Judy Álvarez

Judy Álvarez is a skilled braindance techie and a member of the Mox. She has her own apartment in northeastern Kabuki, Watson District.

Judy is a possible romance option for V in.

Early Life
Judy was born in Laguna Bend, a small town in the rural outskirts of Night City. Her father was never around, and her mother died when she was just a child. She still has a photo of her, but can barely remember her mother anymore. Judy was raised instead by her grandparents. Her grandfather was a techie and taught her all that she knows. She also loved to hear the stories he told. Ainara, her grandmother, was temperamental, something Judy herself seemingly inherited.

While growing up in her hometown, Judy used to hang out with the other kids, sometimes playing street hockey on rollerblades or "MaxTac and psychos", though they often mocked her for not having her parents around and being poor. She also liked to eat the burgers of Flo's Diner, the only eatery in her town.

Around 2057, Judy hid Jenni Chapman's doll as she thought that only losers played with them. What Judy really wanted, though, was for Jenni to notice her, and she proposed to help her find the missing doll. In the end neither of those things occurred.

Despite not being religious, Judy sometimes visited her town's church - a building she always thought looked old and out of place - simply because it was just there. Once, she snuck inside of it when no one was around and stood at the altar, wondering what went through the priest's mind when he looked at the people, asking herself how he could read their minds and know everything about them. She then screamed at the top of her lungs to check the acoustics of the building, but when the echo returned, it scared her and she ran away. Judy thought it was all the guilt she felt for having a crush on Jenni, and after screaming it out, it had bounced back to her.

2060s
When the area of Laguna Bend was bought out by NC Dam Ltd. some time around 2062, the residents were forced to vacate as the corporation had plans to transform the region into a reservoir. Although there were protests in the months that followed, the residents were eventually outed from their homes. Judy and her grandparents moved into a rental apartment in Night City, but her grandparents hated the metropolis and left a couple of years later. They moved further north to Oregon while Judy stayed and made the apartment her own.

When Judy was sixteen years old, she was convicted and detained for stealing a fire truck. In reality, Judy had not stolen it but instead found it abandoned in a scrapyard. She decided to fix it up - which took her half a year - and then the police busted her on her first ride. They did not believe Judy and proceeded to detain her. Many years later, Judy tried to get some kind of compensation for what she thought was "an unlawful juvenile arrest." She contacted a lawyer in hopes she could help her win a compensation from the City Council, but she dismissed Judy stating it was something very difficult to achieve and not worth the trouble. Thinking that the woman didn't believe her either, Judy dropped the case.

2070s
Judy worked as a braindance technician at Clouds for a time. There she met most of the dolls, including Evelyn Parker, Tom Caldera, and Maiko Maeda, the latter with whom she eventually begun a relationship. Judy also helped Maiko jump up the ranks by tweaking the stats on her doll-chip, not only to help her but also hoping things would change for the better for both of them.

At some point, Judy left Clouds and found work at Lizzie's Bar as a braindance technician and editor, joining the Mox in the process. She thought they could improve the lives of the people in Night City for the better. Judy installed her equipment on the bar's basement on behalf of Susie "Q", the Mox leader. While working at Lizzie's, Judy maintained contact with the dolls at Clouds, especially with Evelyn - whom she had become her best friend - and Maiko.

Since Maiko's promotion, Judy's relationship with her had started to become more difficult, but still she visited her girlfriend at her office in Clouds whenever she could. Judy was jealous of how much time Maiko spent around other girls at Clouds, and one day she finally mentioned it to Maiko, but got over it hoping to spend some interesting time with Maiko later. First though, Judy had to attend the anniversary of Lizzie Borden's death and the Moxes creation.

