Lier

Biodata

Power Progression

Lier advances through technical skill mastery and cyberware installation rather than cultivation realms.

Background / History

Previous Life and Rebirth

Lier was an engineer who worked in the nuclear industry and died of radiation sickness. He awakens in the Marvel world in the body of a boy whose hazardous-waste exposure caused a prolonged coma and continuing physical deterioration. Recognizing the existence of Oscorp, he resolves to use this world’s technology to survive 1 18.

His mother, Maya Morgan Li, cared for him during the coma. His father, formerly a cook and later a truck driver, died in an accident while working overtime to pay for treatment. The family accumulated debts, and neighbors helped support them. The coma is described as three years in the opening account and two and a half years in Matt Murdock’s later explanation 1 17 18.

Atlanta: First Mercenary Operation

Lier’s arrival in the Cyberpunk world leaves him in an Atlanta Scavenger clinic, where organ traffickers intend to harvest him. V interrupts the operation while rescuing Zhu Shen. Lier uses his knowledge of V and her circumstances to persuade her that she has been deceived, securing her attention despite having no money or implants 2.

He negotiates a two-million-eurodollar contract with Zhu Shen to kill Cai Pin and deliver a shipment, eventually accepting an equal split with V. After learning that his radioactive cells make implants dangerous, he purchases limited cyberware for himself and prioritizes extensive combat upgrades for V. He then obtains network support from Veterans Association leader Nott in exchange for prototype schematics and a weapon 4 5 6.

The shipment contains concealed technology, including a prototype Militech Sandevistan. Zhu Shen exposes the cargo and leaves Lier and V wanted, while Nott offers safety in exchange for betraying Zhu Shen. Lier plays both men against one another, but the escape becomes a battle against Militech and Nott. After Nott’s defeat, Lier undergoes emergency implantation and disables a Militech squad using Blackwall Data Blockage. He and V escape in a stolen Behemoth armored vehicle 12 13 14 15.

Hell’s Kitchen: Community Security

Returning to the Marvel world, Lier converts his cyberware for local use and regains enough mobility to walk independently. Matt Murdock, already helping Maya seek compensation from the waste-disposal company, warns him that local redevelopment opponents have been murdered. Lier nevertheless chooses to organize the neighborhood before intimidation destroys his family’s home 16 17 18.

He becomes a Homeowners Association representative, recruits John Burnett and Anthony Flor, and begins repairing wiring and surveillance systems. He recruits Skye as an unpaid trainee, takes her into his family’s apartment, and registers Bloom Security Consulting. By extending his network through Manhattan’s electrical infrastructure, he brings more than seventy percent of the power grid under monitoring 20 21 24 26.

Bullseye attacks the group during its surveillance work, injuring Matt and John. Lier uses his Sandevistan and traffic-control access to crush the attacker’s van, then collapses from the strain. His recordings help the NYPD identify Bullseye and reopen related cases. He rejects Kingpin’s territorial arrangement and warns him through another dump-truck collision, prompting Kingpin to retreat and reconsider his strategy 27 28 29.

Night City and Biological Research

Lier and V trade their Behemoth for a modified nomad car and take a border-smuggling job from Jackie Welles. Pursued by corporate forces, the three escape an Arasaka–Militech confrontation through Lier’s targeting calculations and an overloaded smart shotgun. Both corporations’ surviving leaders mistake the attack for a Kang Tao secret-weapon operation 32 33 35.

In Night City, Viktor installs life-supporting organ upgrades and a cyberdeck. Padre supplies an identity for Arasaka Academy, where Lier studies technical courses while searching for DNA-editing research that might address his condition. In the Marvel world, Connors accepts him as a research partner. Lier also establishes Bloom’s research institute, appoints Skye its director, and selects ctOS as its first project 38 39 42 45 46.

Lier plans to obtain Biotechnica’s DNA Splicing Instrument from Orbital City, but the theft remains a proposal in the supplied chapters. His immediate concern is selling stolen weapons and a vehicle quickly enough to fund survival and research. He seeks Sixth Street’s trading channels through Padre and travels with V and Jackie to the Rama Arsenal, intending to access Kaplan’s private database 46 48 49 50.

Appearance

• Frail physique: His body is severely weakened by radioactive cellular damage and organ failure 1 4.
• Early bald appearance: Both Lier and V refer to his baldness during their first jobs 4 6.
• Single artificial eye: Initially replaces only one eye with a Kiroshi Mk. 2 to minimize implant strain; blue data flashes through it during the Bullseye chase 5 27.
• Cybernetic spine: The prototype Sandevistan replaces a section of his upper spine. Later, Like-Skin conceals the exposed implant 16 43.
• Corporate disguise: Designer casual clothing and practiced bearing allow him to impersonate a corporate operative, though his sickly appearance makes him look sinister rather than imposing 30.

