The formerly loyal student of Toyo Harada, Livewire, a.k.a. Amanda McKee, is one of the Valiant Universe's deadliest superhumans. A member of the psionically empowered species known as Psiots, Livewire is able to interact with and even control the planet's growing rate of electronic devices. Cunning, fierce, and unpredictably resourceful, Livewire's powers have been felt firsthand by the teens that make up the Harbinger Renegades and even the very Earth's entire electrical grid.
Here's a look at what the psionic body of Harbinger's second in command can do.
Technopathic Manipulation
Livewire's main ability as a psiot is interacting with and controlling technology. From there, she can actually control the various functions of machines, bending them to her will and making them an extension of herself. She has used this control over technology on a global scale and was actually able to usher the entire world into a blackout by depowering the electrical grid.
She can even assemble new weapons and gadgets by constructing them with her mind, using nearby scraps of metal and electrical panels to create whatever she chooses. After she connected with X-O Manowar's armor Shanhara (who she had forcibly separated from Aric), her abilities were increased even further. Now, she is essentially a living modem and is able to interface with pretty much any form of electrical technology on the planet, no matter where she is.
These technopathic abilities also make her very similar to Bloodshot, whose nanites she can likewise disable. The scariest part of her powers is how she discovered them, as well as how quickly she learned to use them. As an orphaned child, she was tormented by other children in the Youth Treatment Center. Soon, she discovered that she could interface with and control machines while playing a video game. Realizing this, she turned the game into a literal torture device against those who had mistreated her. This level of psionic power and misanthropy eventually attracted the attention of Toyo Harada.
Battle-Ready Body
Beyond her psionic abilities, Livewire is also an unarmed threat. She has incredible physical and martial arts prowess, having been trained in a variety of different disciplines. This fighting skill was adept enough to allow her to go toe-to-toe with War-Monger, a woman whose immortality and savage fighting ability had caused immense suffering throughout human history.
She is also resourceful with numerous weapons, from long-range munitions to more close-range weaponry. Her danger level only increases if she's able to technologically interface with the weapon, making modern warfare particularly suited toward her skill set. Since deserting Harada's Harbinger Organization and striking out on her own, she has used her stealth and martial capabilities as a sort of partner alongside Ninjak.
Brain Like a Machine
Livewire is one of the most intelligent individuals in the Valiant Universe and is perhaps second only to Toyo Harada himself. In fact, much of her training came directly from her former teacher, who personally fed her already incredible intellect.
To bolster her technopathic powers, Harada specifically taught her the ins and outs of A.I., computers, and various disciplines in engineering, allowing her to be able to pick apart and rebuild the most complex machines as if they were simple puzzles.
X-O Womanowar
After encountering Aric of Dacia and his alien X-O Manowar armor, Livewire constructed a version of the suit that was designed to work only for her. This armor was created to match her own body at the nano-molecular level, with its incredible abilities only further enhancing her own. The suit has numerous bristles throughout it, which function as wings that allow Livewire to fly effortlessly through the air.
These bristles also act as electric energy batteries, soaking up electrostatic energy to the point where Livewire can offensively expel the build-up as plasmoid bolts. The armor can even siphon more energy from plant matter, converting it into a potentially eco-friendly, sustainable fuel source. Acting in accord with her enhanced technopath powers, the suit can rebuild and add onto itself using outside sources of metal and technology, crafting an endless supply of tools and weapons for whatever task Livewire needs to complete.
Master of Magnet
A more understated part of her technopathy is Livewire's ability to control and disrupt magnetic fields. By using electromagnetism, Livewire can control and animate nearby in a way similar to other comic book characters such as Magneto or Dr. Polaris. This ability explains how and why she is able to interact with metal that lacks any type of electronic component. It is a subtly understood quality of Livewire's powers in the current Valiant Universe.
In the Valiant Universe's original incarnation, however, it was much more emphasized, as it was effectively Livewire's only true power. This makes the modern version of Livewire, who lives in a world even more inundated with technology, far deadlier than possibly any other Valiant hero or villain.