A Shot of Vodka, Lime Juice, Ginger Beer, and, Most Importantly…a Splash of Love

This week on The Corpo and Streetkid, Liz and I walked through a defining moment in Cyberpunk 2077—where V and Jackie step into the Afterlife. For me, this part of the game always hits like a freight train.

On the surface, it’s triumphant—two mercs finally making it to Night City’s most legendary bar.

"Jackie and Liz's Male V." Picture from Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red.

But underneath that buzz, something darker is brewing.

Before we walk in there, we're waiting for Jackie to end a call. We know he's talking to Mama Welles. It’s tender, protective, and, let’s be real—worrisome. Jackie tries to reassure her, but his voice wavers. When V asks how she is, Jackie jokes about not ending up like the other Welles boys, but you can hear the dread behind the humor.

The Afterlife is dripping with atmosphere: neon lights, heavy metal, and whispered legends. Owned by Queen of the Fixers, Rogue Amendiares, it's only a place where legendary mercs make a name for themselves. It’s where every merc wants to end up—on the drink menu, immortalized.

But as we talk about in the episode, the only way to get your name there is to die. Note how Jack orders the Silverhand Special? Johnny didn't get that for running jobs in Night City.

And that line? Jackie hearing it and still rattling off his recipe to the bartender, Claire?

That was the moment I felt the game change. It’s so Jackie—dreaming big, riding high—but you start to see the cracks. You feel the weight of what’s coming.

"Jackie, T-Bug, and Dex at the Afterlife." Picture from Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red.

You can immediately sense the tension once we meet up with Dex in the back. T-Bug’s quiet shade, Dex’s slick manipulation, Evelyn’s side offers that we tell the group about…

The deeper we go, the less clear it becomes who V can actually trust. Jackie’s too caught up in the dream to see it, and that blind spot? It’s going to cost us.

I said it on the show, and I’ll say it here: This episode marks the end of the high life. The Afterlife isn’t just a bar—it’s the point of no return.

See you next week, chooms. Stay sharp.