To answer that first question… Hmm. Was it hinted that Dirk was somehow involved in Ectobiology? Going by that, I think it's possible that one of the post scratch kids made the pre-scratch kids... but that just hurts my head to think about. I mean, Jade and Jake were somehow able to communicate with each-other across sessions.
Short answer. It's all shenanigans and I try very hard to not think about it. The current ecto family still confuses the living hell out of me.