The "emo Edge" bit was very overplayed, especially the part that triggered it. Chalk it up to poor writing and voice acting, plus Edge being incredibly naive at the time. "OK, let's give these guys a piece of technology that's unlike anything they've ever had before! What could possibly go wrong?" I don't recall the game ever explaining how Meracle wound up on the alternate Earth though, makes me think the gov't there encountered a lesser version of the tech the Calnus had when it crash-landed there. Chalk it up to space-time shenanigans I guess.