Jump 397: 007

Jump #397: 007
>Nine of Cups (Happiness), reversed: A state of joy and abundance that is shallow and fleeting.
I'm sorry, James. Even I can't stop Vesper Lynd from being a fool.
>Era: Daniel Craig
>Identity: Wet Works Support (-100)
And immediately erasing myself from everything, using magic to alter memories, and going rogue.
>Basic Training (Free, Support)
>Fieldcraft (800)
Well I'd certainly HOPE I knew what I was doing by now. These two cover the bases.
>Hitman (650, Support)
Well, shave my head and tattoo a bar code on the back, I think I've found my calling.
>Universal Exports (350)
Setting up new identities is a helpful niche to fill. Especially when I need it myself.
>License To Kill (50, Support)
There are a lot of terrible people in this world who will not stop their bad behavior, even given a clean slate and new identity. This is, sadly, needed.
>Tuxedo (0)
Well, one must look their best.

There's an awful lot of terrible things that are going to happen. And derailing it fully... precog tells me that leads to World War 3. So instead, I operate in the background. I take the long view and deal with certain issues that would otherwise crop up in the world. Working as a ghost, practically an urban legend among the intelligence community, accountable to no one, an assassin rumored to take contracts.

It certainly looked that way, with the eclectic kills attributed to me, even if there was never anything but circumstantial evidence. Some government officials from various governments on all sides, though never anyone TOO high up. Princes. Shiekhs. Mob bosses. People on the periphery of what one would consider the main storyline, but which overall has an effect of making other peoples' jobs a bit easier. Cleaning up the world's scum is just a happy benefit to that - although there is a balance to everything. What otherwise would have been a loose collection of rogues ended up being a number of people under a single banner.

Spectre.

In the end, I ensured that M survived the nonsense that was Skyfall, though her death was faked quite utterly and she enjoyed a retirement on a nice tropical island sipping drinks with umbrellas. Bond dealt with Spectre, but deduced rapidly that he was not the only one dealing with them. A bit of passive regeneration repaired the very slight brain damage he'd taken while being tortured, though he'd not seen me when I gifted it to him. Meanwhile, a number of people in scattered positions rapidly showed up dead globally. All found dead in a certain way.

Bond spared Blofeld, only for Blofeld to wind up dead in his cell, his death the same trademark way that every other member of Spectre had. The same way that a number of members of the Joint Intelligence Service did, in fact. It's quite distinctive, after all, when your body looks perfectly fine but an autopsy shows that your heart has gone rotten, black and shrivelled.

I don't quite think I ever actually met Bond, aside from giving him that bit of regeneration, actually. Amusing.

And frankly... I never really was happy during this jump. I thought I'd be able to make more of a difference, but everything I tried to dissuade anyone was ineffective, short of killing them. From top to bottom. Maybe the universe is a bit too black-and-white, but... even though everything was dealt with, I leave this world feeling a bit empty. Maybe the next world will be better to me.