Corporate Novas

Novas are certainly in demand, and there is no shortage of employers, sponsors and other backers all too willing to have a nova sign on the dotted line. In the , some large cities franchise one or more novas as PR reps and "public defenders"; residents hold these novas in the same reverence that they once held their 20th-century sports teams. Several corporations, including the DeVries Agency, the Hong Kong-based Novelty consulting firm, Exxon-Mobil, the N! network, ViaSoft, Third Millennium Motors and various Japanese technological firms, employ novas in various capacities. It is rumored that the global criminal cartels also retain one or more novas as "specialists."

Novas who work for a government or corporation by and large adopt their backers' views on global issues. Most novas view Utopia with equal parts fascination and suspicion. While many novas utilized Utopia's Rashoud facilities upon first erupting, many corporations hate Utopia's UN-granted authority to regulate potentially dangerous technology, viewing it as too powerful for its own good. Most government and corporate novas know little of the Teragen beyond gossip among novas and what they view in the media; only a few have even heard of the Aberrants, and none of them knows about Project Proteus. Novas working for a government or criminal cartel have likely heard of the Directive, but they know only spotty information about it; corporate novas may or may not know about the Directive.

Leader(s): Anna DeVries
The DeVries Agency is the largest single corporate employer of novas in the world and has the second largest contingent of novas behind Project Utopia. While DeVries’ flagship division is its National Tactical Solutions group, DeVries supplies novas for every purpose to every sort of employer around the globe. DeVries is akin to the sports agencies of the late 20th century and novas are its clientele. DeVries finds them work specific to their particular talents and training and in exchange receives a certain percentage of the contract.
As stated before DeVries’ foremost agency is its National Tactical Solutions company, which hires out mercenaries, the Elites, to nations around the world. When a nova signs a contract with either the DeVries Agency or DVNTS, DeVries becomes responsible for their payment, legal protection, training, health and benefits.
DeVries has numerous governments, corporations, even some private individuals wealthy enough to afford its services. Aside from highly publicized, trained, and paid mercenary Elites, DeVries contracts out novas to serve as asset and personal protection, research and development, public relations, and espionage. DeVries currently has offices in New York, Pretoria, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Bangkok and Cairo.
With DeVries, there are no useless novas, but some are more valuable than others.

Leader(s): John Argyle
“They are there before you need them.” That’s the motto of the agency founded by Scottish nova John Argyle. Using his precognitive abilities, Argyle is able to move his people into the right place, at the right time, to get work almost as soon as it becomes available. Argus as snatched several high-paying contracts right out from under DeVries’ nose, much to the chagrin of Anna DeVries. On the flip side of the coin, some people consider the appearance of Argus Agency novas a dire omen. But when Argus shows up, they almost invariably bring the media with them as well.
Argus deals mostly with “emergency management”, ranging from theft to disaster relief and attempted assassinations. Argus also does some bodyguard and security work. Unlike DeVries, Argus does not employ novas currently in trouble with some legal authority or another, but is perfectly willing to hire novas with sketchy backgrounds, including Teragen sympathizers.

Leader(s): Rashid al-Nasir
A nova agency founded by the wealthy Saudi Rashid al-Nasir. Rashid is a Sunni and subscribes to the belief that novas are divine beings empowered by Allah. Al-Nasir began his career as a fascination with novas, then paying novas to accompany him to meetings and to be seen with on the social scene. Later, he began introducing baselines interested in compensating novas for their unique abilities. DeVries even attempted to hire him as a recruiter and contact in the . Al-Nasir rejected their offer, but it also gave him an idea.
Rashid started his own agency, the Janissaries, expanding it scope of operations from the Middle East, Asia Minor, Eastern Europe and then to the rest of the world. The Janissaries are a counterbalance to DVNTS, specializing in security, paramilitary, and covert operations. The Janissaries also have a less savory reputation as being the people to contact when “forcible extractions” and wetwork are necessary.

Leader(s): Samantha Vreeland
While the public at large believe novas are employed for their martial capabilities, NovaCom hires novas who talents are better suited to gathering information. The company was founded by the brother-sister team of Darren and Samantha Vreeland. When Darren died in an explosion, Samantha used his life insurance to restructure their company into an information and research servies shark and set about hiring novas who could assist her. NovaCom has one of the best talent pools of nova hackers and investigators. NovaCom has continued to grow and thrive, despite offers to buy the company out from ViaSoft and DeVries.
Most importantly, NovaCom offers complete client confidentiality. Although the company has received numerous offers to buy its client database (and they have been very, very generous offers), Samantha Vreeland knows that NovaCom’s reputation is built on discretion and impartiality. NovaCom also boasts some of the most secure archives and computers in the world, designed from the ground up by its own programmers and closely monitored by nova and baseline analysts. So far, no one has managed to penetrate its defenses.

Leader(s): Madeline Dreyfuss
The Peacekeepers are relative newcomers on the elite scene. The company started in 2005 during the Macedonian crisis with the dictator Yaroslave Radocani. Some people realized the power novas could wield to affect security and military operations. The Peacekeepers is primarily a security organization, ranging from bodyguard and asset protection to security systems. The Peacekeepers made a huge media splash when their spokesman, Georges “Aegis” Kapetelis, saved the president-elect of from an assassin loyal to the deposed dictator Radocani. The company presently has security contracts with several world governments and corporations and has begun an aggressive recruiting campaign for new novas to expand their operations.
One of the most important aspects of the Peacekeepers is that unlike other Elite agencies, they do not engage in offensive action. More importantly, they operate within the limits of the local law as often possible.

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