One day, when Judy was trying to get into Maiko's office the security didn't let her. After going home, Judy messaged her girlfriend and told her about it. Maiko tried to excuse herself saying it was due to "procedures", but Judy knew it was her call since the security had contacted her right before that. Maiko asked Judy to cool down, as this could mean trouble for her, stating she had to keep up some semblance of professionalism, and didn't want to lose her position after how much she had endured to be there. This caused an argument between the two in which Judy said that things were as bad as before, but not for Maiko as she was doing just fine. Maiko responded that she was doing it for them both, that she was thinking about their future together, and didn't understand why that made Judy so angry. Judy realized that their perspectives on the world had changed, and she had been left behind. Maiko was just looking for more power and Judy was ashamed she hadn't noticed sooner. Judy simply hoped that when Night City chewed up and spit Maiko out, she would still have something of her old self left. Some time after the argument, Maiko asked Judy to give her time to think about everything, and to give herself time to cool down, but for Judy it was over.

Some time later, Judy asked Maiko to go to her apartment and take back her clothes, something Maiko didn't care about and asked Judy to get rid of them. Despite this, Maiko wanted to go to Judy's apartment to talk things out, as she felt everything had escalated too quickly and maybe it was just a misunderstanding and that things didn't have to end that way, at least not so suddenly. Judy didn't buy it. There was nothing else to talk about, stating Maiko was doing what she always did - buttering her with promises she didn't actually wanted to keep. Judy said she would simply leave her clothes on front of the apartment's door, and would not open it if Maiko tried to knock. An angered Maiko answered Judy could toss her clothes out of the window if she wanted, as she didn't care and would not visit her. Judy sarcastically replied it was nice Maiko could afford to toss her clothes, and if any of hers were on Maiko's place she could leave them on the street for people who needed them. As for her ex-girlfriends clothes, since they were expensive, Judy stated she would rather burn them.

2077
After a long time since her last talk, Evelyn contacted Judy, asking if she was still cooped in Susie "Q"'s basement and if she was still dating Maiko. Judy told her one of those things was still true. Parker had messaged her because she needed help with a small but important favor. She needed to have a virtu scrolled, and knew Judy was the best. In exchange, she promised her a life free of work where Judy could just focus on her art. Evelyn asked to at least meet, and wondered where she could find her. Judy simply answered "in Susie Q's basement".

Some time after Evelyn had explained what she needed from Judy, the two had some drinks at Lizzie's Bar while waiting for Evelyn's contact to appear. Once they did, Judy finished her drink and went back to the basement. Later, Evelyn appeared with her contact and introduced V to her friend. Judy helped V to tune up for a braindance and showed them how to edit it. Afterwards they proceeded to scroll Evelyn's recording to find her objective. Once done, Judy gave V the portable device they had used for the scrolling, as it already had V's profile and in case someone could trace its use to her. She also commented that whatever it was Evelyn and V were planning to do it would kill them both, expressing she didn't want to have any trouble for helping them. Evelyn reassured Judy that there would be none.

The failed heist V and Evelyn were involved in had disastrous consequences for Evelyn, who would be cyber-attacked, raped, and eventually sold to Scavengers. Although V and Judy were able to locate and rescue Evelyn, she committed suicide in Judy's bath tub, the burden of the trauma she experienced having been too much to bare. Judy immediately contacted V, who came and helped her move Evelyn onto Judy's bed so that the police would pick her up in a more dignified location. Judy then asks V to confront (and optionally kill) her rapist Oswald Forrest, henchman of the Tyger Claws and manager of Clouds.

Soon after, Judy asked V to join her in her apartment to have pizza and discuss a plan with Clouds dolls Tom and Roxanne as well as Maiko to kill Hiromi Sato and take over the Clouds from the Tyger Claws. As V and Maiko subsequently confronted Hiromi and his Tyger bosses, Jun Azegami and Marcus Ichida, Maiko, who had been playing a double game, proposed a new deal: Taking over the Clouds herself under Tyger Claw protection by ousting Hiromi.


 * Jun kills Hiromi himself, giving the Clouds to Maiko. Judy will be furious, immediately leave, and even delete V from her contacts.


