Recaps

Lier’s team promoted the Homeowners Association and expanded its surveillance work across Hell’s Kitchen, while Matt found new purpose in their efforts. As they headed to their last installation site, Matt sensed an attack and shoved Lier aside just before a steel toothpick shattered the van’s window.

• Anthony drew property owners to the Homeowners Association by showing footage of John beating thugs and Captain George Stacy arresting one of them.
• Lier praised Anthony’s speech, and Anthony said the work made him feel alive and helped him make the world better.
• Skye reported that online posts supporting the group were being deleted, and Lier told her to keep posting through automated accounts rather than hack the sites.
• Lier said a Trojan horse had brought more than seventy percent of Manhattan’s power grid under his monitoring, helping connect surveillance systems across Hell’s Kitchen.
• Matt told Lier that the work had made the past few days fulfilling and asked what he planned to do next.
• Matt sensed someone raising a steel toothpick about a hundred meters ahead and shoved Lier aside as it shattered the van’s glass.

Lier used the Sandevistan and traffic controls to fight Bullseye during a van chase after Bullseye wounded Matt and John. He crushed Bullseye’s van beneath a dump truck, while Skye tried to keep John alive and the group’s escape remained unresolved.

• Bullseye struck Matt with a steel toothpick and caused John and Skye’s van to crash, leaving John with a toothpick lodged in his throat.
• Lier removed the Sandevistan’s output limit, dodged Bullseye’s attacks, and urged Anthony to ram the enemy van.
• Matt caught one of Bullseye’s toothpicks and then evaded more as Lier calculated the positions and speeds of vehicles using traffic controls.
• Lier baited Bullseye into a supposed gun duel, then used a dump truck to crush Bullseye’s van beneath sand and gravel.
• Skye helped John stay calm and breathe while Lier’s voice cut off during the chase.

Lier learned that Kingpin had sent Elikon Rigordo to pressure his father into giving up the family land and tried to warn Matt and the Homeowners Association. Elikon confronted Rigordo at home, and as he fired at his father, a nearby lamp exploded.

• A dump truck crushed Bullseye's van, and the trapped driver revealed that Kingpin had another plan.
• Matt realized Mr. Rigordo's son was involved, and Lier sent Matt home before warning the Homeowners Association.
• Elikon entered his childhood home through an old hole and prepared to persuade Rigordo to surrender the land to the United Construction Company.
• Rigordo refused to give Elikon the house, and the two argued over Elikon's mother and his decision to serve the gang.
• Elikon aimed Rigordo's revolver at him and pulled the trigger as the table lamp beside him exploded.

Lier and his allies survived the gang’s attack, and the NYPD reopened cases linked to Bullseye and the Black Street Thugs. After Lier refused Kingpin’s offer to divide territory, a staged dump-truck crash warned Kingpin that Lier knew who he was, prompting Kingpin to retreat and change strategy.

• Elikon took all the Courage Pills, hallucinated that Rigordo was his father, and shot him before killing himself; tenants saved Rigordo, while Elikon died.
• The NYPD used Lier’s surveillance footage to identify Bullseye, reopen cold cases, and investigate the gang’s crimes, while Chief George Stacy acknowledged Rigordo’s wrongful sentence.
• Rigordo told Lier how his wife had been killed and how his efforts to avenge her had sent him to prison; Lier reassured Maya and promised her a better life.
• Lier rejected Kingpin’s emissary’s offer and refused to let Kingpin build on the land he controlled.
• A United Construction Company dump truck crashed into Kingpin’s limousine, and Kingpin recognized the incident as a warning from Lier and ordered Wesley to deal with his emissary.
• Kingpin decided to retreat from the territory and revise his strategy as Lier received a warning that unstable energy was about to erupt.

After escaping Atlanta, Lier and V headed toward the border between Southern and Northern California, where Militech controlled the checkpoint. In Dry Creek, Lier posed as a Militech corporate representative and secured leads on a fixer and a mechanic before revealing their armored vehicle.

• Lier woke in the Behemoth as V drove toward Washington, and they heard a radio report blaming the Atlanta attack on Kang Tao specialists Zhu Shen and Cai Pin.
• Lier warned that Militech still posed a threat and decided they and V needed to pass as corporate suits to get through the border checkpoint.
• Lier and V stopped in Dry Creek, where he explained the town's customs and told V to check her account, revealing she had 500,000 eddies.
• Lier introduced himself to Sheriff Andrew Jones as Dennis Burger King and asked about local smuggling leads and a mechanic for their armored vehicle.
• Andrew directed Lier to fixer Willy McCoy and mechanic Mike, then saw the vehicle's Militech Behemoth lettering as Lier left.

