The Pickup

The Pickup is a main job in Cyberpunk 2077.

V and their ally Jackie are hired to find and retrieve an experimental military-grade drone - the Flathead - for Dexter DeShawn.

Walkthrough
If you choose to see Meredith Stout before meeting Jackie, you discover that she is in charge of investigating what happened to the ambushed convoy. Stout has detained Anthony Gilchrist under suspicion of leaking corporate information the Maelstrom gang. If you convince Stout to help retrieve the Flathead, she will offer to provde a 10,000 credchip to pay for the bot, although you can refuse to take it. Unbeknownst to you at the time, the chip is infected with malware, but if you have a Corpo background, you can perceive this. At any point after accepting the chip, you can attempt to remove the malware from it.

Either way, you eventually meet up with Jackie at the All Foods Plant where the Maelstrom gang is hiding, and you will briefly discuss the plan together. None of the choices you make at this point make any difference to the way the quest plays out. After entering the hideout, you may decide to immediately begin killing its members, or proceed with a non-violent approach. The choices made after entering the hideout lead to one of four mutually-exclusive endings:


 * 1. A peaceful transaction

This occurs if the following conditions are met:
 * You don't take the chip from Meredith Stout
 * You do not point a weapon at, nor attack any of the Maelstrom gang members after entering their hideout
 * When Jackie refuses to sit down, you ask him to do so
 * You pay Royce with €$10,000 of your own cash

You obtain the Flathead, and are led peacefully from the premises by Dum Dum.


 * 2. Instant death

This occurs if the following conditions are met:
 * You don't take the chip from Meredith Stout
 * You do not point a weapon at, nor attack any of the Maelstrom gang members after entering their hideout
 * When Jackie refuses to sit down, you ask him to do so
 * You either don't have €$10,000 in cash, or take too long to reply to Royce when he asks how you're going to pay

Royce simply shoots you in the head. Game over.


 * 3. Battle with Militech

This occurs if the following conditions are met:
 * You take the chip from Meredith Stout
 * You do not point a weapon at, nor attack any of the Maelstrom gang members after entering their hideout
 * When Jackie refuses to sit down, you ask him to do so
 * You pay Royce either with the chip, after removing the malware, or with your own cash

After what seems like a hassle-free transaction, Militech operatives will enter the hideout and start attacking the Maelstrom gang members. After escaping, Anthony Gilchrist will appear at the end of the mission, acknowledging that they are now even for saving one another's lives.

This occurs in all other cases
 * 4. Battle with Maelstrom

You will have to fight off the Maelstrom members in Royce's office, before you can locate and retrieve the Flathead. You will then have to escape the building, battling Royce as you leave, unless he was already killed, or you manage to sneak past him. Meredith Stout will appear at the end of the mission, and tell you and Jackie that they may be partners again in the future. If you agree, this makes the side job, Venus in Furs available.

In most cases, it is also possible to find and free Brick. Once you're in the clear, it's time to close the deal with DeShawn at the Afterlife.

Journal Entry

 * Know what I like about your run-of-the-mill gangoons? They know what they like. Cash, sex, power... maybe just the sight of their enemies' blood. Real rays of sunshine, they are. But these Maelstrom cabrones... shit, never can be sure. They look at you with those creepy-ass toaster faces and you can't get a read of 'em, got no clue what twisted thoughts are racin' through their processors. You ask me, that's why biz with Maelstrom never turns out pleasant. But... sometimes there's just no gettin' around it. Let's grab that spiderbot, yeah? Make Dex proud.
 * If V meets with Meredith Stout:
 * A Militech corpo-cunt lost an arms shipment, and if she doesn't find it, she'll be paddling up shit-creek with stumps for hands. I'm betting it's not even about the weapons - Militech could lose a tank and it'd make no difference to them. It's about principles. One thing's for damn sure - someone's taking the fall for this.
 * If V fights Militech:
 * Every corp has a Gilchrist. First he steals from them, turns a fat profit on the goods, lies about it, narrowly avoids the chopping block, gets rid of all witnesses, makes someone else take the fall from him, and to top it all off - he gets a promotion. Can't help feeling sorry for the Maelstrom gonks in this scenario... but only a little.
 * If V fights Maelstrom:
 * Turns out Meredith Stout will do anything to stay in the corp's good graces. Unfortunately that means her "colleague" might get demoted... or worse. All in all, Militech recovered their property, putting the Maelstrom freaks in a shittier mood than usual. A day like any other in Night City.

Objectives

 * Call Militech agent Meredith Stout. [Optional]
 * Meet with the Militech agent. [Optional]
 * Talk to the Militech agent. [Optional]
 * Meet with Jackie.
 * Talk to Jackie.
 * Go to the gate of All Foods.
 * Use the intercom.
 * Talk with Maelstrom via the intercom.
 * Get to main production floor of All Foods.
 * If you attack the Maelstromers from the start:
 * Defeat Maelstrom.
 * Enter the elevator with Jackie.
 * Go to Royce's office.
 * If you remain friendly:
 * Get in the elevator.
 * Wait with Jackie in the elevator.
 * Talk to the Maelstromers.
 * Sit on the couch.
 * Talk to the Maelstromers.
 * Take the Flathead.
 * Talk to the Maelstromers.
 * If you didn't take the credit chip from Militech and paid with your own cash:
 * Take the elevator down with Dum Dum.
 * Follow Dum Dum.
 * Leave the premises of All Foods.
 * Follow Jackie.
 * Talk to Jackie.
 * Call Dex.
 * Talk to Dex.
 * If you took the credit chip from Militech and either paid with the chip with the malware removed, or your own cash:
 * Pass through the maintenance tunnel.
 * Turn on the production line to clear passage.
 * Escape from All Foods.
 * Defeat the Militech agents
 * Follow Dum Dum
 * Escape from All Foods.
 * Leave the premises of All Foods.
 * Talk to Anthony Gilchrist
 * Talk to Jackie.
 * Call Dex.
 * Talk to Dex.
 * If you become hostile after meeting Dum Dum:
 * Defeat the Maelstromers.
 * Talk to Jackie.
 * Find the case containing the Flathead.
 * Open the case.
 * Talk to Jackie.
 * Take the Flathead.
 * Pass through the maintenance tunnel.
 * Turn on the production line to clear passage.
 * Escape from All Foods.
 * Sneak past Royce. [Optional]
 * If you fail to sneak past Royce:
 * Defeat Royce and his crew.
 * Escape from All Foods.
 * Leave the premises of All Foods.
 * Talk to Meredith Stout.
 * Talk to Jackie.
 * Call Dex.
 * Talk to Dex.

Trivia

 * Originally, the mission was called "Going Pro" in gameplay previews but was later changed with the game's release.