V1 Level 97 Manager

'''I've hurt a lot of people, I've killed a lot of people, those people disagreed with me. Sure, but they had conviction behind their actions. The Computer is a complete anomaly in the fact most of it's soldiers aren't even convinced of the Computer's well-doing, they're just trying to kill me because they have been ordered to. And I want to change that, I want to improve the Bunker to make it a place truly worth living in, and a cause worth dying for.'''

-Level 97 Manager talking about the repeated assassination attempts and Computer raids. The Level 97 Manager or Lucas Nether is the Chief Executive Administrator of the Human Liberation Party (HLP) and "owner" of Level 97. Meant to serve as the leading figure of the Human Liberation Party as well as their main spokesman. However he and his faction are considered very controversial by many outside factions for his very underhanded tactics, rampant pragmatism in his leadership, lack of understanding for many factions' ideals and goals as well as unnecessary brutality against his enemies. Which contrasts his appearance as an optimistic, selfless inventor that wants the best for everyone. His past is a subject of debate by many, some have thought of him as a defecting R&D staff member that got too lucky. Some have thought of him as an egomaniac that is surprisingly competent or as a moron that has no clue what he's doing.

Appearance
The Manager is a slender, tall6'3/195cm young looking man in around his early-mid 20's sporting brown hair.

In all his appearance the Manager wears brown gloves that have detachable razor blades, a grey hoodie underneath whatever vest or jacket he wears, blue jeans, brown shoes and sports a big elephant hunting knife as well. We never see his entire face, it's always obstructed by some kind of visor or headset. He seems to prefer and can comfortably see through Virtual reality headsets.

In his first appearances (Visible on the top right) he sports a modified Oculus Quest 1 Headset with a sticker over the Oculus logo that says "HLP" as well as a dark grey jacket. This appearance showcases a more function over style look which goes along with Level 97 being in development before the 9x9 compass.

During his appearance in the Level 97 9x9 The Manager wears a navy blue suit and replaces his modified headset with an original one courtesy of Level 97's R&D division.

The Manager's appearances in different canons also depict him wearing different clothing and his appearance sometimes changing.

During the prelude to DOTC his skin and hair becomes grey, cracks form around his skin as well as constantly emanating smoke.

In Deep Dark he ditches the blue suit to wear more tactical looking gear.

In WTTTS he goes back to his grey jacket and now wears a grenade belt as well as a bulletproof vest, his headset is now padded with Kevlar.

In the Steampunk canon he dons a brown suit, a waistcoat and has a different visor.

In Coalition's vision his hair spazzes out, he is visibly stressed and tired, he wears a new coalition themed headset, a red suit, a beige tie, red waistcoat, faction themed buttons and a grey buttoned shirt underneath.

In Post Computer He wears a white lab coat, has new R&D Head themed clothing underneath his lab coat and now sports a headset quite similar in colour and shape to the Oculus Quest 2. In his full body artwork for Post Computer, Lucas is depicted as wearing a Zweïhander of massive size named "Ego" with his right hand and a Kriss Vector in his left hand.

Personality
Lucas Nether is an optimistic young man with a passion for tinkering and electronics. Letting his actions speak louder than words, said actions have a flair for simplistic and opportunistic pragmatism derided from anger. The biggest examples of that is most likely the "Bog incident" that occurred in Level 97 between it's takeover and it's first expansion. After seeing the Bog Ambassador stealing grenades and other supplies in a vain attempt to summon their masters early, he dragged them to a torture room and proceeded to serve them in a pizza box and shipped them to Level 100 in a show of control over the situation and because it amused him. He also has an extremely obsessive "affection" for the Computer's R&D Department Head.

In the early days as the Manager, he was naïve and got swindled by the Bog ambassador very easily. Come the first expansion and you can see a change in his demeanour, he's more ruthless against the Computer and Bogs, deeming both equal threats. Albeit one is more direct in it's approach while one is more insidious. He's not letting himself be manipulated again, and paranoia sets in him. Exiling and imprisoning people left and right, though he is completely adverse to killing in his own level to show his subordinates an example. But when he's anywhere else, all chips are down.

During the 9x9 compass he's calmer in every way imaginable, letting his anger only show when it can be used to scare or threaten anyone with great effect. He puts more forefront into his and the HLP's ideology.

His ideology is that of true conviction behind a cause. He sees the Computer as a faction where conviction is almost non-existent and forced (with some exceptions), it's soldiers and workers are ordered to work, not asked. It is not their call, they are forced to. And he wants to put more effort into volunteer based work, Level 97 doesn't force anyone to work yet a lot of people do, because it improves everyone's living conditions and allows the level to function. Which is why, deep down he's quite opposed to the bogs' schemes, working with them only when needed to ensure the level's well being. He's really really not fond of slavery and greed.

