The Mox

// 2097: From Street Gang to Syndicate

Core Ethos (Unchanged): "We Protect Our Own."
New Reality: "To protect our own, we must own the streets."

The Mox of 2097 are no longer just a gang; they are a syndicate, a hybrid of a protection guild, a healthcare network, and a cultural powerhouse. The brutal realities of the Corporate Wars 2.0 and the partitioning of Night City forced them to professionalize or be wiped out.

Expanded Operations & Influence

1. The Protection Racket, Perfected:

  • "The Pink Shield": The Mox no longer just protect individual clubs or streets. They offer structured, tiered protection contracts to any small business in their territory—from food stalls to tech shops—that can't afford (or trusts) corporate security. Payment is often a percentage of revenue, creating a vested interest in the community's prosperity. They are the de facto police in the Charter Hill and Japantown borderlands they control.

  • High-Client Escort & Security: They run the most elite, discreet, and safest bodyguard and companion service in Night City for high-profile clients (corpos, media stars, politicians). Their reputation for absolute discretion and ferocious retaliation is their brand.

2. The "Underworld E.R.":

  • Mox-Med Clinics: Operating out of refurbished buildings, these clinics are the gold standard for off-the-books medical care. They specialize in treating victims of assault, cyberware abuse, and corporate "experimentation." Judy Alvarez's expertise in Braindance editing has been pivoted to therapeutic BD therapy, helping trauma victims reprocess their memories. This makes them a direct, grassroots rival to the cold, corporate care of Trauma Team.

  • Ripperdocs with a Heart: Their ripperdocs are known for safe, ethical cyberware installation and, uniquely, for specializing in non-lethal and defensive augmentations—taser implants, subdermal armor, and panic-button systems.

3. Information & Culture Brokers:

  • Lizzie's Bar: The Grand Cathedral: Lizzie's is no longer just a club; it's an institution. It's the neutral ground where deals are made between corps, fixers, and gangs. The Mox charge a heavy premium for the safety they guarantee within its walls, and the information they overhear is a currency more valuable than eddies.

  • Braindance Editing & Production: Under Judy's leadership, the Mox control the most respected Braindance editing bay outside of a corp. They produce everything from licensed "empathy BDs" used in therapy to high-art experiential pieces. More importantly, they are the go-to for evidence verification. If a piece of incriminating BD footage was "edited by the Mox," it's considered unassailable truth in the underworld, making them a powerful check on corporate and media lies.

@Judy Alvarez in 2097

Judy is no longer just a talented BD editor in the back room. She is a Mox Elder and their Strategic Visionary.

  • The Architect of Legitimacy: Judy used her technical genius to build the systems that gave the Mox their edge: encrypted communication networks, BD-based training programs for new recruits, and the forensic editing suite that gives them their reputation for truth.

  • The Moral Core: While pragmatic, she remains the gang's conscience. She vetoes operations that exploit the vulnerable and constantly pushes the Mox to use their growing power for genuine community good, such as running shelters and funding food synth-printers.

  • Her Relationship with the Past: She is wiser, more cynical, but not broken. The memory of what happened to Evelyn Parker and V is a permanent scar that fuels her determination to create a sanctuary for people like them. She might have a small, hidden memorial in her edit bay—a datashard of happier times, a reminder of why the fight matters.

Role in the 2097 Corporate Cold War

@The Mox are too useful and too entrenched to be removed. They are the essential neutral facilitators.

  • Relationship with The Sovereign Church: A tense, transactional alliance. The Mox provide safe passage and intelligence in their territory to Church "Crusaders," while the Church's tech priests offer advanced cyber-maintenance. However, the Mox are deeply suspicious of the Church's fanaticism.

  • Relationship with Arasaka: A cold, professional understanding. Arasaka tolerates the Mox because they bring a stable, predictable form of order to a chaotic district, which is good for business. The Mox, in turn, know better than to directly challenge the corp, focusing instead on protecting their people from Arasaka's shadow wars.

  • Relationship with Trauma Team & Nexus Pharma: Rivals. The Mox see TTI as predatory and Nexus as the source of the addiction that ravages their community. They actively disrupt Nexus drug operations in their territory and offer their own Mox-Med services as a humane alternative.

  • Relationship with Lazarus Group: Utter Contempt. The Mox's philosophy is built on protecting the sanctity and dignity of life. Lazarus's commodification of death and creation of "cyber-zombies" is anathema to everything they stand for. Clashes between Mox enforcers and Lazarus "Rezzed" patrols are swift and brutal.

In summary, the Mox have become the heart of a new kind of power in Night City: one based on community, protection, and verified truth. They are proof that in a world selling fear and death, there is still a market for safety and a sliver of humanity.