Re: Part 64b - Patterns
James can see rather more flaws in the first part of Banglen-Yp's plan than he cares to admit (leaving aside the possibility the traitor was a family member and now forewarned). It was all very well feeding out partial information and watching for a response. It was the strategy that he would have used had they more time to unmask the traitor. But it required that the traitor act on the leaked information. A clever spy (and any spy that could elude Fiona had to be considered very clever) or a clever handler would know that sometimes you had to decline an opportunity in order to avoid suspicion.* James considered that the approach would require a counter-espionage campaign, not a single juicy piece of bait.
It's a pity Meredith wasn't here, James muses. Loathe as he would be to push her to use her talent, Meredith's reading ability would be invaluable here. As it was, Fiona was right, regrettably. James would have to provide the sparse information that he had about 'Corey' and hope that someone else could make the connection, but first he wanted to see what else Banglen-Yp had in mind.
It was worth waiting for. "That...is very impressive." James had seen Banglen-Yp in a variety of forms: sex kitten, actual kitten and dolphin to name a few, but he had never seen her transform or to take on such an alien form. It was rather unsettling to watch.
"Roman and Tahirah are both correct. If I may: your blades are too highly polished and too regular. Think steel rather than quicksilver."
"Also, while the blades need to appear more random, the movement of the blades is more deliberate. Quite a task that, but then I don't know how much you're having to concentrate on the movement of the blades. If it helps, try slowing down then think of a pattern - like looking down on a ballroom full of dancers, or knitting, where each row of blades is a thread.
"Once you've got that down, you'll need to speed up. You should know you're getting close by the noise. The blade Archons can spin silently but they tend to clink or clatter as blades knock against each other. I think it's almost like an aural signature."
James lists the points that spring immediately to mind. There was enough diversity amongst the Archons that he was confident that, given practice, Banglen-Yp could pass scutiny, except in one regard.
"Tahirah is more correct than perhaps she realises. Superficially, you may pass as an Archon but you don't have the psychic presence. I don't think you can mimic that. Some of the Archons might mask themselves, but I doubt it's common. You would fool most of their servants, which may be sufficient, but if you meet another Archon, or even a trained sorceror, you would be in trouble."
"It's a pity Berd isn't here, he's a master at that sort of thing. I don't suppose you could fake an aura at range, Fiona?"
James stiffens, "Hold that thought." he adds in a distracted tone, "I have an incoming call."
*OOC: There is a story from WWII that during the German bombing of England, a raid had been predicted against London. Churchill, knowing from the broken Enigma code that the bombers would strike Coventry went up to the roof of his London HQ and watched, knowing that he could have given warning but knowing that if he did the Germans might deduce that their code was ineffective.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:07, Mon 03 May 2010.