From Fitzroy's Private Diary (Extract 101)

It has been increasingly necessary to engage more agents, so I have been considering vital traits and educational requirements. Although my list is far from exhaustive, I have managed to ascertain certain requirements that I wish in field operatives and desk agents. Currently, desk agents in my department analyse information, brief field operatives, make sort out logistics for said operatives, from hotel arrangements to forged currency/passports, and other such menial tasks. They also read, and if necessary, encourage agents to expand or condense reports before they reach my attention, so that I only receive the most concise and critical information.

FIELD OPERATIVE REQUIREMENTS

Complete honesty: to me

Ability to lie convincingly: to everyone but me

Ability to attain good level of physical health: we can train them, but long-term conditions such as heart problems, or temporary conditions such as pregnancy, should bar them from the field for as long as they continue

Ability to think on their feet and act on their own initiative: this requires not only imagination and a quick wit, but a level of cocksure arrogance that, in ordinary life, is often found by others to be annoying

Good memory: for numbers, images, faces, names etc.

Good digestion: ability to eat most things without gastric inconveniences

Moral flexibility: obviously

Self-reflection: the ability to self-reflect when time allows, to review personal impediments to mission effectiveness (due to their overall general arrogance, operatives must be able to regulate themselves)

Regret: to recognise it as a useless emotion, the only purpose of which is to spur them on to do better next time

Friendliness: the ability to make people, even the ones you thoroughly despise, like you

Self-defence: an operative should never seek out combat, but if faced with it, they should not flinch, and always be ready, if necessary, to exercise a killing blow without emotional backlash (a minor moment of sadness for the loss of a life, especially if it’s a respected adversary, is encouraged as we are not monsters)

Education: wits, and the ability to learn languages, are far more important than regular education and my department will be happy to school promising candidates

Manual dexterity: useful for lock picking, pick pocketing etc.

Criminal turn of mind: as long as they are willing to play by our rules. without exception.

Self-sufficiency: from being able to cook one’s own supper, to being able to live without close companions and lovers as required

Mission sense: to be prepared to die for your country

Ordinariness: a field operative must be able to mix in with the crowd and while some may be of exceptional looks (such as myself), they must know how to tone down their natural handsomeness, and turn up the spy’s ultimate all-purpose trait - charm

DESK OPERATIVE REQUIREMENTS

Secrecy: even more so than field operatives, desk agents have access to a vast amount of confidential information, so they must be able to keep a secret, no matter how shocking (or interesting), and to have no leverage that can be held over them (if they choose to have families, and most do, then it’s best to have everybody think they work in ordinary and tedious employment)

Neatness: the volume of paperwork is confounding, so meticulous accuracy when filing cannot be overstated, and all relevant safety procedures must be stringently observed (including fire prevention, to avoid said paperwork going up in smoke)

Pattern Recognition: the ability to see patterns in intelligence, and to cross-reference items where others may struggle to see the connections

Understanding of Human Nature: recognising that in information analysis, there is usually a human component, and being able to calculate that into the tactical understanding of groups and individuals under observation

Honestly: complete honestly to me, and to themselves (if they find a subject distressing - and in the department most of us have some vestige humanity left - then they must make their superior aware so that the work can either be reassigned or they can undergo appropriate training to help address their weakness)

Letting Go: the ability to live a normal life outside their duty hours and to be happy, despite the knowledge they possess

Inoffensiveness: a mild, but firm, nature is of great use when interacting with field operatives as they value constancy and learn to ‘play straight’ with their desk-bound contacts

Mission sense: on occasion, a desk operative will have to knowingly order a field operative to their death for the good of the country and they must be able to live with that responsibility and its consequences

Although it may seem that field operatives have all the fun, they are, in essence, worker bees, and desk operations are the hive that send them out to collect information. A good desk agent is very hard to replace but a young field operative is all too easy to replace.

I am, of course, qualified in all the aspects I consider. I am an experienced field officer, an astute intelligence analyst, and a brilliant commander.