Lier contacted Willie McCoy to arrange a smuggling job and used a rapidly shrinking offer to pressure him into accepting. McCoy agreed to send people and a vehicle, while Lier and V waited by the signal tower.

• Lier left mechanic Mike to repair the Behemoth and went with V to the nearby signal tower.
• V connected the mobile radio, and Lier contacted Willie McCoy to ask about smuggling.
• McCoy said customs declarations were suspended for three months, but Lier inferred that uncleared shipments were still waiting.
• Lier negotiated by lowering his offer and proposed posing as a Barkley Family nomad while borrowing a vehicle from McCoy.
• McCoy accepted the job and said he would send people to Lier, who gave him three hours to arrive.

Lier and V traded the Behemoth for a modified nomad car and prepared to cross the border while smuggling stolen smart weapons. They learned their client was Jackie Welles, and Lier warned V that Militech might try to rob them after customs.

• Lier and V waited for a nomad courier, then exchanged money for a modified Thorton Galena "Rattler" and a shard containing gig details.
• Lier and V packed five Yinglongs and two Eight-Star Shotguns into the car and dismantled the Nekomata to fit it in the trunk.
• Lier read the gig information and discovered that Jackie Welles had hired them to smuggle goods likely taken from an Arasaka convoy.
• Lier asked V to speak with Jackie as members of the Barkley Family, and V realized he wanted her to do it because of her street-thug manner of speaking.
• Lier told V that Militech might target them after the border checkpoint, and V checked her pistol while worrying about the coming fight.
• Lier noticed the car's dashboard said "Weapons offline" and wondered if he could connect an Eight-Star Shotgun to the vehicle.

V and Lier recruited Jackie Welles for a cargo run to Night City, disguising their identities and hiding weapons with the shipment. At the heavily fortified border checkpoint, Lier prepared to bribe the guards while V and Jackie discovered they were carrying far more weapons than expected.

• Lier and V finished rigging a smart shotgun to their car, then V went into the abandoned Farm and met Jackie Welles.
• V and Jackie agreed to work together, loaded the corporate cargo into the trunk, and set off with Lier toward Night City.
• On the drive, V told Jackie about the fighting between Militech and Kang Tao near Atlanta, while Lier stopped her from revealing too much.
• The group reached a heavily guarded border checkpoint, where Lier noted that security had increased and explained the customs declaration and bribe.
• Lier and V produced smart shotguns, then told Jackie to retrieve two more from under his seat and declare them with the others.

Lier and his crew were ambushed after crossing into Night City, first by Militech agents and then by Arasaka drones. They escaped toward the Badlands, while Militech called for Basilisk fire support to pursue them and discover what they were transporting.

• A customs officer inspected Lier’s four Smart Shotguns and let him pass after taking a bribe, warning him that working without a family was reckless.
• Lier, V, and Jackie spotted Militech Emperor Ragnars approaching the checkpoint and prepared to fight as they drove toward Biotechnica’s farm.
• V and Jackie exchanged fire with the Militech agents, disabling the lead vehicle while Lier steered through the greenhouses.
• Arasaka drones attacked the convoy, then an armored vehicle rammed Lier’s car and sent it spinning.
• V used a Smart Shotgun to kill the Arasaka driver and agents, and Jackie shot down a drone as Lier sped toward the Badlands.
• The Militech agents requested Basilisk fire support after realizing Arasaka was targeting the shipment.

Lier, V, and Jackie were caught between Arasaka and Militech forces in the Badlands and fought their way through the crossfire. Their escape left both corporations’ surviving leaders convinced that Kang Tao had used a secret weapon against them.

• Lier split his vision between the car’s cameras and his own eyes, then turned away from a Militech Basilisk as Arasaka drones pursued the group.
• Arasaka and Militech each claimed the Viper was carrying stolen company property and prepared to fire, trapping Lier, V, and Jackie between their forces.
• Lier drove between the convoys while V fired the Eight-Star Shotgun and Jackie reloaded it, using Lier’s targeting calculations to unleash 112 explosive pellets.
• The blasts devastated both forces and destroyed the shotgun, while the battered Viper escaped toward the Badlands.
• The surviving Arasaka and Militech leaders mistook the attack for a joint operation involving Kang Tao’s secret weapon.

