[ 'Philip Jennings' is solid presence in the Nest. Even-tempered, reliable, even sensitive to and supportive of the rest of their number. Their work isn't easy, and he seems to know that better than most, to feel the exhaustion of it bone-deep — and to take steps, however small they may be, to alleviate that pressure for the others when he can. But touching his mind always feels like putting your feet down on one side of a prism — fully formed as you need it to be, but still only part of a complicated whole.

Appropriate, then, that his symbiote seems to have granted him the ability to change shape. That fact, and his training before this (CIA, he says, with his after-school-special Dad accent, and maybe that isn't true, maybe he's just making himself believe it when he says it, but what's the difference?) have made him ideal for infiltration, missions he insists on taking less out of a lack of confidence in anyone else's ability and more out of a dogged need to spare anyone else this.

But not every mission can be a solo mission. Maybe with you, he doesn't even mind — or maybe he minds more. Either way, there's a goal they need to accomplish, and the best way to do that is these two people undercover — as colleagues, as friends, as a married couple, as family. ]

So how much experience do you have with this sort of thing? [ he asks, casual, while they put the finishing touches on their disguises. Here, put on this ratty coat, this ridiculous heel, this godforsaken mullet wig. Outside this room, they'll need to be these elaborate fictions. But first they'll need to create them. ]

ii. wildcard;

[ do you need a spy dad somewhere, just say the word. ]