Solomon Reed

Solomon Reed is a veteran FIA operative and sleeper agent embedded in Night City during the events of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. He serves as both ally and foil to Songbird, embodying the New United States’ relentless grip on its operatives. His loyalty to President Rosalind Myers defines his existence, even as it erodes his humanity.

Sometimes it’s not about trust, it’s about duty. And duty means doin’ the job—even when it breaks you.

 — Reed, Cyberpunk 2077

Biography

Early service

Born in the New United States of America after the Collapse, Reed grew up under the shadow of war and corporate domination. Identified as a candidate for intelligence service early on, he was inducted into the FIA and subjected to exhaustive conditioning—language training, cultural immersion, false-identity construction, and psychological hardening. His personal ties and history were systematically erased to forge him into a tool of the state.

Sleeper years in Night City

Reed spent decades embedded in Night City as a sleeper agent, cultivating assets, disrupting hostile networks, and serving as the FIA’s invisible hand in a city beyond NUSA jurisdiction. Operating alone under deep cover fractured his sense of self. By the 2070s, he was little more than the mission that defined him.

Reemergence

During the Dogtown incident, Reed reemerged as the last loyal lifeline for President Myers after the downing of Space Force One. His fieldcraft, discipline, and reputation as incorruptible made him indispensable during the crisis.

Role in Phantom Liberty

Contact and handler

Reed is introduced as V’s primary point of contact once Myers survives the crash. He briefs, coordinates, and deploys assets throughout the Dogtown operations. Where Songbird guides from the Net, Reed anchors the team in meatspace, leveraging his connections and tactical experience.

Conflict with Songbird

Reed views Songbird not as a person, but as an asset vital to national security. Her desire to defect clashes with his absolute loyalty. To Reed, aiding her means betraying the state and destabilizing the delicate balance across the Blackwall.

Branching outcomes

• Side with Reed → V delivers Songbird into NUSA custody. Reed personally oversees her extraction, ensuring her continued exploitation for the state. In return, V is promised a potential cure, though at great moral cost.
• Oppose Reed → If V helps Songbird escape, Reed becomes the embodiment of the state’s betrayal—furious but bound by orders. His survival and standing remain, but trust between him and V is shattered.

Personality

Reed is calm, precise, and unflinchingly professional. Unlike Songbird, he rarely indulges emotion—yet beneath the surface lies fatigue and resignation. He is a man hollowed by service, his personal life long ago sacrificed to his oath. His morality is instrumental: the mission comes first, regardless of collateral damage.

Abilities and equipment

• Fieldcraft expertise – deep-cover infiltration, counterintelligence, and clandestine tradecraft.
• Combat proficiency – firearms, close-quarters, and small-unit tactics honed by decades in the field.
• Command authority – coordination of FIA and NUSA assets under high-pressure operations.
• Sleeper conditioning – trained to suppress personal identity, operate autonomously, and endure psychological isolation.

Relationships

• Rosalind Myers – ultimate superior; Reed’s loyalty to her personifies his loyalty to the state.
• Songbird – partner and ideological opposite; Reed sees her as vital asset, she sees him as jailer.
• V – operative, pawn, or ally depending on choices; Reed respects V’s competence but measures them against duty.
• Kurt Hansen – local adversary; Reed seeks to destabilize Hansen’s hold on Dogtown.

Themes

• **Loyalty vs. Freedom** — Reed embodies submission to state power, contrasting Songbird’s desperate defiance.
• **Identity vs. Role** — A man stripped of selfhood, existing only as “agent.”
• **Tragedy of Duty** — His sacrifice is not death, but the erasure of his personal life and humanity.

Database Entry

Solomon Reed

SOLOMON REED

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Solomon Reed is a career operative of the FIA, the silent blade of President Myers. Decades of cover work in Night City have stripped him of anything resembling a personal life. Where Songbird sees escape, Reed sees only betrayal. To follow Reed is to side with the state itself—cold, enduring, and merciless.

Associated Quests

Reed features prominently in all mainline Phantom Liberty jobs:

• Dog Eat Dog • Hole in the Sky • Spider and the Fly • Lucretia My Reflection • The Damned • Get It Together • You Know My Name • Birds with Broken Wings • I've Seen That Face Before • Firestarter → branches into:
  • King of Swords route (side with Reed): Through Pain to Heaven, with V delivering Songbird to NUSA.
  • King of Wands route (oppose Reed): Reed is opposed during Songbird’s attempted escape in The Killing Moon.

Notes

• Reed is voiced by Idris Elba.
• Unlike Songbird, Reed’s deterioration is not physical but existential—he is consumed by the system rather than broken by it.

Trivia

• Reed’s surname is symbolic: a reed bends in the wind but never breaks, mirroring his ability to survive through adaptability without ever leaving his rooted loyalty.
• His design intentionally contrasts Songbird: where she is disembodied, spectral, and unstable, Reed is grounded, physical, and methodical.

Gallery

• Promotional key art
  Promotional key art
• In-game model
  In-game model
• With President Myers during Dogtown events
  With President Myers during Dogtown events