Night City is a meat grinder. It’s a neon-soaked, chrome-plated nightmare where people are cheaper than the synthetic burritos sold in vending machines. You spend dozens of hours shooting your way through scavengers and corporate hit squads, but then you hit Phantom Liberty. Specifically, you hit the mission titled Cyberpunk 2077 birds with broken wings.
It’s different.
Most of the game is loud. This part is quiet. It’s a moment where the frantic pace of the Dogtown spy thriller finally slows down enough for you to breathe, and frankly, it's where the weight of Reed and Songbird’s choices starts to actually hurt. If you’ve played through the base game, you know the stakes. But here, the stakes aren't just about survival; they’re about the absolute destruction of a person's soul under the weight of government service.
The Setup: Alex, Reed, and the Cost of Doing Business
By the time you reach Birds with Broken Wings, the tension is basically a physical entity in the room. You’ve been working with Solomon Reed—played with a haunting, weary gravity by Idris Elba—and the FIA sleeper agent Alex. They’re old-school spies. They’ve been burned before.
The mission starts with a simple task: meeting Alex at The Moth.
The atmosphere in that bar is thick. It’s not the flashy, high-end corporate glitz of the Afterlife. It’s a dusty, forgotten corner of Dogtown that feels like it’s held together by spite and cigarette smoke. You’re there to talk about the plan to capture Songbird, but the conversation pivots. It becomes about the "broken wings" of the title—the agents who have been used, discarded, and then expected to fly again for a country that doesn't care if they live or die.
Alex is the standout here. She’s been stuck in Dogtown for years, deep undercover, waiting for a signal that never came. When she talks about her past, or her desire to just leave, you realize she isn't just a quest giver. She’s a mirror. She’s what happens when the system wins.
Why Cyberpunk 2077 Birds with Broken Wings Hits Different
A lot of players rush through the dialogue. Don't do that.
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The core of this mission involves tracking down signals and monitoring the twins, Aurore and Aymeric Cassel. But the "gameplay" isn't the point. The point is the downtime. It’s the conversations you have while waiting for the technology to do its thing.
You’re forced to confront the reality of Songbird’s situation. Is she a villain? Is she a victim? The game doesn't give you a straight answer, and that’s why it’s brilliant. You see the literal and figurative broken wings of every character involved. Reed is broken by his loyalty. Songbird is broken by the Blackwall. Alex is broken by isolation.
And then there's V. You’re just trying to not die.
The Technical Reality: Tracking the Signal
To progress, you have to head to specific points in Night City to reset sensors. It sounds like a chore. Honestly, in any other game, it would be a "fetch quest" filler. But here, the locations chosen for these sensors overlook parts of the city that remind you of the scale of your insignificance.
The Coordination Point
You meet Reed at a construction site. It’s raw. The wind whistles through the girders. This is where the plan to use the Cynosure system really starts to take shape. You have to listen to Reed’s perspective on Songbird. He thinks he’s saving her. He honestly believes that bringing her back to the NUSA is an act of mercy.
He’s wrong.
But Idris Elba plays it with such conviction that you want to believe him. You want there to be a clean exit. There isn't one. The "birds with broken wings" can't just be patched up with a few lines of code and a handshake.
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Dealing with the Transmitters
You’ll find yourself climbing onto rooftops. The first transmitter is easy enough, but the second one usually has some scavengers or local thugs nearby. Dealing with them feels almost mundane compared to the psychological weight of the story.
What’s interesting is how the environment tells a story. Look at the trash. Look at the graffiti. The developers at CD Projekt Red put a lot of effort into making these "transition" spaces feel lived-in. You aren't just clicking a button; you’re interacting with a world that is actively decaying.
Songbird’s Digital Ghost
Throughout the mission, you get these flickers. Communication from Songmi (Songbird). She’s reaching out through the Relic, and it’s getting worse. Her "wings" aren't just broken; they’re being erased by the data from beyond the Blackwall.
When you finally talk to her during this sequence, the desperation is palpable. She isn't the confident, mysterious netrunner from the start of the DLC anymore. She’s terrified. She’s a bird trapped in a cage of her own making, and she’s starting to realize the bars are closing in.
The parallels between her and the literal birds—which are extinct in Night City—is a bit on the nose, but it works. In a world where nature is dead, any sign of "natural" emotion or vulnerability is a weakness to be exploited by people like President Rosalind Myers.
The Nuance of Choice
One of the big misconceptions about this mission is that it’s just a bridge to the finale. It’s not. The choices you make in how you respond to Reed and Alex here actually color the ending you get.
If you’re dismissive of Alex’s trauma, the eventual payoff of her arc feels hollow. If you blindly agree with Reed, you’re ignoring the red flags that lead to the devastating "Killing Moon" or "Somewhat Damaged" paths.
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The game wants you to feel conflicted. It wants you to look at these broken people and wonder if they’re even worth saving. Or, more accurately, if they can be saved.
Real-World Inspiration: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The writers clearly took notes from John le Carré. This isn't James Bond. There are no gadgets that save the day without a cost. In Cyberpunk 2077 birds with broken wings, the cost is usually someone’s humanity.
The FIA isn't the "good guys." They’re just another faction with a budget. Seeing Reed try to reconcile his "honor" with the dirty work he’s forced to do is peak writing. It’s the kind of complexity that made The Witcher 3 great, and it’s fully on display here.
What You Should Do Next in the Game
Once you’ve finished the transmitter segments and had the heart-to-hearts, you’re on a collision course with the twins. This is where the "espionage" turns into "action."
- Check your gear. You’re about to enter a sequence where stealth or high-level hacking becomes much more relevant than raw firepower.
- Listen to the optional dialogue. Talk to Johnny. He has a lot to say about the FIA and the irony of V working for the government. His cynical take is usually the most honest one.
- Pay attention to the messages on your phone. There are small world-building texts that trigger during this mission that give context to the political situation in the NUSA.
Beyond the Mission
The legacy of this quest is how it lingers. When people talk about Phantom Liberty, they talk about the endings, sure. But the middle—the "Birds with Broken Wings" section—is where the emotional foundation is poured. Without this slow burn, the explosion at the end wouldn't matter.
It’s a reminder that in Night City, everyone is trying to fly with a handicap. Some people have missing limbs, some have missing memories, and some, like Songbird, are missing the very thing that makes them human.
Actionable Insights for Your Playthrough
To get the most out of this specific narrative beat, you should focus on the following:
- Wait for the call. Don't just skip time in the menu. Walk around Dogtown. Listen to the NPCs. Let the atmosphere build before you meet Alex.
- Max out your Cool or Intelligence stats. Having high stats in these areas opens up dialogue options that let you dig deeper into Reed and Alex’s psyche. It changes the tone of the mission from "follow orders" to "investigate your allies."
- Observe the environment at the transmitters. Each location offers a unique view of the city's hierarchy. The contrast between the slums and the glowing spires in the distance is the visual representation of the game's core conflict.
- Consider the "No Good Options" rule. Cyberpunk is a genre defined by pyrrhic victories. Go into this mission knowing that you cannot please everyone. Trying to be the "hero" often leads to more heartbreak.
The mission ends, but the feeling of dread stays. That's the hallmark of a well-written RPG. You aren't just playing a character; you’re witnessing the slow-motion crash of several lives at once. Enjoy the view while it lasts.