Fairly early on in Cyberpunk 2077's main mission chain you encounter a significant decision that can have some pretty permanent consequences for certain characters involved. Since this is a major choice and part of the main story, keep in mind that there are heavy spoilers in this guide - but that should be pretty obvious!
During the course of the mission The Pickup, you encounter Royce, newly minted leader of the Maelstrom gang who refuses to honor a deal struck with the previous leader. There are multiple ways to deal with the situation available to you, and some depend on actions taken before even meeting him.
The setup

The apropos for the mission The Pickup is that fixer Dexter DeShawn bought a high-end combat robot known as the Flathead from Brick, who was the leader of the Maelstrom gang - the only problem is that Brick got deposed by Simon 'Royce' Randall and the new leader doesn't want to make good on the deal. He sends V to deal with the situation, suggesting they meet up with Meredith Stout beforehand because she too has an interest in the Flathead - this will unlock additional options during the confrontation, so we strongly suggest doing it. Meeting Meredith Before you head on over to Royce, you can call Meredith Stout and organize a meeting. When you meet up with the Militech agent, she's in the process of transporting Anthony Gilchrist for interrogation as she believes the man to be a mole in the company. After striking a deal, which involves a lie detector test to assure her of your intentions, she hands you a Militech Credchip which can be used later on to bribe Royce.



