Washington Square Park, DC
2003
Elijah Loker closed another textbook with a heavy hearted sigh.
Right.
Back to it.
He watched the people of the city pass by for hours, everywhere he went.
Analyzing.
Picking apart random pieces of information in micro-detail.
People were so guarded.
So expressive.
So alike.
Anger.
Hate.
Joy.
Pain.
Frustration.
Arousal.
Doubt.
Love.
It was all there.
Etched across skin in plain day light.
Eli Loker could see it.
Why couldn't anyone else?
His fellow psychology students loathed and envied his ability.
But truthfully it hadn't come natural.
It took so many years of hard work and training.
And it finally paid off.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Letting the atmosphere settle around him.
...
His eyes snapped open.
And he saw it.
Saw what people tried to hide.
It was a beautiful lie and an ugly truth.
The young student preferred the ugly truth.
Humans were amazing beings.
What they felt.
What they pretended to be.
What they hid.
What they hid always fascinated Eli Loker.
People saved and locked away the very best part of themselves.
They protected it with every breath, with every ounce of their being.
It was at the core of human emotion.
It was them.
They put up a barrier for a reason.
Created a well-played facade only trusted to a few.
And then some.
Eli and a man by the name of Cal Lightman could see everything.
Take apart that carefully placed facade piece by piece.
It was like looking under a micro-scope of humanity.
It was...beyond amazing.
There wasn't a word for it.
But it was a secret worth sharing.
Worth its weight in gold.
Seeing but not revealing was key.
Except for those he put down in his Psychology mid-term essay.
The young man swiped hot, thick curls from his eyes.
He grabbed a pen a jotted down piles of notes.
He couldn't be a writer.
He couldn't imagine or come up with a life story for each person.
He had to see it and be right.
See everything in a single glance.
A woman pushing a baby-stroller stopped and showed contempt.
Showed contempt for her life.
For her stack of cards.
It wasn't a Royal Flush.
She was stuck in a small office with another baby on the way.
Eli felt a brush of sadness.
He quickly got his bearings and let logic take over.
A cold analyst was better than a sloppy, emotional one.
He turned to the left.
Remorse.
Blue eyes flicked to the man passing right in front of him.
A false smile.
A tightened fist...
An unexpressed agony shimmering beneath the surface.
It was all there.
No one bothered to see it.
To embrace it.
To open their eyes and know it for what it was.
Tense lower eyelids and a scrunched brow: Fear.
Mouth open, eyes widened.
Narrowing of the lips.
Loss of focus in the eyes.
Eli wrote down some more notes.
He couldn't see people anymore.
He only saw their feelings.
Micro-expressions, restricted, full and slight.
He had to learn.
Years of this had gotten Eli completely addicted.
He was awarded a small, glimpse into this world and there was no stopping him from pursuing and capturing it.
Becoming like Cal Lightman.
Who was the true savant.
The Wizard of Oz without falsehood.
He could see it.
So would Loker.
He closed his text book.
Fin.