Spy Tech, Class Thirteen (04/11)

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

Wednesday, April 11, Period One

M stood in front of the class, looking especially stern. Once the entire class was assembled, she had Nadia and Marty hand out blue books, and projected the test questions up on the screen behind her desk.

"You have the entire period to complete the test. However, if you finish before the end of the period, you may either speak quietly to one another in the back of the room or you may leave early. Next week we will meet in the Danger Shop for a special exercise, one that I imagine you will all enjoy."

EXAM: Choose two of the following topics and write a brief essay for each.

1. Timepieces such as wrist- or pocketwatches have long been a staple of espionage work. Aside from the two examples shown in class (magnet and saw), describe one way in which a wristwatch or pocketwatch could be modified to create a specialty tool for an espionage agent.

2. Discuss the difficulties and hazards inherent in the use of disguise in the field of espionage. Be sure to address the specific problems a spy might encounter when pretending to be someone he is not.

3. Communications is vital to the field of espionage. Describe one commonplace, easily concealed, portable item that could be used to house a communications device. Keep in mind that the item must still continue to carry out its original function as well.

4. Although the best policy is never to unnecessarily engage the enemy, there are times when an espionage agent has to protect himself. Keeping in mind the three specialty firearms discussed in class, describe one additional way that a firearm could be modified to make it a) more concealable, b) easier to handle, c) more accurate or deadly, or d) useful in a non-traditional manner.

Bonus Question (required for all students): Why is it a bad idea to steal from, lie to, or try to trick your Spy Tech professor?


UNEXCUSED ABSENCES
S. T. Anders (Class Eleven)
D'Anna Beirs (Class Eight)
Alex Krycek (Class Eight)
Eric Weiss (Class Eleven, Class Twelve)

[ooc: Please wait for OCD is up, you may begin.]

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Sign In

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

...

Re: Sign In

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette Hargrove

Re: Sign In

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Setsuna Sakurazaki

Take the Exam

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

Handwave or write out the answers, as you like.

Re: Take the Exam

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Setsuna decided to answer questions two and three. Question two was long winded, very detailed, and probably grammatically flawed to the extreme (OH ENGLISH, you crazy language!), and question three started out pretty well until Setsuna fell into a digression on how paper golem communications magic is really the most efficient because, if you do it correctly, they're untracable.

The bonus questions was addressed to say that it's really a bad steal from, lie to, or try to trick anyone, really, unless you were getting paid enough for it.

Re: Take the Exam

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia decided to go with questions two and four. For two, most of the answer was about the horrors of a badly attached wig, or of an inordinately complex cover story. For four, the entire answer focused on the idea of a cellphone gun.

And that bonus question? Oh, Nadia could have written pages on that. But instead she went with: The job of a good espionage agent is not just to be able to lie, cheat, and steal to gather information for your employer, but also to be able to tell when another individual is lying, cheating, or stealing. As a professor of an espionage art, it's only logical that the spy tech professor would be better at reading you than you are at fooling them, and attempting to do so anyway is not only likely to get you injured or killed, but also an insult to the teacher's intelligence.

Re: Take the Exam

[imac-kenzie.livejournal.com]

Mac answered questions one and three, in her usual diligent and detailed way. She gets to talk all about technology for credit, so she's pretty happy with that.

She also managed to answer the bonus question without a reference to how scary intimidating said Spy Tech professor was.

Re: Take the Exam

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette hung her head, yes in shame, but to the casual observer she was simply taking her test with her head hanging over her paper. What? She could totally write that way.

She chose timepieces and communications for her essay topics and she wrote in great detail on each, hoping to please M. Plus she had studied hard and knew much about each one.

The bonus question had her frowning. She knew it was directed at her. Great. She answered it the best she could. Really.

It is a bad idea to lie, steal, or try to trick your Spy Tech professor because she is a spy (or was a spy, and most likely still involved in the world of espionage) and being so gives her access to all kinds of spy equipment. Thus, ones chances of being sneaky are sorely diminished and not worth the trouble one will surely get into.

Do take into account that your Spy Tech professor is older than you. She knows everything. If you ask her, she will tell you. She has eyes like a hawk and they bore into you like you were just a weetiny unskilled peon who has hidden valuable spy equipment that you accidentally stole from her and was so going to give back geeze she see's everything.

Do not lie, steal, or trick your Spy Tech professor. It is against the law!

By Annette Hargrove

Re: Take the Exam

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

1. One of the underused techniques of using a watch in the field is for the timing of a soft-boiled egg. This requires precise timing and should only be done with a watch that actually keeps time and does not come free from a cracker jack box.

