This guide will show you how to complete the optional objective to find a way to free Brick during the main story mission “The Pickup” in the All Foods Factory in Cyberpunk 2077!
This guide is up-to-date for Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.3
Table of contents
One of the early main story jobs (missions) you get is called “The Pickup”. During it, you have to enter the All Foods factory and deal with the Maelstrom gang members and their new leader Royse.
You cannot avoid this mission as it’s part of the main story progression of your character. You do, however, have a wide variety of options when it comes to how you want to approach this job. You can strive for a peaceful resolution or a violent one. Note that to get to the reason for this guide, you will need to go for the “fight against all Maelstromers in the factory” option, as I will state again and again in this guide.
The mission tasks you to go meet with the Maelstrom gang at the abandoned All Foods factory located in Northside. This is kind of their base of operations.
Dex, your fixer, has sent you there to obtain a robot called Flathead model MT0D12 from MIlitech. You will need this bot for the next main job later on.
Did you know that in an earlier version of the game, before it launched, you were able to use this bot as a companion to follow and assist you in combat if you spec into Tech?
Choices you have to make during The Pickup main job
Before you get to the All Foods factory, you have an option to talk to a Militech Corpo agent called Meredith Stout, who you can romance by the way. She will offer to give you a chip that supposedly contains 10,000 Eddies. It instead contains a virus, of course. That’s Militech…
You have an option to meet with Royce and offer to pay him with your own Eddies, if you have collected that amount already. Or you can meet with Meredith and take the CredChip from her then offer it to Royce.
Even if you collect the Eddies yourself and pay Royse, he will get angry and things can escalate to a fight in one form or another.
If you pay him with your own money, which by the way you can collect by using our recommended methods to get Eddies in the game, you will be able to loot the money back after you take Royce down.
If you have sided with Militech earlier and opted to take the chip with Eddies from Meredith, you can give it to Royce and inform him that the chip is bugged to get to another possible peaceful outcome. To be able to free Brick, you don’t want the peaceful outcome.
In case you opt for that scenario, Royce will give you the bot and moments later an alarm will be triggered. Militech are at the gate and you will fight alongside the Maelstromers to get out. This is likely going to be the first time you meet a mech and have to fight it. The next time will be during The Heist mission as you escape the hotel. But… back to our main topic – helping Brick.
If you draw a weapon instead of taking Royce down, you will get another dialogue option and you can once again choose a peaceful outcome at the expense of the opportunity to free Brick and you will also lose the 10,000 Eddies or an aggressive one. You have to choose the violent outcome of this job.
You also have one more alternative approach – enter with guns blazing. As soon as you enter the All Foods factory, start blowing up the mines and turrets. This will cancel out any potential conversations with the Maelstromers and put you in a direct conflict with them. You can clear the whole factory and then find and free Brick. This is the most fun and also the most difficult approach.
If you feel confused about all of these options, I can offer you one straight path to follow:
- Collect 10,000 Eddies by doing quick random street events, or do some side jobs. Consult the guide on how to make money in Cyberpunk 2077 if you need more tips.
- Talk to Meredith and take her chip.
- Go to All Foods and talk to the Malestromers.
- If you have the money, offer it to Royce and go to step 6. If not, go to step 5.
- If you have the chip from Meredith, give it to Royce, don’t tell him about the virus.
- Knock Down Royce when the opportunity is presented in the dialogue options.
- Fight the Maelstromers in the meeting room and then continue down with the rest of the guide.
There are a lot of variations in what happens, but one thing is certain – you will always get out of this job with the bot.
Where to find Brick
After the conversation with Royce goes south, you will have to find a way to get out of the All Foods factory.
On your way out you will fight Maelstrom gang members and in one of the large rooms, you will find a locked door to an adjacent small room with an NPC locked inside. This is Brick, the former leader of the Maelstrom gang.
The room where Brick is locked is on the right of you as you walk through that large room on your way in to meet Dum Dum and Royce. It’s not a good idea probably to try and free Brick just yet. Go have the conversation with the Maelstromers first. The room will be on your left as you head out making way with your guns.
I honestly never tried a silent and stealthed approach. I assume it’s possible, just never bothered myself to do this mission without making much noise on my way out.
After you complete the conversation with Dum Dum and Royce, and after you have chosen the “take down” option during the conversation with Royce, you will have to escape the All Foods Factory. I recommend defeating all gang members before you try to free Brick.
Find your way to the big room with the storage containers. Take the path shown on the image below and get to the control rooms with the glass walls.
Brick is right in the next room, the locked door is to your left as you enter the room at the end of the path shown on the image above. And on the image below you see the locked door with Brick behind it. There’s a beam pointed at him. If he moves, the charge will detonate and blow him up.
Find a way to Free Brick
You can disarm the charge if you have a high enough Tech attribute. If you don’t have it, get the detonator and disarm the charge with it.
Continue to the operator’s rooms with glass walls on the north side of the large room. On a shelf near the door to your left, you will find a detonator. Pick it up.
Choose the Disarm option. Brick is sitting on a chair, with a bomb attached to him and ready to blow up.
Turn around. In the same room, on the shelf in the middle, there is a laptop. Open it.
Click on the Messages tab at the top left. Open the last message entitled “only you guys know” and find the code “9691” in it. This is the code that opens the door to the room where Brick is locked.
Go back to the locked door and interact with the terminal on the left.
Type in the code “9691” to unlock the door and free Brick. As soon as you click on the four numbers, the door will automatically open up.
Enter the room and have a chat with Brick. He will be grateful that you let him go and promise to show his gratitude when you need his help in the future, eventually.
The marker on the lower left of the image below shows the charge that was pointing to Brick ready to blow him up if you decided to choose that option earlier when you held the detonator.
Who is Declan Griffin, aka Brick
In the World of Cyberpunk 2077 book Brick is listed as the current leader of the Maelstrom gang in Night City.
Brick’s original name is Declan Griffin. He is the actual leader of the Maelstrom gang in Night City. He has been captured and “demoted” by Royce, who has claimed the leadership now. Brick has been locked away in that small room for a few days.
Royce told everyone that Brick is gone, but he actually locked him in the room and gave the code to only a select few gang members.
If you inspect Brick after you free him, you will see that there’s a big bounty for his head.
Will you meet Brick again later in Cyberpunk 2077?
Yes. You meet Brick in the Totentanz club in the Northside of Night City. He has regained his leadership of the Maelstrom gang and is hanging at the gang’s favorite club.
You can meet him there talking to Nancy (Bes Isis). She is an ex-member of Johnny’s band Samurai. When you meet her in Cyberpunk 2077, she is a journalist.
Nancy is in Totentanz trying to get an interview from Brick (if you freed him). You can help her do that. When you meet with Brick, he will once again thank you for helping him earlier during The Pickup job at the All Foods factory.
