Santa Barbara:  1990

A young Shawn Spencer sits outside his house on a warm, dark night in the late summer California weather.  In his hands are binoculars, which he is looking through out at the ocean across from the house. 

Henry walks out, trying to find his son.  Eventually, he sees the young Spencer on the roof, looking through the binoculars.

“Shawn!  Get down from there!” Henry cried.

Shawn looked down, “No!  I’m watching for aliens!”

Henry stood for a beat, then began to stomp toward the corner of the house Shawn was perched on. 

“Okay!  I’m coming!” Shawn said quickly.

“Hurry up!  Dinner’s ready and we don’t want to keep your mom waiting,” Henry warned.

Shawn moved quickly, knowing what his mom would do if she had to serve dinner late.  It wouldn’t be pretty, and he’d miss WrestleMania next week, because he’d be grounded until school starts.

“What did you say you were doing up there?” Henry asked as his son set foot on the ground.

“Watching for aliens.  Gus and Dennis say they really exist and showed me proof,” Shawn insisted.

“Gus and that other boy are full of it.  Aliens don’t exist, Shawn,” Henry said.

“But Dad…” Shawn began to protest.

Henry grabbed his binoculars out of his son’s hand, “They don’t exist.”

With that, Henry walked inside with the binoculars.  Shawn then heard him shout out the door, “Get in here and eat, Shawn!”

Shawn sulked and went inside to eat dinner.  No matter what his dad said, Shawn believed his friend.  One day, he hoped to meet an alien.

Santa Barbara: 2010

Shawn and Gus walked out of Dennis’ house, after solving the ‘alien’ case which turned out to be a case about money.  As they got into the Blueberry, Gus turned to Shawn with a concerned look.

“Shawn, no more cases about aliens,” he said, then protected his ears from the inevitable flick and subsequent pain it would cause. 

None came, however.  Shawn looked deep in thought.  Gus slowly dropped his hands, but kept an eye on his best friend.

“No worries, Buddy.  We’re done with the alien angle.  I will never, from this day on, speak about aliens again,” Shawn said, crossing his heart with his finger.

“Seriously?  No more quote, un-quote, alien cases?” Gus asked.

“No.  Now, if we had one about vampires, that would be awesome!” Shawn said with a smile.

“Sooki is mine!” Gus said, making gestures with his hands.

Shawn tsked, then Gus, then Shawn.  Back and forth they went as they drove down the road. 

Secretly, Shawn was glad it was over.  He turned to Gus with a look in his eyes.

“Dude, I could go for some pineapple smoothies and Jerk Chicken,” he said.

“You know that’s right!” Gus said, fist extended.  Shawn bumped it and they headed off to nourishment.

As they passed by the old warehouse district, Shawn got a weird sensation down his spine.  He looked back, seeing nothing. 

“What?” Gus asked.

Shawn looked forward again, “Nothing.  I’m just hungry.  I need food, now!”

As the car rounded a corner, two people peeked out from behind a building and glanced at each other.

“Do you think we were seen?” the female asked.

The male shook his head, “No.  We had the cover of these abandoned dwellings.  Come, we must create lives for ourselves and get some clothes.  It is custom for us to wear clothes.”

The female looked down at her body, “These bodies are strange.  What does a human woman need with these?” She pointed to her chest.

“I believe it is nourishment for a newborn human.  Come, we must find suitable clothing,” the male said.

“How long are we to be here?” the female asked as they snuck around to a laundry mat nearby.

“We don’t leave until we complete our study on human behavior. Especially their belief systems on what they consider supernatural phenomenon.  Humans with psychic abilities are the top of our list,” he said. 

“Psychic?  Humans have that capability?” she asked.

“They claim to, some of them.  Come on, Suina, let’s go.  We have transportation waiting for us.  The Elders have set up lives for us on this planet.  We are to go to a place called the Foundation.  It’s run by another team from our world.  There is where we’ll learn about the human culture before we venture out into the world for ourselves,” he explained as he grabbed a bag of clean clothes someone had placed on a bench. 

He grabbed some for himself, let her grab some clothes, then dropped the bag and they both ran to a waiting taxi nearby. 

“When we are ready, we will be given a list of humans to watch.  If one interests us enough, we take them back to our world and study them further,” he said.

“Palar, what if we don’t find one?” Suina asked.

"We will, Suina," Palar said.