The National Office for Variant Affairs, more commonly referred to as N.O.V.A., is a government agency that deals with Variants involving everything from public relations to legal issues to scientific research. The agency for the most part is quite professional, though, over the years, corruption has started to make its way through the system at various levels.

Variant Types and Danger Levels
N.O.V.A. uses a system to classify Variants based on their specific abilities and also by the potential threat to society that those abilities pose. This does not necessarily take into account the notoriety of a Variant, but an especially aggressive or abusive Variant may have a higher danger level than normal (if he/she has been identified).

Danger Levels
Class 1 - Low _{(oh please...are you even a Variant?)}
Variant poses no threat to others; usually possesses low level enhancement or alteration abilities; abilities may even be inherently beneficial

Class 2 - Mild _{(yeah, that guy kinda bothers me a bit...)}
Variant may be a minimal threat to persons in close proximity if abilities are abused

Class 3 - Moderate _{(hey now...you be careful with that, ok? we don't want any trouble)}
Though they may not be an immediate danger, Variant has a high potential to cause damage or harm to others

Class 4 - High _{(wait...she can do what?!...yeah, we're screwed...)}
Variant is an immediate communal threat and individuals within his/her proximity should be on high alert

Class 5 - Extreme _{(that's ok...we don't need the Earth anyway, right?)}
Variant poses a national (or potentially global) danger and should be avoided at all costs; immediate action should be taken to neutralize this threat

Variant Types
Brute - Variant with increased levels of strength and/or durability; he/she may be more difficult to harm or take down

Metamorphic - Variant can change anatomy and/or physiology, either partially or fully; can take human or non-human forms including animal, mineral, energy, or alien

Volatile - Variant has abilities dealing with fire, electricity, plasma, and any other explosive energy/force

Mentalist - Variant possesses psychic abilities; can control and/or manipulate objects, people, or energy using his/her thoughts

Agile - Variant is prone to quick movements and/or fast/instant travel; he/she may possess increased levels of dexterity

Inhibitor - Variant wields abilities that can weaken and/or hinder others

Amplifier - Variant has the ability to improve the condition of themselves and/or others

Distortionist - Variant is able to alter space-time, intangible concepts, or reality as a whole

Natural - Variant has abilities that utilize and/or affect the natural world and/or animals

Architect - Variant who is able to manipulate, modify, and/or replicate matter and/or energy; some are able to construct tangible objects from energy

Notoriety
One of the primary goals of N.O.V.A. is to identify and register all Variants living within the nation's borders. Variants have no legal obligation to register with N.O.V.A., so, as one would expect, not all Variants are willing to comply with the agency's agenda, whether out of privacy or sheer rebellion. For these reasons, every Variant has a certain level of notoriety with N.O.V.A., whether officially or unofficially.

Unknown - individuals who have been recognized as Variants but have yet to be identified by N.O.V.A.

Watched - Variants who have been identified but have not registered

Wanted - Variants who are known to misuse their abilities and pose a threat to the well-being and quality of life of others; vigilantes operating outside of the law are also considered Wanted as oftentimes their actions can cause collateral damage to people or property

Registered - Variants who have willingly given N.O.V.A. information on their identity and abilities

Noble - Variants who are registered with N.O.V.A. and are licensed to use their abilities for 'altruistic and benevolent practices'

M.A.D.
N.O.V.A. employs a task force that is specially trained and equipped to handle Variant criminal activity. M.A.D., which stands for Monitoring, Apprehension, and Detainment, is a fairly recent institution that is being implemented in several major cities. Its members, which included Variants until a rather serious incident caused a policy change, are commonly referred to as MADmen. M.A.D. uses both street cameras and surveillance drones to track suspicious Variant activity. The main facility contains their central command center as well as an armory, garage, and training camp. There are also several smaller satellite 'posts' that are dispersed throughout the city to ensure a wider coverage and quicker response times.

