Clouds

Clouds within Night City

Clouds is in Japantown, one of Westbrook’s sub-districts. The venue itself is a single interior location rather than a broad area with streets, alleys and multiple buildings. Its world-space boundary is best understood as:

The surrounding Japantown streets belong to Megabuilding H8’s neighbourhood, not to Clouds. Likewise, Lizzie’s Bar is a separate venue elsewhere in Night City, even though Judy, Evelyn and the Moxes connect the two locations narratively.

Clouds opens for customers in the evening. During Automatic Love, arriving before opening time gives V the option to wait nearby until the venue is operating.

Megabuilding H8

Megabuilding H8 is the major access point. The practical route is:

The building itself should not be treated as part of Clouds’ internal directory. It is the host structure, while Clouds is the venue occupying one of its upper floors.

Reception and check-in

The reception desk is the first controlled point inside the venue. V must check in and deposit weapons before entering the customer area. The weapon-locker sequence is part of the venue’s security procedure rather than a permanent gameplay system.

The receptionist presents V with a choice of doll:

The choice determines which booth V enters and changes the presentation of the ensuing conversation, but it does not create a different quest line with different long-term consequences. The two routes lead to the same investigation concerning Evelyn.

Main doll area

The main ring contains the ordinary customer-facing booths. The area is deliberately intimate and heavily controlled. Security personnel monitor movement, while the glass-fronted booths provide visual separation between customers, dolls and staff.

One booth is associated with Evelyn’s previous work. V can optionally inspect it and examine the security feeds. These investigations provide context about Evelyn’s last days at Clouds and help establish that the venue’s management and security systems were involved in her exploitation.

A nearby access route can lead towards the VIP area. Depending on the approach, V may use a VIP access card taken from a guard. A concealed or less direct route through the building can also expose additional staff and security spaces.

Booths

The booth numbers are mission-relevant rather than evidence that Clouds offers a permanent numbered-room system after the quest. The game’s quest objectives identify booth 11 as Evelyn’s former booth, while booth 6 and booth 9 correspond to the Angel and Skye choices.

VIP area

The VIP area is separated from the ordinary doll booths and is where V meets Tom Caldera. Tom is important because he provides the next lead in the search for Evelyn.

Access can be obtained by taking a VIP token or access card from a hostile or incapacitated guard. The item is generally described as a VIP Token – Clouds in walkthrough documentation.

The VIP section also contains another booth associated with the mission’s investigation. Players should search it carefully before leaving, particularly if they are collecting environmental clues rather than rushing directly to Tom.

Woodman’s office

Woodman’s office lies beyond the VIP area and is the location of the confrontation with Oswald “Woodman” Forrest, the manager responsible for the dolls at Clouds. The encounter can be handled through dialogue or violence depending on the player’s choices and previous checks.

Woodman is not simply a boss guarding a valuable loot room. His importance is narrative: he represents the institutional power structure that treated Evelyn and the other dolls as exploitable property.

Exterior walkway and terrace

A service route leads to an exterior walkway around the Megabuilding. This space is used during Automatic Love for movement around the VIP section and later during Ex-Factor as Judy’s meeting point.

The terrace is not a separate open-world district. It is an adjacent mission space connected to Clouds and Megabuilding H8. During Ex-Factor, V meets Judy there in the early morning.

Items and access objects

The list deliberately separates named people from ordinary dolls, customers, guards and staff, because most background occupants do not receive unique names or persistent character functions.

Angel and Skye

Angel and Skye are the two dolls offered to V at reception. The selection is made before the appointment and determines which booth and character V visits.

Both encounters are designed to show the dollhouse’s central conceit: the customer is offered a highly tailored emotional or physical experience, while the doll is expected to absorb and mirror the customer’s desires. V can interrupt the encounter with the safe word and redirect the conversation towards Evelyn.

The two dolls are not interchangeable in presentation. Their appearances, mannerisms and dialogue differ, although both fulfil the same broad quest purpose.

Tom Caldera

Tom works in the VIP section. He is the most useful Clouds employee for V’s immediate investigation after the appointment with Angel or Skye. Tom directs V towards the next stage of the search and explains what happened to Evelyn within the venue’s internal hierarchy.

Tom should be treated as a resident worker rather than a general visitor. He is not a vendor, companion or repeatable service provider.

