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

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]

[glacial_queen]

Karla remembered Claire from the shuttle; she'd been very nice, even when Karla'd slipped into a bit of temper.

She tried to catch Claire's eye and share a smile.

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

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire smiled when she noticed Karla. "Settling in okay?" she asked quietly.

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

[glacial_queen]

"If by settling in, you mean 'throw some blankets on the bed and sleep like the dead,' then yes, I'm doing wonderfully," Karla whispered. "I barely remember anything after the picnic--I was exhausted. But everyone seems really nice. My Elder sibling, Sam, is trying to help me understand some of the differences between here and Kaeleer, so I stop sounding like an idiot every time I speak. Which will be an exciting change."

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

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I've met Sam," Claire said. "He's very nice."

She blinked though. "Where is Kaeleer? I've never heard of it."

Though, given what she had learned of Fandom, that shouldn't surprise her.

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]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire gave Sam a little wave.

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

[likethegun]

Sam waved back and smiled at Claire. Now that he knew the truth, it was even better to see her here.

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

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"Did you talk to Peter?" she whispered.

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

[glacial_queen]

Karla grinned at Sam.

*Are you allowed to play this game, being my Elder Sib and all? You have an unfair advantage,* she sent along a distaff-to-spear thread.

Then she winced. Speaking along threads during class had become a habit. But here, she didn't even know if anyone could do that.

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

[likethegun]

Honestly, if given the choice, Sam would have been happy to be able to hear her. All he got was the grin though, and he tore a piece of paper out of his notebook and wrote a note before trying to discreetly pass it to her.

I won't cheat with you if you don't cheat with me, it said.

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

[glacial_queen]

She snickered. I was thinking the same thing, she wrote. On the other hand, it might be nice to be right about something here for a change!

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]

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire waved at Ellie.

"Hey, we're cabinmates for the next few weeks."

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

[awesomebigsis.livejournal.com]

Ellie nodded. "I saw that. That's very cool. This cabins thing sounds like it could be fun."

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

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

"I hope so," Claire said. "I'm not normally the outdoorsy type."

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.