Pariah Underground
The Pariah Underground is a loose network of wayward Variants who have distanced themselves from society. Most Variants in the Underground have abilities that are dangerous, grotesque, or just plain odd. Members usually occupy areas that have little to no human population and some have even gone so far as to actually construct subterranean hideouts. Though some prefer to have little to no contact with the outside world, others take to the streets as vigilantes or even criminals. In any case, Variants in the Underground take extensive measures to avoid N.O.V.A. and M.A.D. as much as possible.

Chimera
Chimera is an underground tech guild that frequently engages in acts of cyber-terrorism. One of the primary goals of Chimera is to infiltrate government systems and the systems of large corporations. Though governments and corporations are their main targets, they will make attacks on citizens quite often. Chimera employs a variety of militant techies including hackers, coders, computer engineers, and even hardcore gamers. For reasons yet to be discerned, Chimera has grown increasingly antagonistic towards Variants in recent times.

The Glorious Alliance
The Glorious Alliance is an assembly of Nobles who work together for the general benefit of society. Members of the Alliance see themselves as altruists trying to better the image of Variant-kind while most other Variants view them as egotistical sellouts and showoffs. Though the Alliance claims to work for free, they have been known to accept 'gifts' and 'donations' from 'supportive citizens'.

Most, if not all, computers in the world can access the Grand Global Nexus (G.G.N. or The Nexus). The Nexus is simply a vast computer network that connects several other smaller networks (what would be the ‘Internet’). The most predominant branch of the Nexus is the Transnational Databank (TDB). The TDB is a universally linked system of hypertext documents (what would be the ‘World Wide Web’) that is organized into 'datasites’ which each have a 'datacode’. The TDB is divided into five main sectors: government (001), business (002), education (003), media (004), and general/personal (005). A datacode will look like this:

::TDB.001.NOVA::
::TDB.005.Privy::
::TDB.005.blabbr::

People can also receive digital mail (d-mail) through the Nexus. A mail command will look like this:

::MAIL.Wolfman187@005.ChainMail::

Popular Datasites
Blabbr - a social networking site where users post photos, short video and audio clips, and small blurbs of text
Visage - a social networking site where users create extensive personal profiles to share with others
Vivify - the top blogging site on the Nexus
Optica - the world's largest video sharing and streaming site
ChainMail - a popular d-mail provider with lots of personalization
Privy - the world's most popular and trusted news site
Reson8 - the top nexus radio site on the planet
MetaSphere - a wildly popular gamer hub
WildFyre - an underground news site hidden deep in the Nexus

Top Nexus Providers
Compass - comes standard with the Solaris operating system
Vortex - has numerous customization options
Nexpress - extremely fast and reliable

Sunrise Corporation - develops and manufactures computer software, consumer electronics, and personal computers; creator of the Solaris operating system
Panorama Industries - a major robotics and cybernetics manufacturer headquartered in New Haven
Rhoella Technologies - the world's largest manufacturer of several smart technologies including mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, and televisions; helped develop the Interactive Immersive Interface (i³)

Intelligent Command and Operation Network (ICON) - an AI guidance system that controls the movements of vehicles and civil robots throughout the country. Construction bots, delivery drones, and public transport vehicles are all linked to ICON.
Interactive Immersive Interface (i³) - virtual reality (i³Total) and mixed reality (i³Spatial)
Omni-Lens - eyewear that uses i³Spatial technology
Drones - any unmanned aircraft or airborne device; delivery, security, personal
E-Vap - electronic vapor cylinders used for smoking; sometimes called 'cyls’
Stingers - used to shoot intravenous drugs
Dissemblers - a small, concealable device used to make oneself ‘invisible’ to surveillance cameras; extremely rare and highly illegal

Character Sheet

Name |
Alias |
Age |
Gender |
Appearance | (height, weight, body type/build, identifying marks/tattoos)
Notoriety | (Unknown, Watched, Wanted)
Danger Level/Variant Type |
Abilities |

