Chapter 31: Operation Twos a Crowd

Another day, another successful operation.

The newly revitalised XCOMs swift response to the distress call from the settlement at Alkali Lake in the woods of Canada had ensured that civilian casualties had been kept to a minimum.

Having cleared the area of the invaders the search for recoverable supplies and unaccounted began. It remained a tense time even after the battle was long over. Adrenaline continued to course through the soldier's bodies with the ever present threat of alien infiltrators only enhancing the feeling of well justified paranoia. Out here you never quite knew what you may encounter. Turning around the corner of another ramshackle building Lieutenant Aden Sharp was prepared to declare the area secure-

"You've got to be kidding me" he sighed in exasperation.

Sharp watched as two people grapple as they each tried to secure a hold over the other. Such a sight was not uncommon in a world of resource scarcities and the ever-looming presence of alien intervention. But to have both combatants appear identical in every detail, right down to the stains on their clothes and cuts on their cheeks remained something of note. It was probably too much to hope that this was merely a dispute between identical twins which had gotten way out of hand.

"Aden, help me, she's a Faceless!" Corporal Samantha Wright called out to him.

"No, don't listen to her, shes the Faceless!" her doppelganger retorted.

Sharp stood staring for the longest moment, unsure precisely how one should respond in such a situation. He soon decided that decisive action was necessary. Raising his shotgun, he fired a blast into the air. The two women ducked in an almost mirror image of eachother. The remainder of the XCOM strike team emerged from all sides at the sound of the gunshot, weapons raised in anticipation of further conflict.

"What's with all the shooting?" Corporal Alice Lambert was the first to arrive. "Are there more AD-"

"Oh my god" Sergeant Maria Kapov lamented as she realised what had happened.

"Well, this is just great" Elena 'Outrider' Dragunova bemoaned.

The team stared dumbfounded at the strangeness of it all.

"Guys help me!" Wright called out to the assembled group. "She's an alien"

"Me? She's the alien!" the other Wright protested.

"How do we expect to tell them apart" Lambert asked. "They both look alike"

"I know how to sort it out" Kapov stepped forwards. "Tell me, what day is my birthday?"

Both Wrights glanced at eachother in an unsettling mirror image. "I don't…" they said in unison.

"Oh, it's all coming out now isn't it" Kapov complained.

"We could always just knee cap them both" Elena interjected, raising her weapon to peer through the scope of her rifle. "Human gets a few weeks in the infirmary, Faceless gets a piercing shot to the brainstem"

"Perhaps we should start by considering the options which don't involve reconstructive surgery" Sharp replied.

"Can I heartily concur with the 'Not shooting me' viewpoint?" Wright interjected.

"Can't we just take them both with us?" Lambert asked.

"Considering a minimum of one of them is an alien infiltrator" Elena replied dryly. "No"

"Shoot them both?" Lambert offered.

"Better, but not great" Elena agreed.

"Shame we don't have the ARC thrower anymore" Kapov lamented, recounting her time with the original XCOM project. "One jolt from that thing and you knew whatever they said was the truth"

"We could probably rig something similar with the settlements generator, some rubber gloves and a few metres of copper wire" Elena mused.

"Again, another standby option" Sharp replied.

"David, you know it's me" Wright pleaded. "I know stuff only I would know. I know your favourite food from the mess is spaghetti surprise. I know you come from an independent settlement near Oslo where your uncle breeds carrier pigeons. And I know that under your bunk is where you keep your collection of-"

A shotgun blast rang out. The team looked across to watch the body of the other 'Wright' morph unnaturally before their eyes until only a dank puddle of beige goo remained. A Faceless.

The team stared across at Sharp, the smoking shotgun still held in his arms.

"How did you know it was her?" Lambert asked.

"Elementary my dear Watson" Sharp replied. "Based on the intimate knowledge she displayed there were only two possible outcomes. Either she was the infiltrator and the alien's knowledge of our operations has reached the point where we have already lost. Or she wasn't the infiltrator, and now realises it would be best for all involved for her to keep quiet about whatever she believes she may or may not know"

The team looked across quizzically.

"Plus, we agreed that if either of us were captured or suspected of being infiltrators we'd mention their favourite food, hometown and a private secret in that order as proof we were the real one" Sharp explained.

"That seems like a rather convenient set of circumstances" Kapov remarked.

"You call it convenient" Sharp replied. "I call it preparedness"

XCOM Rule 379: After its success during Operation Twos a Crowd, all XCOM personnel are to submit a code phrase to XCOM command to be used to verify your identity in the event of alien infiltration.

379a: In line with the most basic of security protocols, do not divulge your passphrase to anyone and submit it only in a sealed envelope to be handed to the command staff directly.

379b: Further to the above, anyone submitting their partner's birthday, first pets name or favourite food as their code phrase will be ordered to resubmit it.