"Still not a little green man," Alex returned lightly even as he stared at the pods. Three of them. And Michael had said that Max and Isobel were family. He took a step closer and then another and eventually got close enough that all he had to do was reach out and press his hand to the pod. It was firm to the touch although it seemed to shimmer a little.

He turned back to Michael. "So...these can heal your hand?" Better the immediate question than the ramifications. He needed a minute, more than a minute, to come to terms with this. Because he couldn't come up with a better explanation than the obvious one, given what town they were all in.

Except that it was better to know than to just guess. For all he knew, this was some...secret government project that kids had access to. Right.

"What are they?"