fandomhigh | Spy Games, Monday, Period 5

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.]

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She made a face. "My...guardian," she said, with obvious distaste. "My parents died in an accident when I was nine. My uncle was my nearest relation, since my cousin Morton's parents died in that same accident, and so took control of my care. He heads the Ruling Council of Glacia, a Council he created. Well, he will until I am old enough to make the Offering to the Darkness, anyway." Her voice was flat.

"Offering to the Darkness?"

Sounded, um, Dark.

"It's the ceremony that marks when a member of the Blood has reached full maturity and is ready to reach her full strength. I don't know what happens exactly, its all very personal, but from what I've heard, you go inside yourself, and descend as far as you can go."

Okay, Karla knew that that might be the least comprehensible thing she'd said thus far.

"For the Blood, we think in terms of triangles. The triangle around a Queen, for example, is the Steward, the Master of the Guard, and her First Escort or her Consort. Well, we also think of the body that way. There's the flesh, which, well, is flesh, the crystal chalice, which is the mind, and the inner web, which is where our power lies within us."

Her voice frew sad. "All three are very fragile, and can be broken." She didn't describe how, though. No sense in giving any male, even as one as kind as Liir appeared to be, a weapon.

"We each get our first Jewel at the Birthright Ceremony; it's a measure of our immature strength, something for us to learn Craft on." She pulled out a pendant with a teardrop-shaped gem dangled. "I'm a Sapphire. The Darker the Jewel, the more powerful the person. Well, during the Offering to the Darkness, you kind of meditate on your inner web, and open yourself up to the power within you. Afterwards, you get another Jewel, representing your mature strength. You can descend up to three ranks; so when I make the Offering, I can possibly come away wearing the Ebon-gray. The only Jewel darker than that is the Black."

Of course, that's because Karla had yet to learn about Ebony. But in fairness, no one else in Kaeleer knows about it yet, either.

"All right."

He couldn't think of anything to say to that except--

"The only thing I've ever worked with was Emerald, for a school project. My professor was very wary of letting me have a lot of it, though."

"We have emeralds back home, but they aren't magic. We also have sapphires and opals that aren't magic, either, even though Sapphire and Opal are also Jewel ranks. Are all gems magical in your land?"

[[Please ignore any previous comment threads where Karla mentioned Emeralds. Her mun was a sleepy monkey who failed at canon.]]

"No," he admitted.

"But they have properties that can be useful. I made this device for the class that used it, that's all."

"Ooh. What kind of properties?" Karla began taking notes.

"Well," he said, blushing a little again, "the device itself is to remember memories. All of the pieces worked to do a specific task for that. I still have it if you'd like to see it sometime."

"That would be amazing," she said honestly. "Some people have begun mixing magic with devices, but very little's actually come of it yet."

"I didn't know it was magic at the time. I thought everyone could do it. I was kind of in denial about my own magic."

"Why?" Again, something Karla just couldn't understand. Who'd want to be a landen?

He ducked his head. That was a bit of a difficult subject.

"It's complicated, but I had my reasons."

Karla had dodged enough answers to both recognize when someone else was doing it, and to respect the reasons why he would.

"Fair enough," she said, letting the matter drop. "But I'd still like to see this device."

[[And I have now gotten tired enough of having to delete whole comments to buy a paid account.]]

[I've done that]

"I'll bring it next class, if you like. Or if I see you before then, I'll try to remember to have it in my bag. It's small enough."

Spy Games, Monday, Period 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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