For Myers, the NUSA... I'm just another weapon in their arsenal. A tool for reachin' beyond the Blackwall. And weapons and tools? They don't get to make decisions or choose to retire.
— So Mi to V, Birds with Broken Wings
Song So Mi (송소미), more commonly known by her pseudonym Songbird, is a major character in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
Overview[]
Songbird is an exceedingly talented netrunner who works as an intelligence analyst for the NUSA.[3] She is also the right hand of President Rosalind Myers. Her talent makes her one of the most valuable assets of the NUSA government to protect the country's precarious position.[6]
Appearance[]
So Mi's top-of-the-line Militech cyberware makes deep plunges into the Net possible without the need of an ice bath or a skull jack. From the front, the top-grade sytnhskin doesn't betray the neat array of glistering chrome and bright yellow wires that snake up her arms and spine — but the back gives a proper glimpse of the netrunning power that courses through her body.
— Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Official Cosplay Guide
So Mi is a netrunner of Korean descent, with a height of approximately 5'4-5.[7] Her hair color varies on appearance, it's either magenta with orange highlights, or just magenta. She has brown eyes with red eye shadow. She can be seen wearing a unique EMP Threading cyberware pattern on her face.[3]
Song has a body modification made by Militech, similar to Tier 5 technology used by elite netrunners, which allows her to function as self-dependent netrunning station. Her appearance through the Relic shows a glimpse of her past and presents her in custom colored netrunner suit with red to black ombré from top to bottom, and a custom new variant of the denim jacket without two belts on her left sleeve. The jacket is gray-to-black gradient with a patch, four pins, one of which has the Samurai logo, and has a skeletal rib cage decal on the back. Her accessory of choice is a belt with studs to support her cyberdeck. To finish the outfit, she wears untied high-tops shoes. Over all appearance points at rocker fashion. This appearance is not heavily modified, however a netrunning port can be visible on the back of her head.[3]
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Song So Mi was born on December 29th, 2045. She grew up in New York City alongside her mother, with no mention of a father.[1][8] Around the age of 13, So Mi convinced a local ripperdoc to sell her an old, worn-out cyberdeck. Ever since she was always diving onto the Net.[9]
2060s - 2069[]
During her teenage years, So Mi lived in an apartment in Brooklyn, NYC. During that time, she had a few friends and a boyfriend named Lucas.[8] Song used to search for out-of-the-way places where she could jack in and steal her way into the Net. She also picked up the riskiest gigs she could find, improving her netrunner abilities along the way, and despite her unsuccessful results, from time to time she managed to pull off some of those gigs. In 2063 or 2064, she hacked a Biotechnica fermentation facility in Oregon.[9]
At the age of 19, So Mi caught the attention of the FIA after breaching a Militech datafort by using their base in Ankara as a proxy. NetWatch eventually caught her, though she barely managed to escape. Militech mapped her signal at the last second, and despite the plans to flatline her, FIA Agent Solomon Reed spoke against it, instead proposing to recruit her.[1][10] Reed was sent to New York with that task in mind, though Song declined his offer. To convince her, Reed mentioned that after the stunt she had tried to pull, NetWatch would not only target her, but the people she cared for as well; as such, only he and the FIA could avoid that outcome. Song took that as blackmail, and despite her initial refusal, she eventually accepted. The young netrunner left her old life behind and departed from Brooklyn with Reed.[8] On their way out of the city, So Mi did not look sad but refused to look back at her home, saying that Reed had seemingly saved her life. Solomon knew she did not believe those words.[11]
At some point afterwards, So Mi swore the NUSA oath to President Rosalind Myers, officially becoming an FIA agent.[8] She was given the codename Songbird,[12] and became Reed's trainee and protégé.[13] Shortly after these events, Song So Mi was publicly declared deceased and a gravestone was set at Calvary in New York City.[14]
Songbird's first mission was in Colombia alongside fellow agents Reed and Alex.[1] Once the assignment was completed, President Myers granted So Mi with a badge of honor as a reward. Song gave the medal to a homeless man on the street, who proceeded to pin it on his jacket and ask for spare change.[11]
So Mi, Reed and Alex went to visit her grave in New York City once. They laid some flowers and poured whiskey over it.[14]
Over the years, Songbird's talent cemented her position as President Myer's right hand.[4]
Unification War (2069 - 2070)[]
During the Unification War, Reed, Songbird, among other FIA agents were sent undercover to Night City. They were present during Kurt Hansen's mission in Pacifica. Song had an apartment not far from Tranquil Terrace in Serenisands. She often spent her time on one of the terraces, observing the city and its people from a viewpoint, and cherishing the memories of her old home in Brooklyn.[1]
In 2070, during the end the war, So Mi and Reed had their last mission to neutralize Murata Ozuru, an admiral of the Arasaka Corporation. Before they could proceed with their assignment, President Myers called them off and to return to the NUSA. Over the course of the dismantling of the FIA operations in Night City, three agents were murdered.