Maiko Maeda

Maiko is a key Tyger Claw-associated figure in Clouds’ later history. She is involved in the attempt to take control of the venue and appears during Ex-Factor and its follow-up storyline.

Her relationship with Judy is central to the later missions. Maiko presents herself as someone capable of organising a takeover, but her motives and willingness to negotiate with the Tyger Claws make her politically distinct from Judy’s desire to liberate the dolls.

Oswald “Woodman” Forrest

Woodman is the Clouds manager encountered during Automatic Love. He is associated with the venue’s management and with the abuse and exploitation of Evelyn after her breakdown.

The Woodman encounter can vary depending on dialogue choices, attribute checks and whether V chooses to become violent. He is not a conventional arena boss, although combat may occur.

Evelyn Parker

Evelyn is not present as a living resident during V’s visit. She is the reason V enters Clouds. Her former employment, booth and treatment by the venue’s management are reconstructed through conversations, surveillance and environmental clues.

Clouds therefore functions as an investigation site rather than a rescue location. By the time V reaches the venue, Evelyn has already left it and is being passed through the chain of exploitation that leads to later events.

Tyger Claws

The Tyger Claws control Clouds. Their influence is visible in the venue’s security, management structure and handling of the dolls. Clouds’ luxury presentation does not mean it is independent or neutral. The club operates within the Tyger Claws’ wider control of Japantown.

During Automatic Love, guards protect restricted areas and react if V is detected in places customers should not enter. The player can use stealth, distraction, dialogue, hacking and combat. Weapons being deposited at reception means that the opening part of the mission is designed to encourage investigation and controlled movement, although weapons and combat options can later become available through the mission’s routes.

Law enforcement

Clouds is not a police station, NCPD checkpoint or public security facility. Ordinary Night City police do not form a permanent encounter group inside the venue. The relevant security presence is private protection supplied by the Tyger Claws and Clouds management.

This distinction matters: hostile guards inside Clouds should not be confused with an NCPD response. Combat consequences are governed by the mission and local hostility rather than by a public law-enforcement patrol.

Recommended route

The game allows optional investigation before the main conversation. Examining Evelyn’s booth and the security feeds is useful for players interested in the venue’s evidence trail, but these actions are not required to complete the job.

Angel or Skye

The selection at reception is one of Clouds’ best-known choices, but its consequences are limited. It changes:

It does not split the wider main plot into separate branches. Players who want to see both versions must use separate saves or another playthrough.

Reaching the VIP section

The straightforward method is to obtain a VIP access token from a guard. Stealth players can use hacking, distractions and alternate routes to reduce confrontation. Attribute checks may open additional doors or provide access to electrical or staff areas. The precise checks can vary according to the game version and build, so players should not assume that one particular attribute route is always available.

Woodman

Woodman can be confronted through dialogue, intimidation and other checks before combat becomes necessary. If the conversation fails, he can become hostile. Defeating him is not a conventional loot-focused boss fight, but it can alter how the scene concludes.

A practical recommendation is to save before entering his office. This preserves the option to test dialogue and combat outcomes without repeating the entire Clouds infiltration.

Maiko’s plan

Maiko’s proposed takeover is not identical to Judy’s desired outcome. Maiko is concerned with power, control and practical survival, while Judy’s motivation is primarily to stop the dolls being exploited.

The choice is therefore not simply “help the dolls” versus “do nothing”. V may support Maiko’s plan, reject it or escalate the situation. Later consequences depend on the player’s decisions and on whether Maiko remains alive and aligned with the Tyger Claws.

What is not verified

No reliable evidence reviewed for this guide establishes Clouds as a location for:

The Megabuilding H8 fast-travel point is the practical nearby travel option, but it should not be counted as an internal Clouds facility.

Weapon confiscation

The reception weapon deposit is the most obvious special rule at Clouds. Do not assume V’s equipped weapons remain available immediately after check-in. The weapons are returned when V leaves through the appropriate mission exit.

Restricted access

The customer-facing venue is not the whole location. Staff doors, security routes, VIP access points and Woodman’s office are controlled areas. Entering them openly may trigger hostility, while stealth, hacking or attribute checks can provide alternatives.

Optional investigation

Evelyn’s booth and the security feeds are easy to overlook if the player follows the objective marker directly. They are not required for progression, but they add context to Clouds’ role in Evelyn’s exploitation.