Song So Mi

Appearance

So Mi is a netrunner of Korean descent, with a height of approximately 5'4-5.[8] 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.

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][9] 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.[10] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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][11] Reed was sent to New York with that task in mind, though Song declined his offer. To convince her, Reed mentioned that after the stun 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.[9] 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.[12] At some point afterwards, So Mi swore the NUSA oath to President Rosalind Myers, officially becoming an FIA agent.[9] She was given the codename Songbird,[13] and became Reed's trainee and protégé.[14] Shortly after these events, Song So Mi was publicly declared deceased and a gravestone was set at Calvary in New York City.[15] 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.[12] So Mi, Reed and Alex went to visit her grave in New York City once. They laid some flowers and poured whiskey over it.[15] 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 to 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.[16] 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.[16][17] 2071 - 2076 During the next years, So Mi continued to work under President Myers, carrying on her job as a netrunner for the Union.[17] 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. 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 In 2077, 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 right into the spaceplane's wing, forcing it to go down.[17] 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.[10] Shortly after getting on the top of the stadium, another missile struck into the plane, cutting all communications. 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.[18] After surviving the landing, So Mi guided V to rescue Myers from the crash site.[18] 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. She enlists the help of V (and consequently Reed and Alex who was working with V), who only wanted to rescue her, but strung them along the heist anyway. She reveals that she is dying after Myers kept using her as a way to tap into the Blackwall for her personal needs. This gave Songbird hatred towards the NUSA president and a desperation to escape from her grasp, which led her to plan the crash of Space Force One all along and set forth her goals of obtaining the neural matrix and use the AI to treat her ailments, and V's as well. Knowing Reed may not help her and give her back to the NUSA, Songbird plans to betray Reed and escape with V's help.

Ambitions

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.[9] 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.[9] 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.[19] 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.[9] 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.

What is Songbird's role in the NUSA government?

Song So Mi, known as Songbird, is an intelligence analyst for the New United States (NUSA) and a trusted aide to President Rosalind Myers. Her netrunning skills make her indispensable to the NUSA government. Songbird's duties include concealing vehicle signatures at covert meetings and removing digital evidence of commando operations. Her position demands strict obedience and teamwork, and she is shielded by a robust bureaucratic structure.

Personality

Songbird is a character who can be described as a bit on the selfish and deceitful side. Throughout the expansion's story, she tells V half-truths and often outright lies to them. One of the expansion's biggest reveals is that the cure she promised V can only be used once, and has every intention of using it on herself. Personality Type: INFJ