After surviving a Militech and Arasaka ambush, V, Lier, and Jackie rested in an abandoned Badlands farmhouse and discovered their cargo was an extinct Iguana. They decided to sell it through Padre, while Jackie realized V and Lier had concealed their Night City connections from him.

• Jackie complained about the body-count lottery and the dangerous smuggling job, while V transferred 5,000 Eddies to him.
• Lier woke from the pain and stiffness caused by his Sandevistan, and Jackie agreed to open the cargo crate.
• Jackie and V found an endangered Iguana inside the crate and wondered why Arasaka and Militech had fought over it.
• Lier suspected Arasaka was closely monitoring Militech after events in Atlanta, but he could not explain the corporation's motives.
• Jackie proposed selling the Iguana to his fixer, Padre, and V revealed that she knew Padre from Heywood.
• Lier agreed to sell the cargo to Padre, and Jackie realized V and Lier had kept their Night City origins from him.

Lier collapsed from acute lung failure after overusing his combat cyberware, and Vic warned that his body could not withstand further strain. After receiving news that Professor Curt Connors might help reverse his cellular decline, Lier chose to keep fighting and pursue a Synthetic Lung Lobe.

• As Lier grew increasingly unwell in the car, V and Jackie rushed him to Vic's clinic.
• Vic diagnosed Lier with acute lung failure caused by his dangerous Sandevistan and other cyberware, and warned that treatment carried serious risks.
• Lier asked for a Synthetic Lung Lobe and a Biomonitor, but Vic cautioned that his weakened body might suffer lung necrosis or an immune response.
• Lier received a message that Professor Curt Connors had invited him to join research that might restore vitality to his declining cells.
• Lier decided against retiring and told Vic to prepare a Synthetic Lung Lobe from Moore Technologies, using immunosuppressants to manage the risks.

Vic explained how Body, Reflexes, and Intelligence potential affected cyberware, then installed a Biomonitor in Lier and received the organs and implants Lier had bought. After Vic implanted the new equipment and limited the Sandevistan’s power, they discovered it could connect to a Cyberdeck despite the usual incompatibility.

• Vic replaced Lier’s Biomonitor and explained how the three potential attributes affected cyberware; its readings showed Lier had Body 1 and Reflexes 3, while his Intelligence exceeded the test’s limit.
• A Moore Technologies delivery arrived with the Premium Live Organ fitted with Synthetic Lung Lobe tissue, an Artificial Auxiliary Heart, and a Blood Pump.
• Vic examined the donor organ and prepared to implant the new lungs and heart-support equipment in Lier.
• Lier arranged for Vic to limit the Sandevistan’s power output and decided to install a Cyberdeck while keeping the Sandevistan as an artificial spine.
• Vic discovered that the Sandevistan had an interface for a Cyberdeck Core Shard and could be connected to Lier’s cerebral cortex with minor wiring changes.

Lier learned more about the Sandevistan and tested his new cyberdeck before V and Jackie helped him deal with two would-be robbers. After meeting Padre, Lier arranged to get a false identity so he could study at Arasaka Academy, while Padre offered him a job to discuss later.

• Lier took his prescribed medication, considered the Sandevistan’s purpose, and practiced using quickhacks with his Militech Mk. 4 Parallel Lines cyberdeck.
• Terry tried to rob Lier outside the clinic, but V stopped him and Jackie frightened Terry and his companion into fleeing.
• V introduced Lier to Padre, who praised V’s success in Atlanta and invited Lier to speak inside his limousine.
• Lier asked Padre for an identity that would let him attend Arasaka Academy and explained that adult education would meet his needs.
• Padre agreed to provide a false identity, said Lier could report to the academy first, and suggested they discuss a job in a couple of days.

Lier and V toured apartments and rented neighboring units in Megabuilding H10, only to discover how many fees and rentals came with their supposed homes. V grew furious at the corporations and tried to buy a place, but Lier stopped her; a nearby shootout report left her even angrier.

