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

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]

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you, Liir," Sarah said. "What would you name the goldfish?"

She actually had no real clue where the lie or lies were in there -- terrorist and prince sounded equally unlikely -- but asking for details on the most harmless point might trip him up.

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I don't really know," he admitted.

"I've never really had a fish of my own before. I didn't really think they needed names.

"I just like the color."

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

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"They're pretty," Sarah agreed. "I had some once."

They'd gotten killed in a fight in her apartment; there were reasons she didn't normally have pets. (She was already plotting what to do with Gabe when she left the island.)

"And I will admit I have no idea which of the other two isn't true."

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

So it wasn't laughably obvious he wasn't a prince? ...even if he technically was, according to his father.

"You could always guess."

Though in truth, the only real lie had been about the goldfish. He never wanted one of those things in his room. He'd been left in the fishwell for three days and nearly died there.

No, he didn't want any fish anywhere around him.

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

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"The fish was my guess," Sarah admitted. "It didn't go with the other two."

Two interesting and equally implausible (and so equally plausible) things, one utterly humdrum one. It was possible they were simply the first three things that popped into Liir's head, but the combination was odd.

"If one of the other two is a lie, though, I think your mother, just because it would be a risk to say that in front of a government agent you don't know."

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Not if I'm not from this world," he pointed out to her in return.

"Which I'm not. My land is rather different."

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

[saveyoulater.livejournal.com]

"I sort of assumed that from your name and the tribal prince bit, but it's still a calculated risk," Sarah returned. "So which was the lie?"

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

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo glanced sideways at him. "Who wants a goldfish anyway, Greeneyes? More trouble than they're worth."

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He looked back with a smile.

"I have a dogfish at the moment. And they look pretty."

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

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"So you don't want a goldfish, then," she hazarded. That made the other two possibilities . . . huh. Interesting.

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"I didn't say that. You said no one ever wants one. I disagreed. After all, I already have a tank in my room. It wouldn't even be extra work."

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

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"If the frikkin' thing survives the trip back from the pet store," Katchoo allowed. "Goldfish have nerves of mush."

She was so cheerful. "So not a prince then?"

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He tilted his head.

"Why do you say that?"

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

[glacial_queen]

"I'm not certain what a Tribal Prince is," Karla meditated, "...but you could certainly be a Prince. Though I certainly doubt you're a Warlord Prince."

Well, that made sense to her, anyway.

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"The prince of a tribe as opposed to a specific place," he explained.

"...and no; I'm just about the least martial person on the island."

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

[glacial_queen]

Karla looked confused. "What do you mean, being a Prince of something. A Prince is a Prince; it's in-born."

Sure, there were Warlord Princes who were Warlord Princes of a Territory, but even before they took on responsibility for that Territory, they were still Warlord Princes.

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"...I have no idea what that might mean. I know it goes down through the bloodline, of course, but other than that..."

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

[glacial_queen]

"Where I'm from, Princes are a male caste. It's a rank to show where you fall in terms of power. Princes are equal in status and power to a Priestess or a Healer. They're higher than Warlords, but lower than Warlord Princes. But a Prince can be sired by a regular Warlord as easily as he could by another Prince, or even a Warlord Prince. Princes just are."

Clear as mud, Karla. Good job.

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"That's... very different from where I am."

That covered it, didn't it?

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

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I would say that 'tribal prince' and 'terrorist' are one-true, one-false," Alice speculated. "One doubts royalty would commit terrorism against its own lands, and terrorism against other lands can easily be dismissed under the general heading of 'war.'"

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He shook his head.

"You got one right and one wrong."

He wasn't telling her which ones, though.

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

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't stating which was true and which was false," Alice clarified. "I meant only that I felt they were mutually exclusive. Either A was true and B false, or vice versa."

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

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He shook his head.

"Actually," he said, giving up the game, "they're both sort of true. But there's only certain people who would have called her a terrorist."

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

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Heroes and war criminals are sometimes the same people, seen through a different lens," Alice shared. "A great deal changes depending on one's point of view."