On the science fiction plot device known as the "sleeper agent"

[ck4829]

Last edited Thu Jun 16, 2022, 12:21 PM - Edit history (1)

A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization not to undertake an immediate mission but to act as a potential asset if activated. Even if unactivated, the "sleeper agent" is still an asset and is still playing an active role in sedition, espionage or possibly treason by virtue of agreeing to act if activated. Sleeper agents are popular plot devices in fiction, particularly in espionage fiction and science fiction.

In fictional portrayals, sleeper agents are sometimes unaware that they are sleepers. They are brainwashed, hypnotized, or otherwise conditioned to be unaware of their secret mission until activated. Examples of such stories are:

The Manchurian Candidate (the novel and its film adaptations), in which some Americans are captured by Soviet intelligence forces, given post-hypnotic commands, and returned to their lives in the U.S.

The 1977 film Telefon, in which Russian agents believe they are ordinary Americans until their memories are unlocked with a special activation phrase

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeper_agent

So, a nonsense phrase that nobody would ever use in normal conversation... but say it, and you have activated a sleeper agent about to do a mission conditioned deep in their brain.

What's the perfect nonsense phrase?

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	Antifa! Black Lives Matter! George Soros! Cultural Marxism! (This one might actually explain a lot)
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	That Donald Trump fellow sure is transparent and open about his records!
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	Wow, look at all this wonderful post-scarcity abundance that happened as a result of ending Roe v Wade!
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	Other (what?)
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[3Hotdogs]

1. Reminds me of "The Americans."

[Effete Snob]

3. a/k/a "Oliver North Had One More Blowjob For Ronald Reagan"

Lotsa porny scenes, though.

I'd give it two thumbs up, but my other hand is busy.

[ck4829]

6. Good catch, it's listed in the page too

[Effete Snob]

2. Covfefe

[3Hotdogs]

4. Covfefe - covfefe -- covfefe..... that reminds me of som'thin I'm suppose to do.

But I don't remember what it is I'm suppose to do.

[Effete Snob]

5. They actually believed it was a secret code word

https://boingboing.net/2022/05/04/covfefe-is-a-chemical-antidote-to-5g-towers-explains-one-of-trumps-very-stable-geniuses.html

"Covfefe" is a chemical antidote to 5G towers, explains one of Trump's very stable geniuses

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Talking of sleeper agents ...

A deep-cover Russian spy tried to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC), the security service of the Netherlands says.
...
The AIVD has published an extraordinary document believed to be written by Cherkasov around 2010, in which he outlines his fake identity, likely to remind him of his own cover story.
...
Social media profiles reviewed by the BBC and which are believed to belong to Ferreira reveal an extensive list of friends - including a number of international students from two institutions which he appears to have attended - Johns Hopkins University in the US and Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland. Those friends have gone on to work everywhere from investment bank Goldman Sachs to think tanks and federal regulatory agencies in Washington DC. They will not have known he was a Russian spy.
...
One profile says Ferreira moved to Washington DC in August 2018 and a record shows him graduating from Johns Hopkins in 2020. Postings on social media reveal an eclectic mix of views including some which are mildly critical of Russia, which could be interpreted as an attempt to continue to build his cover.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61831961

The Telegraph story does call him a 'sleeper agent'.