“Please Press One” is episode six of season five of Sliders.
The Sliders have arrived on a world where every business looks to be run by Data Universal. Maggie is by some vending machines; the others think proper food would be better. The vending machine doesn’t take cash and it’s asking Maggie for her ID number. She says she’s left it at home and she’s told to press ‘1’. She does and a device scans her and tells her to please stand by. A black lorry with blacked out windows and reverses up behind her. The back opens and she’s dragged inside. The lorry takes off as the others see.
The others examine the vending machines. Diana notices the camera and scanner and they move off. They need to find Data Universal and Maggie in the next ten hours.
Maggie is dumped from a chute into a room with a chair and a television screen. The man on it introduces himself as 5579-A, her personal account rep. He wants Maggie to hold her barcode, just issued to her, up to the screen so they can process her application as quickly as possible. She will be mainstreamed in no time. She’s there for attempted use of money. Maggie responds sarcastically; 5579-A doesn’t seem to know how to respond. They can’t proceed until she’s scanned into the system.
Rembrandt tries to get information from a phone, but it wants his code number. Diana was trying to get a business directory from a newsstand, but can’t get in. A man walks up, scans his barcode and is given the stuff he always gets. No-one wants to talk. There’s someone who looks homeless next to it and Mallory is rude to him. Diana is politer and he asks them if they want to but a number. A whole new ID. Barcode bracelets. The man’s name is Arlo Higgins. He explains that Maggie was grabbed by a Scoop. Chances are she’s lost in the system forever. Arlo agrees to help, though. And he has some things that might help.
Maggie is talking to 5579-A. She does hold the bracelet to the scanner and is issued a temporary ID number. She wants to be called Maggie. 5579-A says it’s against policy but agrees. They need to build a profile of all her daily needs. For her own good. Maggie sits down in the chair. Given it has restraints on it, perhaps not the best idea. Maggie wants 5579-A’s name. She decides to call him ‘Guy.’ Guy thinks she’s a very troubling client. Maggie says her friends say the same thing.
The others are with Arlo, who used to work for Data Universal as an account rep. The company takes care of you if you play by their rules. You work for them to buy stuff made by the company. Data Universal knows what you like, so you don’t have to think at all. Maggie is probably being processed. As to hurting her, it depends how cooperative she is.
Guy says they can get Maggie out quickly. Does she want local or general anaesthetic? For the mind scan. It’s the fastest way. The restraints lock Maggie into the chair. Guy tells her it’s quite safe. An 87% survival rate. Maggie wants to talk like friends talk. About whether Guy has other friends and hangs out after work with his colleagues. Guy says that’s not as easy as it sounds. A retinal scan deploys and ID’s her – her alternate. Guy says she has zero debt, which is unusual. And she’s been a very bad girl. Hardly using her credit card at all. Doesn’t she like shopping? Well, it’s not the most important thing in her life. Guy tells Maggie she’s going to have training in basic buyer behaviour. In three weeks, she’ll return to society as an upright consumer.
The others are now considering using a Scoop to find Maggie. Arlo is excited.
Maggie is dumped in the waiting room. Another person, James, says he’s a Refuser. A prisoner of conscience. He’s been there six years.
Diana goes to a vending machine and a Scoop is called for her. Arlo ends up jumping on the lorry’s roof, but gets thrown off. The first attempt hasn’t worked. They still need to find Maggie before they slide out. James explains to Maggie how the world works and how if you aren’t a consumer, you aren’t a person; Data Universal doesn’t know what to do with you. She’s trying to find her own way out, and is trying to get Guy to help, albeit unwittingly. He, and Data Universal in general, don’t seem to be flexible thinkers.