Maiko Maeda

Maiko Maeda (前田 舞子) runs Clouds, the dollhouse in Japantown’s Megabuilding H8, for the Tyger Claws who own it. She started there as a doll and worked her way up to unofficial manager in about two years, and a 2076 School of Management trophy in her office shows she graduated top of her class. Her database entry portrays a woman who sees power as the only currency that counts in Night City, scorns people who settle for their lot and resents anyone whose climb was easier than hers.

Maiko is also Judy Álvarez’s ex-girlfriend. Their relationship ended badly, with Maiko coming across as borderline manipulative, and the two have been cold to each other ever since, although she still cares about Judy in her own way. V meets her through Judy’s side jobs. In Ex-Factor, Judy wants to take Clouds away from the Tyger Claws and give the dolls control, and she knows the plan cannot work without Maiko. Their first talk in Maiko’s office does not go Judy’s way, and how things end for Maiko in Pisces, the last part of that storyline, depends on V’s choices.

Those choices also decide whether she can reappear in Phantom Liberty, among the Tyger Claws guests at a party in Dogtown. Her given name is written with the characters for dance and child.