Personality

Lier treats survival as an engineering problem: identify the failure, learn the relevant technology, and build a solution. He resists self-pity, studies through pain, and willingly seeks further education despite already possessing adult experience. His determination does not make him reckless in every respect; he eventually chooses to restrict the Sandevistan rather than repeatedly sacrifice his health for power 1 14 17 38 39.

He is a calculating negotiator who uses flattery, assumed identities, selective disclosures, and competing interests to secure cooperation. With V, this produces frequent teasing and arguments over money. He also recognizes the limits of his own courage and draws inspiration from her resilience when their Atlanta operation collapses 4 6 12 13 30 32.

His compassion is selective but consequential. He spends nearly all his available points to spare a Kang Tao employee, feels indebted to the neighbors who supported his family, and wants ordinary residents to protect one another rather than wait for a superhero. Against condemned enemies, he can be brutal: he experiments on living Sixth Street criminals’ cyberware before killing and disposing of them 10 20 43 44.

Abilities & Skills

Heart of Evolution

A system-granted trait that enhances learning and protects Lier’s mental faculties from technological interference 1.

• Removes mental disruption caused by implant-related pain, dizziness, and surgery without removing the physical pain itself 5 14.
• Preserves his identity and judgment during hyperaccelerated computation near the Blackwall 15.
• Cancels cyberware-induced feelings of invincibility, allowing him to recognize bodily damage while using the Sandevistan 27.
• Does not prevent fatigue, overheating, organ failure, or shortened lifespan 15 27 38.

Personal Panel and Cross-Dimensional Operation

The panel supports technical learning and maintains activity across Lier’s two worlds 5.

• Awards Tech Points for studying, encountering unfamiliar technology, acquiring skills, and developing tools 5 8 9 27.
• Accelerates mastery of selected skills; independently learned techniques can also award points 7 9 10.
• Allows his other-world self to perform basic activities and simple learning tasks, reporting the results as text 5 6.
• Converts physical objects at one Tech Point per gram, including cross-dimensional implant binding 16 43.
• Supports paid on-site communication; one extended cross-plane connection deducts 20 points after exceeding an hour 43 45.

Network Hacking and Tactical Computation

Lier combines network access with modeling, surveillance, and battlefield coordination 9 13 35.

• Processes thirty camera feeds, predicts drone patrol routes, and guides V through Kang Tao security 9.
• Writes spreading quickhacks and causes mechanical units to short-circuit 13.
• Controls vehicles and infrastructure, including traffic systems and a fleeing gang’s getaway vehicle 27 48.
• Splits his visual attention between his biological eye and vehicle-camera feeds to drive while calculating smart-weapon targets 35.
• Corporate ICE remains a major obstacle: an early counterattack destroys his tablet, and later he cannot safely brute-force protected corporate systems 13 35.

Prototype Sandevistan

A neural-acceleration implant that supports both physical reactions and hacking computation 14 35.

• Supplies processing power several or dozens of times greater than an ordinary person’s under suitable conditions 35.
• Allows him to dodge and deflect some of Bullseye’s projectiles at fifty-percent output 27.
• His weak muscles and poor coordination prevent him from matching heavily augmented fighters such as V or Nott 27 38.
• Overclocking produces severe pain, rising body temperature, exhaustion, and potentially fatal organ strain 15 27 38.
• Its built-in cyberdeck interface permits the unusual combination of a Sandevistan and cyberdeck after wiring adjustments 38.

Blackwall Data Blockage

A Demon-based attack using dense fragments of Blackwall data to obstruct target systems 15.

• Disables an entire Militech squad’s soldiers, drones, and vehicles during the Atlanta escape 15.
• Its initial success depends on weakened defenses during a network-boundary transition; it is not a universal bypass for ICE 14 35.
• Repeated use risks attracting NetWatch’s attention 39.

Dump Truck Iaido

A hacking tool that places a lethal dump truck at the correct location and time through traffic control 27.

• Combines vehicle speed, position, and route calculations with infrastructure access 27.
• Used to crush Bullseye’s van beneath a truck and its sand-and-gravel load 27.

Cyberware Engineering and Surgery

Lier studies medical reports, firmware, implantation manuals, and Demon-development tutorials to gain practical expertise 5 10 38 43.

