Spy Training Mission:
Clean Up or Clear Out

You may not be aware of it, but a clean bedroom (or any place you "hang out") is very important for not being discovered. This mission is about making your room in such a way that you will know it if someone went through your stuff.

Please read the mission brief below. For this training mission you don't have to report back.

Don't Cheat! I do expect you to do the work, even though I don't ask for a report!

Mission Brief

Your training mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a clean bedroom, and set it up so you can see if someone has been going through your stuff.

You may not like this mission. It may sound like the kind of work your parents would give you. You may not even want to do it. After all, doing household chores doesn't really sound like a cool spy mission.

Too bad. Suck it in, and do the work. When you're a spy, you'll be asked to do tasks that you may not like, or even want to do. And then you do it anyway!

There are a few good reasons to clean your bedroom (and no, pleasing your parents is not one of them... even though it's a side effect that could get them to do nice things for you!):

An uncluttered (=free of mess) bedroom allows you to see whether or not someone has been looking through your stuff. You won't be able to see it when you have piles of mess.
A clean bedroom also means that you can find your stuff quickly. By keeping a clean room, be it at home or when on a stakeout, you can quickly leave, taking with you all personal stuff that could identify you.

Don't underestimate that last reason! Many a spy has been "burned" (discovered) because of leaving papers behind that identifies them (a letter in the bin with their real name), their safehouse address (f.i. scribbled on a notepad), or the fact that they're a spy (notes used to code or decode messages). And once you're found out, your life is in danger!

Objective #1: Make a Clean Bedroom

Start by cleaning your bedroom:

If something is not a decoration, put it away.
Make neat piles of books and boxes, and note how you put them. This way you can see it when they're moved.
Put personal stuff in one (safe) place (f.i. in a book safe), so you can take them with you when you need to abandon your hideout.

Objective #2: Catch other spies in the act

Here are 2 foolproof ways to know that enemy spies have been rummeging through your stuff:

Open a book on page that you can remember. Then, pull out one of your hairs, and put it on that page in such a way that it sticks out of the page. Then close the book. Result: if someone goes through your books looking for notes, the hair will fall out. Even when they notice it, it's nearly impossible to put the hair back on the right page!

When you leave your (clean) bedroom, put a toothpick between the door and the doorpost. Then, after you closed the door tightly shut, break off the end of the toothpick that's sticking out (so it won't get noticed). If the remaining end of the toothpick is no longer where you put it, you know your room was compromised!

Good luck with your mission!

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