I’m not really a spy.
But that doesn’t stop me from speaking spy-like into my low-profile, high-definition, waterproof spy watch while standing in an elevator full of strangers.
And it doesn’t stop me from stealthily sliding along the storefronts in Monument Square — chanting the James Bond theme song under my breath and occasionally diving behind a bench or stroller — during a covert operation to recover a turkey and mozzarella sandwich from the Public Market House.
When you’re an average civilian with the skills of a seasoned CIA operative, you have to exercise your spy savvy somewhere. You also have to spend an inordinate amount of time explaining yourself to local law enforcement.
This Saturday, locals with a penchant for secret ops can test their skills during an in-town spy game called Operation: Mission: The Operation.
The interactive spy hunt is the inaugural event from Portland Roots, a local organization aimed at bringing adventure to the Forest City.
Saturday’s mission, put together by Portland Roots co-founders Bo Bigelow and Jeff Russell, pits teams of two or three against one another in a race to locate a missing secret agent named Victor Quinn.
The back story: Quinn’s whereabouts have been unknown since July 6, 1953, when he disappeared with an important stack of documents and a pile of cash. That same day, his partner and a Russian agent turned up dead.
“He hasn’t been heard of in decades,” said Bigelow. “But he’s recently resurfaced in Portland, Maine.”
What a handy coincidence.
Teams will set off simultaneously with packets of information — codes to decipher, clues to follow, people to question — and scour Portland looking for the missing (and now kind of old) Agent Quinn. The first team to find him not only wins the honor of being southern Maine’s most elite spies, they also get Quinn’s pile of cash.
But it’s a spy game, after all. And spies aren’t exactly known for their candor.
“Teams need to keep in mind we’ve also gotten some tips that there are counteragents out there,” said Bigelow, who added that teams can prevent being led astray by using the safety codeword and following instructions they’ll be given at the start of the game.
“You never know,” said Bigelow. “There are areas of Portland that are crawling with counteragents.”
The game also includes a few bar stops along the way for being social, having a beer and a bit of team collusion, according to Russell. And it’s fit for anyone on the spy hierarchy, from senior agents to novices who’d rather use a button-sized spy camera to film their own “Pimp My Subaru” audition tape than gather intelligence.
“It’ll work for some teams that want to be die-hard and take it totally seriously,” said Russell. “It’s also great for people who want to wander, take it non-seriously. All levels are welcome.”
Bigelow added that Operation: Mission: The Operation is geared toward anyone who likes to play games and explore the city. “They’ll see another side of Portland that’s been there the whole time right under their noses,” he said.
Plus, they’ll meet like-minded locals along the way — either working together to help track Quinn or over a beer at the game’s after-party at Bull Feeney’s (375 Fore St., Portland).
There, they can discuss whether the blinking text atop Portland’s Time & Temperature Building is really a coded directive aimed at secret agents doubling in town as singer-songwriters. Or whether the “Portland, Maine” anagram “ornamental dip” has any serious implications for the small city.
Catching Quinn is part of the game. But the experience is the real mission.
“The purpose of all of this is to kind of remind everyone what it’s like to have an awesome adventure,” said Bigelow. “Everybody’s done that — had some crazy adventure. And now they’re doing their day-to-day thing and they think back to that time in their life they wonder, ‘How do I get back to that place?’
“That’s what Portland Roots is about.”
Your next adventure awaits, right here in Portland.
Staff Writer Shannon Bryan can be contacted at 791-6333 or at sbryan@mainetoday.com
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