Authors: A.A. Bell
‘Are you telling me this messy tangle of flashing lights and gizmos can tell if I’m lying even if I think I’m telling the truth?’
‘Confidentially, yes,’ Zhou replied. ‘In fact, for questions that can be answered by a simple yes or no, you don’t have to say anything at all. Words aren’t the only form of expression. The human body has a language all of its own, and I don’t just mean the external signals we give off as part of normal communication, such as waving the left hand to say goodbye in one country in such a way that can be interpreted as an insult in other cultures. I’m talking about the internal physiological responses that are the same no matter where you live or what you look like. Alie is a lie to the subconscious mind of any person of either sex, any race, age, health status or state of mind.’
‘Will you honour your promise to take me home?’ Mira cut in.
‘Miss Chambers,
please,’
Zhou said. ‘These tests are serious.’
‘And highly confidential,’ Van Danik reminded her. ‘You’re only here as a witness who can apply an additional level of stress on our test subject.’
‘She’s achieving that,’ Ben replied. ‘Let me answer her while I’m still hooked up to this thing. She’d never believe me otherwise. Yes, Mira,’ he said before they could argue. ‘I swear that I’ll always honour my promises, come hell or high water. How’s that?’
‘Well, your subconscious and conscious minds are in agreement with your statement,’ Zhou replied. ‘Now can we please get back to the last few questions? We need to discuss something touchier now — perhaps any instances of maltreatment or misdiagnosis amongst any of your clients?’
‘No!’ Mira snapped. ‘You can’t talk about me! I told you that in confidence, Ben! They’ll find out and it’ll make things even worse for me!’
Zhou’s mouth fell open. ‘We had no intention of discussing you specifically, Miss Chambers. If you have personal issues, it’s up to you to raise them with your matron. We only need to discuss these issues generally.’
‘You can’t do that either! In my ward so far, there’s only me, an Emma and three girls called Sarah. If anyone complains, I’ll bet they blame me.’
‘What if we make a deal?’ Zhou suggested. ‘So long as you don’t tell anyone about us, we won’t tell anyone here about any of his answers that concern you?’
‘Or your reaction just now,’ Van Danik added, ‘which could be just as compromising. We’re not here to cause trouble for you.’
‘Actually,’ Zhou pointed out, ‘she was listening to music at the time you explained that to Ben. In any case, you know it now, Miss Chambers. Do we have a deal?’
‘Well, okay,’ she said cautiously. ‘I suppose if I’m going to start trusting people, I should start with some who have their own lie detector.’
‘Okay then, Ben, let’s back up,’ Zhou said, recording again. ‘Do you know of any instances where patients have been misdiagnosed?’
‘Not in the traditional manner.’ Ben looked past the forest of medical equipment to watch Mira’s reaction, but she was now guarding her facial responses and emotions very tightly. ‘Medicine isn’t my field of expertise,’ he continued, ‘but I am experienced at listening to people with disabilities, and I’m convinced that specialists under the old regime were trying to force square pegs into round holes.’
‘You’ll need to clarify that a little more,’ Van Danik said. ‘I haven’t got a clear picture on that response from the EEG.’
‘Maybe that’s because I find it hard to explain,’ Ben replied. ‘It’s a bit like a communication gap between the sensory perceptions of intellectually handicapped clients — what they hear, see, taste and smell — and how they’re categorised by the database of syndromes and illnesses that medical specialists use to decide on effective treatments.’
Zhou scratched his chin. ‘So you suspect there are illnesses and disabilities here that haven’t yet been identified by medical science?’
‘Yes, but I wouldn’t call them illnesses or disabilities. They’re more like conditions and abilities that often go hand in hand with sensory overload. Take idiot savants, for example. There’s a patient coming into Mira’s ward today who was nicknamed
Moaning Joan under the old regime. She’s incapable of feeding or caring for herself, but one of the new psychologists recently amplified and slowed down a recording of her mumbling to discover that she’s constantly calculating three-dimensional trigonometry in her head with answers that are accurate down to twenty decimal places — at least.’
‘Flux me!’ Van Danik whistled.
‘Indeed,’ Zhou said. ‘I’ve read a few case studies like that over the years, but I’ve never had contact with specific patients. I’ll look forward to getting an insight into her eyes, so to speak.’
