Generic character sheaves on reductive groups over a finite ring

In this paper we propose a construction of generic character sheaves on reductive groups over finite local rings at even levels, whose characteristic functions are higher Deligne--Lusztig characters when the parameters are generic. We formulate a conjecture on the simple perversity of these complexes, and we prove it in the level two case (thus generalised a result of Lusztig from the function field case). We then discuss the induction and restriction functors, as well as the Frobenius reciprocity, based on the perversity.