fandomhigh | Practical Diplomacy, Friday, February 17, 2017

Today the class was meeting in the Danger Shop, and the scenario was set up to look like a busy open air city market. "When you are acting as a diplomat, you aren't working in a vacuum," Anakin said. "There are numerous other groups who are invested in making you fail in your operation, or even just knowing what you're doing. Today we're going to have an exercise about being aware of your surroundings, dodging a tail, and tailing a target yourself."

"One would think this is an easy exercise, but it is not," Obi-Wan said mildly. "There is a veritable treasure trove of ways in which people can keep track of not just your movements, but your communications. You may also wish to consider leaving your communications devices at home."

Anakin nodded. "Even on this primitive planet--" ANAKIN, "--there are hundreds of phone apps designed to look like one thing that are really serving as recording devices. Flashlight applications, for instance."

"So do make sure to check your cell phone," Obi-Wan said. "The sim may make use of it as well."

The sim would definitely make use of it because Anakin was a cheating cheater. "Remember that your appearance can be changed--so can the way you walk, how you hold yourself, and so on and so on. Your job is to not be noticed."

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Sneakily.

Ditch your electronics, put on clothing that won't call attention, maybe a wig?

You have been given a small envelope. Your job is to get from one spot in the market to a coffee shop on the other side of it, drop the envelope off at the mailbox without being spotted, and then take public transportation away from the scene.

All without Anakin or Obi-Wan finding you. So...good luck with that.

If you can find them.

As always, slowplay is life :)

Ada Miller

Peridot

Peridot was following along with the entire lecture just fine, right up until the part where they said that 'appearance can be changed' bit.

As it was, she'd been iffy about the prospect of ditching her phone. It was her one bit of technology that helped her to feel like a whole and complete Gem again. But that last part?

She was three foot nothing, bright green, had large triangular hair, and was one of a newer wave of notably inferior Gems made after the war, without the ability to shapeshift. Everything about today's exercise struck a really, really raw nerve.

Rather than attempting to find some way to blend in - she wouldn't even know where to start - she tried to find herself a corner to tuck herself away in so that she could tweet the word 'CLODS' repeatedly to the world at large.

Ada Miller was a carnival girl who wore second-hand clothes, let her dark curls run wild, tended to wear as little as possible, and only wore combat or cowboy boots.

Ada Miller was also trained to blend in so the Townies wouldn't notice her, almost as much as she'd been taught how to call attention and be memorable as an effective barker.

She made a face, but set about quickly braiding her hair up into a neat, boring professional bun, while she looked around for a pair of heels and clothes that would fit.

You...didn't really blend into that corner very well, Peridot.

"You feelin' okay?" Ada asked, going over to check on her friend. "You look...unhappy."

"I can't do this assignment," Peridot muttered, little green finger furiously tapping out a 140-character screed on her phone's screen. She couldn't quite bring herself to look up. "There is nothing about it that I'm equipped for."

Ada pursed her lips and looked Peridot over critically. "If this is rude, please forgive me, I don't know much 'bout Gems," she said, "--but how flexible is your hair?"

Okay, that got Peridot to look up with a squint.

"My hair?"

Well, it was...

She reached up her arm to the top of it all, and then squished it down so that it was almost flat against her head. It popped back up into place again when she let go, but it was still fairly flexible, for all that.

Edited 2017-02-17 16:59 (UTC)

Ada grinned. "Okay, I can work with that," she said, digging around in her bag for two elastics and her hair brush. "Here, scoot forward so I can sit behind you."

Peridot was going to get two cute, bushy little pigtails, if Ada had her way.

Peridot blinked up at Ada in confusion... but otherwise, did as she was told.

"What does my hair have to do with any of this?"

"It's th' easiest way to spot you," Ada said, starting to brush out Peridot's hair in long, soothing strokes. "If I can put it in a different style, then we can try t' use make-up t' change your skin color for your face, or just use a hat t' make it harder for people t' see you, an' clothes can do th' rest."

Peridot was making the weirdest faces at the sensation of having her hair brushed for the first time... ever. The weirdest.

"It can be... styled?"

Look, she was still pretty new at this. The fanciest she'd ever gotten was sticking her Valentine's roses into it earlier in the week.

"How?"

"You seen me with both my hair down, an' pulled up away from m' face, right?" Ada checked. "You can do different things with it, dependin' on how long it is."

She neatly smoothed half Peridot's hair into one bunch, and put an elastic around it. "What 'm doin' t' your hair right now is called 'pigtails.'"

"... Tails?"

Last she checked, that wasn't where tails went, but Peridot was willing to roll with this one.

"And this will help me... not be noticed?"

Ada grinned. "You're a tiny thing," she said, "An' it's a popular hairstyle for human children. They ain't gonna be lookin' for a little kid, they're gonna be lookin' for a Peridot!"

"So... I'll be camouflaged as a human child?"

That actually seemed sensible, even to Peridot. She silently mulled that over for a few moments, and then tried a tiny smile on for size.

"Yes, I think I can do that."

Someone was going to have to hold her hand if she was going to need to get out of here by bus, though.

Hyacinthe

"We can stick t'gether, too, since they probably won't be lookin' for pairs, but for individuals," Ada said, styling the second pigtail. "There. D'ya want to see how it looks?"

Peridot was feeling a little less hopeless now, at least, and was turning around to look at Ada with a nod of her head.

"Yes! Yes, let me see!"

Okay, a lot less hopeless.

Finally! A lesson in something Hyacinthe knew about. He was Tsingani and had spent a fair bit of his time as a messenger and sneak thief. Leaving his electronics behind was no great hardship; he forgot his phone in his room more often than he had it along. Choosing clothing that would pass as normal was more difficult as his eyes kept getting drawn towards bright colors, but with a bit of effort, he found something appropriate.

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Practical Diplomacy, Friday, February 17, 2017

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