What is a ripperdoc in cyberpunk?

In the sprawl of a cyberpunk city, a ripperdoc functions as an underground medic, acting as both a surgeon and a black-market mechanic to install cyberware^[5]. Imagine a cramped clinic where a desperate mercenary trades their last credits for a combat-ready limb, hoping the hardware holds up long enough to survive the night^[5].

This role occupies a precarious space between necessary care and cold exploitation. It forces us to confront the ethics of bodily autonomy, where survival often requires becoming dependent on proprietary technology^[6]. Here, consent is tangled in debt, and the line between human agency and corporate product blurs into a permanent state of vulnerability^[6].