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| - Something's bothering you. You did some poking around, and you discovered a clue that just doesn't match up with what you know about the situation at large. It's almost as if your team has stumbled upon some sort of Evil Plan. So you decide to run this information past your trusted ally, Nialliv. He listens, perhaps admits that this does indeed sound suspicious, and then casually asks: "Have you told anyone else?" Always answer yes, especially if it isn't true, and especially especially if your place of employment has a High Employee Turnover Rate. What's that phrase mean? Well, several things:
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| abstract
| - Something's bothering you. You did some poking around, and you discovered a clue that just doesn't match up with what you know about the situation at large. It's almost as if your team has stumbled upon some sort of Evil Plan. So you decide to run this information past your trusted ally, Nialliv. He listens, perhaps admits that this does indeed sound suspicious, and then casually asks: "Have you told anyone else?" Always answer yes, especially if it isn't true, and especially especially if your place of employment has a High Employee Turnover Rate. What's that phrase mean? Well, several things: 1.
* The information you've discovered is enough to at least screw up the Big Bad's plans if not bring him down entirely. 2.
* Unfortunately, the first (and now, likely, the only) person you revealed this information to is the Treacherous Advisor or some other variety of The Mole, and possibly the Big Bad himself. 3.
* As soon as you innocently tell him that no, he's the first person you've mentioned this to, he's likely going to make sure that information dies with you. Check your shirt color. 4.
* Occasionally there is another step: Why yes, there was one person you told, Mr. Dead-Meat. By amazing coincidence, Mr. Dead-Meat accidentally shoots himself in the back of the head twice the next day. You are still alive because you're too dumb to connect the dots and there's probably some part of the Evil Plan you need to fulfill. There's also the question "Does anybody know you're here?" or similar. Answering 'no' means automatic death. It's rare to find someone Genre Savvy enough to lie and say something like, "Why yes, I told Bob, Joe, and Susan where I'd be going, and who I was meeting, and what I'd be saying. And hell yeah, you can have this disc - I Made Copies." Or, for that matter, to have actually told those people. Rather, they proudly(!) admit that they told Nialliv first, sometimes even adding, "I'm not stupid." For the one who noticed the hole in his Evil Plan, they aren't too bright, are they? (Admittedly, the reason's for telling only Nialliv tend to be something positive, like shaky proof, or information that might cause a panic/riots/mob violence targeting innocent people. If only Nialliv wasn't on The Dark Side...) If they do say they told someone else, it's obvious that they just now realized their error, and are badly lying about it. Nialliv sees right through this. Actually, this has started to get subverted more these days. Especially if it's the hero doing it, they probably already have sent the information to all the major publishers, or have some backup plan. But then, that's usually only if they suspect the person. This moment is usually The Reveal for the audience that Nialliv is playing for the other team. Sometimes phrased as "Does anyone else know about this?" or "Have you discussed this with anyone else?" The key words are always "anyone else." Occasionally one gets "Have you told [specific other person] yet?", where the other person is someone with the power to do something about it -- the boss, the Slayer, whatever. Of course, anyone else they told could tell the specific other person, but it may be phrased this way as an opening for the doomed conversationalist to dutifully respond, "No, I haven't told anybody..." Compare Exposition Victim. Examples of Have You Told Anyone Else? include:
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