Fandom High School

Bond was nowhere to be seen today, because apparently the final of a class about deception involved getting your students to come in while you had a bit of a lie in or letting them think that while you monitored from another room, but who did that, really.

There were however a number of tables set up with decks of cards and poker chips a note up on the whiteboard telling them to do him proud.

Bond had the projector set up again for his class this week. Which could mean only one thing.

"Good morning, and I hope you enjoyed your weekend regardless of if you celebrate the holiday or not." Guess which category he fell into. "Now, several weeks ago we looked at a film that showed some of the consequences for getting caught out lying on a professional level. This week we'll be looking at one exploring the importance of being honest on a personal level."

Bond class were once again in an ordinary classroom, with the tables pulled to the sides of the room so there was a large space for them to mingle in.

"Good morning," he greeted them. "No some lies are easy, usually the everyday white lies we tell as social lubricant, or else the not so every day ones we've had time to practice. Other lies are more difficult, whether because of your audience, or you've been caught off guard, or because you're just bullshitting. Guess which of the three you'll be attempting to today."

"What I would like you all to do is to mingle as if you've all just been introduced. Only I would like you to make things up about what you actually do, the more ridiculous the better, rather than try and catch each other out, try to elaborate and build on what each other is saying, for example, if one of you were to claim they once climbed Everest in a blizzard, the other might respond with the time they climbed it with two broken legs, to which the first might casually remember they had no arms during the blizzard because they'd run out of supplies and had to eat them, all while keeping your own composure."

Class was being held in the gym today, and Bond also seemed both unusually serene and unusually casual, being dressed in workout gear as he sat cross legged on one of the numerous mats set out long the floor.

"Welcome," he said, standing. "Now today's class is going to be about proper form when lying, so after we finish our warm-up stretches, I would like you all to get into corpse pose so we may begin."

Bond had the movie projector set up again today.

"Good morning, I trust you all enjoyed your break," Bond greeted them. "Now as you might guess, we're going to ease back into things with a film. So far we've been looking at why and how and when a person might lie, today's film looks at what can happen when you're caught out lying, especially when you've chosen to do so over a prolonged period of time in a situation that might be called ill-advised at best."

Today Bond had set up a projector screen at the front of class, because it was time for a movie day.

"Good morning," he greeted the class. "Now last week we looked at passing as a member of a social group not your own, mostly through clothing choices, but while looking the part is the most immediately obvious part of that, how you act and speak, as well as any of number of social cues, also factor into the impression people get of you. For example, those of you who'll have visitors this weekend and who want those visitors to leave thinking certain things about the school, will have an idea of which of their teachers it would be prudent to either have their guests visit or conversely to pretend don't exist.

"Now, we could do an exercise similar to last week's, but it's rather easier to instead watch a film on the subject instead."

Today Bond had set up a lectern at the front of the classroom.

"Good morning," he greeted his students. "So far we've touched on some of the hows and whys, today we're going to be looking at the when, as there are some situations and careers where being able to tell a bald-faced lie with complete conviction will help you immensely. The one that most immediately springs to mind is politics."

"Now, the most obvious situation where lying and politics are linked is election time, where politicians will spend a great deal of time and money on convincing you that their party will bring about an age of kittens and sunshine, while the others eat babies. So for the first half of the class, I would ask you to work as a group to come up with the kind of election lies to help your fictional party's elected to office.

"For the second half of the class, you will be dealing with a leadership spill, which can occur in parliamentary systems wherein the government is formed by whichever party or coalition of parties have won a majority of seats, and the head of the party becomes the head of government rather than being voted in specifically by the electorate at large, though in practice who the head of party is will often affect voting choices. In a spill, what occurs is that a member of the party will bring a vote of no confidence in the current leadership, usually after garnering promises of support from other members of the party. In this exercise you will be the member causing the spill, and you'll all take turns to give a speech to and answer the questions of your fellow classmates to try and convince them that they should support you instead of the incumbent leadership.

"The difference between these two exercises will help show you ways in which you may need to tailor your lies to your audiences."

Bond had set set up a class room with the tables dragged out to the walls and the chairs set up in a circle in the empty space. As the students arrived he directed them to take a seat.

"Good morning," he said, once they'd all arrived. "I'm Professor Bond, and this is Deception for Fun and Profit. Now, assuming there were no paperwork errors, you're all in this class because for whatever reason you have an interest in fooling people, which means for our first class we're going to do the traditional introductions a bit differently.

"Normally this is the part were I'd ask you for your names, classes, and various other questions, usually why you're taking the class, or what experience you have related to the subject at hand. No, I'm still going to do that, but you're going to lie, then the rest of the class and I will attempt to catch you out. Though given everyone but me will be lying, I expect you to do it subtly, so as not to open yourself to counter-accusations."

He pointed at a random student. "You first. Name, class, what you did over the summer, and how you ended up in this class."

