Judy Álvarez

Judy Álvarez is a skilled braindance technician and a member of The Mox. She is a possible romance option for V in.

Childhood
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. 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. Her grandmother was temperamental, something Judy herself seems to have 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 the town.

In 2057, Judy hid Jenni Chapman's doll as she thought only losers played with dolls. 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. Judy sometimes visited her town's church, a building she always thought looked old and out of place, not because she believed in God, but because it was just there. Once, she sneaked 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 run away. Judy thought it was all the guilt she felt for having a crush on Jenni, so when she screamed it out, it flew right back at her.

When the area around Laguna Bend was bought out by NC Dam Ltd. some time around 2062, the residents were forced to vacate it since the region would be converted into a reservoir. Judy and her grandparents moved into a rental apartment in Night City, but her grandparents hated the city and left after two years. 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 and for illegal use of property belonging to the fire department. In reality, Judy did not steal the truck 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. 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. Realizing that the woman didn't believe her either, Judy dropped the conversation.

2070s
Judy worked as a technician at Clouds for a time. There she met Maiko Maeda, whom she entered into a relationship with. Judy also helped Maiko to 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, as she thought they could improve the people's life in the city for the better. She installed her equipment on the bar's basement on behalf of Susie "Q", the Mox leader. It was at Lizzie's where Judy met Evelyn Parker, whom she would eventually become her best friend. Some time later, Evelyn left the Moxes and became a doll at Clouds, though Judy and her would still maintain contact with each other.

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 began to be jealous of how much time Maiko spent around other girls at Clouds, eventually commenting it with her, but got over it hoping to spend some interesting time with Maiko later that day. 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. She 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 chew and spited 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. For Judy it was over and at some point later she 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 escalate too quickly and maybe it was just a misunderstanding. That things didn't have to end that way, at least not so sudden. 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 Makio 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 could need them. As for her ex-girlfriends clothes, since they were dangerously expansive, Judy stated she would rather burn them.

After a long time since her last talk, Evelyn contacted Judy, asking if she was still cooped on 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 tiny 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 and V's 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 planing 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.

Database Entry

 * One of braindance's most gifted editors and a skilled techie. If she wanted to, she could get hired at any corpo entertainment studio and make bank, but Judy values her independence too much to sell out - she rejects every offer that comes her way. Her anarchist spirit drew her to the Mox in the hope that they could improve the lives of people in Night City. Her biggest flaw is that she can't keep her mouth shut in the face of injustice - something that always gets her in trouble. For some, though, it's her greatest virtue.

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

Across her multiple quests, both characters can become closer. V just needs to be understanding, and help her when she needs it, but it is possible to refuse some of her propositions without any consequence. As an example, it's not necessary to kill Woodman during Ex-Factor.

Eventually, V will be part of a plan to make Clouds independent from the Tyger Claws. During Pisces, when Maiko Maeda reveals her plans to the Tyger Claw bosses, V has different options to deal with the outcome. To be able to romance Judy V must follow their initial plan, or agree with Maiko's scheme without later accepting her money. If V follows Judy's plan, at the end of the quest she will kiss V on the check, but this is not mandatory for a viable romance.

If the quest ended with a good relation between the two, some days later Judy will call V to meet at Laguna Bend, starting the quest Pyramid Song. At the lake both will explore the underwater ruins of Judy's hometown. Once back on the surface, if V agrees to spend the night at the house, Judy will eventually lock herself up in the bathroom. After V enters and sits at her side, Judy will reveal how things ended up with Clouds and the dolls. If done right, Judy will say that she only wanted that day to be special for both of them. V can accept her advances, comfort her, or lean away. If choosing the "comfort" option, another opportunity will appear with the following dialogue. Afterwards a cinematic will play with Judy and V making love. Next morning, V can find Judy on the pier outside the house. During the dialogue Judy will ask what that night meant to V. The player can decide it meant "The beginning of something amazing" or just "A pleasant distraction". The second option will make Judy angry and she will leave right away. She will also remove V from her contacts some time later, and leave Night City. The first option will make both characters enter into a romantic relationship. This option will also make Judy stay in Night City until V is done with her business.

Main Quests

 * 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 Quests

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