CONNECTION ESTABLISHED FILE: #NCR_NEBA00001
HomeStoryFeaturesLanguagesInstallVideoVoicesChangelog Build

▶ FILE #NCR_NEBA00001 // DECRYPTED · GIG 01 // LIVE ✓

NEGATIVE BALANCE

A full story gig for Cyberpunk 2077: a new side quest that lands in your journal, on your map, and closes out like the game's own. Free on Nexus Mods.

// QUEST MOD · V2.3.0 · FULLY VOICED · CP2077 2.31 + PHANTOM LIBERTY · ADAPTED FROM THE COMIC

DOWNLOAD ON NEXUS MODS[UPLOAD]
THE JOB // SPOILER-SAFE

THE STORY

>> IN NIGHT CITY, NOTHING STAYS UNPAID_

An accounts clerk finds a pattern in her employer's payouts. People are dying on schedule, and she's in over her head, so she calls the merc.

The gig runs from a call through a corporate office in Santo Domingo, a netrunner's dig through the ledger, a private estate up in North Oak, and out the far side to a booth in El Coyote Cojo. Johnny has opinions about most of it.

THE ROUTE

A call▸ A corporate office▸ A netrunner's dig▸ A private estate▸ A booth at the Coyote
SPECS // WHAT'S IN THE FILE

A REAL GIG, NOT A FETCH QUEST

46
Spoken lines
6
Characters
5
Johnny moments
2
Break-ins
0
Console commands

A real gig

Journal entry, tracked objectives, working map pins that route you there, the gig icon on the map, Street Cred at the end. The pins behave exactly like the game's.

Fully voiced, with lip sync

46 spoken lines across six characters, every one subtitled, every mouth moving. V, Johnny, Mama Welles and Nix speak in the game's own recordings, in whatever language your game runs in. Elena and Hoshino are new, so voice actors play them: Patti Knox and Lykeness. No audio mod needed and none used: the voices ride on the base game's own dialogue system.

Johnny rides along

He glitches in beside you at five points in the gig, says his piece, and glitches out. His mouth moves while he talks.

Your netrunner calls you, on video

Nix is on screen for the brief, live on your phone, talking with his mouth moving. You can call him back too. What he finds four hours later comes in as a text conversation you have to open and read before the estate shows up on your map.

Starts on its own

No console commands, no dialogue option to trigger it. It waits on the same flag the game's own gigs wait on, so it won't interrupt the prologue or the endgame.

Drops into your save

Install mid-playthrough; the gig arms itself the next time you load. Every update so far has been save-safe.

Two break-ins

A corporate office in Santo Domingo and a private estate in North Oak. Both can be done quietly or loudly.

Properly staffed

Guards, netrunners, a sniper watching the approach. Work through them one at a time with takedowns, or walk in and make a mess of it.

Negative Balance side quest scene in Cyberpunk 2077
SANTO DOMINGO // THE OFFICE
New quest objective from the Negative Balance mod
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Searching an office desk with a tracked objective in the Negative Balance quest
OBJECTIVES // TRACKED LIKE VANILLA
Negative Balance quest mod gameplay in Cyberpunk 2077
NORTH OAK // THE ESTATE
A scene from the Negative Balance story gig
NO WITNESSES
Final scene of the Negative Balance quest at El Coyote Cojo
EL COYOTE COJO // LAST STOP
FOOTAGE // FULL RUN, FULL SPOILERS

SEE IT RUN

The whole gig start to finish, in one sitting, on the current build. It gives away everything: the route, the estate, who's at the end of it. If you'd rather play it first, the download is right above. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.

NEGATIVE BALANCE // THE FULL GIG · 13:28

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE INSTEAD[LINK]

VOICES // NO AI

CAST: V · JOHNNY · MAMA WELLES · NIX: THE GAME'S OWN RECORDINGS // ELENA ORTEGA: PATTI KNOX // HOSHINO: LYKENESS

Since 2.0.0, every word V, Johnny, Mama Welles and Nix say in this gig is a voice line from Cyberpunk 2077 itself. Whole lines, or lines cut short at a pause, picked to fit the moment. Nothing was generated for them and nothing new was recorded for them. Elena and Hoshino are characters the game doesn't have, so people play them. Since 2.1.0 those people are voice actors: Elena Ortega is played by Patti Knox, Hoshino by Lykeness.

That rewrote the gig. V, Johnny and Nix can only say lines the game already recorded, and none of those explains a plot like this one. So the plot moved to where you read it: the office terminal, the shard, and a briefing in your journal, in the layout the game's own street stories use. Every line is subtitled.