• Lier and V used Braindance headsets to tour apartments, and V admired the view from a unit in Megabuilding H10.
• Lier and V chose the Megabuilding H10 apartment and went to inspect it in person.
• V selected deluxe meal plans for both of them, and they learned that rent, services, and extra charges brought the monthly cost to 4,000 eddies each.
• V became disillusioned with the rented furnishings and declared she would buy her own place, but Lier reminded her that she could not afford one outright or rely on a bank loan.
• Lier joked that they could afford homes by eliminating millions of people, and a report about a nearby shootout made V livid.

Lier went to Arasaka Academy’s continuing education college to take entrance exams for technical certifications, while reflecting on the city’s corporate hierarchy. After completing the technical questions, he faced a series of questions about Arasaka and outside contracting, and began answering with his thoughts on the fixer’s role.

• V and Lier arrived at Arasaka Academy, where V left for the Afterlife while Lier went to take his entrance exam.
• Lier entered the continuing education college and sat for assessments tied to Class A medical and technical certifications.
• Lier answered the technical questions using what he had studied with Vic and his cyberware-assisted memory.
• The exam asked whether Lier wanted to join Arasaka and how he would plan a fulfilling career as an outside contractor.
• Lier considered the strategies of a fixer and began his response by saying, “Only a fucking idiot would do this job.”

Lier studied Arasaka Academy’s technical courses while dismissing its ideological lessons, then joined V and Jackie on a low-paying job against Sixth Street. He left his companions expecting a bigger job soon and arranged a company office renovation and a doctor’s appointment in the Marvel Universe.

• Tanaka Tatsuo reviewed Marcus’s list of potential recruits and dismissed Dennis “Burger King” as a street punk despite his exceptional test scores.
• Lier completed technical courses, searched for DNA-editing research from Biotechnica and Moore Technologies, and wondered which company to rob.
• Lier, V, and Jackie ambushed three Sixth Street members for Padre, burning them with Lier’s hack before V and Jackie knocked them out.
• Lier exchanged messages with Matt about his appointment with Dr. Connors and the renovation of his temporary company office.
• Lier promised V and Jackie he would have a big-job plan by the day after tomorrow, then the trio captured Malik Plant, a minor Sixth Street boss.

After learning that Padre’s job had been to avenge a girl killed by Sixth Street, Lier realized he had acted without reading the details and used the criminals’ cyberware to practice surgery and Demon programming. He transferred the value of his new implants to his other self, then established on-site communication near Empire State University to follow Connors’s research.

• Lier read Padre’s messages and learned that Sixth Street had accidentally killed a girl while trying to take over The Glen, and that Padre had paid him 2,000 eddies for the job.
• Lier removed and examined the three Sixth Street criminals’ cyberware, tested Cyberware Malfunction and Cyber-Eye Reboot, and killed them after one developed Cyberpsychosis.
• Lier earned 700 tech points, installed several cyberware implants including Like-Skin, and transferred 1,985 tech points to his other self.
• Lier bagged the criminals’ corpses and left them with Night City’s garbage, then rested while waiting for progress in the other world.
• Lier spent 10 tech points to establish on-site communication near Empire State University so he could look up information about Connors’s research.

Lier and Matt discussed whether people should rely on superheroes or take action themselves, and how money and research could help them build a better future. They met Professor Curt Connors at the laboratory, where Lier noticed Connors’s empty right sleeve.

• Lier and Matt walked through Empire State University and acknowledged that they each had extraordinary abilities.
• Matt asked why Lier had rallied the residents instead of handling the danger alone, and Lier argued that people needed to take action rather than wait for a hero.
• Lier explained that money could let people contribute through their strengths while research offered them the promise of a better future.
• Matt connected Lier’s ideas to his father and agreed that people should try to change their circumstances through effort.
• Professor Curt Connors greeted Lier and Matt, admitted he had overheard their conversation, and invited them into the laboratory.
• Lier noticed that Professor Connors’s right sleeve was empty.

Lier discussed Dr. Connors's cross-species genetics research and offered to become his partner rather than let the Osborn Group control the technology. Connors accepted, while Lier lost 20 Tech Points when his cross-plane connection passed one hour.

• Lier explained that Connors's Decay Algorithm could fail through excessive DNA degradation or uncontrolled mutations.
• Connors described his lack of funding and samples, and his interest in testing DNA from a Lesser Antillean Iguana.
• Connors revealed that the Osborn Group had offered him the resources to take over Richard Parker's research, but he feared the military would misuse it.
• Lier offered funding, technical support, and Lesser Antillean Iguana DNA data, and Connors agreed to make him a partner.
• Lier's system notified him that his cross-plane connection had exceeded an hour and deducted 20 Tech Points.

