Should You Help Alan Or Kill Milko In Treating Symptoms?
Summary
- The “Treating Symptoms” gig in Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC offers players an opportunity to break into the Voodoo Boys’ hideout and make tough decisions regarding killing or sparing Milko, a netrunner who has been blackmailing a woman.
- Players have a choice to either let Alan, an undercover agent for NetWatch, finish his mission with Milko alive, or to protect their client and kill Milko.
- Each choice has its own consequences and rewards.
In the Dogtown district of Cyberpunk 2077‘s Phantom Liberty DLC, there are many gigs that V can take on, either for fun, extra rewards, or to get some expanded backstory. However, they are often still filled with the same tough types of important decisions that are present throughout Cyberpunk. Among these is the gig “Treating Symptoms,” given by Mr. Hands, which offers some interesting choices as V infiltrates the Voodoo Boys hideout. All the side gigs in the game are optional and do not affect the main storyline of Phantom Liberty or Cyberpunk 2077, but are generally worth doing for the extra content and loot they provide.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.]
Cyberpunk 2077 undeniably has quests in which V needs to kill someone. In fact, there are a lot of people who will end up dead by the end of the game, whether they like it or not. When faced with a possible solution in which V may decide between another person’s life or death, things can get murky, with a degree of morality and ethical dilemma involved. In the Phantom Liberty DLC, this continues to be the case, especially in the often variable gigs provided by the fixer Mr. Hands. One such gig is “Treating Symptoms.”
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Alan & Milko Appear In “Treating Symptoms”
The “Treating Symptoms” side gig in Phantom Liberty gives V a mission to kill the netrunner Milko, who has been blackmailing a woman named Indira. He’s threatened to hack into and shut off her lungs if she doesn’t do as he says.
Milko is a netrunner for the Voodoo Boys, which makes what follows a very fun opportunity for V to break into the Voodoo Boys hideout. They’ll have to dodge killer robots, cameras, and turrets, not to mention hordes of bloodthirsty gang members, as they make their way to the heart of the Voodoo Boys’ lair. The entire mission, from the threat of hacking into someone’s lungs to killer robots chasing V through the hideout, is quintessentially cyberpunk, and truly captures the central characteristics that define the world of Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City.
Once V has made it through the Voodoo Boys’ hideout, they find Milko lying unconscious, hooked up completely to the net. This makes it very easy to kill him outright: he won’t be able to get up or fight back before V can wipe him off the map. Unfortunately, another netrunner is present next to Milko, but he isn’t quite what he seems. This is Alan, who reveals that he is actually an undercover agent for NetWatch, the regulatory agency responsible for the net (a Cyberpunk term used to identify the setting’s successor to the modern internet).
Alan is investigating the same thing as V – gangs extorting people by hacking into their Cyberware – and needs Milko alive for his own top-secret mission. At this point in the quest, V is faced with a choice of what to do.
What V’s Choice Between Alan & Milko Means
In Phantom Liberty, once V learns that Alan is an undercover agent for NetWatch, and after a lot of dialogue, a choice pops up that lets players select one of two directions to take. Selecting “Fine, finish your op,” allows Alan to complete his mission, which means Milko stays alive until the NetWatch agent has finished collecting evidence. There’s no knowing how long that might take, so once V leaves to report back to Mr. Hands, the blackmailing could potentially continue indefinitely, potentially even costing Indira her life.
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The other option is for V to say, “Here to protect my client,” which will lead to a more combative result in which V must kill both Alan and Milko. However, doing so would ensure that the initial mission from Mr. Hands is taken care of, and Indira is safe from any further blackmailing by the now-deceased Milko.
Phantom Liberty’s Rewards For Killing Alan Or Milko
If V tries to stay true to the initial agreement with Mr. Hands to take out Milko, Alan will grow angry and a fight will follow. Assuming players are successful, this leads to Alan and Milko both being killed. Looting Alan’s body will produce a keycard for his office, a melee weapon, and his dog tag, which simply gives his name, blood type, and status as a NetWatch agent. Looting Milko gives V a Constitutional Arms Unity pistol – a nice reward, but not unique by any means.
Another somewhat less deadly option would be to not even listen to Alan’s explanation, but simply kill Milko immediately on walking in, after which Alan will not attack, but demands that V leave the building. In this case, though, V misses out on all the loot described above, and the mission ends pretty anticlimactically.
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Alternatively, V can hear Alan’s story and choose to let Alan finish his mission with NetWatch to infiltrate the Voodoo Boys. There are several dialogue choices here during the conversation with Alan, but in the end, if V agrees to let Alan finish his op, Alan will thank V and open the door so V can leave. V can talk to Mr. Hands, explain the situation, and still receive the 8,000 Eurodollar reward for their efforts. As soon as the gig is over, V finds out that Alan, through NetWatch, has enrolled Indira in a witness protection program, which will presumably keep her safe from Milko and other netrunners.
Helping Alan & Sparing Milko Is The Best Choice
It may seem a little counterintuitive at first, but letting Alan finish his mission and allowing Milko to live is the best choice in Cyberpunk’s “Treating Symptoms” gig. The name of the job is pretty telling: V either has a chance to treat a symptom of the problem by killing Milko, or to cut it off at the root by allowing NetWatch to finish its investigation.
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While players miss out on getting the looted weapons by choosing to help Alan and leave Milko alive, they do get some extra Eurodollars for it. The extra Eddies afforded by helping Alan are way more than the market value of the weapons. Not only does V still get paid by Mr. Hands, but quite a while later, they will also receive a message from Alan. In this message, Alan states that his mission was successful, Milko led NetWatch to the arms dealer behind the whole thing, and, as a thanks, he includes another 8,000 Eddies.
There is also a bonus mission, “Corpo Of The Month,” that is unlocked by choosing this route. “Corpo of the Month” is essentially a bonus mission to go pick up loot left behind for V by Alan – it doesn’t take long, but has some nice benefits. It’ll provide even more rewards, including a shard for the Netrunner skill.
Ultimately, the decision of whether to help Alan or kill Milko will not affect the main story of the Phantom Liberty DLC or the base game, and the choice comes down to what the player would like to do. Sparing Milko to help Alan will provide a lot of Eddies, and possibly a good feeling in knowing that things will work out okay for (almost) everyone involved. Killing Milko will protect Indira from him, and give V some good loot to go along with the reward from Mr. Hands. But in the end, the choice is up to whatever the Cyberpunk 2077 player character is most likely to do.
Cyberpunk 2077
Based on the 1988 tabletop game, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action RPG game set in a dystopian cyber future developed by CD Projekt Red. Players will tackle the streets of Night City as customizable protagonist V, who struggles to keep their memories intact after receiving a strange cybernetic implant that slowly overrides their memories by a deceased celebrity known as Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves.
Franchise Cyberpunk
Released December 10, 2020
Publisher(s) CD Projekt
Engine REDengine 4
ESRB M
Platforms PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia
Publishers CD Projekt RED, CD Projekt
Mode Single-player
Rating 7/10 Steam; 9/10 IGN