Every earlier set of recordings has been replaced. Nothing in the gig is machine-generated.

LANGUAGES // TRANSLATABLE SINCE 2.2.0

Play the game in any of its languages and V, Johnny, Mama Welles and Nix follow, voice and subtitles both. Their lines are the game's own, and the game already ships them translated. Elena and Hoshino stay English, and so do the texts: the journal, Nix's messages, the shard, the terminal.

Those are yours to translate. A translation is a small mod of its own, and the kit is a WolvenKit project with every string in it: open it, type over the English, set your language code, install, test, zip. Nothing to build. If you're a voice actor, Elena and Hoshino can be recorded in your language too. Upload it on Nexus Mods as a translation of the gig.

HOW TO TRANSLATE IT[READ]

THE TRANSLATION KIT[ZIP]

SOURCE SHARD // THE COMIC

Negative Balance was a comic before it was a mod, adapted into the game line by line. The comic is an in-game screenshot comic by nightcityriot; the gig puts you inside it. Read it before you play, or after. Both orders work.

READ THE COMIC IT CAME FROM[LINK]

INSTALL // NOTHING TO CONFIGURE

HOW TO INSTALL

REQUIRES: RED4ext · ArchiveXL · TweakXL · Codeware · redscript · NO CET, NO AUDIOWARE · ALL STANDARD, YOU PROBABLY HAVE THEM ALREADY

With a mod manager

Download and install as normal. That's it.

Manually

Extract the zip into your Cyberpunk 2077 folder, keeping the folder structure. The archive and r6 folders go next to Cyberpunk2077.exe.

Then what?

Nothing to configure, no in-game setup. It works on an existing save, and on a playthrough started with New Game Plus. Install mid-playthrough and the gig arms itself the next time you load. If you're past the prologue and you've finished Heroes, expect the call within a few minutes.

One story requirement: finish Heroes first

The gig ends at El Coyote Cojo, and the base game keeps that bar shut until Jackie's ofrenda is done. Start before then and you'd reach a door that won't open, so the gig waits instead and tells you once. Finish Heroes and it arms itself.

Is it in my language?

V, Johnny, Mama Welles and Nix are, automatically: voice and subtitles, in whatever language your game runs in. Elena, Hoshino and the texts stay English until someone makes a translation mod. See Languages if that someone is you.

Good to know for early-game players

The gig force-opens the doors into the Arasaka Industrial Park and leaves them open, because before a certain main mission the base game ships those doors switched off. Nothing else in the compound is changed and the vehicle gates are untouched.

DOWNLOAD ON NEXUS MODS[EXEC]

