The cadet was out the door before either of the Ancients realized he was leaving, and he turned unerringly towards the corridor leading to the room with all the Gateships in it.

Sander looked at Alexander, surprised.

"Go after him, Alexander, and bring him back. We can't have him running amok here of all places."

Alexander nodded and headed out the room, looking over just in time to see Ian turn a corner ahead of him. Before the Ancient could catch up to him, however, Dotty practically collided with him as she entered the hall from one corridor and Ian was passing the same area.

"Ian?" She noticed the annoyed expression on his face – it was hard to miss, after all – and deliberately stepped in front of him, certain he'd never push her aside to get past. She was right. He stopped shortly, and scowled. "What's wrong?"

"You dad's trying to convince me that we're cousins," he said, moving to the side and taking a different corridor. He figured he could always back track, and he really didn't want to have to try dodging around Dotty – even a Dotty that wasn't really the Dotty he knew. Which was really beginning to piss him off. He was tired of weird shit always happening to him.

"What?"

She was now following him, and Alexander caught up to her as well, annoyed that he'd been forced to move faster than a walk.

"What's going on?" Dotty asked him as they fell into step beside each other, moving at something that wasn't quite a run but definitely was faster than walking.

"He has a cognizance gene. That's why he remembers," Alexander said, explaining as quickly as possible. "Ian! Wait up!"

"Go fuck yourself," Ian tossed back over his shoulder, still walking and looking for a corridor that might turn back the way he needed to go.

"He's not very polite, is he?"

"I've noticed."

"Ian!"

The cadet turned a corner ahead of them, and it was Alexander's turn to bite back a curse. They hurried to turn the corner as well, and found Ian stopped cold, staring out what looked like a huge window. A window that was almost thirty feet high and looked to be holding back the ocean.

"We're underwater."

"It's just an image on a wall," Alexander said, slightly out of breath from the chase and coming to a stop next to the cadet. "Come back to my lab, we need to-"

Ian stepped forward and touched the window.

"Bullshit. It looks like a window to me."

He leaned forward and looked to the right, and thought he saw a school of fish swim by in the distance.

"It's an illusion."

Ian tapped it.

"Sounds real to me."

"Ian…"

The cadet pulled his .45 out of the holster at his side and cocked it, then pointed it at the window.

"What are you doing?" Dotty asked.

"I want to see how good the illusion is." He looked over at Alexander, his eyes filled with a challenge.

"It's not going to spring a leak if you shoot it," Alexander said, annoyed. "There's a force field holding the water back. Put the weapon away before you hurt yourself."

"So it's a window?"

The Ancient scowled, and threw his hands up in frustration.

"Yes, it's a window. Are you happy?"

"Where are we?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Then send me home, because I've had enough of this funhouse."

"We need to talk."

"No, we don't. I want to go home. Now."

"Ian," Dotty stepped forward, well aware that things were getting out of hand. "I know you're having a hard time with this, but you need to try and understand what's going on, and to do that, you need to listen to us."

"Why should I do that?" Ian asked her, putting the .45 back and then turning to look at them, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the window. It was cool – even through the Kevlar vest he was wearing – but he didn't move. "You kidnap me from the Stargate, you take me to some rock planet and tell me we need to talk, then bring me here – to God only knows where here is – then you tell me I'm an alien with some kind of mutant gene that hasn't shown up active in centuries, and then you –"

"I never said you were an alien."

"You said I was descended from some."

"One," Alexander corrected. "And that doesn't make you an alien. I told you that you're human, remember?"

"You also told me this window was an illusion," Ian reminded him.

"I can't tell you where we are, and if I let you have enough hints, you're bright enough to figure it out on your own. We can't allow that."

"It's that big of a secret, huh?"

Alexander and Dotty both nodded.

"So you know why I remember things and no one else does…" Ian said. "Can I go home, now?"

"Soon," Alexander said. "Since we have you here, I'd like to finish the scan I was doing – to see if that's the only thing that's different about you."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then we tell the others, so they know what to expect."

"Tell me something," Ian said, uncrossing his arms and frowning. "We're in a different reality, right?"

"Right."

"And I don't exist here, because I died, right?"

"Right."

"Then why do you care about what's different about me? I mean, you're not going to keep me, right?"

"No," Alexander agreed. "I'm not going to keep you." It was pretty obvious from his expression he didn't want to keep Ian.

"So, why do you care?"

"Because our other selves from your reality do care. And since they couldn't find out – we told them we would. And we have. But since you're here, we'd rather not have to drag you back if something else unexpected comes up, so better to find out any other surprises now."

"But why do you care about a reality you don't even live in?"

"The realities are all connected, Ian. Things are the same, even when there are differences."

"Let me explain, father," Dotty told Alexander. He shrugged and she turned to Ian. "If you were on Earth right now – in this reality – and saw your mother, you'd still love her, wouldn't you? Even knowing that she wasn't really the woman who raised you?"

"Sure."

"And if she asked you to do something for her – something that wouldn't do you any good, but would be of great value to her, you'd still do it, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I get it," Ian said. He wasn't a rocket scientist, but it was a good example and he didn't need to be one to understand it. "I suppose it's not going to kill me to stick around a little longer and let you do your tests," he said, shrugging. "But no more naked holograms, okay?"

"Naked hologra-?"

"Deal," Alexander said, ignoring Dotty's question. "Come on, Sander is waiting."