Songbird
| Songbird | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type | Side Character |
| Name | Song So Mi |
| Affiliation | FIA, NUSA |
| DLC | Phantom Liberty |
Songbird, whose real name is Song So Mi, is a netrunner of the FIA, the intelligence agency of the New United States, and the right hand of President Rosalind Myers. She is one of the most gifted netrunners alive and among her country's most valuable agents. Her trips through the Blackwall are slowly killing her, and her search for a cure drives the story of Phantom Liberty. She speaks to V through the Relic, much as Johnny Silverhand does.
Biography
The Freelancer
Song grew up in New York with her mother. As a young teenager she talked a local ripperdoc into selling her a worn-out cyberdeck, and from then on she spent every free moment in the net. She took the riskiest gigs she could find, jobs others called well paid but suicidal, and corporate data fortresses opened before her as if they were not locked. She worked alone and spent every eddie on better gear and wilder fun, and she soon became a living legend of the trade.
Her breach of a Militech data fortress brought her to the attention of NetWatch and the FIA. Militech wanted her dead, but agent Solomon Reed argued for recruiting her instead. Song swore an oath to President Myers and received the code name Songbird. In return for the agency's secret technology and protection, she had to learn two things she had never known: following orders and working in a team. Her old life was officially ended, and a gravestone in New York bears her name.
The Agent
Songbird became Reed's student and protégé, and with him and the agent Alex she served on missions across the Americas. During the Unification War, she worked undercover in Night City. At the end of the war, she arranged Reed's escape from the city on a maglev train, and on the President's orders she also arranged the attack that nearly killed him, as the price of a ceasefire with Arasaka.
In the years that followed, Myers sent her through the Blackwall again and again. Each crossing took a toll, and she needed more and more cyberware to survive. She describes it as slowly losing a part of herself to something else.
Dogtown
Dying, Songbird decides to escape the President and find a cure. She makes a deal with Kurt Hansen, the warlord of Dogtown: she will deliver Myers as a hostage in exchange for a neural matrix that could save her. When Space Force One, the President's space plane, is forced down over Dogtown, she reaches V through the Relic and asks the merc to save the President, promising a cure for the Relic in return. When Hansen double-crosses her, V, Reed and Alex rescue her, and the truth about her bargain slowly comes out.
Songbird Map
The map shows the places of the story of Songbird: Dogtown and Black Sapphire.
Songbird map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Personality
Songbird is brilliant, proud and fiercely independent. She once loved freedom, fun and risk, and her service to the state took all of it away. She is tired, frightened and desperate to live, and she is willing to lie and use others to save herself. She also feels real guilt for the people she has hurt, Reed above all.
Relationships
Solomon Reed is her mentor and something like a father to her. Rosalind Myers is the President she serves and wants to escape. Alex is a fellow agent and friend. Kurt Hansen is the warlord she bargains with and who betrays her. V is the merc she pulls into her plans through the Relic.
Jobs
Songbird's story runs from Dog Eat Dog and Hole in the Sky through Lucretia My Reflection and You Know My Name to Firestarter, where V must decide whether to help her or hand her over. The Killing Moon and Somewhat Damaged follow the two paths.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| Dog Eat Dog | Main Job |
| Hole in the Sky | Main Job |
| Lucretia My Reflection | Main Job |
| Get It Together | Main Job |
| You Know My Name | Main Job |
| Birds with Broken Wings | Main Job |
| Firestarter | Main Job |
| The Killing Moon | Main Job |
| Somewhat Damaged | Main Job |
Endings
In Firestarter, V must decide whether to help Songbird flee or to hand her over to Reed. If V sides with her, they fight through Dogtown to the spaceport, where Reed is waiting. V can help her escape on a shuttle to the Moon, or change sides at the last moment and hand her over.
If V sides with Reed, they track her down in the abandoned Cynosure facility. Her mind is badly damaged, and she becomes the FIA's tool once more. V can also let her die there. In the ending where the FIA takes her, V receives the treatment that removes the Relic.
Notes
Songbird speaks to V through the Relic, much as Johnny Silverhand does. The choice in Firestarter splits the ending of Phantom Liberty.
All Side Characters