Liz and Ava elected to walk the short distance from Ava's house to Northwest Texas Community College. They simply went to retrieve Zan's backpack and books that he abandoned when the first bully began chasing him. Liz couldn't help stare at Ava. She still felt strange about how much Ava looked like Tess, especially now that her hair more closely resembled how Tess styled it compared to when Liz last encountered Ava. Back in high school, Ava also wore rings above her left eyebrow and on her lower right lip, but now the piercings were barely visible because Ava wore no jewelry. Each of the dupes also sported tattoos of the pod chamber pictogram on their right shoulder, which Ava evidently got removed. Liz noted that Ava didn't appear alien or like the hardened, punky teen that grew up on the streets of New York City.
Finally Ava spoke up, "What?" she asked Liz with a timid smile.
"Oh, it's nothing," Liz said, not realizing how deliberately she studied Ava, "You just… I know yesterday was such a crazy day, but I'm getting the impression you've adapted well to life here in El Quartelejo."
"Thanks," Ava seemed to sincerely appreciate it, "I still have some of that New York spunk in me when I get excited or angry, but I like to think I've come a long way. Becoming a parent really changes a person."
Liz felt somewhat heavy hearted at the idea of becoming a parent. Liz and Max weren't sure the repercussions of getting pregnant but long ago agreed they wouldn't raise any children given both that uncertainty and their dangerous lifestyle.
"Because you said you recovered all of your memories from Antar, does that mean any part of you wants to return to that life there?" Liz asked.
"Not anymore. Maybe not ever," Ava explained. "My Zan was always more cautious 'bout goin' home and the two of us were on the same page about that. The memories from home maybe aren't what you think. It's more like… I remember things, but it doesn't feel like I was actually there. I don't remember all the smells or how things felt to touch. It's like I got these memories of this other person inside me but she's not me, ya know?"
"What you're describing reminds me of people I've heard about who claim they were reincarnated talking about their former life," Liz noted. This also sounded familiar to how Isabel described Vilandra being inside of her, but Liz's instinct told her she could relate to Ava better without constantly referencing Max, Isabel and Michael.
"Yeah," Ava said, "It's probably a lot like that. But the longer I stay here and live this life, the more I feel like this is who I am." Ava gestured toward her human body.
"You know what, Ava," Liz said, "I think you finding Zan was probably the best thing for him."
Ava smiled kindly at the thought.
"And I'm sure Max agrees," Liz continued, "Or at least he'll come to once he wraps his head around this whole situation."
Ava's expression hardened a bit. "Max," she said, "I really never got to know him. Just knew that he wanted to go off with Rath and Lonnie for The Summit. I'm guessin' he ain't been itching to go to Antar this whole time."
"Oh, no," Liz retorted quickly, bristling at the suggestion, "When Max gave up Zan for adoption and left Roswell, he left that whole mission behind him. Like your Zan, I don't think he ever really wanted to leave. We're constantly on the move now. My powers—which I knew would manifest because of you, actually—evolved to where I receive these visions if I meet someone who will soon be in danger. And then we find them in that moment and Max, you know Max uses his abilities to prevent anyone from getting hurt."
Ava smiled fondly.
"Did you ever read Grapes of Wrath, Ava?" Liz asked.
"Yeah," Ava replied, "I did when Zan had to for school."
"I always say we're kind of like Tom Joad," Liz elaborated, "doing good deeds and avoiding the law."
"That's very noble," Ava remarked, "and being noble is very Zan!"
They both giggled at that, like two girls gossiping about a man they both dated at one point or another. Liz somehow could always tell when Ava referred to Zan her son, Zan the dupe that looked just like Max or Zan the former King of Antar.
Upon arriving at the park near the college, Liz scanned her surroundings. At this hour, there was little activity in the area.
On the right side of the park, Zan's bag looked kicked over not far from the bench where he sat and several books were strewn about the park nearby. An old man walking his dog on the sidewalk running along the right side of the park headed in the direction away from the college. Liz determined he was no threat. Near a small tree in the middle of the park, a couple of students cuddled looking over a book while drinking coffee, so they appeared harmless.
