Their primary agents, Cybers, are trained from childhood in countless mental disciplines involving mathematics and reasoning, and are modified at puberty to be unable to experience any emotion. Each Cyber also possesses a biotech implant called “Homochon Elements”. These implants enable each Cyber to enter a trance-like state which enables instantaneous communication with the Cyclan central intelligence, even over interstellar distances. This central intelligence is a gestalt organism consisting of the disembodied minds of former Cybers whose mental prowess has been demonstrated to be of value but whose bodies have grown too old to continue functioning. The ultimate reward to which all Cybers aspire is to be incorporated into the central intelligence. For these reasons, Cybers have an uncanny ability to extrapolate future events from existing data, and are highly prized (and highly paid) as advisors to rulers across the galaxy. The Cyclan publicly insist that they do not command or interfere, they merely advise, and this also increases their credibility among those who seek their service. However, the Cyclan pursue their own agenda, and while they provide valuable service to maintain their reputation, those whom they advise are manipulated even as they are aided. While incapable of malice, the Cyclan are thoroughly ruthless and willing to sacrifice individuals or worlds to their logically derived vision of the greater good. It is irrelevant to them whether or not the mass of humanity still handicapped by emotion shares this vision. It is implied throughout the series that the Cyclan has something to do with the knowledge of Earth having been lost or destroyed in the distant past, and that they strive to keep that knowledge secret. This hidden agenda puts them at odds with Dumarest from the outset of the series. The Hausia is a network of information brokers who operate on most worlds that engage in interstellar commerce. With a galactic reputation as fair but shrewd negotiators, and consistently driven by the profit motive, Hausi are neither noble nor malicious. Dumarest frequently deals with them because as long as a mutually beneficial business arrangement can be reached, their lack of a hidden agenda makes them predictable and generally trustworthy. The Church of Universal Brotherhood is a decentralized humanitarian organization whose “monks” roam the galaxy giving comfort and alleviating suffering wherever they can. While they do not believe suffering holds intrinsic merit - they refuse to enjoy luxury or privilege of station above what is available to the most lowly of those to whom they minister. Although this appearance is not intended to deceive, it occasionally blinds those who disparage or underestimate them to the fact that each monk is a highly educated, highly trained agent of the central Church.