Audio; un: Naruhodo (not long after the mission file drop)

[locumstudentesquire]

[A young man's voice comes in over the network; his words are bright and clear, but there's a bit of an undercurrent of discomfort to them too... A nervous energy, if you will.]

Hello everyone! This is Naruhodo speaking. Um... Well! I've been going over the mission file that just went out, and I'm seeing that we're each supposed to be responsible for coming up with our own aliases and cover stories ahead of time. And I have to admit... I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to start with all this!

So I was thinking... Would anyone out there perhaps be up for swapping some ideas? Brainstorming together, that is. General advice from those more experienced with undercover missions like this would be appreciated as well... Like, details to make sure to include, things to avoid, and all the like. I'm sure I'm not the only person on the crew who could benefit from such a thing.

Um... That's all, really. And, thank you all very much in advance for any contributions you might make!

Comments

[locumstudentesquire]

[That's incredibly helpful actually, and he's quietly nodding along on his end... Until the fake marriage thing.]

Fake marriage...!? Ha, no, definitely not for me...!

That is intriguing, though, to know that other missions haven't featured the same extent of... Ability boosting, I suppose. But you have had past missions where you've had to come up with these cover stories, then...?

[deaddrop]

Yeah, that part isn't new. That's more common than not—missions where we don't have to have some kind of cover story or other to blend in are more common than the other kind.

[Did she mention the marriage just poke a little? It's very possible.]

Though the stories can vary a great deal depending on circumstances. My first mission was just a train ride—less developed story than something like this where we'll be expected to integrate for a while.

[locumstudentesquire]

[If that is why she mentioned it, congratulations Natasha: you've found a guy who's incredibly easy to mess with.]

I think it's that last part that's what's most worrisome to me... Deception isn't really my style, I'll admit. Though I understand the necessity in this case.

[deaddrop]

So try to think of things that aren't really lying. You're just spinning things in a way that the locals will understand.

What do you do back home?

[locumstudentesquire]

Oh, er. I'm a lawyer. A defense attorney, specifically...

[Do they even HAVE lawyers on this planet?]

[deaddrop]

Well, that's something we can work with. What got you into law? You wanted to help people?

Now that's the same reason you decided to become a cleric or a paladin.

[locumstudentesquire]

[Good thing she's not literally asking him why he became a lawyer, because that is... QUITE the long story.]

Oh, I see! Hm. That is very clever!

[Admittedly, those are two classes which rather appealed to him already, so... He's grateful for further justification.]

[deaddrop]

The same with other parts of your life. If you say you're from somewhere far away, you can say that. You don't have to be too specific.

In my experience, most people care more about talking about themselves than listening to other people. That's an advantage.

[locumstudentesquire]

Hah... You know, now that you mention it... That's been fairly true of my own experiences in investigations as well. It's just... I'm usually not trying to hide anything, when I'm doing that sort of thing.

[deaddrop]

Don't think of it as hiding something. Think of it as... letting people draw their own conclusions. You have priorities other than correcting them when they're wrong.

You're still yourself. Just a curated version of yourself.