fandomhigh | Through a Glass Darkly: Spies and Spying; Week 10

Aly was looking very, very amused as the class came in. For those following the home game, that and the fact that there were still piles of clothing, costumes, and makeup in the back might be a reason to be worried.

"Good morning all," she said with a smile as they sat down. "Last week we discussed disguises, and all of you put one together. This week, we're going to talk about what makes your disguise believable - your cover story." She grinned. "Yes, normally you do this the other way around. This way is more fun. What you're going to do today is make up a cover story - a legend in the technical term - to fit the disguise you devised last week."

"Spies rarely admit they're spies. Telling your mark that you're spying on them is hardly a way to gain their trust and find out their secrets. And before anyone points it out, this is definitely a rule I've been breaking since I've been here. But on the other hand, this isn't my world, and I'm not working as a spy here. At home, very few people know what I do. Or rather very few people connect me to the Queen's spymaster."

"When you go undercover, you will succeed only if you convince everyone around you that you're a different person. And you can only do that if every detail is consistent. Every single bit of information from the trash in your pockets to your glasses to your story has to match. If you're masquerading as a dissident student, you probably shouldn't be driving a fancy car or wearing expensive shoes. Be consistent. And blend in. The key isn't to be quirky and distinctive. The key is to be nondescript."

She moved over to the whiteboard and started writing down some bullet points.

Develop your legend - your backstory. Keeping details close to your actual life - at least at first - can help you remember and sound truthful.
Decide on a current cover: name, job, purpose
Choose an appropriate look or disguise.
Gather pocket litter or other props to support the disguise. Each item needs to be appropriate to the persona.
Learn local customs, accents, slang.
Match your vocabulary/language to your character's education.

Five Tips for Maintaining Consistency

Use correct jargon for your assumed profession/role
Know how much travel and life experience your character has.
Avoid personal discussions about your pretend family.
Close questioning sessions quickly. Avoid the questions by giving the information before it's asked for and by giving enough information to shut down further questions.
If you think you're about to be exposed, get out of the one on one conversation. Invite someone to join the conversational group or suggest a coffee or trip. Anything to give you a chance to lower the pressure and get back into character.

Aly went through these points quickly but thoroughly, stopping to make sure everyone understood.

"Very well then. You have two tasks for today. The first is to develop a cover based on the disguise you came up with last week. I don't expect anything too elaborate, but I want to know what you're thinking about. The second is a homework assignment. Next class, I like you all to hand in a paper detailing a cover that you could use. You can feel free to make the situation you're going undercover in, but I want the situation detailed, the cover, how you're taking what we discussed today in class into account, and the disguise you'd use. At least three pages, I'd think."

She looked around. "Any questions?"

[OOC: I don't know how much I'm going to be around as I still have a killer migraine, but I'll tag Aly in as much as possible. Credit again to the Handbook of Practical Spying for helping put together the lesson. OCD is up]

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Setsuna raised her hand before starting. "Alianne-sensei? Technically speaking, if you recall, I had two disguises last week. Which should I use?"

She was hoping she could get away with doing the Crow. That would be a lot easier to explain than the Bunny Suit.

Aly chuckled. "I would be fine with either. Though certainly the crow would make your job creating a legend quite a bit easier."

Setsuna nodded. Great. She wouldn't want Alianne-sensei to think that she'd chosen the easier of the two... So she did both.

"As far as my crow disguise, I was a crow. How deeply would I have to ever explain myself, excepting in the rare case that someone knew Crow." She nodded to Aly and...one of the Hitachiins. General Hitachiin area, because she didn't know which was Kaoru at the moment. "Either way, it would be far easier to just pretend to be your average crow than anything, although I suppose that means I would have to finally learn how to understand it as well as speak it. And there is the albinism problem, but I could use the strange defect as a way to distract people from asking too many questions. The quirk would intrigue them, and, therefor, they might not feel it necissary to inquire too much on much else."

"And, for the other disguise," Setsuna may have blushed a bit recalling the little skimpy bunny suit, "well, I play the ditzy girl archetype." She lifted her chin as if even just suggesting it demeaned her. "Depend on the fact that I was a cute Japanese girl wearing a skimpy bunny outfit to my advantage." She knew she could never actually do this; just saying it was difficult, but it no one was suggesting that she actually had to. "I'm an aspiring showgirl, who's stupidity got her lost and she's got to find her way back to whichever theatre she's expected at. You use that as a way to dig information out of people, really...."

Aly listened carefully as she hid a smile. She'd rather expected Setsuna to take that course, but the fact that she did still impressed her.

"Though the crow disguise would be rather memorable," Aly pointed out. "What happened today? Oh, an albino crow flew through." She grinned. "Not that I've not asked crows to help on many an occasion." The second option, she made note of Setsuna's apparent disturbance at suggesting the scenario. "Never underestimate the use of wide eyes at distracting someone," she said finally. "It's not a reflection on you to play on their stupidities."

"But with the crow," Setsuna said, deftly avoiding any more talk that circulated around her in a bunny suit, "it's not like anyone would really know it was, persay, me. The object of it is to disguise ourselves; someone remembering a crow has nothing to do with me being directly recognized, except in the case that they knew someone I knew, who also knew about the crow thing. Which would be a risk I'd have to take."

"Certainly," Aly agreed. "And for a one time excursion, that would be enough - say to confirm troop movements or a gathering. The danger would come if you tried to gather information again and ended up with a quarrel in you. The best covers allow you to develop a source and return for information at a later time."

Setsuna nodded, thoughtfully. "I could always use another disguise, then. A bird form is incredibly useful for scoping out a new place and accessing what sort of disguise would be best...."

Aly grinned and for once it was tinged with a bit of sadness. "It really is."

Through a Glass Darkly: Spies and Spying; Week 10 - Period 3

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