Summary
Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City is rife with mysteries to uncover, whether this is through general open-world exploration or interacting directly with some of its inhabitants. When its expansion,Phantom Libertywas released in September 2023, not only did it introduce anew area called Dogtown- which was situated near Pacifica on the pre-existing city map - but it brought with ita whole spate of new conspiracies.
This shouldn’t have been too surprising, asPhantom Libertywas marketed as being more of an espionage thriller, with V’s actions being directly linked to the NUSA’s President Myers whether they choose to work with a sleeper agent,Solomon Reed, or Song So Mi(aka. Songbird), an extremely talented netrunner who works as an intelligence analyst for the NUSA. During this time, Songbird was forced into venturing beyond the Blackwall, with Myers seeing her skills there as another weapon to be used, prompting Songbird to plot an escape.
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Phantom Liberty’s Dogtown Has A Bizarre Encounter With Some NPCs
Inquisitive Junkies Can Follow V Around
WhilePhantom Liberty’s story alone sees players diving into political conspiracies and making plenty of tough calls - none of which have a completely “happy” ending -exploring Dogtown can open up even more. When exploring the many underpasses and alleyways of the district,players can spot many junkies loitering around. Considering how run down this part of Night City is - and considering the normal state of the city, that’s saying something - it should come as no surprise to see such a thing, however, whereas most NPCs will ignore V unless they bump into them or unless they have a secret gig or side quest attached, some of these junkies have a different interaction.
As shared to the r/cyberpunkgame Subreddit byAdam-Smasher2077,V doesn’t even need to interact with some of these junkie NPCs for them to randomly start following them, repeatedly asking, “Are you one of them? You have to be!” or potentially remarking “It’s him!” or “It’s her!” upon seeing V, depending on the character’s gender before uttering a string of 1s and 0s that mean “V” in binary, as pointed out byNo-Engineering-1449.
To make matters worse,V is unable to ignore this kind of junkie NPC once they start following them, as they seem to believe V has been sent to kill them and turn violent, forcing players into conflict to survive.
Two confirmed locations where these NPCs will appear are around The Pyramid, and the basketball court near Luxor Heights, and they will always appear red when scanning, showing a threat even before they approach V.
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Why Do Dogtown’s Junkies Follow V?
Can They See V’s Ties To The Blackwall Or The Relic?
The real question being posed is why these junkies follow V around, who the group they’re accusing V of being a part of is, and why they think V is out to kill them?One theory that would feed more directly intoPhantom Liberty’s main questline is that these junkies have taken something that helps them sense the Blackwall’s presence on V, which could directly be related to the interactions with Songbird.
V has had a considerable amount of interaction with the Blackwall throughoutCyberpunk 2077andPhantom Libertywhich is far beyond what most people experience, so it would make sense that people may begin to notice a toll.It’s clear that in some cases, their seemingly drug-induced actions are directly linked to technology- as is the case with the character speaking in binary - which would further establish this connection to the Blackwall and Songbird.Ze_cringemantheorizes that this may be the reason they ask if V is “one of them,” as they might believe V is some kind of rogue AI from beyond the Blackwall due to Songbird’s presence.
Songbird is able to suppress Johnny Silverhand’s engram on the Relic when wanting to communicate with V from beyond the Blackwall throughoutPhantom Liberty’s campaign.
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There Is A Major New Drug In Dogtown
The Aggressive NPCs Could Be On A New Drug Called Phant
The reason so many junkies seem to be present inPhantom Libertyis due to the expansion introducing a new drug to Night City - or Dogtown, at least - called Phant. Phant isn’t addressed inPhantom Liberty’s main questline, but when exploring Dogtown,Shinjokuroseems to have uncovered the new drug operation surrounding it, sharing their findings to r/FF06B5, a Subreddit dedicated to some ofCyberpunk 2077’s biggest mysteries.
There’s no exact confirmation of where Phant originated from - although there is speculation that it may have come from the USSR alongside Deep Dive - but it is clearly some kind of hallucinogenic with lines like “reality smooths over” or “one whiff and you’re gone (though the world stays)” in the description, and further shards explain that it “stimulates the production of both serotonin and dopamine, affecting the central nervous system and causing irreversible changes to the brain.” Maybe it’s through this extra sense of artificial clarity that the junkie NPCs are able to tell something is off about V, and that is why they either fear them or believe they must kill them.
Either way, the junkie interactions certainly seem out of place compared to most other NPCs inCyberpunk 2077and can be quite a shock for those who aren’t prepared for it. Whether the interactions with V are something special due to their interactions with the Blackwall, the Relic or something else, or if the junkies could see any human as some kind of a threat due to Phant’s hallucinogenic nature is yet to be determined, but the way in which they approach V suggests there may be more than meets the eye.
Sources:Adam-Smasher2077/Reddit,No-Engineering-1449/Reddit,Shinjokuro/Reddit
Cyberpunk 2077
Based on the 1988 tabletop game, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action RPG game set in a dystopian cyber future developed by CD Projekt Red. Players will tackle the streets of Night City as customizable protagonist V, who struggles to keep their memories intact after receiving a strange cybernetic implant that slowly overrides their memories by a deceased celebrity known as Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves.
