Vox Mentis

So I didn't notice any point where they took any stuff off her, such as her cell phone.

Start recording. They won't like that. Should buy you some time to think of something else.

At a minimum, get something reflective in the shot, get them worried. Even a reflected glimpse of it could affect their ability to evaluate you. If you don't want to give away the game just yet, when they come in to ask what you're doing, you can act like you're playing with whatever-it-is to help yourself calm down.

You pull out your cellphone. It's dead. Did they put you through some sort of EMP field? You look at the video cameras.

“I have some good news, Jessshhica. We can actually pay you a little more. One thousand dollarsshh for your time. How does that sssound?”

You glint the phone at the cameras, flash light in the lenses. There's no indication they can see you right now. As far as you're concerned, they are blind and deaf.

“Think about what you might do with that thousand dollars, Jessshhica. Ssssomething pretty great, I bet.”

There are thin wires coming out of the helmet in a bunch of places and you follow these to a tiny gray container strapped to the underside of your chair. Everything in this room is self-powered, you realize. The cage lights, the video cameras, the radio speaker. They're so careful to let nothing in or out, the room isn’t even wired. The cameras aren't wireless. They're recording you, but they can't see you live. They'll review the tapes later. They can't risk anything. They probably don't even let air in or out. If that door doesn’t open in the next few hours, you'll suffocate.

So the box is on a timer. And these techs probably don’t have any control over it; they probably just know when it's scheduled to open. Which means there are safety margins. A little time for everyone to get settled, which you can use.

“Jussshht another minute, Jessica. Almossst there.”