Lie To Me {S. Reid}

PROLOGUE

"We love, and we feel, and we try, and we hope."
-David Leviathan

═══════════════════════════

                    ALETHEA GONZALES FACED HER AUDIENCE AS she proceeded to the next slide of her presentation.

"Now, after analyzing the interrogation and jury selection videos that I've shown you, can someone name one tell of a lie?"

The audience remained silent as the brunette patiently waited for a response. Scanning the crowd, Alethea just watched as they shifted in their seats, looking around if anyone had an answer.

"Nobody?" she tried again, hoping it would spark at least a guess.

Someone cleared their throat and slightly raised their hand. Alethea nodded towards the man, allowing him to speak up.

"In one of the jury selection videos, a man repeated a double negative by saying No following with an I do not."

Alethea smiled at the correct answer. "What's your name?"

"Dr. Spencer Reid," he introduced.

"Well, Dr. Spencer Reid," she began, "that was one of the man's tells, but there was something else more obvious."

Spencer knitted his eyebrows together. Had he missed something? Reading his facial expression, Alethea pulled up the video Spencer had referred to and zoomed up to his face before clicking play.

"Do you have any bias or strong opinions towards prostitution?"

Alethea paused the video, revealing one of the many behavioral things even Spencer had missed. "Dr. Spencer Reid, what does his face say?"

Spencer stared at the screen that focused on the juror's scrunched face. How did he miss such an expression? Finally, Spencer answered, "Scorn. He is feeling contempt towards the question."

Alethea nodded. "Yes, correct. That here is called a micro expression. It's very subtle and only last a fifth of a second, but once you're able to read these micro expressions, you'll be able to tell how someone truly feels."

A man in front of Spencer rose his hand. Alethea pointed at him, "yes?"

"Is that all he showed? You could tell he lied by just that quick-expression and the way he answered the question," the man asked.

Alethea shook her head. "No, there was one more thing." She fast forwards the video to where the juror began speaking again.

"But I told you I had no strong bias!"

Alethea paused once more, revealing the juror's raised shoulder. "You see that," she pointed as the video looped the same movement of him moving his shoulder, "that one-shouldered shrug means he has no confidence in what he is saying. That man is lying."

A young lady rose her hand, getting Alethea's attention. "Yes?"

"Don't micro-expressions vary per person," she asked.

Alethea went back to the scornful look of the juror and pulled up footage of Kato Kaelin from the O.J. trial right next to it, revealing the same face.

"Microexpressions are universal," Alethea explained, "Whether it's on a regular person, an extremist, or a serial killer."

═══════════════════════════

                    AFTER THE PRESENTATION, SPENCER WALKED UP to the Alethea. "Uh, Dr. Gonzales?"

Alethea turned around and smiled. "Ah, Dr. Spencer Reid. How may I help you?"

"I just wanted to say your presentation was fascinating," he complimented. "I work at the behavioral analysis unit in the FBI, and even I missed the micro-expressions you presented today."

Alethea smiled. "Thank you. Although it may come naturally to some, it takes a lot of practice to catch those expressions. The body language always contradicts words."

"Statistically speaking, the average person tells three lies within ten minutes of conversation," Spencer stated, pressing his lips into a thin line.

Spencer already found himself annoying within the first five minutes of the conversation he had with Alethea, but she found him amusing, if not impressive.

"I was just about to get some coffee, would you like to join me? We could discuss micro-expressions and other behaviors."

A look of shock washed over his face for a moment, quickly replacing it with a smile. Alethea studied his face, noticing the wrinkles forming around his eyes, showing a sincere, genuine smile. A smile Spencer hadn't smiled before.

"I would like that," he replied.

A/N: ahh, yes, if you've caught it, this prologue was heavily inspired by the first episode of the TV show "Lie to Me." Like I said in the introduction, this story's concepts and this introduction is heavily inspired by Lie to Me, but overall the plot is my idea.