You do know that you work for an international espionage and "trouble-shooting" organization known as IX, often referred to simply as "the Agency." You do not know what IX stands for, though there are plenty of jokes about it.

You do know that IX is not specifically aligned to any particular national government. You do not know if it is run by a consortium of governments. IX does, on occasion, tread on everyone's toes, or at least their national security organizations, including those of the United States, where it is headquartered.

You do know that the organization is headquartered, underground, in Boston. You do not know why, or whether there's any significance to the location. You do know that it makes it easy to fly in and out of many different airports.

You do know that the Complex, that headquarters in Boston, is pretty old. There are areas and additions that are recent, others that look like they date back to the 30s and 40s, and a few that look significantly older than that. You do not know when it was originally built, or to what purpose. You do know, in general, several entrances into the Complex. You do not know the exact dimensions of the Complex. You do know it's primarily on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. And you do know that part of the reason why highway and tunnel construction around Boston has been so difficult has been where it has potentially interfered with farflung elements of the Complex.

You do know that IX has branch offices is multiple major cities worldwide, and smaller field offices in numerous locations beyond that.

You do not know how many people work for the Agency, or what all of them do. The Complex, at least, seems much larger than an organization like yours would require, let alone all those field sites. You do not know how many active field agents the organization has. Well, you do know it is more than just you, but whether it's twenty or two hundred is unknown. Those aren't the sorts of questions one asks.

You do know that the Agency has very broad, very deep resources, material and personnel, though not all of them are formally part of IX.

You do not know the degree to which IX works with, or even is known to, major intelligence organizations around the world. That is, you're pretty certain it is known of, but to what degree is unclear. Since discussions of such things over beers with other spy folks with whom you are currently cooperating is strongly discouraged, you may never know.

You do not know the precises goals of the Agency. Its motto, "To Light, To Guard, To Guide," seems a rather broad mission statement. The missions you are aware of (you are, as a group, just beginning unsupervised field operations) seem pretty positive and laudable: cracking terrorist cells, stopping weapons runners, vying against other and less benificent national and multinational organizations [more later], etc. You never necessarily know all that's going on, and idle chatter after missions, even among your peers, is not well thought of, but the internal rep of the organization, beyond the institutional cynicism of those who have seen too much violence in their lives, is a pretty good one.

"Someone's gotta protect 'em," one agent is fond of saying, referring to the civilians about you.

You do not know who runs IX. You do know some of the top agents/commanders in the organization. The the highest ones, who ultimately oversaw your training and your assignments, are known simply as Numbers Two through Eight. (You are not Number Six. She's a very nice young lady.) You do not know if Number One exists, and, if so, if s/he runs things, or what.

You do know that there are Other Agency Folk out there. You do not know how many.

You do know you have a job to do. You don't know just what part of it you're doing today.

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License To Kill, Disposing Of The Bodies, Follow The Money

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TMS: IX