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How common it is

Modest implants and assistive devices are ordinary enough that nobody gives a speech about them: perhaps one adult in four has something implanted, more carry an external aid, and the mix moves with the neighbourhood and the job. The old 2030s brain chips are a smaller, more precarious group. Military-grade hardware is rare, and anyone carrying it is remembered. A device on a person has an owner, a service arrangement, a failure mode and an observer; when it matters to a text, say which of the four is in play (a licence check, a worn socket, a missed service, a log somewhere). Its owner is a person with a life, not a diagnosis. What an implant looks like follows what it cost: ordinary ones are modest and worn (a scar, a port, a matte housing, a strap); chrome, armour or military styling means very expensive or stolen, and is a story in itself. A repaired or hacked device leaves a different record, not none. A voice note alone proves little either way.