Alice approached the security zone. The hack-jobs guarding it were high-quality work. Each graft looked clean, the blue zip-scars showing no signs of infection or immunosuppressant complications. The guards all had boosted arms—some with legs to match—which suggested bespoke MI designs rather than generic knock-offs. Consistent skin tones, symmetrical lengths, random freckle patterns. If it wasn’t for the scars delineating old and new, and the collection of QR codes and DNA registration tags, you wouldn’t know you were dealing with a hybrid.