On the left end of the park, right at the edge farthest from the college, someone sat on a motorcycle wearing black jeans and a white leather rider's jacket with red accents. Their face was hidden by a white helmet with a darkened visor. The person appeared to be looking straight ahead down the row of businesses that ran across the road parallel to the left side of the park. Liz knew they could be on the phone or innocently trying to remember an errand or wait for a business to open, but the unknown made her unable to deem this person totally non-threatening.
Further down the row of businesses, a middle-aged woman watered a planter outside her storefront with a hose. Liz recognized her from the line at the charming little ice cream stand and also concluded her presence was no threat.
Liz continued scanning down the road and toward the college when she noticed scaffolding in place in the alleyway where Zan's attack took place. She spotted a pale skinned woman with chin-length dark red hair, sporting thigh high jean shorts, and a light cream colored button down shirt with buttons undone revealing a light gray t-shirt underneath and the sleeves rolled up to her elbows standing on a platform atop the scaffolding. She examined the electrical box Max sent the power surge to in order to scare the bullies. Liz thought this person could pose a threat because she investigated an area where Max deployed his powers. Liz ruled out a government agent because her outfit, very visible equipment and apparent lack of any support weren't consistent with government agents. Liz also took note of an unmarked gray 2016 Ram ProMaster van parked parallel to the college and just around the corner from the edge of the alley. She deduced that the van most likely belonged to the red-headed woman. While she knew this could be the biggest risk at the scene, Liz's instincts drew her to want to confront the woman.
Meanwhile Ava focused on her son's belongings.
"You gotta be freakin' kiddin' me!" Ava exclaimed in reaction to clear disregard for Zan's belongings.
Liz looked down at her feet and noticed an open book lying face down in the grass. She picked it up, closed it and handed it to Ava.
"Ava," Liz said, "I want to go check on something. I'll catch up with you later."
"Sure," Ava said quietly.
Ava began gathering Zan's books. Liz walked to the alleyway to confront the red-headed woman. By the time Liz arrived, the woman had climbed down from the platform atop the scaffolding and stood at its base. She held a clipboard as she scribbled something on the attached paper. Even once Liz stood just inches from her, the woman didn't immediately acknowledge her presence.
Without looking up from her clipboard, the woman finally spoke. "Is there something you need?" she asked, in a gruff, husky voice.
"Oh, hi there," Liz squeaked, not expecting such a forward, matter-of-fact start to their conversation. "You seem to have quite the setup here and I was just curious as to what this is all about."
"I'm sure," the woman said with a sigh.
The woman put the clipboard down on a large, black, hard shell plastic equipment case positioned between her and the base of the scaffolding. She then turned, crouched down and began rummaging through a large black duffel bag lying next to the case.
"It's just so unusual to see something like this pop up in El Quarterlejo," Liz continued, intentionally trying to come off as a local to deflect attention away from anything remarkable about her identity. "And I was just…"
"Curious," the woman cut her off, "I know." She looked up at Liz with a sarcastic smile, "You said that already." And then the woman turned her attention back to the contents of the duffel bag.
"I didn't mean to bother you," Liz said apologetically, yet pressed on with a slightly different tact, "but as a fellow scientist I don't think it's unreasonable to ask why you're examining an electrical box in an alley."
The woman stood up with a small device in her hand that she retrieved from the duffel bag. She now stood face to face with Liz.
"So you know a thing or two about science, do you?" The woman asked.
"I know enough to know that what you're holding there is a solenoid voltmeter," Liz established, "And that's usually something only a professional electrician would use."
The woman looked down at the device and gave a "not bad" facial expression. As she looked back up at Liz, it felt like the right moment for Liz to soften the tone of this discussion. She smiled and extended out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Liz," she offered.
The woman smiled curtly and reached over to shake Liz's hand, "Serena," she said.
That name struck Liz as meaningful, though not immediately familiar. She became overwhelmed with the sense that she stumbled upon something significant and began pressing her memory to make the connection.
"It's nice to meet you," Liz said.
She wanted to keep the conversation going without revealing that something about the name Serena stirred something up in her. Serena turned her attention back to the solenoid voltmeter providing Liz an opportunity to place the name.
After a moment, Liz realized she once heard the name Serena during a couple of the most bizarre days of her entire life.
