we talking in her head, or in "team discussions"?

the polite term would be "mark"

the realistic term would be sucker

I agree that "mark" would probably be the professional standard.

I was thinking "target", but I think "mark", as others have suggested, is a better term.

"Mark" is good, but "Target", "Objective", "Subject", or "Client" might work too.

To crib an idea from Shadowrun (in that game, every employer is 'Mr. Johnson'), how about just using a very generic name like Mr. Smith. Using the honorific makes it impersonal, and an appropriately generic name reinforces that they're not important as individuals.

It also has the plus of being able to be dropped into casual conversation in public without sounding suspicious.

I have to agree with referring to them as mark. Seems like it would be fitting with Shadow's personality.

I like both Rogrog12's and the majority's opinion both. Mark is a professional term for an objective for mission accomplishment, although there might be another term for someone that is an ongoing liaison. I believe a Mr. Something would be a good code-name for any non-secure means of telecommunication, even normal chit-chat at a coffee bar. Everything has a code name in the military if it is even close to being important, not just requiring a classification. We call it OP-SEC. If there was even anyone else spying on the same target as the Foxforce Four, they would be protecting themselves from being discovered as contacts if they had code-names that weren't obvious like the word "mark".

In short, "mark" works as an impersonal term that Shadowfox would use in polite company of the other vixens in a secure location. "Terry", or if necessary, a "Mr. Something" seems better for public conversation.

Granted, after submitting this, i realize that simple code names wouldn't be the single savior for op-sec. ShadowFox already has her work cut out for her if she sees the same people or person repeatedly. She has to remain unpredictable and never do the same thing twice in a row. Patterns kill.

Right, but at the same time it has to be easily understood by the reader. You can't get into a plot involving a proxy without reminding the reader what a proxy is.

The explanation of said proxy could be easily "written into the script" with a little creative writing. Or at least I feel like it could.

Heck, why not just call them all "Mark." That's still a poplar guy name right? I kid, I kid.

That's not a bad idea, really.

Soooo.......Does this mean that you are going to write a Shadowfox story to complete the set? After a year or two of waiting it'd be like a wish come true.

Yes, I've been working on Shadowfox and I hope to start releasing it soon.

Cool, can't wait!

Thanks, hope you enjoy it!

Trick, mark and scrub was the slang I always heard to describe guys that get played like a fiddle.

'Trick' sounds more like a word a prostitute would use for one of her paying clients; arguably, some of Shadowfox's work might qualify as such (especially if, for instance, she is doing a club gig and as part of her cover has to cozy up to clientele she is not otherwise investigating), so it's possible she may have uses for the term to refer to certain clients, especially if she wishes to keep the two separate in her mind ('john' is another term used to refer to prostitution clients). For an investigative target, I think one of the other words suggested works better. 'Scrub' I'm not familiar with.

Now that we have 'marks' and 'johns', one might facetiously ask whether two other terms have meanings of a similar nature. Or maybe I should shut up before I start trampling on some people's sensibilities.

Some generic name like Joe?

For a story, I think it's important to come up with a term that people immediately recognize and grab ont, if it's possible; it's pretty obvious that "mark" is that term. I'm really surprised by the agreement on this.

However, I've got to say that Jazzfox's suggestion of "lay away" made me laugh out loud.

Hey Nathan, I really like your work, i read Firefox and Technofox nad i'm reading Silverfox, but i can't find chapter 4 anywhere

Thanks very much -- hope you enjoy it.

Seek and ye shall find:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1590942/

Uh, it said "You are not allowed to view this image."
What's that? (I'm new here)

Huh. Maybe you have the adult filter turned on?

Where that, I only see the maturity filter in my account nad it's General

It should be "General, Mature, Adult"

Thanks a lot! When will you continue the series?
Oh, and I saw a pic of Dynotaku about Sniperfox, will she be the series

Shadowfox is still being worked on; I have no plans for Sniperfox.

Uhm, this may be silly, but is there any interest in ICON's other specops teams or the non-field agents? I know FF4 has Technofox, but a furry Q-branch or computer network admins? And what happened to all the women slaves from Blue Diamond? Perhaps Jade took up the slack, or they accept tods.

Hey, I'd read it.

The women at Blue Diamond were handled on a case-by-case basis, either "returned to their proper owners" or resold to "better positions."

So far in the stories we've had Foxforce (Legally human, self-owning, returned to Boston and freedom), Cheshire (sold to a condo in Atlanta), and Lilith and Tawny (sold to new owners, escaped en route). So the principle they followed seems to be "return to former status." It's easy to imagine some shenanigans there.

I was thinking 'project', but 'mark' is probably more widely recognizable. That said, saying 'That's one of Shadowfox's new projects.' would be somewhat less obvious than 'That's one of Shadowfox's new marks.'.

I'm inclined to agree. "Mark" it is.