XIV) The Cube

"She's ready."

Cal Lightman whipped his head around when the technician came into their office. He saw that Foster had the same reaction.

"She?" Cal asked.

"He. She. Whatever turns your crank."

Gillian chuckled as she got up. "Let's have a look."

"Can I come too?" Emily's voice piped in. She was in the office with them because she had no school this afternoon and Zoe had a client emergency. Although his wife did promise to pick up their daughter by the time one of their late afternoon clients was due to arrive.

In the meantime, Emily occupied herself with a book. That is, until now when the sudden announcement caught her attention too.

"Sure you can," Gillian told her.

They entered the room next door which was now highlighted by centrepiece of the Lightman Group.

A square, state-of-the-art, glass and steel interview room.

Cal Lightman was pleased with what he saw. He'd seen it countless times before, observing it, and offering his feedback, while it was being assembled here during the last two weeks. But this was different. This was the finished product. His baby. Ready to go. At last.

Sure Foster had given him her input while they'd poured over the blue-prints. Had convinced him to modify a couple of design features, especially the ones related to the voice stress analysis monitors. But in the end it was still his brain child. Modelled vaguely after a similar room he'd once worked in at MI5. And another one he'd only read about, that Interpol supposedly used for their interrogations.

The result was a room that had all the necessary technical components of sophisticated police interrogation, but took it several notches further by also encompassing all the tools of his science.

Body temperature monitors. Voice pitch measurements. Heart rate measures and video. Endless digital recorders that could pause, enlarge, rewind and enhance what they were looking at with the touch of a few buttons. Best of all, it could be disassembled just as it was assembled, meaning they could take it with them when they switched offices.

Nothing quite like it existed anywhere else in the world and Cal was damn proud of it.

"She's a beauty," the technician said proudly. He hoisted a remote that darkened the glass windows, making it impossible to see inside. "One of you should step inside, while I give you a run down of the features."

Cal gave Gillian a nudge. "Go on. Be our guinea pig."

She gave him a disagreeing look. "You go. I'll get the instructions to run the monitors. We both know I'm more technologically adept than you."

Cal saw the hint of a smile on the technician's face.

Cal snickered at him. "Oh yeah?"

And Gillian, of course, missed the whole exchange. "Maybe we could bring Isabel in here. She's about the size of a guinea pig."

"Funny."

Emily giggled. "Can I go?"

"Alright. Fine." Gillian took Emily's hand into hers. "Let's take the plunge together."

Cal closed the door behind them and changed the settings so he could see them. Their faces came up on seven different screens. Gillian's sceptical expression gazing up into the cameras, squinting, while Emily twirled around, unimpressed by the Spartan furnishings.

The only furniture in the room was a basic table and two unadorned chairs.

"Right now the room's only closed, but you can also lock it," the technician explained, pointing to a screen the size of a hand. "Using your thumb prints, like you wanted."

Cal held his thumb up to the screen and heard the sound of a click as the door locked.

"Right now it's programmed so that only you and Dr. Foster have the authority to lock and unlock the room."

"But she can't unlock it from the inside," Cal wanted to confirm.

"No, because the person who locks it on the outside overrides the one on the inside."

Cal sat down at the console outside the room. "Talk to me, Foster. Tell me a lie."

"Okay, handsome."

"That was lame." Cal smirked. "My daughter can do better than that." He adjusted the screens so that the two faces were separated and enhanced, every tiny line and micro-expression highly visible for his scrutiny. "Go for it, Em."

"I don't have any lies to tell you, Dad!"

Foster looked serious as she checked out the equipment inside the room, but he also spotted the amusement that lined her eyes.

She bent down to whisper something into Emily's ear that made his daughter giggle.

"Ok...I have one Dad." Emily was grinning. "Isabel likes you best."

Cal shook his head. Only one day together and already his partner was successfully corrupting his only child.

Wait 'til you have a kid, Foster. The little tyke's gonna be fair game the minute he takes his first step.

He made an adjustment on the control panel, while the technician watched him.

"Hey! What happened?" Emily's fearful voice filled the room.

Cal smiled as he saw Emily's hand clasping onto Foster's a little tighter. "Your Dad changed the settings." Gillian explained to her. "It means he can see us but we can't see him anymore."

Cal made another adjustment, darkening the room this time.

"This is creepy," Emily said. The voice stress analysis registered her fear, as did the screens in front of him, even as his daughter tried to pretend she was annoyed instead of afraid.

It was pointless, asking people to lie, Cal reminded himself. They did it all on their own as long as you gave them a couple of minutes. Even eight-year olds.

He changed the setting to maximum, making the inside of the room pitch black. Neither of them would be able to see their hands in front of their faces.

"Dad! Stop it!"

"Shhh...it's okay, sweetie," he heard Gillian's voice re-assuring his daughter. "Your silly Dad's just playing a trick on us. We're going to get him back, you'll see."

Cal smirked. We'll see about that.

In contrast to Emily's, the machine didn't register any fear in Foster's voice.

He left them in the dark just a few seconds longer, surprised to see that they'd gone silent. Gillian led Emily towards the door, while his sensors registered their every movement.

Foster was blindly groping for the thumb print screen, clearly trying to open the door and get out, not knowing he'd locked it.

Her futile gesture amused him.

Nice try.

"How about some light in here, Cal?"

Foster's voice thundered through the room at an ear-shattering volume that nearly gave him a heart attack.

Jesus Christ.

Cal heard the technician gasp behind him before he turned the lights back on.

"She...adjusted the volume from inside. Set it to maximum. The speakers are pretty incredible. Top of the line." The technician pointed out, catching his breath. "It was one of your design features. In case you're working in there alone."

Yeah, I remembered that now. Thanks.

Cal adjusted the windows again so that they could both see him. "Anything else you want to try out in there, Foster?"

She smiled sweetly as she re-adjusted the volume. "No, that was it. Works fine, yeah?"

"Perfect. My ears are still ringing."

He unlocked the door and they both stepped out of the room.

"That was fun!"

Cal eyed his daughter with a smile. My little liar. "Was it?"

"The full manual's an icon on the main computer desktop," the technician told them. "Even though you designed the room, I might suggest reading it."

Cal raised an eyebrow. "Who needs manuals when you've got a tech savvy partner?"

"Well, in case you lose her..." he added, grabbing his jacket. "You've got the manual and you know how to reach me." He gave the room one last admiring glance. "She really is a beauty. I'm gonna miss working on her. I also think she could use a name. Like all great machines."

"She is amazing," Gillian agreed. "Thanks for making her functional. We couldn't have done it on our own."

The technician gave her a beaming smile and shook her hand. "Pleasure, Doctor Foster."

Cal watched the exchange. Amused at the affect his partner had on most men.

"So what do you think, Em?" Cal turned to his daughter after he left. "Do you have a name for us?"

"I think..." His daughter folded her arms, debating it for a moment before changing her mind. "That it's just a big, fat cube, Dad. Cubes don't get names."