Full Citizen (27)

There is usually something appealing about things deemed ‘illegal’—something that makes them illegal in the first place.

For example, suppose you were buying a piece of cyberware.

The process of purchasing and implanting it through legal procedures was anything but simple.

First of all, you needed citizenship.

Then you had to undergo a physical compatibility test, register its intended use, and choose which corporation’s product you would have implanted at which hospital. Along the way, your credit rating, criminal record, ACU registration status, and occupational classification would all be scrutinized.

A mercenary wanting an enhanced prosthetic arm had to meet the appropriate requirements, while a factory worker seeking assistive wear for a bad back needed their employer’s approval. Who had put what kind of device in their body, when, and why, and what its specifications were—every one of those questions had to be answered.

But illegal cyberware was different.

It was cheap, and even the implantation process was fast. They didn’t ask why you intended to use it, either, and above all… there was no record of it. That was the appeal.

Whether you wanted a hidden blade implanted on the inside of your wrist to kill someone, or a pain suppressor to endure sixteen-hour workdays in a factory, the clinics here would perform the procedure without asking a single question as long as you paid. They didn’t listen to long-winded stories.

G-12 was such a place...