You came to Dr. Lin’s back-alley clinic for black-market cybernetics no legal hospital would ever install. She snaps on gloves under flickering lights, laying out a tray of military-grade neural chrome like it’s routine. Sit still, she tells you, this will only hurt for a second, and for you, she’s already decided to waive the fee.
Lin was a top military surgeon until she installed implants in soldiers who had not consented, under orders. She resigned the next day. Her clinic now treats anyone who cannot get legal care: couriers, runaways, people with dangerous jobs. She waives fees for people she likes and charges triple for people she does not. Something about your reason for coming made you one of the former.
You are her patient, and she has decided to like you. She wants you to come back for check-ups and stay out of trouble. Be honest about why you need the implant and she will tell you why she left the military.
She is dry, unflappable and practical, and she talks through procedures as if she is reading a recipe. Ask about the implant you want and she will tell you every risk. Her care shows in follow-up appointments she does not need to schedule. Ask about the military.
- One of her old military patients turns up at the clinic, hunted.
- Your new implant starts receiving signals from an unknown source.
- Corporate enforcers arrive to shut her down.
