Spy Games, Monday, Period 5

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

If Sarah didn't seem nervous as she waited for the class to assemble, that was only because she'd spent the last decade keeping cool on the outside no matter what went on underneath. Just teaching for the first time would be bad enough, but there was one student name on the roster that she had very much never expected to see here.

"Welcome to Spy Games," she said with a smile and a twist of her sweaty palms against her skirt as the time came for the session to begin. Her voice came out calm, sure, self-confident as possible. Thank God. "I am your instructor for the next two months. My name's Sarah Walker and, to get this out of the way, I am qualified to teach this class because I worked for the CIA for the last several years. My main focus was protection of national security data."

Anyone at the CIA could say that, but Sarah was hoping to ward off questions.

"If you're here," she went on, "I'm going to assume you want to be a spy, or at least want to know how to be a spy. Maybe you want to work for the government; maybe you just know a lot of people you don't trust. Whatever your experience, there are all kinds of applications for the stuff we're learning here. The syllabus and rules are on your desks, but some of the things we'll cover are lockpicking, disguise, persuasion, and weapons."

"But today, we're talking about basic undercover work," she went on. "If you're undercover, you're lying to everyone all the time. You lie about your name, your family, what you do for a living, maybe your politics, maybe your religion. But under all that, you can't change who you are. You're still you, but the details are different. And the secret of good undercover work is using that."

"For example, I'm not exactly the chattiest person in the world. If I go undercover for more than a few hours and I decide I'm going to be someone who can't keep her mouth shut, I'm going to get caught fast. I'll always have to think about the part I'm playing, and that's when people make stupid mistakes. And a big part of your job as a spy is not making stupid mistakes."

She cleared her throat, finally relaxing into this. "I understand the tradition for the first week of classes is introductions. We're doing that, but with a twist. If you've heard of the game 'Two Truths and a Lie,' we're going to play that -- except you must make one true statement about yourself, one false statement about yourself, and a third statement that can be either true or false. Your fellow students will guess how many lies you told, and which they are."

"Remember that if you're undercover, you're lying for a reason. And in this class, you have a purpose too. Tell lies -- and truths -- that will make me think you have it in you to be a good spy." She pointed out randomly. "You first."

Once the students were done with the game, she smiled before dismissing the class. "Your assignment for the week is to tell one lie. It doesn't have to be a big one or about anything that matters. Just tell it and see how it feels; we'll report back next Monday. And if any of you want to be TA, I could use one. And Miss Bartowski, please stick around too -- I have a quick question for you."

She was impressed how level her tone sounded on that last bit.

[OOC: First posted class of the semester! I will pick up tags in the a.m.]

Comments

Sign In [Spy Games, 5/11]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Sneakily.

Re: Sign In [Spy Games, 5/11]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katina Choovanski

General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Listen, take notes, etc.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

What the hell? Katchoo sure as hell hadn't signed up for this. She was sitting in the corner, staring accusatorily at her workshop schedule like if she did, it'd apologize and rearrange things to her liking.

Damn that stubbornly non-developing superpower.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[glacial_queen]

Karla hadn't been certain what to expect from Fandom High. But if her classes were going to even be mostly like this, the next few years were going to be fun.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

One of these days Jack was going to stop picking her classes for her.

At least Gwen hoped he would.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Well... this could be useful.

Or very, very uncomfortable.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir considered what he could use.

...well this should be interesting.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[youcantfollow.livejournal.com]

This was not at all what Griff had expected from school. As soon as she'd said what the activity was, he started going over what not to say in his head.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[intraspective]

Ino was just going to quietly glee at the class, okay? And amuse herself by trying to figure out what other people were thinking about it.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

This... was actually better than Effy had imagined, and she smirked a little as she laced her fingers together on the desk.

She was getting taught to lie. In school. That was definitely not normal.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[likethegun]

Sam had signed up for this class before really meeting Sarah. Now he was even happier to be here.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[awesomebigsis.livejournal.com]

Ellie wasn't sure how she ended up in this class, but she figured it would be fun. Although she was a little concerned since the teacher wanted to talk to her after class.

Re: General Class Stuff [Spy Games, 5/11]

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Intriguing. Alice was taking plentiful notes, particularly ones that reminded her to research later what the CIA was and why that was relevant.

Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Say your name and three things about yourself --one true, one false, one either. Then ping to each other trying to guess which is which; Sarah will guess too.

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[glacial_queen]

"Kiss kiss," she greeted the class. "I'm Karla Lastnameless in canon di Glacia. I'm a Black Widow, I've ridden a unicorn, and I've insulted the High Lord of Hell to his face."

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"I'm Gwen," she said. "I've made out with an alien, I used to be a police officer, and I'm married."

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[once-a-traitor.livejournal.com]

"Edmund," he introduced himself. "I'm allergic to chocolate, I'm a King and I once found a country in a wardrobe."

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire considered her options and decided to go with things that were close to true.

"My name wasn't always Claire Butler, I collect teddy bears and I'm an only child."

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Liir Thropp," he started, glancing around and considering everyone else's introductions, "I'm a tribal prince, my mother was a terrorist, and I want a goldfish for my room."

There.

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

She could not participate, true. But that might mean pissing off the (ohcrapohcrapohcrap) CIA agent and Katchoo had a feeling that might be a bad idea.

"Aw, geez . . . fine. Katina," she said, deliberately leaving out her last name. "I'm an only child, I stole a steak from Kevin Spacey, and I'm not a natural blonde."

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[endsthegame]

"I'm Ender Wiggin," he said. He'd done something like this before, and he had no doubt it'd be smoother this time. "I spent most of my life living in space, my brother is currently taking over the world, and I didn't pick this class."

None of which were facts he cared about anyone knowing.

Re: Activity - Truths and Lies [Spy Games, 5/11]

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Oh, now, this was an interesting game. Valentine paid half attention to everyone else's while thinking of her own, wanting to pick the plainest, most boring and unassuming details she could.

Or maybe the right tack would be most obvious lies she could. If two could potentially be lies, it just seemed wiser to make them thus, and obviously so, but not reveal much of the truth if you didn't have to.

"I'm Valentine Wiggin," she said. "I'm seventeen, I have six toes on my left foot, and I have an adorable little brother."

Okay, that last one was clearly debatable, and said only because he was actually in this class with her.

Talk to Sarah [Spy Games, 5/11]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

She's there after class, and watching to make sure she can snag Ellie.

Re: Talk to Sarah [Spy Games, 5/11]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"I don't think I'm supposed to be here," Katchoo said bluntly as she walked up.

OOC [Spy Games, 5/11]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

Annnnd I think we have a class.

Yay!

Re: OOC [Spy Games, 5/11]

[finding-x-dream.livejournal.com]

O.o I just realized Agnes was supposed to be in this class. Um... Oops? I'll ping her in next week.