On their last day in NC, to the surprise of Reed and So Mi, Ozaru and his family were killed in an AV sabotage. Despite the circumstances, Reed decided to proceed with evacuating the last FIA agent remaining in NC, Jonas Collinson. So Mi told him that Jonas would not think twice about abandoning them, to which Reed replied not to worry about it. Before leaving, So Mi told him that if he needed anything, he should contact her before she left the city as well. She also told him to remember that honor did not exist in Night City. Reed told her she was probably right.
After helping Jonas leave NC, Solomon was left with no plan to leave the city. As such, he contacted So Mi, sending her his coordinates in hopes she would find a way out. She eventually provided him with an escape plan.[15]
After finding a high vantage point, Solomon jumped onto a maglev train that was going towards Southern California, following So Mi's plan with full confidence. Once safely inside the train, Reed asked his friend about her own plans to ditch the city, to which she replied that the NUSA government was already signing the end of the war. This prompted Solomon to state with a smile that she was the President's favorite, and she deserved the easy way out of Night City since after all, she had saved his life. Following a small banter about quesadillas, Solomon mentioned to her that there was a passenger carrying a gun, though So Mi did not answer back. Thinking he had been made out, Reed tried to exit the train car, only to find out it was shut close. Although she had initially hesitated to do so, and was affected by the decision, So Mi betrayed her mentor by locking the door, trapping Solomon with a bunch of gangoons and Arasaka troopers that dealt with him.[15][16]
2071 - 2076[]
During the next years, So Mi continued to work under President Myers, carrying on her job as a netrunner for the Union.[16] Myers ordered Songbird to breach the Blackwall multiple times, causing a toll on So Mi's life which forced her to increase the cyberware she had. She explains that it feels like slowly losing a part of herself, being taken over by something else.
On December the 22nd of 2076, NetWatch managed to detect an attempt to breach the Blackwall, though they did not figure out it was Songbird.[1]
2077[]
By 2077, So Mi's body had deteriorated significantly from breaching the Blackwall, to the point that she was dying. Facing death, she decided to find a cure and escape from Myers' grasp. So Mi made a deal with Hansen who had the neutral matrix that could cure her, in exchange for Myers as a hostage.
President Myers, Songbird, and nine more crewmembers were traveling above the Californian coast on the Space Force One. While Myers and So Mi were talking, a missile struck the spaceplane's wing, forcing it to go down.[16] Additionally, communications had been jammed and the spacecraft was being hacked, with its trajectory directly towards Night City's Dogtown. Songbird managed to contact a merc in Night City called V thanks to the Relic they possessed. She told them that aboard the spaceplane was the President of the New United States, and it was very likely it would crash in Night City. Convincing V to help them by revealing a potential solution for their problem, Songbird guided the merc into the EBM Petrochem Stadium, from where they would get a good view of the situation.[9] Unexpectedly, Hansen had plans to kill Myers, choosing to shoot down the plane instead of grounding it. Shortly after getting on the top of the stadium, another missile struck into the plane, cutting all communications and killing all nine crewmembers. So Mi got President Myers into the spaceplane's saferoom, knowing she would survive the crash. So Mi herself barely managed to get into the emergency lifepod, and after passing right above the stadium, the lifepod got ejected, falling on the eastern side of Dogtown, while the Space Force One crashed-landed on the western side.[17]
After surviving the landing, So Mi guided V to rescue Myers from the crash site.[17] During this event, she hacks onto a decommissioned Chimera to protect V and Myers, where she would be disabled and captured by Hansen.
Myers employs V and Reed to rescue Songbird, which eventually was revealed to be partnered with Hansen who Songbird plans to betray in order to steal a Blackwall AI housed in a neural matrix, found in an underground Militech bunker. Knowing full well that Hansen would kill her once he had the data, So Mi made plans to escape.
Phantom Liberty Endings[]
If V decides to help Songbird and betrays Reed:
- V and So Mi escaped from the stadium by going through the building's sewers. After a few days, a weakened Songbird contacted the merc in order to meet her in an alley in Night City's Downtown. Prior to the merc's arrival, So Mi recorded a message for V, thanking them for their help and fully knowing she can trust them. She tossed this message in a nearby bin for V to find some time in the future. Once the merc arrived, she explained her plan to board a shuttle which departed from NCX Spaceport for the Lunar colony of Tycho. There she would meet her contacts and proceed with the surgery to save her life, and afterwards she would contact V for their turn. To accomplish this, both infiltrate the spaceport but are followed by the FIA. Soon after the NUSA's black ops attack NCX in order to kill So Mi and prevent her escape. At one point, V can ask So Mi about who is helping her reach the Moon. She reveals she doesn't know them, but they have distinct blue eyes.
