Pendulum polygraph

Like she’d made a habit of, Zoe watched from a distance.

Until the time was right.

One, two, three… the group surrounding Jackal dwindled, until the last of the punks had drunkenly staggered off home… leaving her alone.

Jackal seemed intent on loitering on her lonesome for a bit longer, but Zoe figured she wouldn’t mind an intrusion.

“It’s been a while,” Zoe said, emerging from the deeper alleyway and causing Jackal to jump. Though her phrasing made it seem like she intended to follow up, Jackal didn’t give her a chance to.

“Augh! The fuck are you doing here?! You could’ve at least… called? Texted? Anything?” Jackal said in response, after her initial shock wore off.

“How’d you even know I was here?!”

Zoe just gave a mysterious-sounding laugh, like she always would. And, from her shawl…

“Take a look at this.” she said, her hand returning from her shawl with a dangling crystal pendulum – it seemed to glow purple, the way the street lighting bounced off of it.

Jackal just blew her off.

“Bullshit, I already know none of your psychic stuff is real.” she huffed.

“Alright, alright. You got me.” Zoe said with another deep laugh.

“It was pretty easy, you’ve become sort of a public figure since you started that outreach work with the cherubuns. I’m impressed.”

“I can’t tell if you’re mocking me or not.” Jackal replied flatly.

“No, no! It’s genuine. Brings hope to my dear heart that at least one of us is being a good role model.”

“I guess, that begs the question, Zoe… I haven’t heard from you for a while. What’ve you been up to, anyways?”

Jackal and Zoe’s conversation led them to a smaller, out of the way speakeasy-style bar. The lighting was dim, and there were only a few others there.

The bartender approached the duo to take orders, and Jackal cleared her throat to speak… but Zoe lifted a finger, as to signal for Jackal and the bartender to hold.

“How fond of fate are you, Jackal?” Zoe asked, leaning her face into her palm.

“...The hell is that supposed to mean?” Jackal replied, cocking her head.

Once again, Zoe retrieved the crystal pendulum from her shawl, and requested a pen and paper from the bartender.

Curious as to what Zoe was doing, the bartender obliged. From there, Zoe drew a pentagram circle, with four phrases evenly distributed on each side:

YES, NO, MAYBE, REPHRASE.

“...Alright.” Zoe said with a sly smile on her face.

“Let’s play a game, Jackal. Ask a yes or no question.”

“What are you even trying to do here, man?” Jackal sighed.

“I need to show you how this works, first. If you win, I’ll pay for drinks.”

While Zoe’s mysterious expression wasn’t giving Jackal any hope, she couldn’t deny that free drinks was a tempting wager.

“Fine, okay, alright.” Jackal groaned.

“Am… I stupid?”

Zoe wanted to break her act and chuckle, but she stayed committed. Carefully, she lifted the crystal end of the pendulum up, and dropped it to let it swing.

Round and round it went, before it finally settled on a labeled axis to arc between…

NO.

“Very funny. But, ultimately, the pendulum can easily tell a lie from a truth.” Zoe said.

“Geez, I thought that one would’ve gotten you – you and your need to call me out on my poor life decisions every chance you get.” Jackal replied sarcastically.

“The pendulum is not influenced by my personal opinion, only the truth and fate.” Zoe explained.

“Yes, you may make objectively poor choices sometimes. But you’re reliable, crafty, and brave.”

Jackal just stared with a dumbfounded look on her face.

“...So, what’s the game?” she huffed, partially in defeat – as she didn’t want to admit to herself that Zoe’s psychic weirdo setup was intriguing.

“I’ll ask you three questions, and you will answer them, truthfully.” Zoe started.

“Think of it as… a polygraph.”

“A polygraph?” Jackal replied, confused.

“Why the hell are you choosing to psychoanalyze me at a bar of all places…?”

“I’ll explain later. You want free drinks, don’t you?”

Zoe didn’t wait for Jackal to respond – and instead, set the pendulum going again… only for it to land on ‘YES’.

There was silence between the two, and Jackal’s face was twisted with equal parts fascination and frustration. Zoe’s games were always weird, but this one seemed new.

“...Fine. Ask away.” Jackal sighed.

“How do I win?”

“Simple, just tell the truth.” Zoe nodded.

“Let’s begin… you’re enjoying your outreach work, yes?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I am!” Jackal replied, a sense of pride in her voice.

“Is this true?” Zoe asked the pendulum.

YES.

“Well, I guess that one was kind of obvious, hah.” Jackal huffed.

“Got anything juicier?”

“If you so desire…” Zoe said, smirking slightly while maintaining her overall neutral expression.

“Can you say that there’s people… you love, in your life?”

Jackal flushed up a tad.

“Are you kidding me?!” she muttered.

“...Yes? Geez man, way to pry into my personal life.”

“Is this true?” Zoe asked the pendulum, choosing to not respond to Jackal’s reaction.

YES.

It was at this point that Jackal felt as though she was sweating bullets – Zoe was obviously up to something, and Jackal wasn’t excited to find out what it was.

There was silence between the two for a second, before Zoe spoke up.

“Good job. You’ve always been very closed-off about admitting your joyous feelings, Jackal. I thought that one would get you.” she said.

“Are you ready for your final question?”

Jackal simply nodded without a word, and Zoe nodded in response.

“Tell me, Jackal… are you happy?” Zoe said… but this time, she didn’t let Jackal respond.

Instead, Zoe set the pendulum swinging, as Jackal had been sitting idly by trying to think of a meaningful response to that kind of question.

Jackal could feel her heart beating loudly, gazing at the pendulum – unsure of where it would land.

YES.

“...I guess, after everything that’s happened…” Jackal started, sighing.

“I think… I am.”

Zoe smiled, and tucked her pendulum away as Jackal stared at the ground. The bartender, who had been watching the entire exchange with a sense of awe, began to clap.

“Wowie, what a show! Tell you gals what, I can do drinks on me for tonight!”

Jackal looked dumbfounded, as Zoe gave her a wide smile and proceeded to order. After gathering her senses a bit more, Jackal ordered as well.

“Geez, getting me to admit positive things about myself?! What are you, psychic?” Jackal said, before she realized what she had just said – prompting both Zoe and herself to burst into laughter.

“No, no, of course not – you know me!” Zoe said in between her laughing fit.

“I figured I’d test-drive my new pendulum method on you. A ‘lucky charm’ of sorts to spice up the old reading routine… watching the shifts of expression and the hesitation while the pendulum swings seems like it’ll really give me an edge!”

“Well, the thing got us free drinks, so maybe it’s lucky in more ways than one?” Jackal replied with a smile.

“Maybe!” Zoe said.

“I suppose it’ll all be up to fate.”