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“The lie was that you only told one lie. The entire story was made up,” you say.

Nezumi sharply turns his gaze to you. “Correct. How did you know?”

“It was all too convenient. Your crew left you alive, throwing away a valuable EVA suit, even knowing your memory contained vital company secrets. A military vessel broke off a hot pursuit to answer a distress call. The enemy commander gave you a chance to speak and even believed you. So that cast doubt on the story, and then it also comes off like a story made just for an audience of young technopath candidates, full of romantic notions of what our future will be like. But in reality nobody in your story acted much like a technopath, did they?”

“You know a thing or two about military operation,” Nezumi says.

“It’s in the family...”

“Lucky you, then, you can skip the step of disillusionment,” he says.

Nezumi looks up, across the class. “Space is a cruel thing. There are no second chances when you make a mistake. Personal distress beacons are a marketing ploy that exchanges your limited suit power for empty psychological comfort--nobody is ever coming to save you. Lies and truth are a meaningless distinction--there is only information, spoken to serve a purpose only. Those you trust most will lie to you, lie about you, if it serves their self-interest. Especially do not trust a story with a happy ending.”

He looks back at you. “But the Communication School would do well to have candidates able to see through deception. Think about it.”

“I haven’t decided which way I’ll go,” you say.

“It’s almost time for you to leave,” Nezumi says to the class. “Your assignment: deceive someone. Someone who trusts you. It can be a little thing. See how simple it is.”

The lights dim as the door slides open. The class starts to get up. You activate your passive empathic sense and find the room overflowing with anxiety.

You get out into the hallway--the comfort of a liminal space. You have a bit of free time now, which means you have to get back to work with the engineering crew, but you could get away with a short break.