Simon's first thought was why. Why do his captors not want him to answer truthfully? Better yet, why ask a question they already knew the answer to? What is their goal? He stared at the monitor for almost 10 minutes straight, pondering the intentions of this test. There had to be some more clues.
Simon took another look around the room. He tried to find anything else he may have missed during his first observations. He could not find anything else in the room; just him, the chair, the monitor, the high-tech camera (which most likely had a hidden mic built-in to record his answers), and the security cam. It wasn't until he looked down at the chair that he found his next clue. Underneath the restraint, Simon could barely make out a metallic band around his right wrist. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a small, black component that was pushed against the underside of his arm. His best guess: a heart-rate monitor.
Simon quickly pieced together the clues. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again, and stared directly into the camera before giving another answer.
"Jeremy Strauss".
Just as before, a jolt of electricity coursed through his body. He was fully prepared for this. After all, passing a lie detector is difficult. After regaining his composure, Simon repeated his previous answer.
"Jeremy Strauss".
Another shock.
Simon continued this process. His first focus was keeping his heart rate under control. Most people who pass lie detector tests are able to remain calm throughout the entire procedure. He used his breathing before each answer as a way to reset his composure. Again and again, Simon did this. He said it so many times that the pseudonym started to feel more and more like his true identity. Then after 30 minutes straight...
"Jeremy Strauss".
The monitor finally turned green. Simon, (or rather, Jeremy), felt a wave of relief wash over him. The fake identity was burned into his mind. Whatever challenges came next, he was going to face them as Jeremy Strauss. Then the next question appeared.
"What is your date of birth?"
Simon thought for a moment. There was no way that he would be able to continue coming up with random "facts", so he thought of an alternative.
"October 19th, 2006".
The same quick shock as before coursed through his body. However, at this point, he had grown almost accustomed to it. After having to endure it for half an hour, Simon's body had grown used to the feeling. Still, he'd rather pass the questions than continue to have convulsions.
Luckily, his new strategy had paid off. It only took 23 tries until he successfully passed the second question. The tactic was quite simple: every lie should have a little bit of the truth. Jeremy's birthday was exactly a year and one month after Simon's. What a coincidence!
The next question appeared.
"Where are you from?"
"Philadelphia, Pennsylvania", Simon replied.
A surge of electricity coursed through his body for 10 straight seconds. While he had gotten used to the short bursts, the longer shocks were still incredibly painful. Simon let out a slew of curses at the monitor, even though he knew he flew too close to the sun with that answer. Even though he grew up elsewhere, Simon was originally born in Philly. Yet what bothered him more than that technicality is the fact that his captors knew where he was born. He never posted that information on social media (after all, he only lived there for a year and a half) and only a few of his close friends even knew about it. Whoever is detaining him knows much more about his personal life than he expected. He had to keep an eye out for the questions to see if there were any other clues. Before he could do that, he had to think of another answer. One that wouldn't cause an excruciating amount of pain. After a minute of thinking, Simon answered.
"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania".
Another quick jolt, but after only 14 tries he passed. Jeremy was slowly learning more about himself. He just had to hope that Simon's knowledge of the city from visiting his grandma would give him enough insight to pass any other question related to this answer. Otherwise, he may have a much more difficult time building on his lies if it were necessary. As his luck would have it, the next question would be just that.
"What high school do you attend?"
Simon pondered how he would answer this. If he came up with a fake school, then he will be in trouble if he runs into anyone who has lived in Pittsburgh. So instead, he wracked his brain for any random knowledge he had to help him out. He knew there was a school near his grandma's house, but he couldn't quite remember the name. For 15 minutes of hard contemplation, Simon thought back on every trip he ever took with his family to see his grandma. He closed his eyes to try and imagine everything he saw and heard while there. Then it clicked.
"Brashear High School".
He had recalled that when he was about 9 years old, his grandma was talking to him about how the local high school was having a jazz concert. Since Simon was thinking about learning to play the saxophone at the time, he was interested in listening to them. He distinctly remembered looking at the program and seeing the school mascot printed on the front: a bull with the letter "B" on its forehead. That image was the catalyst before the rest of the concert came flooding back, including the conductor introducing the "Brashear Jazz Band".
It wasn't until the monitor turned green that Simon realized he answered the question "truthfully" on the first try. He was so excited he remembered the high school's name that he responded before remembering that it was a lie. Simon couldn't help but laugh, but his amusement was cut short when he read the next question.
"What is your greatest fear?"
He stared at the question in disbelief. He didn't want to go through the long punishment again, but he had to know if his captors were bluffing. With a deep breath, Simon answered.
"Failure".
For 20 seconds he felt electricity coursing through his body. The pain consumed his mind to the point where time seemed to stand still. And then, it was over. Simon was left panting and shaking with one thought on his mind: how the hell does his captors know that?