‘I doubt you’ll be able to. We’ve managed to get her to speak a little slower, but she’s still mostly incomprehensible.’
‘Has she volunteered for our survey?’
‘I’m not sure. I can speak to my supervisor, if you like. But you’ll need more time for her appointment, because you’ll need to record, rewind and slow down each response, even for simple answers like yes or no.’
Van Danik nodded. ‘It’ll be interesting to see if the sensors can keep up with her, even if we only touch on the control questions.’
Ben grinned. ‘I wouldn’t mind sitting in on that session myself. Like Mira, Joan is a client who keeps almost entirely to herself.’
‘You seem pretty enthusiastic,’ Van Danik said. ‘Am I right in assuming you can see potential medical applications for our equipment in future with your mental pa... I mean clients?’
‘Of course! The disability that made Joan an outcast could be developed as a useful skill that should help to improve her quality of life and give her a role in society, while also helping her to cope with her sensory overload. There has to be a use for clients who can calculate complex maths in their head; we just have to figure out what it is. And it would have made my job much easier if someone could have identified the true nature of her condition earlier, by asking her questions and using a lie detector to give us an insight into her responses.’
‘Sounds like a marketable idea,’ Van Danik agreed. ‘Intellect matures significantly after it recognises a purpose for its own existence.’
‘That’s as good a way of putting it as any, I suppose. As a social worker, I’m investigating opportunities for Joan that she’ll not only excel at but also enjoy. And now that she’s also semi-aware of what she’s doing, she’s a lot easier to work with — and a lot more confident. But having a reliable lie detector like this could help in other ways — not only for Joan but for other clients, like Mira. We could judge the difference between genuine enjoyment of an activity and faked tolerance.’
‘You mean clients would lie about enjoying a program that’s designed to be fun and helpful?’ Van Danik asked.
Mira nodded, her movement almost imperceptible to anyone but Ben.
‘Unfortunately, yes,’ he said. ‘Some behavioural management strategies have the side effect of ingraining in clients a desire to be agreeable in order to avoid something that’s even more disagreeable.’
‘But if you’ve been employed to break old habits,’ Zhou asked, ‘then obviously you’re not alone in your suspicions about all this?’
‘It felt that way at first,’ Ben replied, ‘except for Matron Sanchez. She hired me specifically to help improve the quality of life here for clients, and that’s achievable regardless of my suspicions about any possible misdiagnosis — or my tactics. Take Freddie Leopard — ah, Kitching — as another example. Hewas in here just before, claiming to hear voices, which isn’t normally perceived as a useful ability, but I try to show how disabilities can be gifts. In his case I suggested he should harness those inner voices as muses for writing a play. I believe he’s now working on one, night and day.’
‘What about any instances of maltreatment?’ Zhou asked.
‘Maltreatment?’ Ben paused, noticing another flicker of fear crossing Mira’s face. ‘Well, I’m not aware of anyone who’s deliberately abusing clients, but I’m aware of a few issues that borderline as unintentional.’
‘Unintentional?’ Mira complained. ‘How can abuse be unintentional?’
‘Give us an example,’ Zhou suggested.
‘I can give you three,’ Ben said. ‘First, the dehumanisation of the three Sarahs by numbering them instead of using their surnames or initials. Second, there’s the rule against discussing medications with or in front of any of the clients, when I would have thought that it should be a fundamental right for anyone to be fully aware of the details of their medical treatments, regardless of their ability to understand or make decisions. And third, I’m aware that some clients can be hypersensitive to a particular disciplinary strategy, but I’ll be taking all of those issues up with Matron Sanchez this afternoon.’
Zhou exhaled heavily and his chair creaked as he shifted position. ‘Okay, that’s a wrap. It’s a pity we can’t put you in the hot seat, too, Miss Chambers. We still need to test at least ten blind people. Preferably a full set of fifty.’
Ben looked at Mira, wishing he could get inside her head too.
‘S
he’s earned it,’ Ben argued, still with Matron Sanchez an hour past the end of his shift. He leaned across her desk and turned Mira’s file around so the application for a day pass was on the top, facing Sanchez again. ‘All I need is your signature, a company car and an hour or two. At least give her that much?’
