ORGANIZATION
VCB: Volt Control Bureau. The government agency that monitors and controls all Voltants. They register Voltants, set the rules, and send people like Ryu to handle problems. Think of them as the police, but specifically for people with powers.
Thunder Hunters: The VCB's top fighting team. These are not regular officers. They are experts at finding and stopping dangerous Voltants. They are quick, smart, and very hard to escape.
Helios Grid: The largest energy company in the world. They supply power to Astra Voltis and almost every other city. Officially, they are not connected to the VCB. Unofficially, the VCB works for them. The deeper secret is worse.
The Undercurrent: A hidden Voltant community built in the tunnels under Astra Voltis. People who refused to register, people whose powers did not fit the approved list, people who asked too many questions. Run by Damar. This is where Kaito ends up.
POWER SYSTEM
Voltant: Any human who has a Ferro Core. This is roughly 30-40% of the global population after the Ferro Pulse. Not all of them have strong abilities. Most are low-tier.
Ferro Core: The body part that gives Voltants their power. It changes iron in the blood, signals from the body, and magnetic energy into electricity. It is in the chest, and most people can feel it when it turns on.
Ferro Pulse: The global event 20 years ago that awakened Ferro Cores in humans. The official story is that it was a natural phenomenon. The real story is one of the novel's central mysteries.
Conductor: A Voltant who channels electricity through objects and surfaces. The most common type.
Generator: A Voltant who produces electricity directly from their body. Ryu is a Generator. These are the combat-focused type.
Manipulator: A Voltant who controls electromagnetic fields. Damar is one. Useful for moving metal, disrupting electronics, and controlling large areas.
Storm Class: Rare. These Voltants can summon atmospheric lightning, pulling power from the sky itself. Mira Santoso is one.
Black Static: Kaito's power. An anomaly class. Instead of producing electricity, his Ferro Core absorbs and inverts it. When he activates, lights die, other Voltants lose their output, and he can feel every electromagnetic source around him. VCB classification: Extreme threat.
Null Volt: What everyone called Kaito before Arc 1. A Voltant whose Ferro Core exists but produces zero output. Null Volts are rare and usually permanent. Except that Kaito was not actually a Null Volt.
POWER TIER SCALE
Tier 1 - Spark Basic activation. Most civilian Voltants sit here.
Tier 2 - Current Functional combat use. School assessment level.
Tier 3 - Surge Professional combat. VCB officer standard.
Tier 4 - Storm Elite level. Thunder Hunter territory.
Tier 5 - Cataclysm Rare. City-scale destruction potential.
Tier 6 - Sovereign Seven is known across recorded history.
Tier 7 - God Voltage Theoretical. No confirmed case. Yet. (???;)