Meeting the Boss

"Bonjour Poesy!" exclaimed the Director as he leaned in to kiss you on the cheeks. The Director of the DGSE had always had a soft spot for Yvonne and had considered her something of his protege. Rochelle was already seated opposite the Director.

"Excellent work with dismantling the Albanian trafficking network. Many mothers and fathers will be very happy once those poor souls return home. But enough of that. You are both here because we have finally cracked the code. We have replicated it at long last." He pauses dramatically then flourishes a pen from his suit jacket. It's almost an exact match for the black pen that you used previously but this time it had a number of different buttons built into it. Almost like cheap four colour pens you could get from the local newsagent.

"This is the first production model of our labour. Made some improvements to it we have. Our version has the functionality of all five pens that our good friend here gave us. We will be rolling out this device to our most trusted agents. Including yourself of course Poesy."

He goes to hand the pen to you but pauses. "Except I have noticed something odd as of late. Our Rochelle here has been progressing rather inconsistently with her training. Sometimes she will have amazing results and other times I question my decision to recruit her."

Rochelle goes to speak up but you cut in. "David has been telling me that he is distracted of late. It has been six months since we offered to help him recover his family and friends but all he has been doing is training. He is anxious and impatient at how little progress has been made since he joined."

"That is a fair point. At least it would be if that were actually David. Isn't that right Monsieur Anderson?" The Director stares right at you and points the pen directly at your chest.

"What is ze meaning of this?" you say, outrage in your voice as you rise to your feet. There's no where to run and Rochelle seems unusually passive given the events happening before her. The Director motions for you to sit back down.

"I think you misunderstand," he continues with a grin as he twirls the pen in his fingers, "Rather than mad I am rather impressed. It took me quite some time to realise what was happening. I thought it odd that Rochelle's test results seemed to vary from week to week. Sometimes she was no better than when she had completed her entry aptitude tests. Other times, they were extraordinary. Then I realised one key factor - Rochelle always did better in the weeks that she met up with you."

"You see, the Poesy I know is too professional to cover for an underling like that. In fact, she'd be much too cold to help someone I had ordered her to mentor. Someone she didn't even like. So the only explanation that made sense was that you, David, was actually Poesy. It wouldn't have made sense otherwise."

You hung your head. With the pen pointed straight at you, there was little point in lying now. He could easily knock you out or strip you from your Yvonne skin with the white pen's functionality.

"I suppose you'll skin me now right? You've gotten what you wanted. The power of the pens and now you won't have to deal with me either," Yvonne bitterly said.

To your surprise, the Director smiles. "Absurdité! On ze contrary, I want to congratulate you. You have managed to trick everyone in this office, myself included. You impersonated Ageny Poesy almost perfectly for six months and nobody noticed. You have completed all her missions satisfactorily, although I think there were some close calls there. If anything, Yvonne is all yours if you choose. You have proven a valuable asset with her skills and experience under your thumb. Alas, she was a great agent but together, I think you two can be greater. Here." He casually tossed the pen over to you.

"A token of my good will. We are grateful that you have allowed us to replicate the insidious weapon of our enemy. We would be even more grateful if you would stay on and help us continue the fight with La Dissimuler. What do you say, Agent Poesy?"