You stole their free will.
(beat) Then we’re already obsolete.
A new message appears on Batou’s retinal display. No sender. No encryption key. Just six words: Ghost In The Shell - S.A.C. Solid State Society...
Eleven “caregivers” in the past month. All from the ultra-rich stratum. No ransom. No violence. They simply wake up one day, sign over their estates to a holding company called Solid State , and walk into a refugee transport. You stole their free will
We shut down the Solid State server. The children were returned. The “caregivers” woke up screaming—not from trauma, but from the sudden, crushing weight of being a single self again. but from the sudden