fandomhigh | ...or how not to get caught, Period 2, 13 Aug '08

There was a lamp hung on the open door - a beacon in case anyone needed it; Mohinder would have certainly appreciated not looking completely lost earlier in the day.

Mohinder broke off a close and quiet conversation and looked up from his notes and, with a quick glance at the guy sat on a back-turned chair at the side of the classroom, he began, "Good morning. I'm glad to see those of you who've found your way here."

"Catching someone in a lie," Mohinder started. "Not by finding contradictory evidence - that someone wasn't somewhere because of a photo places them elsewhere, but the very act of detecting an untruth." He first summarised the forensic psychology of lies.

"Lying usually," and Mohinder stressed that word, "Causes stress in the subject. There are certain common physiological markers to pressure - elevated heart-rate, respiration, blood pressure, skin conductivity." He fingered the polygraph in front of him. "A polygraph records these responses while an operator compares results those given for control questions. It's not an infalliable system, while voice analysis accurately measures stress, but then attempts to correlate that with deception."

"Before you try operating these machines I'd like to introduce another option," said Mohinder, moving to lean back against the wall, near the man who'd been listening and watching intently as Mohinder spoke - solid build, dark hair and institutional suit. "Telepathy isn't a new concept in my world, but it is one that's recently become scientifically verifiable. Matt?"

"If that's what you call it," Matt said quietly, before standing, and moving in front of Mohinder's desk.

"Hi," Matt started almost awkwardly. "I'm Detective Matt Parkman, NYPD, and I'm a telepath. Which you'd think would be more of a help than it is, but then it comes down to the evidence. Oh, and I'm not reading your minds right now," he added hurriedly.

He tapped the side of his head. "It isn't always on. But often people aren't saying what they're thinking and I can pick up on that."

"Thank you," said Mohinder from his place at the side of the room. "If anyone would like to talk to - to test - the detective, perhaps try their hand at lying - thinking more than one thing at once - they're certainly welcome to."

"Yeah," Matt nodded. "Thanks."

[Details in the OCD are up]

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If you want to try it.

Mac wasn't necessarily jumping at the chance to have her mind read, but she was staring at the older Weiss clone.

No matter how many times this happened, it was always freaky.

Matt noticed the kid staring at him. He was trying not to read anyone accidentally so that just left him with asking, "What?"

"Sorry. You just look... really like someone I used to know," she told him. More like, exactly.

"It's just a little strange, that's all."

"Are you from California?" asked Matt, going for the more obvious guess. "I used to work out there."

"Oh, no... well, yes," Mac admitted. "But I didn't know him back there. Just one of those weird things." He obviously wasn't Weiss, but he was definitely a good measure for what he might look like in a few years time.

"You can really read minds?"

"Right," Matt nodded dubiously. "One of the island things." Mohinder had told him about some of those, he just hadn't believed them completely.

"Yeah," he said, with a breaking smile. "When I concentrate. It's like tuning a radio."

A telepath? Blair was so up for the challenge.

"This is Blair," Mohinder, standing by the wall, introduced her to Matt.

"You can start with something simple, if you want to test Matt. Or any more complicated thoughts you want to try," he told Blair, and stepped back to watch.

"Can you really read thoughts?" Blair asked, while thinking Does he honestly think that shirt goes with those pants?

"Yeah," Matt shrugged. "I'm just not sure how."

He caught the trailing edge of Blair's thoughts, and Matt's gaze briefly dropped while one hand reached reflexively to straighten his tie.

"Ever get sued for invasion of privacy?" Blair asked. She noticed him adjusting his tie and thought Ugh. I bet that's polyester.

"No." Matt was a little defensive at that. "I don't read people's minds without their okay." Not now, and not unless there were extreme circumstances.

"Maybe," he answered her thought. "As long as it works."

"...as long as what works?" Blair asked, confused.

"It's a tie," Matt shrugged. "As long as it doesn't strangle me I'm good."

"As long as it doesn't strangle you, you're dressed," Blair told him. "You're also wearing a huge sign about how much you make - or don't - in a year."

In the meanwhile Blair thought I bet he lives in Brooklyn too. Home of the Pathetic.

"I think the badge I carry does the same thing," Matt answered back. "It's not about the money, and there's nothing wrong with our apartment."

"Is it in Brooklyn?" Blair asked, having caught on to the mind-reading and how it affected the conversation.

"Yeah it is," Matt replied. "Do you know the city?"

"I'm from the Upper East Side," Blair said. She figured the impressiveness of that went without saying.

It might have done, but Matt had only a few months of New York under his belt. Also he quite liked his tie, so, she got a, "Yeah, I think I've heard of it. You're a long way from home."

Blair smiled sweetly and thought At least I'm dressed like a grownup.

She rather liked the mind reading. It let her say what she wanted while looking like a good student.

"Yeah, 'cause that's real smart," said Matt, not quite rolling his eyes.

Mohinder glanced up at that, but looked back to his notes.

Re: Talk to the telepath/cop 6 (HNTGC)

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His encounter with Manticore's psi's had left Dean more than a little anxious about facing a telepath, but it would be useful to find out if the blocking techniques Anakin had taught him worked so Dean swallowed his anxiety as much as he could and walked up to the detective. "Uh, hi."

"Hey, kid," Matt nodded at Dean. "I don't bite."