[Gear]
Attire |
Armament/Equipment |

[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | (Pariah Underground, Chimera, or independent)
Personality/Habits |
Occupation/Trade |
Skills/Talents |
Family |
Background |

Name | Johnathan R. Doe
Alias | The Thing, Ridley
Age | 23
Gender | Male is written on the birth certificate, but long ago outgrew such concepts
Appearance | Ridley has no "base form" like one would expect with a shapeshifter, latching instead onto certain favored aesthetics and archetypes while their flesh follows their particular muse for the day. Quite enjoying the feeling of looking down on others and the subconscious ego boost given when being the biggest thing in the room, Ridley prefers to stand between 6'4 and 7'0, clothing permitting, and have a noted tendency towards powerfully built musculatures to better react to day to day dangers. Anomalously, Ridley can weigh anywhere between 550 lbs. to upwards of 775 lbs. depending on the biomass they've consumed/shed. Containing all of this in a strictly human shell is troublesome, something they've describes as "stuffing a chest full of clothes and having to sit on it to keep it locked," so to relieve "pressure" Ridley will usually have several abnormal growths underneath the layers of cloth they tend to ware, usually a shifting pattern of scales or writhing tentacles.
Notoriety | Wanted, suspected involvement in no less than 3 missing person cases and a known participant in vigilante violence with a record of brutal assaults and murders of known criminal elements throughout the US.
Danger Level/Variant Type | Class 4 Metamorph
Abilities | Teratomorphy - There have been countless hours spent on conjecture on whether or not Ridley is a "True Metamorph" or some sort of obscure Distortionist, but at the end of the day both camps can agree that Ridley's ability to shape form is nothing short of miraculous and terrifying. Bound by only how much biomass they've consumed and time, Ridley's body has become the playground of the mind, flesh molding to his will like a sculptor moves clay. Small changes like increasing the density of bone and muscle fibres is about as easy as pie, but sculpting new limbs and alien forms takes concentration, time, and emotional stability. Otherwise... horrors are born. Flesh and bone may be increased, improved, and otherwise horrified, but at the end of the day it's just that... blood, bone, and meat.

[Gear]
Attire | Whatever they can scrounge up, usually nothing more than a large sweater, ratty jeans, heavy boots, and a suffocating coat regardless of the weather.
Armament/Equipment | Besides the clothes on their back and a wallet they fill with loose change around the gang hideouts they usually stomp around in, Ridley carries with them a (relatively) large knife they knicked off a white supremacist who mistakenly shot them thinking they were a bear. Keeps it around because sometimes all you need for a good intimidation is something sharp, a can-do attitude, and a willingness to get one's hands dirty.

[Temperament & Lifestyle] Gregarious, Affable, Adventureous // Bloodthirsty, Predatory, Vindictive
Affiliation | Independent
Personality/Habits |
Occupation/Trade |
Skills/Talents |
Family |
Background |

Name | Jeremiah Surles
Alias | "Surles"
Age | 34
Gender | Male
Appearance |
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 71 kg
Build: Athletic
[Gear]
Attire |
From footage from public surveillance cameras, Jeremiah has wore Formal, to semi- casual clothing. Wearing black/blue slacks with matching blazer. Jeremiah has wore no tie. On days with a colder temperature, Jeremiah had wore a Tang-Trench Coat along with him.
Armament/Equipment |
From licencing information, it is known that Surles has many concealed weapons of his. Having a Glock 19 with 3 magazines on hand, also having Beretta Model 92 with 2 magazines. He is equipped with Kevlar that is concealed over his dress shirt, along with a set of handcuffs, a 18 inch baton, a switchblade( A 'Gray-Area' of the law when possessing said knife), and a bottle of pepper spray. In the squad car, it is shown that he carries a Remington Model 870 with 40-50 shells.
Miscellaneous items:
- 1 E-Vap
- Communication devices.
-Set of NHPD Omni-Lens'
- Packet of chewing gum
[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | NHPD- New Haven Police Department
Alignment | Moral Neutral
Personality/Habits |
Interview's with Surles' peers show hints of his everyday life. Posing as no Variant threat, N.O.V.A keeps little tabs on Surles and instead intends to keep the section short.