PATCH LOG // CURRENT BUILD V2.3.0

CHANGELOG

V2.3.0 [OK] FEWER GUARDS WHEN DARK FUTURE OR MUCH BETTER AI IS INSTALLED:
  · WITH DARK FUTURE (OR DARK FUTURE CORE) OR MUCH BETTER AI INSTALLED, THE GIG SPAWNS FEWER GUARDS AROUND THE OBJECTIVES AT THE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AND THE RESIDENCE. FULL STEALTH IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE MODS TOO. REPORTED BY ERWINTHEGERMAN, EYEGODZA, ARIXSON AND SADDAY.
V2.2.0 [OK] SUPPORT FOR TRANSLATIONS:
  · V, JOHNNY, MAMA WELLES AND NIX ARE NOW AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATED IN YOUR LANGUAGE, VOICE AND SUBTITLES. THEIR LINES ARE THE GAME'S OWN, WHICH THE GAME ALREADY SHIPS TRANSLATED.
  · ELENA AND HOSHINO STAY ENGLISH. TEXTS (JOURNAL, MESSAGES, SHARD, TERMINAL) STAY ENGLISH UNTIL SOMEONE MAKES A TRANSLATION MOD.
  · A TRANSLATION KIT WITH ALL THE REQUIRED FILES, FOR TRANSLATORS TO MAKE THEIR OWN TRANSLATION MOD.
V2.1.0 [OK] ELENA AND HOSHINO ARE PLAYED BY VOICE ACTORS:
  · ELENA ORTEGA IS PLAYED BY PATTI KNOX, HOSHINO BY LYKENESS.
  · FIVE OF ELENA'S SUBTITLES FOLLOW HER NEW RECORDING, WHICH REWORDS THEM.
  · HOSHINO LOOKS AT YOU WHILE HE SPEAKS.
  · NIX LOOKS INTO THE CAMERA ON HIS VIDEO CALL.
V2.0.0 [OK] THE GAME'S OWN VOICES, AND A REWRITE TO MATCH:
  · V, JOHNNY, MAMA WELLES AND NIX NOW SPEAK IN THE GAME'S OWN VOICE LINES. WHOLE LINES, OR LINES CUT SHORT AT A PAUSE. NOTHING NEW WAS MADE FOR THEM.
  · ELENA AND HOSHINO ARE RECORDED BY REAL PEOPLE, WITH ONLY THE PITCH AND TONE ADJUSTED.
  · SUBTITLES FOLLOW THE NEW RECORDINGS, WHICH REWORD MOST LINES.
  · THE TERMINAL, NIX'S BRIEF, THE ESTATE AND THE ENDING ARE REWRITTEN. THE PLOT IS NOW LAID OUT ON THE TERMINAL SCREEN AND IN YOUR JOURNAL INSTEAD OF IN DIALOGUE.
  · THE GIG HAS A BRIEFING IN YOUR JOURNAL, IN THE LAYOUT THE GAME'S OWN STREET STORIES USE.
  · NIX'S SECOND CALL IS NOW A TEXT CONVERSATION. OPEN AND READ IT AND THE ESTATE APPEARS ON YOUR MAP.
  · NIX NOW TAKES FOUR IN-GAME HOURS INSTEAD OF TWO, WHICH IS WHAT HE SAYS ON THE CALL.
  · V PAYS NIX 15,000 WHEN THE LOCATION ARRIVES. THE MALWARE SKIMS 12,500 BACK OFF HOSHINO'S NETWORK, SO THE GIG ENDS 2,500 DOWN AND PAYS 300 STREET CRED.
  · HOSHINO IGNORED V AFTER THEIR CONVERSATION INSTEAD OF TURNING ON HIM. FIXED.
  · UNUSED VOICE FILES REMOVED. THE DOWNLOAD IS ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE SIZE IT WAS.
V1.4.0 [OK] EVERY VOICE LINE IS A NEW RECORDING:
  · PERFORMED BY HUMAN VOICE ACTORS. REPLACED IN 2.0.0 BY THE GAME'S OWN LINES FOR THE CHARACTERS THE GAME ALREADY VOICES.
  · SUBTITLES FOLLOW THE NEW RECORDINGS, WHICH REWORD MANY LINES.
  · NIX EXPLAINS THE MALWARE HE IS SENDING, BEFORE V ASKS WHERE HOSHINO IS.
  · A CALL'S FIRST LINE COULD PLAY AS SILENCE WHEN ANSWERED EARLY. FIXED.
V1.3.1 [OK] NEW GAME PLUS: THE GIG PLAYS IN AN NG+ PLAYTHROUGH.
V1.3.0 [OK] GUARDS, HOSHINO, AND THE ESTATE:
  · HOSHINO'S MOUTH MOVES WHILE HE SPEAKS, AND HE WAITS SITTING ON THE COUCH.
  · GUARDS SPREAD ACROSS EACH SITE, HOLDING THE UPPER FLOORS, THE LOADING DECK AND THE ESTATE ROOF.
  · GUARDS ARE PLACED BY A "COMMUNITY", THE GAME'S OWN SYSTEM FOR STANDING NPCS AT AUTHORED POSTS.
  · THE GIG COULD STALL AT THE ESTATE WITH THE OBJECTIVE STILL UP. THE TERRACES FELL OUTSIDE THE GROUNDS. FIXED.
  · HOSHINO'S CONVERSATION COULD PLAY THROUGH THE CEILING FROM THE FLOOR BELOW. FIXED.
