[Personnel File: Classified]

[savethedarkness]

In MI6, single-letter codenames generally stand for a description of the position that the operative holds. While "M" is meant to stand for either Master or Minister, it could be argued that in the case of the organization's current M, it could just as easily stand for Matron. The word conjures images of stately, aloof women with impeccable manners and social savvy, or nannies herding obstinate children without growing ruffled. Both of the above describe Olivia Mansfield perfectly: even if her social circle is full of politicos and the "children" she so deftly minds are a cadre of international spies.

As could be expected, M plays things extremely close to the vest - she has to set an example for the rest of her employees, after all. A great deal of her personal life is classified: most know only that she worked for the British government formerly as an intelligence overseer in Hong Kong during the Cold War, and that she is recently widowed, having lost her husband at some point between the events of Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. But as little as Olivia speaks to others about her life before and outside of MI6, her actions and habits as M still speak volumes about the depth and nature of her character.

For starters, M is honor-bound to queen and country. Britain's needs come before her own, and she is, for the most part, committed to that lot. She has a deep love for her homeland and what it stands for, though not quite so much for some of the people who run it, these days. Times have changed, and methods along with them ... and just because M has adapted does not mean she has to enjoy it. She has vocally admitted to missing the Cold War and its cloak-and-dagger machinations, but remains at her post out of a deep belief in stewardship: that she leave MI6 in better shape than how she inherited it. This is especially true when things take a turn for the worse: if she comes under scrutiny for the calls she makes or the orders she gives, M always sets her sights on seeing the ensuing problems through to the end, at whatever cost - least of all her own image. When asked to take early retirement to salvage her career, her response to her successor, Gareth Mallory, was “To hell with dignity: I’ll leave when the job’s done”. And if she ever has anything to say about it, the job does get done, even if she has to break a few rules to do it... such as telling white lies about the results of Bond’s aptitude testing to get him back on active duty, because she needs her most trusted agent for the tasks at hand. Most of all, as unfond of the modern age as she may be, M recognizes that there is a place in today's borderless eco- and techno-terrorism for the more classical methods of covert warfare. When challenged by the Prime Minister for her “archaic” modus operandi, she argues that “our enemies are no longer known to us, they do not exist on a map: they are individuals. … Our world is not more transparent, it’s more opaque. It’s in the shadows. That’s where we must do battle”.

Work has consumed Olivia’s life almost completely, especially since the death of her husband. While some would say that it was a shame not to leave any children behind, or that it must be a lonely life without a proper family, it is not too much of a stretch to say that she considers her close circle of co-workers at MI6 her family: especially her right-hand man, and her top operative, James Bond. She is outright motherly toward them … not in a classical, warm way, but more like the sort of mother bird who pushes her children out of the nest so that they’ll get up the guts to fly, whether they’re ready or not... and then bitches them out when they climb back up with a broken wing. She sees the potential in 007 from the beginning, and uses a lack of tact and a series of hard missions and harder lessons to help sculpt him into the agent she knows he is capable of being. But just because she seems cold does not mean that she is heartless: she genuinely cares for her surrogate family, and shows it in subtle ways. For example: when Bond attempts to resign, M does not formally accept his resignation before telling him of his betrayal by Vesper Lynd, since she clearly trusted him to not leave MI6 for the sake of a traitor. In acting in that manner, she gives him a chance to save his career gracefully.

From a professional standpoint, M has come under quite a deal of fire for the care and, yes, sometimes blatant favoritism that she shows her agents. Some have even gone so far as to say that her gender itself is a mark against her. Such details, as well as the image she projects - especially at her short stature - may seem important to higher-ups who are more concerned with the public face of MI6 than with what goes on behind its doors, but actions are what count for M, especially where proofs of strength and trust are concerned. She needs to know who she can trust, and that they themselves know who to trust. Trust is, after all, at the heart of effective action: and where actions are concerned, M has proven time after time that she knows how to get things accomplished. As a tactician, she prefers to move the pieces than play on the board, considering the whole picture before deciding whether it is necessary to order a kill or simply detain. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the mark won’t be killed anyway … certain agents numbered between 6 and 8 sometimes have trouble keeping their trigger fingers under control.

When things do go wrong - on the diplomatic end or otherwise - M has two strategies which work hand in hand: the traditional British “stiff upper lip” and liberal amounts of quick, biting wit. It’s clearly a proven method after so many years of practice, and since Olivia has had decades to come to build and value her own will, she respects and admires its presence in others. In fact, it could be argued that she thinks willpower is the most crucial resource at an MI6 agent’s disposal, citing the last six lines of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses” in her closing arguments to the Prime Minister during her defense hearing.

As far as her tastes, M tends toward things that are a careful balance of the classical and the modern - updated in function, and stylish, but spare and comfortable, with a touch of flair to them. Her living and working spaces are both artfully crafted so that anyone could feel at home in them, no matter what their age or standing. This is meant to encourage those around her to open up of their own volition, and to compensate for the chilly demeanor she's had to adapt as part of her daily duties. Olivia's personal taste also points to a preference for creature comforts, but in subtle ways: for example, she not only sleeps in silk pyjamas, but she also keeps a decent amount of jewelry on, not just her wedding ring. Part of it is likely due to years of needing to get up and leave at a moment's notice, but the fact that she cares to wear jewelry at all to last-minute meetings shows how much she cares for her outward appearance.