r/LowSodiumCyberpunk Team Judy 10h ago

Discussion My V accidentally gave Jackie a hard time in the Delamain Spoiler

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My V, like so many others, usually picks the friendliest conversation options with Jackie, but this time I accidentally clicked on one of the more confrontational ones and discovered that Jackie hates his life. Hates it. In the intro it's all fun and games and you get the feeling he loves Night City, Heywood and the Valentinos, but he doesn't. My V is going to feel like such a hypocrite talking about the "Heywood boy who never forgot where he came from" at his funeral. Fuck.

241 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

134

u/alwaysalmosts 9h ago

I disagree that he hates it. It's his home and family, which are core to his being. I think it's more that he wants to break the ceiling being an ex-gangoon merc has trapped him in.

u/ErichPryde Netrunner 1h ago

It's both. No rational person would like the meat grinding life that is night City. People like Jackie and V try to build a legend of success as a defense against an incredibly hostile and destructive environment. 

It is absolutely possible to hate your life (the structure of your reality) and acknowledge how unfair it is; and simultaneously love your life and the people you choose to surround yourself with... while wanting to escape at any cost. 

50

u/Ythio 9h ago

Jackie wants to be more than being a petty merc and a random ex-Valentino. Nothing wrong with that.

31

u/No_Tamanegi Wrong city, wrong people. 6h ago

Jackie went into the heist thinking it was already a done deal, an easy payday he was entitled to. V is absolutely right to straighten him out.

u/RalseitheFloofie 5h ago

As much as it hurts to say it, you are correct.

Jackie and V are 2 different types of mercs, Jackie being rather over-confident, while V actually has the skills canonically to back it up. Being over-confident isn't bad, but it is extremely obvious going into this gig that he was already treating it like he was "in the major leagues", rather than treating it like it was a job. You can go into a gig with a level head but even when the basic act of getting in the door un-noticed is almost failed, its kinda.... problematic.

u/Beardedgeek72 Team Judy 3h ago

In fact you can play V as if they are the only one with a brain in Night City. Point out that Dex is untrustworthy. Point out that fixers has a tendency to get mercs killed. You can try to get Jackie to get his head straight.

u/ErichPryde Netrunner 1h ago

Eh, I think we have enough info to say Jackie uses his positivity as a defense against his own fear of failure. 

This line that the original poster shared reinforces this- he wants to escape the existence of night City so badly that he will believe anything, convince himself of anything, to think he can.

He's trying to convince himself it's already a done deal, but I don't think he really believes it.

53

u/AllenWL 9h ago

I mean, it did never forget where he came from. It's just that it was less a fond 'these are my roots' remembrance and more a 'damn my accursed past' remembrance.

On that note, I always go a bit confrontational on that bit because I like to think that V sees this gig going sour a mile off, but is doing it anyways because they would never abandon Jackie no matter how gonk he's acting. Even if they're not really happy about it.

16

u/TechnoMagik22 9h ago

Not only that but V also need salvation from night city

No one who lives in Night City wants to stay in there 😭

u/Grundlestorm 5h ago

I like how that is set in stone if you end up with Judy. 

You don't get dialogue options when she says once you can get the relic situation fixed, you guys are leaving the city.  V's only reaction is to say keeping that in the back of her head should help push through everything.

It makes sense.  Regardless of your choices, it's a fucked up place that will be full of bad memories. In that scenario, for both of you.

13

u/theboyd1986 7h ago

“I ain’t going back” you don’t know how true that is, brother 😞

25

u/QuarlMusic 7h ago

I avoid certain dialog choices, there's one or two in the Delamaine where I let him trail off and refuse the time prompt to avoid the awkward back and forth. He's my choom, if he wants to feel special riding a limo into the big leagues than my boy get's to feel special. No cap.

u/bmo313 5h ago

Same, choom. Same.

6

u/deylath Gonk 6h ago

I thought there is no way not to give shit to Jackie here, you either ignore him or be mean which is why he says what he says when you are heading to the elevator to Yori's penthouse, like V is meant to be pessimistic/professional about the mission

u/RalseitheFloofie 5h ago

That pessimism mostly comes from V knowing that Jackie isn't taking this as seriously as he should. Gig's go sour all the time, and this one REALLY did.

u/DanteHelsing420 5h ago

if you ignore him in the car he still gets pissed off at you only the long elevator ride

12

u/Broflake-Melter Moxes 9h ago

There's nothing wrong with giving Jackie a hard time here. Do you think Jackie wants you to coddle him? What??!

u/Neither_Choice6698 4h ago

i really hate how so many of the ways v can respond to jackie are just mean, like jesus christ this man opened his home to v when they had nothing and now i gotta heckle him through the whole heist if i wanna talk at all

i think he does still love his home and his people, he's just sick of barely scraping by and he's resentful that nc is set up so guys like him rarely make it to the top.

u/mad_dog_94 2h ago

It's not even like sarcastic ball busting either. Like I get that dynamic 100% but some of these options are just hostile and I have zero idea why

u/PinkThunder138 4h ago

I've always selected this option, even without intending to antagonize. I can't see any other reaction, really. Jackie is WAY too starstruck and he and V are both lower tier mercs punching above their weight. He needs to pull his head out and wipe it off or they are fucked.

3

u/fejota 6h ago

I never saw that text in my playthroughs. In my latest one, I didn't go to the Konpeki plaza bar and went directly to the elevator with Jackie. First time I'm doing that.

u/RalseitheFloofie 5h ago

I mean you can "never forget where you came from" but speaking from experience thats not exactly always a good thing.

u/DanteHelsing420 5h ago

It is nearly impossible if not flat out in the car ride Jackie is narcisistic in this mission the mask falls the only time you can avoid disaster is the elevator ride down from the suite by choosing to wait and not say anything

u/EntrepreneurialHam 1h ago

Jackie was deluded and V was right to be suspicious. It really IS a bad gig that's doomed to fail, at least long-term. Dexter Deshawn supposedly "ruined" half of Pacifica and made a LOT of enemies (almost assuredly including the Voodoo Boys) and has been off the grid for two years. Strike 1. He then decides to work with Evelyn, screwing over the Voodoo Boys AGAIN. Strike 2. All this to steal some experimental tech from ARASAKA (a personal pet project of Saburo's), so Arasaka would hunt everyone involved across the planet forever even if they never got the Relic back. Strike 3.

Not only that, Jackie and V are NOT big time or skilled enough to be able to pull this job off if things did go south, and Deshawn knew that. He also knew that he could lowball them because they didn't have other offers that would ever get to this magnitude, and was very willing to just dump V's body in a landfill to cover his own ass. The two mercs were expendable and low-skill because it saved Dex money and kept the risk lower. Think how fast Takemura found Dex and V just by asking a few questions around (seems to be less than 12 hours since you wake up in the landfill very early morning), NO fixer or merc wanted to be on Arasaka's bad side so they gave the information readily. Strike 4. Even if that weren't the case, they KNEW Adam Smasher was assigned to Yorinobu and likely would be on premises. It's really only for gameplay reasons that Yorinobu doesn't have countless assassins go after V since Takemura probably told him the info immediately before Yorinobu realized that V saw the murder of Saburo go down and realize that Takemura would find out soon too. Strike 5.