Ridin' Fences

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"Ridin' Fences"

Start Date: February 1, 2004

End Date: March 7, 2004

Sal and Jason return to Big Boss 2 with a report on JFO. Sal visits old lovers and has a wall-breaking sibling reunion. Then the *proverbial* hits the fan.

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Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

This storyline begins with a bit of backstory. It tells how Jason's father, Dargon Chesterfield, left his own dimension together with his paramilitary organization, an infant (believed to be Penelope Worthington), and his wife, who was in labor. He was trying to escape his dimension's Wanderer (a being similar to The Cheese). His personnel open a portal to a dimension (the Walkyverse) that doesn't have a Wanderer, but explain that an equal amount of energy must be ported from the other dimension to allow them to stay in it ([1]).

Dargon impatiently orders them to shunt the energy into any object they can find. His technician Lloyd finds a sparkly tree branch and stores the energy in it, turning it into the Power Booster Rod. The Wanderer demands it, offering Dargon free passage to the other dimension in exchange for the PBR. Dargon takes his revenge on the Wanderer by bringing the PBR into the other dimension, condemning his original dimension to a slow energy death.

Immediately after the portal has been closed, Dargon is informed that his son, Jason, has been born. Says Dargon: "So? he is of no use to me now." ([2]) Then his team informs Dargon that this dimension's Britain lacks the technology to detect life signatures, and he joyfully accepts his son as a possible successor. Unfortunately for him, the technicians have more news: there is, after all, a Wanderer in this universe.

Later, Dargon explains to his troops that they can use the PBR as a weapon against the Wanderer, if they can acquire the necessary technology from this dimension's Martians. His plan is to use agents (Linda Mitchell and Anthony McHenry, Sr. are visible in the frame [3]) as disposable tools.

Next, we realize that this backstory is the content of the report Sal and Jason have brought to Big Boss 2. She notes that this information clears Jason of any suspicion of treachery (see the Conviction storyline). Still, they're technically both fugitives from the law.

Cut to Billie, impatiently staring at the closet doors: without glasses, she can't tell them from the elevator ([4]). She reluctantly goes shopping for new glasses with Danny, and decides that the PSL that the glasses induce in Danny might actually make it worth it.

Later, a makeout session is interrupted by Billie's pager. When she's gone, Sal (who was behind the call) crawls out from under the bed, wearing glasses. He barely manages to make it a dinner date instead of staying in the apartment alone with Sal. In the restaurant Sal prattles on (about Jason, mostly), but Danny interrupts her, reminding her that he's with Billie now ([5]). Sal finally accepts that Danny is lost to her, even though she thinks this leaves her with no one who really cares about her.

Sal returns to SEMME apartments, where she's silently and warily watched by her former comrades. She does get a warm welcome from Squadron 128, but she soon finds justification to take her bad mood out on Walky. Sal decides to sort Walky out for his cold-shouldering of Joyce, punching him through the wall and onto the street several stories down. Walky maintains that love is meaningless in the future he has seen. Sal offers to test his vision by tearing off his arm: "In this 'vision', how many arms did you have?" ([6]).

Sal asks Walky what he would like the future to be, and he describes a world without Aliens or Martians, just him and Joyce, their kids Bobby and Anna (and another one on the way), sitting and watching the sunset as an old couple ([7]). But, he says, "the future is known". He expects the future to be short and unhappy, and that Joyce might be happier without him. Sal promises to prevent his visions from coming true, and urges him to not leave Joyce alone in the present. Walky returns to the apartment and tries his best to be affectionate to Joyce.

The next morning, Sal wakes up in Tony's bed. The phone rings; it's Jason telling her to watch TV. In the news, Bart O'Ryan is presenting evidence that Joyce murdered Anti-Joyce and expressing his intention to investigate Joyce and SEMME further. Walky thinks to himself: "Do you see now, sis? The future is coming. And it cannot be stopped."

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