“Prophets and Loss” is episode two of season four of Sliders.
Quinn and Maggie arrive, followed shortly afterwards by Rembrandt who was at an ATM. A man sees them arrive through the wormhole. They’re on the world for 72 hours and it looks like they landed at a monastery.
Heading into town, Quinn says he wants to get to a library or a lab. In the previous episode, “Genesis”, Quinn learned that his parents came from another world, one that probably defeated their own Kromaggs, and that he had a brother; Quinn wants to reprogram the timer with the coordinates for his brother’s world. Then pauses to let that sink in. Maggie has retrieved a newspaper from a bin and is reading the headlines. The uprising in Detroit has ended and the Master Oracle proclaims that Michigan is rat-free. And that’s one that makes more sense than one about a rad rat being sentenced to reconfig.
They see a poster about the demon Darwin, a heretic. The man from the monastery is following them. He takes out a phone and, calling himself Cadmus, tells the person he’s called that three intruders transported themselves into the cloister by an unknown method. Alert central; they could be useful. Or dangerous.
The Sliders are wondering who the Oracle is when a woman tells them that assembly is in five minutes and asks if they’re coming. They explain they’re new in town and she suggests they join. She takes Maggie in, saying her name is Jane. She’ll soon be a Welcomer. She says their Chief Oracle is Gareth and his counsellor is Cadmus.
Cadmus welcomes them to a special assembly, as a group of Welcomers will pass through the portal to the other side, to the next world to make it ready for them. Gareth says a new world is waiting through the portal, bigging it up. The Welcomers head into a box, which Gareth activates. What looks almost like a wormhole forms and the Welcomers disappear in what looks like almost the same way.
After the assembly, Quinn wants to take a look at the portal mechanism. He doesn’t think asking will necessarily work. The place is always open; they’ll return when there’s nobody around. Maggie is reading a brochure handed to them. There don’t seem to be any unfaithful. The rats are the Rationalist Party. Disagreement is tolerated, as long as it’s kept to a low flame. Quinn and Rembrandt a right-wing political movement based on family values – by the movement’s definition – that tried to get hold on their world. On this world it looks like they won. There are a lot of rules. Quinn says that’s what happens if you aren’t paying attention. And a Sliding machine would go against their rules.
In the hotel, they aren’t impressed by the television or the food. Maggie suggests just staying there until the slide. Quinn still wants to look at the portal machine. They might have something he can borrow or copy. Or steal. The other two will come with.
The hall is almost empty when they return. Quinn takes a look at the controls and Rembrandt looks inside the box. Finding ash. Quinn can’t find any sliding capabilities as it gene4rates too much heat. Rembrandt shows him the ashes. They tell Maggie it’s an incinerator. The Welcomers are burnt to death. Then Cadmus arrives with armed guards and takes them prisoner.
They are brought to Gareth to be questioned by him and Cadmus. Quinn says he’s a scientist, despite earlier not thinking that would be a great idea. He was right. Rembrandt says he’s an entertainer; Maggie that she’s a tourist. They are told they have no official ID and their money is unusual. And what’s the timer? Quinn claims it’s a communicator; the numbers are when the battery needs replacing. They’re asked where the other communicator is, then. They lost it.
Gareth introduces himself and Cadmus and asks their names. They give them and say they’re from out of town. Cadmus asks them how far. Gareth suggests lots of places they can visit. But they’re under arrest. They’re completely unknown to the authorities, have no ID, are vagrants and are in possession of a scientific device. The first three are misdemeanours; the last is a felony.
Reconfig, as mentioned in the paper, is wiping a person’s brain clean to fill it with proper thoughts. And the Welcomers sign over all their personal possessions to the Oracles. The whole thing is a money-making scam. Sliders are certainly not the sort who would be appreciated by anyone other than the Rationalists.