Junior year of high school, Liz returned from her summer away and Max aggressively pursued her hoping to resume the romance that blossomed between them sophomore year. He assured her that he didn't have feelings for Tess and wanted to be with Liz. She wanted to believe him and didn't manage to get over her love for him that summer as she hoped. But Liz still felt strongly that giving in and getting romantic with Max again would only lead to heartbreak.
After Maria dragged Liz and Alex on a trip to Madame Vivian the Fortune Teller, Liz returned home and started wondering if she should stop resisting and get back together with Max. That's because Madame Vivian's tarot card reading revealed that Liz would marry her true love, find happiness and that Max would choose love over his alien destiny.
In her bedroom, Liz put a white laced table cloth over her head like a veil, looked into her mirror and said aloud to the empty room, "I Liz Parker take Max Evans to be my…"
A blinding light outside her window and a thunderous clap interrupted her fantasy. It turned out to be a version of Max from 14 years in the future who she dubbed Future Max. Liz immediately noticed something off with Max's appearance. He featured long, chin length hair—in which Liz actually spotted a gray hair—and wore a black sleeveless t-shirt and vest with black pants and black boots.
Future Max came to Liz to warn her that all of them would die in attacks by Max's alien enemies unless Liz resisted teenage Max's advances and helped him see his destiny to be with Tess. Future Max seemed to think the alien hybrids would fare better in battle if they were a complete unit, but in his timeline Tess skipped town when he got back together with Liz. The whole ordeal proved difficult for Liz, but a previously forgotten snippet of conversation with Future Max bubbled up to the surface of Liz's memory upon hearing a name she last heard 21 years ago.
"Why don't you just go to Max directly?" Liz asked Future Max.
"It's complicated," he replied, "but if a person encounters themselves in another time period there could be a…" He sat on her bed and sighed. "Reaction," he finished.
"A reaction?" Liz asked, not understanding and wanting Future Max to provide more details.
Future Max continued but struggled to provide a satisfying answer, "I don't entirely understand it myself, but Serena said…"
He noticed Liz's eyes pop at the sound of an unfamiliar name used so casually. It's like Future Max needed to quickly remind himself he was with a younger version of Liz.
"She's going to be a friend of yours someday," Future Max clarified.
Back in the alley, Liz's focus returned to her present circumstances. All of her intuition told her this Serena was the same person Future Max said she befriended in an alternate timeline. She just knew it and felt like establishing a friendly rapport with Serena would be both possible and possibly even crucial to the events unfolding in El Quarterlejo.
"So, um," Liz felt a little awkward after the pause resuming the conversation with Serena, "Now can you tell me what's so special about that electrical box?"
Serena stopped fiddling the solenoid voltmeter and stuffed it in the back pocket of her shorts as she looked back up at Liz.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Serena said.
"You'd be surprised," Liz contested, "I'm not from here, and I've traveled to many places where I experienced my fair share of unbelievable circumstances."
"So, not a local after all," Serena noted, seemingly taking more of an interest in Liz, "Well… You can see how there's clearly been a surge there." She pointed up to the electrical box and surrounding area.
Liz nodded.
"Good," Serena continued. "Now, do you see how the cabling only looks damaged on the side running toward the back of the alley?"
"Yeah," Liz confirmed, "is that not normal?"
"Not by a long shot," Serena explained, starting to sound energized and excited about her work for the first time. "If a surge originated in the box, then the surrounding damage would irradiate out from both sides of the box. The current flows in from out there, passes through the box and then continues back through the alley. For a surge to originate outside the box but only have damage at the outflow like that is…"
"…Unusual," Liz finished.
"Try impossible," Serena corrected.
"I'm guessing you wouldn't be here if you didn't have a theory," Liz speculated, "and all this is to determine if you can prove it."
"You really do know your stuff when it comes to the scientific method," Serena noted, sounding impressed.
"So what is it?" Liz questioned, "What's your theory?"
"That's the unbelievable part," Serena said.
"It's ok," Liz assured her, "You can tell me."
Serena paused a moment to think on that line. "Oh, what the hell," she said. "As crazy as it sounds, I believe this is the work of extraterrestrial forces."