• Alters common cyberware programming, including an employee’s hormone-related systems 10.
• Performs implant removal and implantation and develops Cyberware Malfunction and Cyber-Eye Reboot 43.
• Builds adapters and modifies components to connect Cyberpunk interfaces to Marvel-world networks 16 21.
• Repairs cyber-armored vehicles at beginner level 24.

Recorded Cyberware Potential

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• NetWatch Standard Brain-Computer Interface — His first neural interface, supporting shard reading and machine connections 5.
• Kiroshi Optics Cyber-Eye Mk. 2 — Displays feeds, calculations, and HUD information 5 9 38.
• Personal Link and custom adapter — Connects his neural hardware to equipment across physically incompatible interfaces 7 21.
• Prototype Sandevistan — Upper-spinal replacement and accelerated-computation platform; later power-restricted by Viktor 14 16 38.
• Militech Mk. 4 Parallel Lines cyberdeck — Stores executable Demons and provides prepared intrusion protocols 39.
• Upgraded Biomonitor — Tracks vital signs and detailed blood measurements through his Cyber-Eye HUD 38.
• Premium Live Organ with Synthetic Lung Lobe tissue — Replacement lung equipment purchased as part of a 300,000-eddie organ package 38.
• Artificial Auxiliary Heart and Blood Pump — Support circulation and provide emergency backup if his primary heart fails; the backup may buy only one or two hours 38.
• Smart Link — Initially avoided, but later included among his cross-dimensionally bound implants 9 43.
• Like-Skin — Conceals the visible Sandevistan while resembling ordinary skin in appearance, texture, and thermal conductivity 43.
• G-58 Dian smart submachine gun — Supplied by Zhu Shen; Lier initially uses it without a Smart Link’s automatic targeting 9 13.
• Modified Eight-Star Shotgun — Integrated with the getaway car; Lier calculates an explosive 112-pellet attack that destroys the weapon under strain 33 35.

Relationships

• Maya Morgan Li — Mother in his reborn life. Her care and sacrifices anchor his determination to survive; he promises her a better home and asks her to leave her Chinatown job 1 18 29.
• V — Rescuer, combat partner, and frequent sparring partner in conversation. Their initially transactional cooperation develops into friendship and mutual reliance 2 4 13 39.
• Jackie Welles — Smuggling client who becomes a teammate alongside V, joining Lier’s border escape and later Night City operations 32 35 49 50.
• Viktor “Vic” — Trusted ripperdoc who provides remote assistance, performs the emergency Sandevistan operation, and later installs life-support equipment 7 14 38.
• Matt Murdock — Lawyer, community ally, and employer–employee associate. Helps pursue compensation, protects Lier during attacks, and openly acknowledges their unusual abilities after they risk their lives together 17 27 44.
• Skye — Hacker trainee and employee whom Lier recognizes as the future Quake. He gives her a home and appoints her director of Bloom’s research institute 21 24 46.
• John Burnett and Anthony Flor — Neighbors recruited as bodyguards and work crew; later assist Bloom’s operations. Anthony had previously contributed money toward Lier’s care 20 26 46.
• Mr. Rigordo — Landlord and community supporter who entrusts Lier with protecting the residents. Lier’s surveillance and emergency warning help the neighborhood respond to attacks 19 20 28 29.
• Padre — Fixer who arranges Lier’s false academy identity, supplies jobs, and provides Sixth Street channel information after learning that Lier is dying 39 42 48 49.
• Connors — Biological-research collaborator who promotes Lier from volunteer to partner 45.
• Zhu Shen — First major client; his concealed cargo and disclosures endanger Lier and V 4 12.
• Nott — Temporary network-support provider who becomes a lethal pursuer after Lier deceives him 6 12 13.
• Kingpin — Adversary in Hell’s Kitchen’s redevelopment struggle. Lier refuses his proposed arrangement and forces a strategic retreat 29.

Notable Quotes

“Once a person starts feeling sorry for himself, he’s done for.” 17

“But right now, I only hope that what drives me can always be kindness, love, and other good things.” 18

“Technology is the weakness of people like him.” 29

Trivia

• Viktor calls him an “abyss runner” after witnessing his unusually calm return from the Blackwall 15.
• Lier originally wants to name his company Cybertek, but chooses Bloom because a Cybertek already exists in the Marvel world and he does not want involvement with it 26.
• His knowledge of Cyberpunk 2077 helps him identify V, Sheriff Andrew Jones, and familiar events, but he also notices that his interference has altered the expected sequence of the game’s prologues 2 30 32.