- V and So Mi finally reach the monorail that will bring them to the shuttle. In a weakened state, So Mi reminisces about her betrayal of Reed seven years prior, prompting her to confess that she has done the same to V, as the neural matrix housing the AI from beyond the Blackwall can only be used once.
- If V decides to give Songbird to Reed:
- V carries a weakened So Mi before encountering Reed. Since they can capture her alive, Reed tells V they won't execute her. V surrenders the netrunner to him, who says she will get a treatment that will save her life, albeit due to her betrayal, So Mi will be imprisoned and likely forced to work for Myers once again. If V finds out the additional shard So Mi left at the place where she had parked the van, the merc will make a negative mmm sound.
- Two years later, Reed mentions to V that So Mi is alive, though he was cut off from any further updates about her.
- If V decides to help Songbird:
- Despite the netrunner's lies, V helps Songbird get to the Moon after encountering Reed in a life-or-death situation. After some time, V receives an anonymous message from So Mi, confirming her successful treatment, and she leaves the Quantum Tuner and metal pin for V at Tranquil Terrace, a place that So Mi cherished. If V finds out the additional shard So Mi left at the place where she had parked the van, the merc will make a positive mmm sound.
If V decides to help Reed and betrays Songbird:
- V uses a high tech ICEbreaker with the help of Reed in an attempt disable Songbird, which enrages her. She tries to escape the stadium by herself amidst full hostile Barghest soldiers. In order to do this, she had to tap into the Blackwall again which caused her to fall into cyberpsychosis. This got the attention of MaxTac, who flew into Dogtown and captured her.
- This did not stop Reed and V, who tracked down and ambushed the MaxTac convoy transporting Songbird, but she slipped from their hands for the second time by hacking the vehicle she was in. She eventually escapes into the Cynosure Facility in order to hide and connect to the Blackwall. At the same time, she was slowly being devoured by the AIs from beyond the Blackwall. While infiltrating deeper into the facility, V experiences visions of So Mi's past. More than once the AIs almost kill V, but what is left of So Mi allows her fight against them and save the merc's life. After a last vision in which So Mi is also interacted with, V proceeds to the Cynosure Core, where they find Songbird connected to it. So Mi tells V she cannot go back, and begs them to end her life.
- If V decides spare her life and take So Mi back to the NUSA:
- The mercenary refuses her request and So Mi is taken alive and is returned to the NUSA, where she got her treatment. Her fate and mental state after being taken back to NUSA alive is unknown, but Reed assumed that Songbird was not herself anymore and was presumably still working for her old employer.
- If V follows through with So Mi's request:
- The merc accepted So Mi's request and ended her life. Reed arrived not much later, blaming V and himself for that outcome. So Mi's body is transported back to the NUSA.
Ambitions[]
"Listen, got this new gig. Like, earth-shaking. If it works out... I'll be the first. Be makin' history."
