Avery finally reaches Max by phone, but Max is unusually withdrawn. Max shows none of her usual humor about Thea moving into Hawthorne House and ends the conversation quickly, leaving Avery aware that something is wrong but unsure what.

Later, Xander reacts strongly to the news that Thea will be staying at the House. Xander warns Avery that if Thea is there, Thea is probably up to something. Avery broadens the suspicion to Zara, noting that Zara has already maneuvered Avery into public proximity with Grayson at the foundation and now appears to be positioning Thea inside the House.

Xander agrees that Thea probably did not choose to spend time with the Hawthornes willingly. When Avery asks why Thea might dislike him, Xander hints at a complicated past involving “star-crossed love, fake dating, tragedy, penance,” and vultures. Avery connects the phrasing to Xander’s earlier evasiveness about Rebecca Laughlin and realizes there may be more to Xander’s relationship with Rebecca and Emily’s history than Xander has admitted.

Instead of explaining further, Xander takes Avery to what he calls his fourth-favorite room in Hawthorne House. He opens a hidden door by manipulating a piece of molding, revealing a concealed room he proudly calls his lair.

Inside, Avery finds an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine filled with gears, pulleys, ramps, buckets, balloons, a birdcage, an anvil, and other parts. Xander explains that he is a three-time world champion at building overly complicated machines that perform simple tasks. Avery activates the machine with a marble and wonders whether the contraption is meant as a warning or metaphor about Thea and Zara’s schemes, but Xander grins and says no one said the machine had anything to do with Thea.