Lucius Rhyne

Lucius Rhyne was the Mayor of Night City in. His office is located at the city hall, in The Glen, Heywood District.

When Rhyne unexpectedly dies, the focus of Night City politics turns to who will replace him: Deputy Mayor Weldon Holt or Councilman Jefferson Peralez.

Biography
Lucius Rhyne was born on October 12, 2017 in a Trauma Team clinic in Night City. His father worked at Arasaka, and his mother was a NetWatch officer. When Lucius was five years old, his father was killed in the Arasaha HQ bombing. A few years later, Lucius's mother was captured by one of Bartmoss's rogue AIs while on a mission in cyberspace. In spite of the financial hardship of providing care for his mother's body, Lucius enrolled at the Richard Night University and graduated in Cybernetic Law. He embarked on a professional career for 20 years before he became a member of the Night City Council.

In 2045, before he became mayor, Lucius was a rare idealist working to make the world a better place. He was well-known for his inspiring speeches and calls to action in the newly formed Watson Development.

In 2060, Lucius Rhyne was elected to the notoriously corrupt Night City Council as a member of the Devolutionist Party. During the Unification War (2069 - 2070), Councilman Rhyne led the city's defense effort against the New United States of America. Rhyne was the one who convinced Arasaka to come to Night City's aid, which brought the war to an early close in June 2070. Night City secured its independence, Rhyne was elected mayor, and Arasaka was welcomed back to the city and permitted to rebuild Arasaka Tower. Rhyne's time in politics made him a wealthy man, but appeared to have dulled his ideals. By 2077, public opinion on him had split, and he was either respected as the city's savior or reviled as its most crooked politician.

2077
Later in 2077, Lucius Rhyne was gearing up for re-election and facing Councilman Jefferson Peralez. He held a press conference to speak about Night City's recent drop in crime rate, an accomplishment only made possible by Rhyne re-designating Pacifica an "independent district" of the city to exclude its crime statistics from official numbers. Shortly before the press conference, a cyberpsycho named Péter Horváth breached Night City Hall on the heels of NCPD Detective River Ward in an apparent attempt to kill Rhyne, but was gunned down by Ward before he got close enough.

Shortly after the cyberpsycho attack, Rhyne died of seemingly natural causes attributed to cardiac implant failure in his sleep. Deputy Mayor Weldon Holt became acting mayor, and announced he would run against Peralez in the upcoming election in Rhyne's stead. The abrupt nature of Rhyne's passing fueled a number of conspiracy theories which alleged that Holt either had Rhyne assassinated or helped Rhyne fake his death.

Peralez's wife - Elizabeth - reached out to V and hired them to investigate the truth. V, with the help of Detective Ward, discovered that after the cyberpsycho attack and press conference, Rhyne had gone to the invitation-only sex club Red Queen's Race to unwind. There, he contracted a lethal virus that had been deliberately inserted into a braindance. He was dead for over an hour in his private room before the club's staff realized. Weldon Holt sent Detective Harold Han to retrieve Rhyne's body and cover up the circumstances of his death, then later hired a group of Animals to trash the club.

Database Entry

 * Mayor of Night City, considered by many to be the right man for his time and place, and others as the city's biggest crook.
 * During the Unification War, when NUSA forces tried to take the city and annex it into the union, Rhyne led the city's valiant defense. Under his leadership, Militech's tanks were repelled and Night City became fully independent. Despite continous accusations that Rhyne is greasing his palms with corporate money, for many years he remains a symbol of Night City's freedom.

Associated Quests

 * The Heist (briefly)
 * I Fought the Law