 * Jun kills Hiromi himself, giving the Clouds to Maiko. Judy will be disappointed by Maiko and V, but happy that the latter did not accept the bribe. V can eventually convince her that this arrangement is the safest outcome for Clouds and the Dolls.


 * V will be forced to take down Hiromi and the Tyger bosses. Maiko will be upset and wants to attack V. If Maiko is killed, Judy will be shocked by the news and leaves quickly, saying that she needs to cool down (which she will). If Maiko is kept alive, either by non-lethal takedown or by talking her out of attacking, Judy will be disappointed by Maiko's double play but very grateful to V. If V is female, this outcome will cause Judy to bid goodbye with a kiss.

Unless V accepted Maiko's bribe, Judy will invite V to meet outside the city at an abandoned lake dwelling the following day. She takes V on a dive to Laguna Bend, the now-flooded town she grew up in. She also links their neural tracks to record a dual-perspective-braindance. V passes out during the dive, but Judy gets them both back up safely. Judy got scared for V's life for a moment but is visibly relieved as V regains consciousness and thanks her for saving their life. Later, Judy locks herself in the bathroom after receiving news that A) some Tyger Claws took vengeance for Hiromi and attacked the Clouds, killing Tom and causing the house to be closed until further notice (if Maiko's deal in Pisces was rejected) or B) nothing changed for the better at Clouds under Maiko's new rule (if Maiko's deal was accepted). V comes in and comforts her.


 * During their brief conversation, V will get two chances to kiss Judy. Doing so will initiate the romance story path (see Romancing Judy).


 * Judy leaves the bathroom and immediately goes to bed. She will have coffee by the lake with V in the morning to explain that she will leave Night City and then gives V access to her now vacant apartment. Some time later, she will send V a text message with a photo of Seattle (see gallery below), explaining that she is continuing her journey after having visited her parents in Oregon. During the end credits a video message by Judy will play, showing her by a camp fire, thanking V for everything and then urging them to also leave Night City and never look back. If the player follows the advice by Johnny Silverhand, who got annoyed with Judy's illogical behavior, and already leaves while Judy is sleeping in the house by the lake, she will not return to her apartment, simply disappear, and even remove V from her contacts.

Romance
Judy is a potential romance option. V needs to have the feminine body type and a female voice.

A slow start
Although Evelyn introduces V to Judy already during The Information, she remains distant and somewhat untrusting until V helps her to rescue Evelyn in Double Life. Some time later Both Sides, Now is initiated as a shocked Judy calls V, asking to come to her place immediately as Evelyn committed suicide. Tragically, it is not until this event that Judy begins to show some affection towards V, mentioning that she is actually glad V now has Evelyn's old smoke case. V can help Judy more by taking revenge for Evelyn and confronting (and optionally killing) Woodman during Ex-Factor and choose to stay the night on Judy's couch after a relic malfunction during Talkin' 'bout a Revolution. Judy texts V the next day, asking if things are better and saying that she had a great time the previous night thanks to V.

However, up until the following mission, Pisces, none of the optional mission objectives and dialog choices mentioned above are relevant to romance Judy. Even alienating Judy by killing Maiko or accepting her deal (but not her bribe) at the end of Pisces will still unlock Pyramid Song and retain the romantic option (see Biography). However, it is only by rejecting Maiko's deal while also keeping her alive that Judy will reward V (only female) with a goodbye kiss at the end of Pisces.

Romancing Judy
Judy can be fully romanced during Pyramid Song (see above). While several flirtatious remarks are possible earlier in the mission, e.g., about how good Judy looks in her diving gear, the key scene is when V comforts her in the bathroom and Judy says that she wanted this to be "just our day" (only for female V).


 * This will cause the mission to play out the same way as for a male V, i.e., Judy immediately goes to sleep (see Biography).


