The alien wore tennis shoes: wasn’t that the name of some lame Disney movie? No, wait–it was “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,” about a ridiculously unrealistic android.

“Ah, come on!” the alien in tennis shoes exclaimed, flashing him a manic grin. “I take you to another planet, years in your future–it’s the year 2000 if you were wondering, oh, and by the way, that Y2K thing is rubbish–and you don’t find this the least bit exciting?”

Sixteen-year-old Meredith McKay scowled at him in response. “Considering I’m being dragged around some sort of abandoned, underwater city by a lunatic, no, ‘exciting’ isn’t the word that leaps to mind,” he snapped. “More like ‘terrifying.’ Why did you bring me here?”

“Because you…” The Doctor grinned again, pointing a finger at him. “…need to see what’s out there. Might come in handy one day.”

Not if I avoid it at all costs, the teenager groused silently to himself. Which is more likely after this experience. The maniac in pinstripes and sneakers flashed him a knowing look, and Mer shuddered.

“Come on, then!”

Still grumbling, McKay followed the Doctor through corridor after twisting corridor, still trying to ignore the place’s eerie, dark beauty.

Years later, he would stand on a balcony overlooking the Ancients’ lost city of Atlantis and realize with a sinking feeling that he’d been here before.