Prior to The Fall, Herzer suffered from a degenerative disorder that was destroying his muscles and his ability to control them. As a result, he was fairly emaciated, slurred his words, and twitched. Herzer's parents were unable to deal with this emotionally and effectively abandoned him, granting him his "freedom" at age fourteen. Herzer's other friends and acquaintances drifted away at the same time. Shortly before The Fall, Dr. Daneh Ghorbani was able to cure him by using nanites to essentially rebuild his entire brain, one section at a time.