2. First of all? Pantyhose is a real bitch and makes my thighs look big. No one's thighs should look this big. And I always seem to get a run in them at the last second.

If your pantyhose should run during a covert operation, I find the best thing to do is to distract the enemy by throwing a soft-boiled egg at their heads and then making a break for it.

3. A toothbrush. However use in the field can be a problem in that you either end up shorting out the device and dying or you have stinky breath.

4. The best thing to do is to modify the gun so that it fires caramel popcorn, peanuts and toy surprises that come from a cracker jack box.

Bonus Question (required for all students): Because you're in for the spanking of your life baby. Better wear padding because you won't sit for days.

*handwaves*

Re: Take the Exam

[surferboy-09er.livejournal.com]

Dick answered questions 1 and 4. For the bonus question he wrote a long-winded answer about how scary M was.

Re: Take the Exam

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

D answered the questions very well in the proper essay form.

Re: Take the Exam

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack handwavily wrote a very comprehensive essay on topics one and four, though he paid possibly too much attention in the latter to the ways in which, and places where, a weapon could be concealed.

For the bonus question he wrote: It's not a bad idea to do any of those things, per se; the bad idea is to do them and get caught., which he felt was totally in keeping with the themes and overall goals of the class.

Re: Take the Exam

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

2.If someone knows you well enough, all the masks, voice-changing equipment and wigs in the world won't work. The inverse is also true; impersonations can falter if the person whom you are impersonating is well-known to your target. Disguise is as much about the way you walk, talk and act as it is about appearance. And in the case of my boyfriend, about the chassis.

3. Earrings. Being decorative, their function is easy to preserve; a large pair of jewel-like earrings would be easy to conceal a communications device in, as well as easy to overlook. A matching necklace could allow a second microphone that might work by bone conduction instead of sound, allowing an agent to subvocalize any questions or communication and reduce the risk of being caught communicating with headquarters.

Bonus Question (required for all students): Why is it a bad idea to steal from, lie to, or try to trick your Spy Tech professor?

Because the wrath of M can extend beyond school borders into other places with no warning and great force, and I'd like to still attend Oxford, thanks.

Re: Take the Exam

[sound-loyalty.livejournal.com]

Kabuto had no problem with the test. At least, he thought so. One of the questions, at least, was easy.

2. Discuss the difficulties and hazards inherent in the use of disguise in the field of espionage. Be sure to address the specific problems a spy might encounter when pretending to be someone he is not.

The best way to do a disguise is to establish it over several years. That takes out most of the big risk factors before you actually attempt the real mission. It makes you look harmless, since the people you'll be around have probably seen you elsewhere, and you'll know the locals habits and little subtleties that an agent would otherwise miss.
For some, it is difficult to create and maintain an alternate persona. This is one of the biggest problems, and also one of the easiest to work around. Create your persona based on your own. Don't be stupid.

It continued on in that vein for about a page and a half. His answer to question 4 was much less involved, only about half a page or so about modifying a gun to shoot kunai and exploding tags.

To the bonus question, he simply answered: It is? I'll keep that in mind.

Re: Take the Exam

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

John writes up one and four.

One is about a tv watch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDD-dNSDe7Y).

Four is about a cell phone gun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hJvZ48oKM8).

Re: Take the Exam

[apocalypsesoon.livejournal.com]

and almost forgets about the bonus question, answering that the spy prof has cooler toys and would be able to find out somehow.

Re: Take the Exam

[dorky-broots.livejournal.com]

Broots answered questions one and three. He has forgotten that there was going to be an exam, but knew some of the information, so it balanced out. For the bonus, he pointed out that it's a bad idea to steal from, lie to, or trick any teacher, since they decide your grade and will probably see right through it anyway.

Talk to M

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

She's a little sterner than usual today, but don't let that scare you off.

Talk to the TAs

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

Once they're here, of course.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Marty is HERE. He's more HERE than he's ever been BEFORE!

Re: Talk to the TAs

[nadiathesaint]

Nadia's here, too, but she's a little less insistant about it.

And she has some toys.

"Pssst. Hey, Marty! Check it out!" She held up what looked like just an ordinary ball point pen, then took the top off.

It suddenly went quiet. No, not quiet, silent, in their immediate vicinity. Isn't it awesome? Nadia mouthed.

Talk to Each Other

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

After the exam, not during it!

Re: Talk to Each Other

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette folded her arms and rested her chin atop them. All in all? She thought she did pretty dang good on the exam. She might even smile if she didn't look in M's direction.

OOC

[mi6-m.livejournal.com]

Sick today. Send chicken soup. :/

Re: OOC

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

aw *sends virtual soup and crackers and hot tea*