap… it must’ve piggybacked onto your portal. That’s why we landed here instead of where Ziggy sent me.”
Al reappeared, tapping his headset.
“Ziggy confirms it. Your quantum signature synced with Bishop’s machine. You hijacked the jump, kid.”
“So I messed up two universes,” Quinn/Sam muttered. “Great.”
Colin shifted nervously. “We’ve done that before…”
The cow mooed again.
Walter clapped his hands. “Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”
Peter stared. “You’re enjoying this?”
“Of course!” Walter beamed.
“We have three independent displacement systems in one room. It’s like Christmas for physicists!”
The lights flickered violently.
Olivia drew her gun. “Okay, Christmas is over.”
Al’s image glitched. “Uh, Sam? Ziggy says the energy spike just quadrupled.”
“That’s impossible!” Sam said. “My leap is stabilized by the imaging chamber!”
“Tell that to the screaming equipment,” Al replied.
Walter rushed to the monitors. “Oh dear… the bridge is widening.”
“What does that mean?” Colin asked.
“It means,” Walter said carefully, “we’re about to punch a hole big enough to swallow half of Boston.”
Everyone froze.
Peter exhaled. “Figures.”
Sam stepped forward. “If my leap is the problem, then I’ll leap again.”
Al shook his head. “You can’t. Ziggy can’t lock coordinates with all this interference.”
Walter snapped his fingers. “What if we use the interference?”
Everyone stared at him.
“Sam’s quantum signature,” Walter continued,
“and Quinn’s dimensional frequency are similar but not identical. If we align them—”
“You want to tune us like radios?” Quinn/Sam said.
“Exactly!” Walter grinned. “One of you stabilizes the leap. The other stabilizes the bridge.”
Peter sighed. “I hate when he’s excited. It always ends in explosions.”
Colin stepped forward. “I’ll help too. The timer responds to my brother’s DNA.”
Al nodded. “Ziggy likes that. Says it’s a long shot… but all your plans are.”
Walter was already scribbling formulas.
“Brilliant! We’ll create a triangulated exit vector.”
Olivia blinked. “In English Walter.”
“We close all portals,” Walter said, “and send everyone home safely.”
“Safely?” Peter echoed.
“Mostly safely.”
Quinn/Sam hesitated. “If I leap… Sam stays here. In your world.”
Walter softened. “I know what it’s like to lose a son.”
Peter looked away.
Quinn swallowed. “I don’t want to abandon him.”
Al’s voice softened. “Sam always comes home, kid. That’s the rule.”
Sam nodded. “I’ll fix this. For all of us.”
Colin gripped his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll get home. We always do.”
The room shook.
A glowing vortex began forming above the lab.
Walter shouted. “Positions!”
Sam closed his eyes. “Ziggy… lock onto my brainwaves.”
Al tapped furiously. “Trying!”
Colin activated the timer. “Ready!”
Peter grabbed Olivia’s arm. “Please tell me this is the last weird thing today.”
Olivia smirked. “Not even close.”
Walter raised his hands. “Now!”
Light exploded.
Wind howled.
The cow panicked.
Sam screamed. “OH BOY!”
Silence.
Smoke.
Crackling wires.
Slowly… the lab returned to normal.
Colin was gone.
Quinn was gone.
Sam was gone.
Al stood alone, blinking.
“Well,” he muttered, “that could’ve gone worse.”
Walter emerged from behind a table. “Did it work?”
Al smiled. “Ziggy says Quinn and Colin are back in their world.”
Peter exhaled. “And Sam?”
Al looked up. “Boston. Right where he belongs.”
Walter smiled softly. “Good.”
In New Mexico...
Sam gasped awake in the imaging chamber.
“Did it work?” he asked.
Al grinned. “Kid, you just fixed three lifetimes at once.”
Sam laughed. “I don’t even know what that means.”