His personality doesn't change between canons in any significant way except in DOTC and Post Computer.

In DOTC The Manager, after a nearly successful assassination attempt on his head and ending up in Level 100, he completely changes as an individual. Being mostly silent and extremely violent, knowing full well he's going to die he doesn't play around anymore and goes straight to Level 1 to get out of the Bunker asap.

In Post Computer Lucas' selfless qualities skyrocket as the Bunker is in a state he's relatively happy with, developing a healthy friendship with the R&D department Head and going against anyone that threatens the Bunker and wants it to return the wretched place it was previously. Helping departments in every way he can, showcasing his experience during his time in Level 97.

Backstory
In all his appearance and according to his creator, his backstory is for now never elaborated upon or mentioned. Only the fact he was in a friendship with L and is a skilled engineer. His attitude towards the R&D Department Head also alludes towards him being an ex member of the Computer's R&D department, which contradicts the extensive searching of The Manager's past by the Computer, no ex R&D Department worker was found bearing a resemblance to him. His interest in fog may also suggest something about his past. Blocked101, creator of Level 97 and it's characters just says to wait as more info about him will be uncovered as time goes.

Skills & Weaponry of choice
The Manager's skills have been noted to be an extremely good grasp of most engineering and electrician concepts, an extremely good hand to eye coordination, perception enhanced by his headset, heavy amounts of stamina and a resourceful nature in fights, always seeking to end them the fastest and cleanest way.

His weapons mostly consist of L's leather gloves, which Lucas can shoot the metallic razor sharp edges via his headset as well as retrieve them like a harpoon with a rope. L's knife, a massive elephant hunting knife which he has good skill with. As of the 9x9 and Post Computer canon, Lucas also now possesses his own blue and beige Kriss Vector SMG. He also has in his possession a beige smoke grenade that both indicates his status of authority as well as provide a smokescreen in case of life threatening emergencies. Although as of now, the smoke grenade has never been used by Lucas.

During Post Computer The Manager crafts with the help of The Computer a massive Zweïhander called "Ego" which he showcases a good amount of agility and strength with, being able to hold it and use it to kill rekindled forces without any issue with only his off hand holding the giant sword.

For DOTC's prelude, The Manager can regenerate organic tissue at an impossibly fast rate, his corpse decomposing into smoke as well as extreme durability. The activation for those abilities has been explained to be due to his near death experience but the reason for him having said capacities is still unclear. The different canons do not show if he possesses these capacities innately or if it's due to something only the DOTC canon incarnation possesses.

Gallery
(Note: The pixelated pre Level 97 rewrite versions of this character will be replaced by their post rewrite version when Blocked101 has created that version of the character using their new style.)

Trivia

 * The Manager's real name "Lucas Nether" was revealed during the 2022 New Year in the EEB Discord server. Canonically, nobody knows the Manager's name so the reason for why Blocked101 decided to add a canon name for him is unclear. (Perhaps to differentiate him and the coalition Drone Manager?)


 * Lucas' appearance was used as a template for the majority of characters during the level 97 post before the rewrites.
 * The Manager's appearance according to Blocked101 was meant to contrast deeply with the Computer's own department heads, especially the R&D Department Head. As with the R&D Head, The Manager's face is obscured and wears headgear that conceals his eyes, said headgear is implied to allow him to see in darkness/fog and other vision based anomalies. His gloves' edge are detachable, usable as sort of mini harpoons or grappling hooks when detached or finger knives when not fired. Not unlike the R&D Head's own cape tendrils. Said similarities are implied to be due to the Manager's obsession on him causing him to try and fight as well as dress "similarly" to him.
 * Lucas' appearance during DOTC's prelude uses the Bog priest's skin colour and hair colour for his skin and hair respectively. However to distinguish him from Dylan, Blocked added veins, gashes and cuts as well as a constantly angry expression thanks to Lucas' headset having eyebrow like cuts. The decision was made to solidify Lucas' extreme durability and impossibly fast regeneration as supernatural factors akin to Dylan's, however Lucas' reason for having these abilities and familiar skin colour in DOTC's prelude uniquely is still unexplained as of now.
 * Lucas and L have many similarities in their designs, like similar hair colour, Lucas' name starting with an L, their similar 195cm height and his weapons and hoodie being possessions L had before his disappearance, Blocked stated this was an intentional design decision to showcase their bond and may add more similarities in the future.