Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Spy


At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if the spy you sent in to infiltrate the "enemy" turned and is now working for them? Or, what if you manage to turn the spy sent in to infiltrate your "organization"? (The quotes are for a non-specific enemy and organization, so feel free to interpret those as you see fit.)

19 comments:

  1. I think either way you would have to watch your back and not trust anyone.

    betty

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  2. Hmm...I think I would try to get my spy back with a rescue mission and brainwash him/her back to my side. If I turned a spy, I wouldn't trust him/her completely.

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    1. Ah, yes you would wonder how the enemy got your spy to their side...

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  3. This happened often in war and in the Cold War. If my spy turned and held key evidence, I would need to place an order out to execute him/her as they would know too much. Plus I would need to change all the codes and bring in anyone that spy may know so my team is not at risk. Now if I could turn a spy to my side that would work to my advantage and I would try to gain as much info as I could to beat the enemy.

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  4. Aha! Something to think about...would be disastrous certainly.

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  5. Hm, if they were on my side now, I would find them hard to trust. If it was someone who turned over to the enemy's side, I'd have to wonder what prompted them to change their mind.

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  6. I would not trust either of them. Character is important. Possibly they would simply disappear.

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  7. I've already played this game in a couple of my novels. It's fun :)

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  8. It's situations like this which make me so suspicious of everyone!!

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    1. Oops. Didn't mean to make anyone paranoid ;)

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  9. If they double-crossed your country, there could only be one outcome.....

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  10. Trust would be a huge issue. That character is not one to trust!

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  11. I love stories like that. I am also a huge fan of Stockholm Syndrome in fiction. It makes for very interesting twists. I think for a spy to truly immerse they NEED to really understand the people they are infiltrating and except where there are extreme evil enemies or a true sociopath for the spy, it seems a sort of likely thing to happen, at least to some degree.

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  12. I think, in the world (the real-life world) of spycraft, that kind of thing happens all the time. Never trust your own people. Try to turn the good spies of the other side to your own advantage. Spies and their lives have always fascinated me. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. I suppose that's why spies are popular characters in fiction.

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I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.