00 status is reserved for MI6's elite operatives, or those assigned to the 00 section of MI6. Originally agents were assigned numbers to preserve their anonymity. During World War two, if an agent was transferred from the military they were given a number that was usually the last three numbers of their serial number. In the world of James Bond, 00 status agents are the only agents to hold a license to kill and can only be granted that title by killing someone in cold blood during an assignment. Not to be confused with lethal action used by non-00 agents during self defense or offensive action required by the assignment. The books change what the 00 means and how many are active. It has ranged from 3 to 12. It has also been meant to say how many an agent was able to kill while on assignment or how many the agent has killed so far.

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