Makena learned two important things within the first hour of working for Psych.
One: Shawn Spencer did not sit still.
Gus was at his 9 to 5 so that left Makena to endure his endless tapping.
Suddenly he jumped up, "I'm going to get some juice. Want anything?"
"A coffee?"
"Deal!" And he was gone
Makena shook her head fondly and leaned back in the office chair for the long wait of no one coming in or calling. Psych was still very new.
Gus joined her after his lunch.
"Where's Shawn?"
"He went to get a juice more than a hour ago."
Gus sighed and rolled his eyes before turning on the TV in the corner.
It was for the Regional Spelling Bee.
Gus was vibrating with nostalgia and unresolved trauma.
Makena leaned toward him. "You competed, didn't you."
Gus sighed. "National level. Almost won regionals. Almost."
Shawn walked in with his bike, raising an eyebrow at the TV. "Really, Gus?"
When the favorite, Brendan Vu, collapsed onstage, Makena had already walked into the main office and stood with the boys.
She didn't need the System to tell her this wasn't natural, or her canon knowledge for that matter.
Still, it chimed softly in her awareness.
[MISSION NOTIFICATION
Objective: Assist Shawn & Gus with the sabotage investigation.
Constraint: Avoid exposure of System.
Reward:
• Ability: Deduction Basics (Sherlock)
• +2,000 SC]
Makena's breath slowed.
"Shawn," she said quietly. "That inhaler didn't malfunction. It was interfered with."
He glanced at her, eyes bright. "That was just what I was thinking."
The phone rang right on cue and she sped over to it.
"Thank you for calling the Psych office, Makena speaking how may I help you?"
"This is Chief Vic with the Santa Barbara police department..."
---
In the end she didn't need to ask to come along, Shawn called her down when he found he had to interview the 43 remaining contestants per Chief Vics orders.
At the theater, Makena reviewed the Spelling Bee's schedules, contestant lists, and seating charts while the boys sat in the front row.
She remembered something else happened this episode making it more than sabotage but it had been awhile since she last saw Psych Season 1.
She observed the proceedings as the full theater watched with rapt attention the other contestants.
When the Spellmaster, Elvin Cavanaugh, staggered and fell to his death from the balcony, Makena felt the cold settle in her stomach.
Two incidents. Escalation.
So that's what she had forgotten.
Because of the death, SB PD were on location soon after.
While Lassiter dismissed it as a heart attack, Makena slipped out her Stark phone and opened the System inventory.
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED:
Drone Upgrade — Bee & Puppycat Toolkit
Cost: 2,000 SC]
[SC Balance: 64,500SC]
Tiny, whimsical drones — barely larger than mechanical bees — dispersed silently into the theater hall, mapping airflow, tracking movement, flagging anomalies.
Later when she joined the boys in the Spellmaster's box, as Shawn and Gus leaned over Chinese noodles and Gus inhaled deeply—
"Poison," Gus said grimly.
Makena's drone pinged.
Camera tripod marks. Carpet indentations.
Surveillance.
She didn't say it out loud. She didn't need to.
Shawn saw it too.
---
While Shawn spiraled (after going to see his father for help identifying the poison) into unfinished childhood dog house trauma and vehicular assault, Makena stayed with Gus.
They reviewed inhalers.
Compared prescriptions hiding behind his desk at his work at the pharmaceutical company.
Makena noticed Gus's hands steady as he worked, the way his mind latched onto patterns and stayed there.
"You're good at this," she said quietly.
Gus blinked. "At… what?"
"At noticing when something doesn't add up."
He smiled faintly. "Someone has to keep Shawn from turning everything into performance art."
Before returning to the Bee, Makena accessed the System again.
---
Back at the Bee,
Makena watched Miklos Prochazka tap his jacket.
Watched Jiri grip the inhaler.
Watched realization dawn on Shawn's face.
Electrical pulses. Cheating. Poisoned noodles. Switched inhalers.
When Shawn launched into his psychic monologue, Makena stayed quiet, watching Juliet watch him.
Interest. Confusion. Something like curiosity edged with trust.
Outside, after the arrest, Gus learned the truth.
Shawn had sabotaged his spelling years ago — on purpose.
Gus exploded.
Makena stepped aside as Gus chased Shawn across the lawn, shouting about betrayal and childhood dreams.
She smiled softly.
[MISSION COMPLETE
Rewards Granted:
• Deduction Basics (Sherlock)— Assimilated
• +2,000 SC]
[SC Balance: 66,500SC]
She didn't feel like she deserved it, she mostly supported and observed but maybe that was the point.
As the chaos faded, Gus slowed near her, breathing hard.
"... I know why he did it. He didn't want to lose you."
Gus sighed. "That doesn't make it better."
"No," she agreed gently. "But it makes it human."
Gus looked at her, something thoughtful settling behind his eyes.
Teamwork, Makena realized, wasn't about spotlight.
It was about anchors.
And she was starting to understand exactly where she fit.