Cyberpunk 2077 ‘Dream On’ best choice and outcome: What should you tell Jefferson?

The Dream On quest in Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC puts you in a sci-fi-infused political intrigue with a tough moral choice regarding a certain Jefferson Peralez.

Here’s a brief guide to this mission and what choices you should make along the way. Spoilers will follow.

What is the Dream On quest in Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC?

The Dream On quest in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, named for the Aerosmith song, is a morally complex sidequest that has many players split on what the best course of action is. Dream On becomes available after completing the I Fought the Law sidequest for mayoral candidate Jefferson Peralez.

Having earned the politician’s trust, Jefferson calls you up 48 hours later and tells you to meet him at his Charter Hill apartment. He tells you someone broke into his house, which he subsequently shot, but security is not picking up on anything. They said to him that it was just a dream. Your job is to investigate the house and determine what might have happened.

As you continue the quest:

1. A quick look at your scanner reveals a hidden area in the apartment’s TV room.
2. With a high enough Body stat, you can force this door open. Otherwise, you’ll have to head to the security room and find a code to deactivate the lock on a computer. 
3. You enter the computer room from here, where the security team has set up a system to spy on Jefferson. In reality, it’s much more terrifying than that.

The player tracks the signal from this setup to a van outside the apartment and chases the van down. This leads to a central computer that reveals the truth—the Peralez family isn’t being spied on, but they’re being brainwashed. With Jefferson running for office, an unknown entity has chipped their brains and will likely use him as a puppet for political power.

Telling Elizabeth what you’ve found during the Dream On quest in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC

After you’ve uncovered the terrifying situation that the Peralez family is in, Elizabeth will set up a meeting with you at a ramen spot to discuss any further actions in private. This is where you’ll have to face a problematic choice.

At the ramen place, Elizabeth confesses that Jefferson’s behavior has changed lately. She reveals that it’s gotten so bad that she’s suspected what you found was true.

She reveals that now that she’s seen it, she remembers the concealed room in her apartment but has forgotten it, suggesting memory erasure. She remembers seeing the stranger in the apartment, but the security told her it was nothing and she had no evidence.

The next day, she received a call from a voice that threatened her to keep her mouth shut. The call had no record afterward. She begs you not to tell Jefferson anything you discovered and says his life might depend on it. She tells you that she will tell Jefferson security was spying for his rival—which is very bad but not nearly as disturbing as the truth. All you have to do is confirm what she says.

After this, she leaves, and it’s up to you to figure out what to do. Johnny Silverhand tells you that it’s hazardous to the city to let this go unnoticed and have a puppet mayor in office. But he also knows that you’d be putting their lives in danger.

Now you’re presented with a difficult choice:

• Tell Jefferson the truth and let the family deal with the horror of it.
• Keep the secret and let Night City end up with a brainwashed puppet for a mayor.

What are the repercussions of the choices in the Dream On quest in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?

While the choices are dire in their own way, they don’t have any repercussions on the the main campaign. In fact, you won’t get to know anything about what happened to the Peralez family until you’ve reached the end credits. The only thing that happens is you get some concerning text messages and end up being blocked from contacting either Jefferson or Elizabeth.

The decision only has weight if you care about what happens to Jefferson and Elizabeth. If you’ve let yourself become deeply immersed in walking the world of Cyberpunk 2077 in V’s shoes, the outcome of the Dream On quest will likely be important to you.

What should you tell Jefferson at the end of the Dream On quest in Cyberpunk 2077?

Tell Jefferson the truth

If you tell Jefferson the truth, he first acts with disbelief. The game gives you several chances to back out, perhaps sparing his sanity. He reacts with anger and horror, but you have to inform him there’s nothing you can do about it.

After Jefferson walks away, Johnny Silverhand tells you that he believes AI has hacked into Jefferson’s Brain. This is the last you hear of the situation, until you reach the end credits sequence, where you learn that he’s gone mad and doesn’t trust his wife anymore.

Keep the secret

If you keep the secret and tell him that his rival was spying on him, Jefferson walks away, determined to win the election. He never learns anything about the secret in his home and moves on, leading to a seemingly happier end credits sequence, where he is cheerful and positive about the future, but most likely still brainwashed.

Though this is a challenging and emotional choice, just like the Talent Academy decision, it ultimately doesn’t have any concrete effects on your gameplay. It leaves you to determine whether it’s better that you’ve exposed the truth and have the Peralezes go mad and fall apart or that you’ve lied to Jefferson and let them continue to live a happy and brainwashed life, likely to become the leaders of Night City controlled by an unknown puppet-master.

So, there you have it. You know everything you need to tell Jefferson in Cyberpunk 2077’s Dream on Quest. Good luck!