Today the Danger Shop resembled a somewhat seedy looking bar, with a number of equally seedy looking patrons, many of whom were eyeing Cade the students with suspicion.

"Good afternoon," Bond greeted them. "Now since we're coming up on finals, I would strongly advise you all to spend the next week in either the dorms or the library studying. Possibly longer, since you never know when you'll need a make-up exam. If, however, you feel that you'd be better served studying somewhere in town, then I'd recommend finding at least one study partner." Which was all he was going to say on the matter.

"Now, as for this week's class, I thought it would be prudent to look into what can happen when bluffing fails. Now as it so happens, a friendly game has just turned unfriendly since one of your number has just been accused of cheating." If Bond happened to be looking at Cade right now assuming he was there, well, that was just a coincidence. "What are you going to do now?"

[Class Roster]

The Danger Shop wasn't set to anything today.

"Now apparently there's some major American holiday coming up, and I imagine you want to make the most of your free time, so we'll keep things short today," Bond told them. "I want you to give me the most outrageous excuse you can think of as to why I should let you out of class early, and deliver it with complete sincerity. If I feel that you're convincing enough you may go."

[Class Roster]

Bond was not in the Danger Shop when the class arrived today, which wasn't the only thing that greeted the students. The casino was in a shambles, bullet holes in the walls, tables overturned, pot plants on fire. Additionally, the floor was covered in enough brightly dyed feathers to costume six Vegas showgirls, there were a number of traffic cones lying on the bar, and an okapi was grazing on what greenery wasn't smoking.

Once the students had finished arriving, and had a few moments to take everything in, police burst in through all the entrances, demanding they put their hands up. "...what the hell is going on here?"

Apparently you were getting Bond's idea of a pop quiz today.

[Class Roster]

Apparently the Danger Shop was glitched again, as it was once more the totally-not-a-harem. As each student entered, Bond tossed them a bag.

"Good afternoon," Bond greeted them. "Today have a exercise in how bluffing can help you make favourable deals. You've each been given a bag of mixed sweets that you'll be trading with your classmates. Your job is to attempt to have a bag with only the kinds you like, and as many of those as you can get as you get to keep what's in your bag at the end of class. It's up to you to find your best trading strategy, short of actual violence."

[Class Roster]

Instead of the casino, today the Danger Shop resembled a dressing room with racks upon racks of clothing of all descriptions to choose from.

"Good afternoon," Bond greeted them, much less distracted than last week. "Now you may be wondering what fashion has to do with bluffing, but your choice of clothing when attempting to deceive can serve multiple purposes, such as comfort, distraction, camouflage, and misdirection.

"Comfort should be obvious, a comfortable outfit is one less thing to distract you from your goal. A well put-together outfit may also draw your opponent's eyes away from your face, which as you will have hopefully started to pick up on, is the most common place for a person's tells to appear. Picking an outfit that makes you look like you belong where you are will often help put people at ease despite themselves. On a similar note, details of fashion will give cues as to a person's status, tastes, personality, careful choices there can build up a false impression you can exploit later.

"Your task today is to create three outfits for three different game scenarios, one is in a high-end casino much like we've been holding classes in against high-rolling opponents, one is a casual, low-stakes affair with friends, and one is a seedy, backroom, semi-legal-at-best game against equally unsavoury characters. Think about what each setting may require in terms of dress, or what impression you may want to give.

"You may also ask your classmates for assistance should you require it."

[Class Roster]

The casino was lacking tables today...and chairs...there were some lovely cushions and beanbags though, and some even lovelier drapes and hangings, as well as a large whiteboard. In fact, on the whole it didn't look very casino-ish at all.

"Good afternoon," Bond greeted them. "So far we've been looking at hiding your emotions in bluffing, but there are often times when you want a person to pick up on a particular mood or idea, which brings us to today's game. You've all been given an envelope with a word or phrase written within it, you will take it in turns to illustrate that word on the whiteboard, without using words or numbers, or saying anything, while your classmates guess as to the meaning of your drawing. If your word is guessed you win. The sooner your drawing is guessed, and the more classmates guess correctly the more chips you get, people who make correct guesses will also win chips."

"So, who wants to go first?"

[Class Roster]

Bond's students were again in the casino sim this week, but instead of the table, there was a lounge with multiple seats and couches and a screen taking up most of a wall. Bond also handed each student a stack of leaflets.

Once everyone had found a seat to their liking, Bond began. "Now last week I explained a bit about the how of the class, this week, I thought I'd give you a small demonstration of why, by playing you a film in which the outcome hinges how the lead's ability to bluff and notice tells both within and outside the context of a card tournament."

"However before I start the film, I'd just like to explain these." He held up the leaflets. "They're simply primers on poker, which is the main game we'll be using in the class, I'll go into more detail when we actually start a match, but they'll give you a place to start, especially if you chose to practice outside the class, which I do recommend, as the best way to learn is to play."

[Class Roster]