Item from Super Powereds by Drew Hayes
The federal agency that governs all things Super — regulating Heroes, managing the HCP, and deciding who gets to use their powers legally in a world that still isn't sure how to feel about people who can level buildings.
The DVA is the federal government's answer to the Super question: who regulates people who can destroy cities? The answer, predictably, is bureaucracy. The DVA oversees the Hero Certification Program, manages Hero operations, investigates Super-related crimes, and navigates the political minefield of variant human rights. The agency is neither purely good nor purely bad — it's an institution, with all the compromises, politics, and systemic failures that implies. It protects Supers from persecution and simultaneously restricts their freedoms. It certifies Heroes and sometimes uses that certification as leverage. Ralph Chapman represents its worst impulses; Senator Malcolm its best. The DVA's existence is the series' answer to the fundamental Super question: in a democracy, who controls the gods?
The bureaucratic machinery of Super governance — offices, regulations, badges, the institutional architecture of a government agency tasked with managing the impossible. The DVA's physical presence is felt through its agents and oversight, not through any spectacular display.
Also known as: DVA, Department of Variant Human Affairs