So, Sterling. I've gotta ask. Who assigns ONI operatives their codenames? Because I've heard some TERRIBLE ones before. Not yours, though. Yours is alright.
“Well, thank you for complimenting my codename; all things considered I use it far more often than, and greatly prefer it to, my given name. But to address your question, it’s a bit situational, really, based off of what Section of ONI you’re working for and what activities you’re undertaking at the time.
“For example, my own codename, Sterling, was given to me by my division head in Section III. Due to the classified nature of my work, it’s the name I use day to day as my records proper have been sealed until the event of my eventual demise and addition to the memorial wall at headquarters. Division heads, handlers, superiors, what have you may prefer a certain structure to the naming conventions of their operatives, or several naming conventions depending on what said operatives are utilized for. A particular ONI Vice Admiral that I know of assigns his top operatives with the ‘ranks’ of the Angelic Hierarchy, styling himself as ‘Seraph’, as ‘God’ would ostensibly be the head of ONI. We also tend to adopt alternative codenames during highly-classified or questionable operations for documentation and communications purposes as an added layer of anonymity and deniability.
“But Operatives themselves never, ever choose their own codenames. The rationale being simple. Ever seen an old film called ‘Reservoir Dogs’? ‘You got four guys all fighting over who’s gonna be Mr. Black, but they don’t know each other, so nobody wants to back down.’ I’ve also never met a Codename: Grim Reaper or anything of the sort, and I’m fairly certain there’s a moratorium on that, anything related to James Bond or Mission: Impossible, and the like.
“So, the short version of your answer is our division heads, leaders, or handlers assign them to us when we begin work as operatives for Section III. But keep in mind, the less classified branches of ONI rarely use Codenames on a day-to-day basis - hell, Section I doesn’t even use them at all, then again PR shouldn’t want to promote the cloak and dagger routine. Then again, they’re not exactly operatives. Section II I believe uses them on an operational basis only for their operatives, while Section III and Section 0 use them most often, as we’re almost entirely made up of operatives doing what needs to be done for humanity and the UEG.”
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