Mission #0034
Codename: Spies on Ice
Link to the news story that inspired this mission:
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200701100115.html
Information not in the news story, added or inferred for plot purposes:
Tokyo is hosting the World Figure Skating championships. Teams from all around the world will be there -- including the fiercest rival, the US. The government has reason to believe that while at the championships, the US team will send recruiters to talk to (and strongly persuade) Japanese figure skating star Mao Asada to defect and join the US team.
Goal of the mission (success criteria):
A successful mission means keeping the US recruiters away from Mao Asada -- or, if the recruiters speak with her, debriefing her enough to keep her happily in Japan. Japan knows that its culture is one of its most important exports -- and knows that Mao Asada is important enough to Japan to protect its interest in her continued citizenship.
Who is involved:
Tezuka Kunimitsu, Sanada Genichirou (trainee)
Field agents who have proven their fierce loyalty to Japan are needed -- not just as muscle, to keep the figure skater away from foreign influences, but to show Mao what loyalty to one's country truly means.
Equipment/requisitions:
This job requires a certain level of suavity. Agents are required to look good, dress well, and carry themselves with discretion and dignity in front of a world-wide audience (and possible television audience). Appropriate transportation and pocket-sized handguns will be provided.
Timeline:
Three days, the length of the championships. Agents are required to stay in a room adjoining Mao's.
Rough plan:
US recruiters are going to be sly. They'll send people in many guises to speak to Mao, including journalists, fans, members of the US skating team, and officials. The officials and team members are easy to spot -- but the rest are not. Mao will encounter a handsome American boy who will hand her flowers and say that he's the son of a famous american coach -- and talk about how beautiful it would be for Mao and her sister to train in Hawaii with the best facilities and coaches that America can provide. It will be up to the field agents to debrief Mao from essentially getting handed one of her life's dreams.
How things might possibly go wrong:
The more time that Mao is left to her own devices, the more time the US will have to innundate her with propaganda. Any time she's left unattended, it is almost a given that the US will send someone to persuade her. It will take strong interpersonal skills to keep her entertained...