Liz looked nervous but not skeptical. She always knew that they left pieces behind that didn't add up when Max used his powers. Like that bus driver in Cleveland who recognized that no parts of his body were near the horn when it went off to wake him up. But the bus driver seemed to chalk it up to his memory failing him in light of the traumatic incident. Liz always figured that any unexplained curiosities like that were easily brushed aside as people were left grateful that no one got hurt after one of their saves. The thought that an investigator with no apparent ties to the government identifying alien powers as the source of a curiosity, in this case the damaged electrical box and nearby wiring, was a disquieting notion.
"You believe me, don't you?" Serena asked with a mix of giddiness and relief.
"It's…" Liz started. Even though she felt strongly that Serena was likely to turn out a friend, she knew that trust should not come easily. Liz wanted to choose her words carefully. "…not the craziest thing I've heard, especially growing up in Roswell." Liz felt like that was a reasonable tidbit of information to offer up without divulging she knew for a fact that alien powers caused the damage because she witnessed it happen.
"But you couldn't get that just from this damage," Liz continued, "so does that mean you've investigated sites like this before?"
"More than I can count," Serena replied, "and from all over the country. So, you're from Roswell? Now that is interesting. There was a signal detected near there in the spring of 2000 that I investigated for years. I think that holds the key to many of the mysteries surrounding this phenomenon. Unfortunately, I didn't become involved in this work until the winter of '01 when the entire population of Copper Summit, Arizona mysteriously vanished leaving nothing behind but some kind of strange dust. Two years of studying that crap and all I learned was that it had some organic properties. But I didn't make it to Roswell to look into the signal until '03 and most of the leads had gone cold by then. You wouldn't happen to have any information about that, would you?"
Liz knew that the signal detected in Roswell in May 2000 that Serena referred to came from Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess activating the pair of egg-shaped orbs to trigger the message from Max and Isabel's mother over Nasedo's objections. And the 'dust' from Copper Summit Serena studied was actually skin from the husks that The Skins attempted to harvest. The rest of The Skins, their deaths imminent because their husks already exceeded their 50 year life span, went to Roswell to confront the Royal Four where Tess killed almost all of them. Only Nicholas survived, that they know of. Max and Tess encountered him in New York at The Summit.
Liz could offer Serena more details than she could ever dream of, but still needed to proceed with caution. Liz wanted to stay selective in what she revealed for now.
"There were always a lot of alien conspiracy theories in Roswell," Liz mused shyly.
"Why do I get the feeling you know more than you're telling me?" Serena observed. She seemed more intrigued than angry at Liz for playing coy.
Now Liz was the one impressed by Serena's display of intuition. However Liz still sought to deflect attention away from most of the intel she could give Serena. Liz knew that she needed to completely change the subject to duck more pressing by Serena.
"So, do you have someone's permission to set all this up?" Liz asked.
"No," Serena said flatly, "which means I want to wrap up here before someone comes along and kicks me out."
Serena walked around Liz and grabbed some electrical wiring draped over part of the scaffolding behind them. Liz turned so she could still face her.
"But I'd like to talk with you further about your connection to the extraterrestrial phenomenon, Liz," Serena explained as she started hooking up the wiring to the solenoid voltmeter. "In my experience, the only reason a person doesn't look at me like I'm crazy for investigating this stuff is because either they're crazy or they know something. And good news: I don't think you're crazy."
Now Liz could see the park beyond the college behind Serena. Liz noticed the person from the motorcycle walking toward them. Liz sensed this person headed their way with a purpose. Serena glanced up from her work momentarily to get a response from Liz to her line about Liz not appearing crazy and noticed Liz's reaction to the new threat.
"Liz," Serena asked, "are you all right? You look pale all of the sudden."
"Ok," Liz said, developing a plan, "there's someone coming our way, but don't look. You need to walk this way with me."
Something about the conviction with which Liz spoke seemed to resonate with Serena and she obeyed. Serena walked toward Liz who placed her left hand on Serena's back and slowly started guiding them back to the turn in the alley where they could slip into the back alley running behind the college. Using her right hand, Liz whipped out her phone and dialed Max.