  · NOTHING IN THE GIG IS SPAWNED BY SCRIPT ANY MORE.
V1.2.6 [OK] NIX APPEARS ON THE PHONE AS A LIVE VIDEO IMAGE, RENDERED IN THE GAME'S OWN HOLOCALL STUDIO.
V1.2.5 [OK] THE LEDGER SHARD IS TAKEN AND READ LIKE ANY OTHER SHARD · ONE SHARD ON THE DESK, NOT TWO · "READ THE SHARD" IS ITS OWN OBJECTIVE.
V1.2.4 [OK] ESTATE SECURITY FIGHTS BACK · ARRIVES FROM 120 M OUT, BEFORE ANYONE IS LOOKING · HOSHINO STAYS AT HIS DESK AND CANNOT BE KILLED BEFORE HE HAS SPOKEN.
V1.2.3 [OK] JOHNNY NO LONGER TALKS TO YOU FROM SOMEWHERE YOU HAVE ALREADY DRIVEN PAST. CALLS WAIT UNTIL V IS ON FOOT.
V1.2.2 [OK] CALLERS NOW SOUND LIKE THEY ARE ON THE PHONE. 17 LINES.
V1.2.1 [OK] THE GIG COULD DEAD-END AT EL COYOTE COJO BEFORE HEROES. THE CALL NOW WAITS, AND SAYS SO ONCE.
V1.2.0 [OK] A NEW WAY TO PUT JOHNNY ON SCENE. SAFE TO INSTALL MID-SAVE:
  · NO MORE T-POSE, NO MORE ARRIVALS IN MID-AIR. HE USED TO BE ASSEMBLED IN TWO HALVES AND MOVED BETWEEN THEM. EACH APPEARANCE IS NOW STAGED ENTIRELY BY ITS OWN SCENE, SO HE ARRIVES STANDING, FACING YOU, ON THE GROUND.
  · NO MORE WRONG JOHNNY. THE OLD CODE SWEPT 40 M FOR A SILVERHAND AND USED WHATEVER IT FOUND, WHICH ON A BIG LOAD ORDER CAN BE ANOTHER MOD'S COPY. NOTHING SEARCHES ANY MORE.
  · HE GLITCHES OUT WHEN HE LEAVES, INSTEAD OF BLINKING OUT OF EXISTENCE.
  · ARASAKA OFFICE GUARDS: NO LONGER MISSING ON ONE ROUTE IN AND THEN PILED ON TOP OF YOU. TRIGGERED FROM THE WHOLE COMPOUND, ARRIVING OVER A FEW SECONDS AS YOU WALK IN.
  · NORTH OAK ESTATE GUARDS: THE SAME. COME IN FROM ANY DIRECTION, INCLUDING OVER THE WALL, AND THE GROUNDS ARE POPULATED.
  · THE SECOND HOSHINO WHO APPEARED INDOORS AND VANISHED: GONE. HE SOUNDS THE SAME, AND THE ONLY HOSHINO IN THE HOUSE IS THE ONE YOU CAME FOR.
  · GUARDS COULD IGNORE YOU. THE GIG NOW WAITS SIX TIMES LONGER FOR AN ENEMY TO FINISH LOADING.
  · FAST TRAVEL COULD BE BLOCKED FOR MINUTES AFTER IGNORING THE PHONE. THE BLOCK NOW COVERS THE RINGING AND NOTHING ELSE.
  · DECLINING A CALL WITH A LONG PRESS HANGS UP AT ONCE. THE CALLER TRIES AGAIN LATER.
  · ONCE THE EDDIES ARE IN, THE GIG SWITCHES ITSELF OFF: NO TIMERS, NO CHECKS ON DOORS OR COMPUTERS FOR THE REST OF THAT SAVE.
V1.1.3 [OK] ARASAKA COMPOUND DOORS FORCE-OPEN FOR EARLY-GAME SAVES. SAVE-SAFE.
V1.1.2 [OK] FAST-FORWARD ENABLED ON THE FIRST CALL · SMALLER DOWNLOAD, SAME GIG.
V1.1.1 [OK] FAST TRAVEL BLOCKED WHILE THE PHONE RINGS, THE WAY THE BASE GAME DOES IT.
V1.1.0 [OK] POST-LAUNCH FIX WAVE:
  · HOSHINO NO LONGER TALKS AFTER YOU HAVE KILLED HIM.
  · MAMA WELLES' BAR CHAT NO LONGER BLOCKS THE GIG CONVERSATION.
  · "GHOST" PHONE CALLS AFTER LOADING A SAVE: FIXED, STATE NOW READ FROM YOUR SAVE.
  · CALLS NO LONGER RING OVER FAST-TRAVEL LOADING SCREENS.
  · NIX NOW TAKES ABOUT TWO IN-GAME HOURS TO DIG THROUGH THE LEDGER.
  · NORTH OAK ENTRY: SIX PROGRESSIVE MARKERS FORM A TRAIL TO THE WAY IN.
V1.0.0 [OK] INITIAL RELEASE · TESTED ON 2.31 + PHANTOM LIBERTY.
CHANGELOG ON NEXUS →
NEXT // KEEP READING

There are two more gigs, Dead Ringer and Acceptable Loss, and each is a separate story: none of the three needs the others. Want to know how a quest mod like this is put together, or build your own side quest for Cyberpunk 2077? The whole pipeline is open source.

GIG 03: ACCEPTABLE LOSS[OPEN]

GIG 02: DEAD RINGER[OPEN]

BUILD YOUR OWN GIG[INJECT]