— Song So Mi to her ex-boyfriend, Brooklyn, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
So Mi lived a happy life in Brooklyn, surrounded by her friends, who used to support her work. However, when So Mi became more occupied by suicidal gigs, her ambition blinded her to the effort and care her closest ones showed by keeping her alive. Due to this, she became distant from those who loved her the most.[8]
As she took on more dangerous jobs, So Mi eventually found herself in trouble after hacking Militech's fortress. This put her on the radar of both NetWatch and President Myers, who believed she could use So Mi's talent for personal gain. Agent Reed was sent to persuade nineteen-year-old So Mi to join the Federal Intelligence Agency. She didn't agree at first, not wanting to leave everything she loves behind, until Reed used blackmail on her, saying that he could protect her friends, or So Mi can let them be killed by NetWatch.[8]
In the FIA So Mi lost all her autonomy and personality. She had to play according to the plan FIA gave her. This led her to be in bigger danger than she would ever imagine rather than be safe as Reed promised. So Mi became nothing more, than just another weapon in Myers' eyes who used her to break international laws governing cyberspace use.[18] Songbird was forced into penetrating the Blackwall and used its results to give NUSA the upper hand toward potential enemies. However, those actions had consequences on no one else but So Mi herself, as the deeper she reached, the more of her body started to fail, resulting in a full-cyborg transformation and her mind being infected by Rogue AIs from beyond the Blackwall.[8]
To fight for her life, So Mi came up with an ambitious but naive plan of exchanging Rosalind Myers' life for the AI neural matrix that Kurt Hansen had, leading to the attack on Space Force One.[19]
Database Entry[]
SONGBIRD
Song So Mi (Korean - 송소미), codenamed "Songbird", is a netrunner in the FIA. She started out as a freelance netrunner, taking on assignments that others dismissed as well-paying but suicidal. Meanwhile, before So Mi's eyes, corporate data fortresses opened without so much as a shove. She always worked solo and spent every eddie earned on newer, better equipment and ever-more-extravagant means of entertainment. She quickly became a living legend of the trade, although some didn't believe someone of her caliber could exist for long - if at all. The FIA believed. When Song took an oath of allegiance to the New United States and was given the operational nickname "Songbird," the prototype technologies developed by the agency in strict secrecy from foreign governments - and sometimes from her own - were placed at her fingretips[sic]. In return, Songbird was forced to quickly learn two concepts that had been completely foreign to her until that point: following orders and playing as a team. The immunity of a government agent, backed and protected by a powerful bureaucratic apparatus, guaranteed Song would remain untouchable. From masking vehicle signatures at secret meetings between NUSA officials and military juntas in Central America, to obliterating the digital footprints of commandos that executed terrorists impersonating the Bartmoss collective, NetWatch agents could only listen to the echoes of Songbird's footsteps in cyberspace - echoes that suspiciously went quiet near the Blackwall.[12]
Dossier Entry[]
SONGBIRD
A talented netrunner and President Myers' right hand. There aren’t many people who can keep up with her abilities. Songbird's talent makes her a valuable asset to the NUSA, one the country needs on its side to defend the nation’s precarious position. Leaving her post is not an option.
Equipment[]
| Type | Items |
|---|---|
| Cyberware | EMP Threading, Tier 5 Militech netrunning cyberware[2] |
| Abilities | Netrunning,[20] Flashbangs[20] Electrical Mods[20] |
| Weaponry | Arasaka HJKE-11 Yukimura[21] Tsunami Kappa,[21] Blackwall Pulse[21][22] |
| Clothing | Netrunner suit |
Cosplay Guide[]
Once a hotshot teenage netrunner taking on dangerous — and illegal — missions, Songbird caught the attention of the FIA during a particularly daring heist. It didn't take long before her talent cemented her position as President Myers' right hand.
— Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Official Cosplay Guide Description
Notes[]
- Despite mentioning to V she doesn't like Johnny Silverhand's music,[23] So Mi was a punk and had a vinyl with the song Never Fade Away in her apartment.[8]
- When asked why her appearance through the Relic is different, So Mi with regret will admit that it's a vestige of the past from the time before she was damaged by the Blackwall.[19]
- Her appearance was designed by Furio Tedeschi.[24]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Birds with Broken Wings
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cosplay Guide on cyberpunk.net
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cyberpunk 2077 - Phantom Liberty — Official Trailer
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 CyberpunkGame on Twitter: "Once a hotshot teenage netrunner taking on dangerous — and illegal — missions, Songbird caught the attention of the FIA during a particularly daring heist. It didn't take long before her talent cemented her position as President Myers' right hand."
- ↑ Minji Chang on Instagram: "One year almost to the day later, I can finally tell you all that I'm the newest addition to the incredible Cyberpunk 2077 universe...as SONGBIRD. 🦾"
- ↑ Dossier: Songbird - cyberpunk.net
- ↑ CLASSIFIED/To do/Priority P0
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Somewhat Damaged
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Dog Eat Dog
- ↑ Lucretia My Reflection
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Leave in Silence, King of Pentacles
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 CD Projekt RED. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Video Game, Multi-Platform. Poland, CD Projekt S.A., 2023. (Songbird Database Entry)
- ↑ Cyberpunk 2077 — Night City Wire: Phantom Liberty Special (8:12)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Four Score and Seven, King of Cups
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 LUDKOWSKI, Ł. Cyberpunk 2077: Ten of Swords. CD Projekt RED/Dark Horse Comics, 2023.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Phantom Liberty — Official Cinematic Trailer
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Hole in the Sky
- ↑ Get It Together
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 You Know My Name
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Songbird's scan data
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Firestarter
- ↑ The Killing Moon
- ↑ Dog Eat Dog
- ↑ Furio Tedeschi on Twitter: "Song Bird Character I designed for Phantom Liberty while working on cyberpunk - I was responsible for character and cyberware implants Lea Leonowicz designed garment Grzegorz Chojnacki was responsible for awesome game model and Art direction by Pawel Mielniczuk"