"C'mon," Liz whispered to herself, "C'mon."
Serena glanced at Liz with some concern, but looked resigned to follow Liz's lead and see how things would play out.
"Hey Liz," Max answered casually.
"Max, there's someone watching us," Liz explained, forgoing any of the typical pleasantries. "You need to get here fast. Enter the alleyway right where Zan's attack happened and turn the corner toward where we escaped. I'm going to try to time it right to lure them in that direction right as you arrive, but hurry!"
Liz hung up, knowing Max would charge after her. She started running the math in her head. She counted eight blocks from the college to Ava's house. Liz never needed to reference Roswell in terms of blocks and developed her sense of a block's distance from their time on the East Coast. On the East Coast, two city blocks equal a tenth of a mile. If she counted eight blocks from Ava's house, then that meant Max needed to cover 0.4 miles. He always kept in good shape and she once measured his sprint speed at 17 miles per hour, a bit faster than a human's average of 15 MPH. Therefore Liz calculated that Max could arrive on the scene in just less than 90 seconds.
As Liz and Serena moved into a position directly across from the entrance to the back alley, Liz stopped so that she could subtly keep an eye on the approaching stranger from the motorcycle. She also used this opportunity to inform Serena of her plan.
"We're going to walk into the other alleyway when I say and when we get behind the wall, we're going to run for cover," Liz explained to Serena. "Do you understand?"
Serena nodded, still compelled to follow Liz's lead due to her deadly serious behavior. Liz also projected a certain calmness that she hoped helped to reassure Serena that she ought to listen to Liz's instructions.
Liz intended to make her move before the stranger could get close enough to yell out at them but didn't want to make it too soon. That could provoke the stranger into running after them, arriving at the back alley earlier and ultimately getting more time to search for them. The stranger continued to walk casually toward them, so Liz reasoned they didn't know Liz recognized they were coming for her and Serena. From a distance, their brief walk to the back of the alley likely appeared insignificant and because Liz just explained the plan, it also seemed as if Liz and Serena simply continued their conversation.
Timing the moment just right, Liz guided Serena into the back alleyway. The moment they were out of sight, Liz grabbed Serena's wrist and sprinted for the area of flattened boxes next to the dumpster where the homeless man emerged from the previous day. Liz lifted a flattened box and instructed Serena to crawl under it and up against the dumpster. Liz went in after her and positioned a couple of the flattened boxes to fully cover them. She gently slid one box so that her left eye could peek out and observe the scene. Liz also carefully made sure that Serena couldn't view the action unfolding. She didn't know who pursued them or what Max would need to do to disable them. And Liz hoped to avoid Serena witnessing Max unleash his powers.
The dumpster emitted a particularly foul stench. Liz held no expertise in identifying specific sources of trashy smell, but it briefly occurred to her that either the dumpster was long overdue to be emptied or maybe a dead animal lay nearby. Liz hoped she didn't sit on one, but she acclimated to the smell even faster than normal since her primary concern rightly focused on staying out of sight of their apparent pursuer until Max could arrive.
Peering through the folded boxes, Liz spotted the stranger from the motorcycle run into the back alley, still wearing the white helmet with its darkened visor. The stranger stopped running after turning the corner to find an empty alley, just as Liz had done the day before. Liz watched closely as the stranger slowly walked forward, scanning the alleyway for any indication of Liz and Serena.
Next she saw Max enter the alley, right on time. She could tell Max looked for her and knew he would worry that her apparent absence could mean she was in trouble. Max tried to slowly gain on the stranger, but the stranger kept creeping forward and Max couldn't get within arm's length before the stranger detected his approach.
Liz watched as the stranger whipped around quickly to face Max. Instinctively, Max threw up his hand and erected his green energy barrier. Liz noted that the stranger didn't jump back or seem too rattled by this. Instead she saw the stranger pull off the motorcycle helmet revealing a man with short, buzzed brown hair. The stranger tucked the helmet under his right armpit and then spoke.
"Maxwell?"
Liz knew only one person who ever called Max by Maxwell.
"Michael?" Max called out in response.
Max let his green energy barrier dissipate and Liz witnessed Max face-to-face with Michael, his oldest friend and fellow alien hybrid.