The next day was Saturday and Alexander escaped Corda's clutches and a shopping trip and taking his scanner, headed to the library.

"Hi, Giles." He said as he entered.

"Hello, Xander. I notice you are speaking differently."

"Yeah, Corda and I noticed that as well. The merger is stabilizing, we aren't just two separate memories and lifetimes anymore. We're almost completely one now. Which means patterns of speech and interests and habits are blending as well. Corda's going shopping. She always saw it as a necessary evil, Cordelia sees it as therapy, Xander and I both see it as a horror that must be avoided. Especially since Corda is buying clothes she wants me to wear. She figured out my sizes and I managed to escape. Besides, I want to use my scanner on that Hellmouth thing of yours, and I really do sound like him now, don't I? And see what I can find out about it."

"And here I was hoping there would be someone else around here who could speak proper English."

"In point of fact, the first night here, I wasn't speaking English at all. I was using a translator. I was hearing Alteran, while everyone else was hearing English."

"Wouldn't your translator need to know English in order to translate it?"

"It has a slight mental component. The thought proceeds speech, that gives the translator a moment to extrapolate. It isn't long before it doesn't need it."

"Where was this translator of your?"

"It's part of the scanner. By the way, it didn't recognize the energy signature of the energy wave that caused this. Do you know anything about it?"

"Ethan, the man who was responsible for it, channeled the power of a god, thru the bust of the god."

"Which god?"

"Ethan worships chaos, but he called on Janus."

"Janus? We have a god named Janus, god of transitions, the in-between places and change."

"Yes. That's the god I mean. You're familiar with him?"

"He's one of the oldest gods we ever worshipped. It was also the name of a scientist we knew. Fun guy, brilliant, but I avoided his parties. Bickering with Corda is fun, having a full blown fight, isn't. Janus' parties could be wild and since he liked variety, include his many lovers."

"Oh my." Giles looked amused. "Yes, I could see why you would wish not to invite such trouble to your door."

Alexander took out his scanner and set it to a broad scan. He put it on the table. "This will take a little while." He said. "I want it to collect as much information as possible. What are you working on? I could help."

"I am translating some scrolls that were found on a dig in Africa. I still do consulting work for the British Museum and they sponsored the dig. It's an old variation of Latin, which is no longer a spoken language here on Earth. It gave rise to many languages, including English."

"Xander's memories include learning some Latin. He found languages easier to learn then science or math. He thought that made him unintelligent, because Willow is so good at science and math. No one ever told him, it just meant his intelligence worked differently. Or that he didn't have to be a genius to be successful. I really do not like his father, but the lack of reinforcement from anyone, at all, bothers me as well. But our society had reached a point, where no child ever didn't know their potential. So, I clearly see the contrast."

"I hadn't realized no one was encouraging Xander. Now that you've called my attention to it, I'm ashamed to say, I was rather dismissive of him. He seemed not to really have a place in the group. Willow made use of her knowledge of computers and research and Buffy, of course, is the Slayer. She has a higher Calling"

"No, she doesn't. No god did that to her. Cowardly humans did it to her. There's no need for the Slayers to exist. Humans are intelligent, they can find ways to fight on their own. Xander did. Your books detail other humans that have as well. Human demon hunters outlive Slayers, often by decades, because they use their intelligence and adaptability. Slayers are a lure and a weapon. One humans are hiding behind. I have no doubt that whatever humans created the first Slayer and condemned all those that came after are being tortured for that crime. And why hide the knowledge of vampires and demons from the general population? That makes no sense either. We knew they existed. Knowledge means you're aware and able to protect yourselves. Ignorance is death."

Giles stared him, these were not opinions he'd ever heard before.

"Do you know how they came be?"

"They come from another dimension. Tears in the dimensional fabric allow them access to our dimension. They evolved under different conditions."

"Our oral legends say they ruled Earth before humans."

"They weren't here when we first got here. Our survey of the planet found the fossilized remains of large animals. When we left we took samples of their DNA and created a wildlife sanctuary on a world in the new galaxy we went to. Magnificent, huge creatures. A large meteor impact seemed to have been the reason they ceased to be."

"Dinosaurs, we found those fossils as well. They've captured the world's imagination. But when did you first become aware of the demons?"

"Sometime after we arrived here, the tears began to form and they emerged. The creatures you call vampires and we call blood daemona, were originally created by microscopic life forms that emerged from one of those tears. It animated a dead body. Then it spawned."

"Fascinating, I wonder why do we believe they came first?"

"Because for you they did. We closed the tears before we left after the plague devastated our population. We seeded Terra, what you call Earth, before we left. Somehow, they reopened the tears after we left. So they were here before you were, but not before us. My scanner is showing, this Hellmouth of yours, is a large dimensional tear. And one that isn't that old. Less then a century."