Lier established Bloom Security’s research institute, locked in the ctOS project, and began planning a heist to steal Biotechnica’s DNA Splicing Instrument. As he considered how to conceal the theft and shift the blame, Padre asked him to meet a client near the Afterlife.

• Lier returned to the apartment and powered up Bloom’s equipment, establishing Bloom research institute with Skye as director and ctOS as its first project.
• Lier uploaded cyberdeck shard design files and assigned Skye, Anthony, and John roles in Bloom’s work.
• Lier planned to obtain Biotechnica’s DNA Splicing Instrument from Orbital City by pressuring an executive and exploiting the company’s human experimentation scandal.
• Lier considered using Arasaka to cover the instrument’s return and a cross-dimensional data link to hide traces of the operation.
• Padre messaged Lier that a client wanted to thank him in person near the Afterlife.

Lier, Jackie, and V listened to Melissa mourn her daughter Amina, who had been killed by Sixth Street, before discussing their money and a new job. The conversation was interrupted when Sixth Street attacked the Afterlife.

• Lier, Jackie, and V met Melissa outside the Afterlife and heard her recount Amina’s life and death.
• Lier toasted Amina, accepted Melissa’s repaired watch, and promised that they would remember her.
• V told Lier she had four hundred thousand eddies and planned to get Mantis Blades, then asked whether she should buy a Sandevistan.
• Lier advised V against getting the Sandevistan if she was worried about its risks.
• Sixth Street attacked the Afterlife, and bullets struck V’s back and ricocheted off.

V, Jackie, and Lier fought off a Sixth Street attack at the Afterlife, then Lier asked Padre for help selling weapons and a vehicle. Lier revealed he was dying and urgently needed money for a lung and heart, and Padre agreed to provide information about Sixth Street’s channels.

• V and Jackie killed or incapacitated the Sixth Street attackers, while Lier used the net to crash their getaway vehicle and disable a fleeing ganger.
• Lier recognized that a gang war with Sixth Street could create an opportunity to place network data barrier nodes and told V and Jackie they would take a few bites out of the gang.
• Padre arrived to collect the dead Valentinos and thanked V, Jackie, and Lier for intervening; Jackie urged him to strike back against Sixth Street.
• Lier asked Padre to help move troublesome smart weapons and a vehicle from Atlanta, but said he could use Sixth Street’s channels himself if Padre could not act quickly.
• When Padre asked why Lier was in such a hurry, Lier revealed he was dying and had spent three hundred thousand on a lung and heart, leaving him short of money and time.
• Padre agreed to give Lier information about Sixth Street’s channels for free.

Lier, Jackie, and V planned to disrupt Sixth Street’s arms trade and profit by selling stolen goods while keeping their tracks concealed. They agreed to begin with arms dealer Rochelle Kaplan and investigate her shipments.

• Padre gave Lier two Shards identifying potential weapons distributors and recommended an unlicensed ripperdoc for selling dirty cyberware.
• Lier explained that the Valentinos could not safely handle the trio’s shipment, so they would need to find buyers and conceal their involvement through middlemen.
• Lier proposed robbing Sixth Street’s supply chain until the gang could not operate without the trio’s permission, while letting the Valentinos take public credit.
• Jackie and V agreed to join the plan, and Lier marked Rochelle Kaplan as their first target.

Lier, V, and Jackie traveled into Santo Domingo to find Roshan at the Rama Arsenal, where Lier planned to obtain information from Kaplan’s private database. The group split up to approach the job quietly while intimidating Roshan, but they had not yet entered the arsenal.

• Lier asked Vic to build a biological model of a lizard and arranged for Vic to buy the research equipment on credit.
• V and Jackie discussed their dream vehicles and weapons as they drove the battered Canary Viper toward Santo Domingo.
• Lier observed Arroyo’s industrial district and considered the nuclear power plant there, but dismissed blowing it up as an extreme option.
• The group saw Sixth Street newcomers demanding increased protection money from a vendor while passersby ignored the harassment.
• V stopped near the Rama Arsenal, and Lier told her to sneak inside while he and Jackie went to speak with Kaplan and frighten Roshan.