Sanchez picked up the application and tore it to shreds. ‘Sorry, Ben. I admire your creativity, proactive style and results so far, but I can’t spare the staff or the car to take you.’
‘What about the gardener’s tray-back? It’s only two seats, but I don’t need anyone else anyway. She trusts me.’
‘After just eight hours? If only it were that easy. Be reasonable, Ben. It’s much more likely she’s trying to gain
your
trust so she can try another escape attempt.’
‘Do you really think that’s likely after this morning? I deliberately gave her a chance to escape by telling her I needed to drop in for more paperwork, and she didn’t get too far before coming back in.’
‘You don’t think it’s because she caught onto your trick?’
‘If she did, she hasn’t shown it.’
‘I doubt she would.’ Sanchez tapped the report folder on her desk. ‘She’s a smart girl, Ben. You said it yourself on page two of your incident report: we’d track her down wherever she went. I don’t think she’d have made it too far without figuring that out for herself. She’s also cunning enough to know that her chances for escape improve dramatically the further away she can get from here. That’s why she wants a day pass, Ben. She wants to escape, not visit some treehouse at Halls Bay where she used to live as a kid.’
‘You
promised
she could have a pass if she made it through a whole day without further incident, and she has. We’ve been busy all day since our session with the VIPs: finger-painting, basket-weaving and clay-modelling. Did you know she can play Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ on both piano and guitar? Apparently, her mother taught her years ago, so her memory for details is remarkable. She even beat me at chess!’
‘How well did she cooperate with the VIPs? My session with Phoebe was pretty intense.’
‘Mine too, but we learned a lot about each other. If anything, I think it helped.’
‘I’m very sorry then.’ Sanchez dropped the shredded application into her waste basket. ‘I didn’t promise a day pass. I promised I’d
consider
it and I have.’
‘But —’
‘Look, I’m not denying that her progress today is an impressive turnaround. It’s what I’d been hoping to achieve eventually by employing you, jail record or no jail record. I always admired your unorthodox and daring techniques with kids all those years ago. But in Mira’s case, it’s her speed of recovery that worries me — and her motives.’
‘Hey, when I’m on a roll, I’m rolling. I’ve discussed motives with her too.’
‘And?’
‘Obviously, she gets the same deal as everyone else; meaning she stays, behaves and learns the skills she needs for independence, and when she’s developed enough to live and hold a job outside on her own, out she goes, whether that takes her a few weeks, months or years. She’s excited by the prospect that she might some day be allowed to move out of here, albeit a little upset that nobody mentioned it to her before. She thought she was in jail.’
‘Don’t play into her delusions, Bennet. Every client is reminded of their opportunities every morning at breakfast.’
‘Since she’s refused to speak to you until today, it’s not surprising you don’t know. Mira hasn’t been to a group meal at the dining hall yet. She’s been room-bound since she arrived here.’
‘I’m sure that wasn’t the case on her first day, but even if it was, it’s standard procedure to reinforce that message at every daily therapy session. I’m told that she refuses to listen; she’s consumed within her own hallucinations.’
‘Was,’
Ben argued.
‘Was
distracted by her hallucinations. She was vastly improved today. I noticed the term “blindsighted” in her file. That’s only a temporary condition, isn’t it?’
Sanchez nodded. ‘Usually, yes. It’s a common phenomenon when sight has been lost after a major trauma. Unfortunately for Mira, her temporary condition has lasted almost a decade; it seems her underlying Fragile X syndrome has pushed her over the edge to make it a permanent state of mind. We should be grateful, at least, that she was born female or else the syndrome could have manifested into far more debilitating afflictions, like with Freddie. Still, male or female, there’s no cure. We can replace her eyes as soon as there’s a suitable donor, but there’s noway we could replace all of her chromosomes. Not this millennium, at least.’
‘I’ve reached her, though, Matron. I swear I have! Maybe it’s me, or maybe she really is at peace now that she’s convinced herself that she can’t see.’
‘I appreciate that. It’s the reason why I’m agreeing to restore her personal privileges so soon, and I hope you’ll take extra care to explain this to her. It wouldn’t hurt for her to show a little gratitude either, since I’m prepared to wipe the slate clean for a whole week if she does.’