It's Phoebe (Gibson) again, trying to make sure she has reasons to pay lots of attention to Grid-Lined.

This is NOV. NOV is not a standard blackguard. Some might argue that he is not a very good blackguard, either. To be frank, he's too friendly, too apologetic, too full of nerves for anyone to think he always was a blackguard, or even a military program. Get him in the right situation, however, and you'll find that this blackguard just as easily becomes a ruthless killing machine as any of his more emotionless brethren can be.

Watch him stutter around Users, accidentally scare ISOs, spook security programs and grossly confuse dictators bent on conquering the User world!

For those who are interested, I go into detail on NOV's history and his Grid's continuity over in his journal.