 * V will get two chances to touch or kiss Judy. Doing so will result in Judy taking V's hand, leading her to the bed, and them having sex. Next morning, V can find Judy on the pier outside the house. During the dialogue Judy will ask what that night meant to V; replying with "a pleasant distraction" will cause Judy to be very upset, leave immediately, never return to her apartment, and even delete V from her contacts. Answering instead with "the beginning of something amazing" will make Judy sarcastically remark that V ruined her plans of leaving Night City, as now... she has to stay. She also gives V access to her apartment, adding that she does not necessarily have to move in, but stop by whenever V feels like it.

After this, Judy can be found in her apartment for the remainder of the game, greeting V with "I was just thinking of you. And before you ask - no, you weren't wearing clothes." V can ask Judy about making braindances, becoming a techie, and news from the Mox. Depending on the player's progress, Judy will also ask about what happened in Japantown during Play It Safe. If V expresses her frustration of not having more time to spend with Judy, she will reply "Quality over quantity, V. Just focus on tying up all your loose ends - then you and I are leaving this city once and for all". Moreover, Judy will occasionally send V affectionate text messages. This includes an enhanced photo from the Braindance she is making based on their joint diving adventure to Laguna Bend (see gallery below) as well a message that she left a surprise in V's apartment, which turns out to be a few ChroManticore Carnival drinks and a Calavera Feliz arranged in a heart-shape on the floor (see gallery below). Judy will also send a heads-up that her protective grandmother Ainara will write to find out more about V as a partner for her "Ranita" ("little frog", Judy's nickname). Giving the ideal answers (being polite, honest and serious about Judy) will prompt Ainara to respond that she likes and trusts V and offers to call her "abuela" ("Grandma"). However, giving the worst possible answers or even blocking her will not affect V's and Judy's romance.

Endings
If V has romanced Judy and chooses to contact her to say goodbye at the end of the mission Nocturne Op55N1, two different endings with her as romantic partner are possible, but only one allows you to maintain the relationship:


 * Opting for "The Star" ending (asking Panam for help, which requires completing Queen of the Highway), will result in V and Judy being reunited during All Along the Watchtower and leave Night City together with the Aldecaldos. During the end credits, a video message is then played in which Judy is in her underwear while an unaware V is making breakfast in the background. Judy says that she gets mushy when it comes to sharing feelings but then confesses that she is happy for the first time in her life. The message ends with Judy blowing a kiss at the camera.


 * Opting for "The Sun" ending (choosing (Don't Fear) The Reaper or asking Rogue for help, which requires completing Blistering Love), will result in V waking up in bed in the penthouse together with Judy at the beginning of Path of Glory, a few months after Nocturne Op55N1. After giving Judy a good morning kiss, she will be joined by her in the shower. However, Judy knows something is wrong, that V's time is running out and she worries about their relationship. On the balcony, Judy confesses that she feels alone in the anonymous city and needs to ditch it. She realizes that while she does still not feel like belonging anywhere, V is now a legend of the Afterlife and needs to do "one last job", quite possibly without return. She offers to help, but V needs to do it on her own, which makes them realize that they have to part ways. V promises that Judy will hear about it, should the job succeed. In her video message during the end credits, Judy says that she decided to finally leave Night City, realizing the city gives you only two choices: "Become an asshole or get offed by one." She hopes V will find an alternative and bids a final farewell saying that it is a shame things had to end this way.

Main Jobs

 * The Information
 * Automatic Love
 * The Space in Between
 * Disasterpiece
 * Double Life
 * Nocturne Op55N1 (dependent)
 * All Along the Watchtower (dependent)
 * Path of Glory (dependent)
 * Where is My Mind? (dependent)

Side Jobs

 * Both Sides, Now
 * Ex-Factor
 * Talkin' 'bout a Revolution
 * Pisces
 * Pyramid Song

Associated Shards

 * Braindances - concepts
 * Relive.it - Braindance Quarterly

Trivia

 * The thirteen tattoo on Judy's left arm is likely a reference to "Las Trece Rosas."
 * When asked if Judy and Evelyn are dating, Quest Director Paweł Sasko said that it was hinted at but intentionally kept vague for fan interpretation.