No True Agent

Yesterday we examined the way our Agents police the permit-owning miners. Even bot-aspirant Code-violators sometimes buy permits, but our Agents are very good at sniffing out a snake in the grass. Today, we'll look at another form of highsec fraud: Fake "Agents" of the New Order.

One fine day in highsec, CODE Inspector inspected potential Code violations. So far, so good. Any miner should feel perfectly comfortable seeing local chat like the above.

As our ranks continue to grow, it's becoming increasingly common for Agents to bump into each other. Not literally bump, you understand. I mean they encounter each other unexpectedly.

Suddenly, a conflict arose. CODE Inspector and Springheel both claimed to be Agents of the New Order. One of them was lying.

What's a carebear to do in this situation? We know that the highsec PvE'ers must respect the authority of their minders. How can they comply if they can't distinguish a true Agent from a false one?

It's like one of those TV shows where a good guy and an evil clone both claim to be the real thing. It's every carebear's worst nightmare, I would think.

Choose wisely. If you're not careful, you might end up serving the whims of a "CODE Prick" instead of a Gallant Agent.

Springheel found himself in deep water after CODE Inspector checked his bio. He tried to shrug it off while he continued to command the local miners.

But the pretense was unraveling. A carebear's nature will always shine through eventually.

The false Agent tried to imitate the glorious appearance of a true Agent, but he came up short. He came to rely instead upon the repulsive--but familiar--habits and language of a rebel carebear.

As the power of the New Order is felt more keenly throughout highsec, more and more carebears will seek to misappropriate Agent status. They can't pull it off for very long. They simply don't think like real Agents. It's one thing to grasp power; it's another thing to have the strength needed to wield it.

Then Springheel's dirty little secrets came to light:

He was, in fact, a carebear all along. He was even ganked in a particularly fail-fit industrial ship. Case closed.

Comic timing aside, Springheel was no Gallant, and certainly no Agent. The truth won. The CODE won.

There's no denying the power of the New Order. As time goes on, it will become more and more tempting for some carebears to impersonate Agents. They may find it satisfying to get a taste of our power, but here's the thing: The power and prestige of the New Order are earned. A true Agent has the discipline to use them in a manner that honours the Code. You can always spot a fake.