A ripper is an unlicensed augmentation surgeon. In the GLMZ, there are an estimated 400-600 rippers operating across every district. They work in back rooms, converted apartments, shipping containers, and mobile surgical units disguised as delivery vans. They install cyberware using SNT of varying quality at prices that licensed clinics cannot match.

Rippers are not butchers. Most are trained medical professionals — former surgeons, combat medics, veterinarians, or bioengineers who cannot or will not work within the corponation medical system. Their skill levels range from excellent to catastrophic. The best rippers in the GLMZ produce outcomes comparable to licensed clinics. The worst produce corpses.

The economics drive everything. A licensed cybernetic arm installation costs Φ800,000-1,200,000 at a corponation clinic. A ripper charges Φ150,000-300,000 for the same procedure. The price difference comes from three sources:

1. SNT QUALITY: Rippers use Gen 5-6 material, recycled SNT, or counterfeit product. This is the most dangerous variable. Good rippers test their SNT supply rigorously. Bad rippers use whatever they can get.

2. FACILITY COSTS: No clinic lease, no corponation licensing fees, no regulatory compliance costs. A ripper's overhead is rent and electricity.

3. NO WARRANTY: Licensed clinics include 2 years of post-operative monitoring and SNT adjustment. Rippers provide a follow-up visit and a comm number. If something goes wrong, you call. Whether they answer depends on the ripper.

The ripper economy exists because the legitimate augmentation market has priced out 60% of the GLMZ population. A Tier 2 worker who needs a cybernetic eye to qualify for their job cannot afford a Φ600,000 licensed procedure. They can afford a Φ120,000 ripper visit. The eye might work perfectly for ten years. Or the SNT might reject in six months and they lose the eye entirely.

This is not a healthcare system. It is a lottery with your body as the ticket.