*Informant has shown that they have not befriended Surles, but it shows how most of his peers may see him as.


* It was confirmed that the Informant was intoxicated with an unidentified drug and was unconscious in the middle of the interview. He then was taken to the infirmary, where he then denied any more interview's.
Occupation/Trade | Police Detective
Skills/Talents |
Footage and Academy records show that Surles was a remarkable at observing, finishing the standardized simulation in record time- 1 hour 17 minutes 14 seconds. Surles has shown on many occasions that he is able to shoot accurately with many weapons given to him. To go along with this, he was a high-school wrestler for 4 years, and is shown to use some techniques when apprehending a suspect.
Family |
-Joseph Surles (Father): Deceased
-Mary Surles (Mother): Incarcerated
-Joseph Surles Jr. ( Brother): Alive
- Elisabeth Surles (Sister): Alive
Background |
N.O.V.A has received, and recorded the following information:

Jeremiah Surles was born on July 13th in a suburban town of [REDACTED]. Blood type: AB-, Birth Weight: 5.3 pounds, and circumcised. Joseph Surles was the patriarch of the family, as Mary Surles stayed at home to raise the future 3 children. Joseph worked as an animator working for a popular children's Cartoon show:The Misadventures of Squid-man. It was said that Jeremiah was harassed at school for his father working as the head animator for the show ( SEE: Extended Interview with Howard [REDACTED]). Jeremiah was the eldest in his family and one of the only other workers of the household- taking up the job in a local market.

His source of the grappling sport has been suspected to be started when on: July 11th, when surveillance footage shows he was beaten to near death from his peers. It was shown that Jeremiah curled up into a ball and seemed helpless. His peer's were then sentenced to juvenile hall and Jeremiah was hospitalized. From his therapist's accounts, he seemed to have a mental strain after the incident, and was scarred. It was then that Mary had enrolled Jeremiah in a local wrestling club.

Life seemed to be normal for Jeremiah, his life as mundane as any average person would go through. He passed high with IB and AP classes, getting a scholarship at New Haven's Mid-Town University. He was enrolled in Criminal Justice and passed. It was after he got his bachelor's degree that he enrolled into the police academy.

He had served for years and was infamous of many Variant captures. His greatest feature was capturing [DATA EXPUNGED].

As of now, he specializes in variant-related cases, from homicides to rape. Suspicion on Jeremiah's skills have made some N.O.V.A agents believe that Jeremiah himself is a variant. From current testing, this was proved false.

Name | Sal Pierce
Alias |
Age | 38
Gender | Male
Appearance |
Notoriety | Watched, believed to be responsible for the deaths of a number of gang members back in his late teens/early 20s, though there isn't any concrete proof.
Danger Level/Variant Type | Class 3 Distortionist
Abilities |

[Gear]
Attire | Dress Casual with a touch of noir detective. Dress shirt, vest, jeans, tall boots and weather appropriate longcoat and hat.
Armament/Equipment | Collapsible baton, Stun gun, Omni-Lens, Compact aerial surveillance drone

[Temperament & Lifestyle]
Affiliation | Independent, But Sal does have working connections with the NHPD, The Alliance and a rather tentative connection to The Underground
Personality/Habits | If one were to try and sum up Sal with a single phrase, "disillusioned do-gooder" Would fit the bill quite nicely. Sal is the kind of person who would be a regular volunteer in soup kitchens and the like if he thought it would do any good in the grand scheme of things.
Occupation/Trade | Private Investigator with the occasional bit of vigilantism on the side.
Skills/Talents |
Family | None
Background | Grew up in the Midtown Orphanage