The universe of the manga Blame!
created by Tsutomu Nihei is home to the following fictional characters and locations:[1] The Safeguard are a program independent of the Netsphere.
The Netsphere was designed as a means of providing service to those who could log on.
However, the Netsphere was thrown into chaos (the actual reason is not exactly known, but the prequel manga NOiSE implies that a small group of humans is at fault) and the Safeguard changed their modus operandi from preventing unauthorized users from entering the Netsphere to killing off anyone who does not possess Net Terminal Genes.
However, their Exterminator (originally the lowest level safeguard) system has a different form of hierarchy where "First Class" is the most powerful.