Page 48 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope
"Good," Carol said. "Knowing when you need more clues is just as important as observing what you can at first glance."
When the doorbell rang, Carol stopped the recording. "That must be Eva."
The female didn't require introductions as everyone knew her and was familiar with her work.
When Carol opened the door, she found her carrying two large cases and wearing all black, which wasn't her usual style. Eva preferred flowy long skirts and pretty blouses that made her look feminine and obscured her ruthless nature.
"Let me help you with that." Carol reached for one of the cases.
Eva gave her a haughty look. "I can manage. Where to?"
"The dining room."
"Ladies," Eva greeted as she set down her cases. "I'm here to teach you the art of disguise. You will learn how to become someone else and how to be unrecognizable."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Grace asked.
"Not at all." Eva opened the first case, revealing an array of products. "Becoming someone else is psychological. Not being recognized as yourself is physical. They require different skills."
She studied each woman in turn. "Marlene, your cheekbones are your most distinctive feature. We'll need to minimize those. Teresa, your eyes are beautiful, very memorable. Regina, your nervous habits are more identifying than your face. Grace, you have perfect posture, which is rarer than you think. And Greta..." She paused. "You've done this before."
"A long time ago," Greta admitted.
"The bones remember even when the mind forgets." Eva pulled out what looked like a simple makeup compact. "This is theater putty. With this and some basic contouring, I can age you twenty years or take off ten. Change your race, your social class, your entire presence."
She demonstrated on herself first, adding subtle shadows under her eyes, changing the shape of her nose slightly, and adjusting her jawline. Within minutes, she looked exhausted, older, beaten down by life.
"But makeup only goes so far," she continued, wiping it off with a makeup-removing towelette. "True disguise is about changing how you move, how you hold yourself, how you occupy space."
"Show them the walk," Carol suggested.
Eva smiled. First, she walked across the room with her natural gait—confident, smooth, slightly predatory. Then she adjusted something in her posture and walked again. This time, she seemed smaller, hesitant, her feet barely making a sound. A third pass and she strutted, taking up space, her heels clicking authoritatively.
"Same shoes, same clothes, same person," Eva said. "But would you recognize me as the same woman if you saw these three versions on the street?"
"No," Regina said, looking fascinated. "The middle one especially—you seemed to shrink."
"That is why some women complain about being invisible," Eva explained. "When you make yourself small and unthreatening, your presence doesn't even register. It's extremely useful for a spy who wishes to be overlooked, and you should practice this until you master it. The opposite is true when you need to command attention and respect."
She had them practice walking, adjusting their natural gaits. Marlene struggled at first—her confidence was so ingrained that making herself seem meek was difficult.
"I can't," she said after her fifth attempt. "It just makes me depressed. It feels wrong."
"Because you're doing method acting and trying to think of yourself as small and insignificant. That can work for some, but not for you. Think of it as choosing to be underestimated. There's power in being overlooked—you see everything while no one sees you."
That reframing helped, and Marlene's next attempt was better.
Regina excelled at physical transformations. She could shift from nervous to confident to invisible with remarkable ease.
"You're a natural," Eva told her. "You already understand how to modulate your presence."
"Years of trying not to be noticed at parties," Regina admitted with a self-deprecating smile.
They moved on to surveillance detection—how to know if they were being followed, how to lose a tail without seeming to notice it.
"The key is natural movement," Eva explained. "Window shopping to check reflections. Tying your shoe or rubbing the back of your foot if you are wearing heels, to see who stops. Taking an elevator up, then immediately back down. But these only work if they fit your cover. A rushed businesswoman wouldn't window shop. A fitness enthusiast wouldn't take the elevator."
"This is incredibly complex," Grace said, looking overwhelmed.
