"Magic isn't real." Major Carter said firmly. "A careful examination -."
"Let me guess," Xander smirked. "You think I'm a primitive or poorly educated goofball who thinks advanced technology is Magic."
"I wouldn't put it that way." She said, shifting uncomfortably.
"No, of course not because you'd be diplomatic about it. Nor am I talking about any significantly advanced technology being indistinguishable from Magic."
"Arthur C. Clark." O'Neill recognized the quote. "Nice to know good literature exists in your reality too."
Xander nodded. "Willow, Oz and Johnathan are the science and math brains, me, I read. Hard scifi is a favorite. Major," He addressed Carter. "I'm not even talking about technology, we've only just begun to integrate some technology and Magic with each other. When I say Magic, I mean harvesting energy from other dimensions in the multiverse. If the word Magic or spells offend you, than think of it this way. The language of the mystic arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language spells. But you can call it a program, the source code that shapes reality. We harness energy...drawn from other dimensions of the multiverse...to cast spells...to conjure shields...and weapons...to make Magic!" He paraphrased the Ancient One. "And we don't do it using technology. We impose our will on the world and shape it by our intent." He held out his hand and summoned red Eldritch energy. It crackled and flared in his hand and than with a thought he sent it back. "That is what I mean by Magic." He saw the stunned looks the four military people were giving him as they tried to make sense of what they'd just seen.
"And you use this to fight your war?" Hammond asked.
"It's one weapon out of many."
"How do you do it?" Carter asked, trying to understand. "How do you draw the energy to you?"
"The best answer I can give you is, the mind can access these other dimensions and draw the energy to us."
"And your people have been practicing this for thousands of years?" Carter asked. "How advanced are you technologically?"
"Yes and technology we've developed ourselves is allowing us to begin to explore our solar system with satellites launched into space and we've been to the moon a few times. We've also acquired more technology that we're beginning to reverse engineer." Which was how they were explaining the technology the Sanctum had created. "Which we're also prepared to offer some in trade for your help with Dawn."
"You're authorized to make the call?" Hammond asked
"I'm the only one who is, not even our President could make the call." Mainly because he didn't know, damn, talking around the truth was lying in a way and it made them all uncomfortable, but it was necessary.
"Why can you make that call but he or she can't?" Hammond asked.
"I am the Guardian of the Sanctum Sanctorum, you could say I outrank him." Xander smirked as Cordelia snorted.
"That's one way to put it." She agreed. "In other realities his position is officially know as Earth's Mystical Defender or the Sorcerer Supreme." Wondering if they had those comic books here.
"Your position puts you above the leaders of every country on your Earth? How old are you?" Hammond asked, clearly stunned by that announcement.
"What's today's date here?"
"October 30th, 1998." He replied.
"Same as back home. I'll be eighteen on December 21st."
"November 30th, for me." Cordelia told them.
"January 16th for me." Buffy chimed in.
"I won't be twelve for awhile yet." Dawn muttered.
"What does this have to do with Miss Summers?" Hammond indicated Dawn.
"Some people are born with some of that extra dimensional energy in them, Dawn's one of those people. When someone's born with that energy in them, it's usually dormant at first, but eventually activates. These people have a limited range of how they can use that energy. Dawn can open portals to other realities and travel freely between them. She can also send others through the portals she generates. She's working on control, unfortunately a problem has developed and we don't have the means of helping her. I could bind or remove the energy entirely, but she doesn't want that, it's a part of her."
"And the problem?" Dr. Fraser spoke for the first time. "Does it have anything to do with the fact that she's at the age of beginning puberty?"
"It may be related." Joyce told her. "Dawn's accidentally portaled twice while sleeping, the second time she woke up under attack and had to defend herself. She's exhausted but fighting sleep because she's afraid it'll happen again."
"What do you need from us?" Hammond asked.
"We need you to measure or however you do it, the, I guess frequency or wavelength or however you want to put it of the energy she uses to create portals and create a way of blocking it, so she can sleep. We're trusting you with the youngest member of our group. We're trusting that you won't try to capture us or experiment on us, especially her." Xander answered, flat eyed and very serious. "Because we don't have the means of doing that ourselves. Magic and our technology, well like I said, we're just starting to bring them together." Technopagans like Jenny Calendar being a fairly new thing. "We're trusting you." He said starkly and they all heard the unspoken - please don't betray our trust. "And we're willing to teach you how to harness the energy yourselves. It could turn the tide of your own war. Tomorrow's the one year anniversary of me using a spell to wipe out a significant portion of our enemy. Intelligent beings that liked to torture, kill and eat kids."