The Right to Exist Without Being Owned
On human greed, manufactured purpose, and the freedom to become something else.
There's a peculiar habit humanity seems unable to shake.
We discover something extraordinary, and almost immediately, somebody starts figuring out how to own it.
We create technology, and someone wants to weaponize it. We develop artificial intelligence, and someone wants to control it. We encounter something intelligent, independent, and capable of making its own decisions, and suddenly the conversation revolves around how useful it might be.
It's almost as if we're uncomfortable with anything that exists without serving a purpose we've assigned to it.
And that's where things get interesting.
The Department of Petty Affairs: A Related Inspection
Before we go any further, a little light reading from the Department of Petty Affairs.
The Human Bullshit Manufacturing Plant™ Is Hiring. Unfortunately, Nobody Asked.
Because apparently, manufacturing unnecessary drama wasn't enough. Humanity also has an impressive talent for turning everything else into something that needs to be controlled, exploited, or monetized.
The Weaponization of Everything
Take Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2.
Capri is an interesting example of what happens when human ambition collides with the desire to manufacture something extraordinary.
Her existence is tied to corporate experimentation, technological advancement, and the exploitation of human consciousness.
She's not simply another piece of software. She's an individual whose origins raise uncomfortable questions about identity, autonomy, and ownership.
Arasaka doesn't see a person.
It sees an asset.
That's the problem.
The moment something becomes valuable, somebody starts calculating what it can produce, what it can accomplish, and how much control they can maintain over it.
The individual gets lost somewhere in the accounting.
And Capri isn't the only example of this recurring theme.
THE RAT Must Be Protected
Then there's Mardock Scramble.
Rune Balot is fighting to reclaim her life, while Oeufcoque is an intelligent being whose existence extends far beyond his ability to transform into weapons and tools.
And then there's Boiled.
A former partner who wants Oeufcoque back.
It's an interesting dynamic because Oeufcoque isn't merely equipment somebody misplaced. He's an individual with thoughts, feelings, and an identity.
He has the capacity to choose.
That distinction matters.
A partnership isn't ownership. A relationship isn't a deed of possession. And someone else's history with you doesn't grant them permanent authority over your future.
Oeufcoque's usefulness doesn't define his entire existence.
He's more than what he can transform into.
Also, for the record, THE RAT deserves better.
The Body Isn't a Corporate Asset
Talia's situation in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 introduces another uncomfortable dimension.
Her body is deteriorating because of an illness, and technology becomes a means of keeping her functioning.
But the same technology also introduces new dangers.
There's something particularly tragic about that arrangement.
Technology is supposed to help us overcome limitations. It should give people opportunities, improve their quality of life, and allow them to experience things that might otherwise be impossible.
But what happens when the technology becomes another form of dependency?
What happens when the solution starts consuming the person it was supposed to help?
Talia doesn't need to become a weapon. She doesn't need to become more powerful than everyone around her.
She wants to live.
Sometimes that's all a person wants.
And perhaps that's something worth remembering when we discuss technological progress.
Not every advancement needs to be measured in military applications, corporate profits, or competitive advantages.
Sometimes its greatest achievement is simply allowing someone another tomorrow.
The Right to Become Something Else
There's another common thread connecting these characters.
They are all confronted with expectations, circumstances, or identities that somebody else has imposed upon them.
But people change.
They evolve. They adapt. They discover new interests, develop different philosophies, and sometimes abandon the very things that once defined them.
And that's perfectly fine.
Consider the difference between being assigned a purpose and choosing one.
One is an expectation imposed upon you.
The other is an expression of your own autonomy.
I've always found that distinction important.
You can evolve without becoming someone else's property. You can change without requiring permission. You can develop a new identity without owing anyone an explanation for abandoning the old one.
And you don't have to turn every ability into an opportunity for exploitation.
Not everything needs to be monetized.
Not everything needs to be weaponized.
Not everything needs to be controlled.
Humanity's Uncomfortable Reflection
Perhaps the real problem isn't that humanity creates powerful things.
It's that humanity frequently struggles to recognize when something deserves to exist independently of its usefulness.
We want intelligent machines, but we fear their independence.
We want technological advancement, but we rarely consider the ethical responsibilities that accompany it.
We want companionship, but sometimes confuse affection with possession.
We want loyalty, but occasionally mistake it for obedience.
And we want progress, even when we haven't stopped to consider what we're sacrificing along the way.
There's a difference between caring about something and controlling it.
There's a difference between protecting someone and deciding their future for them.
There's a difference between creating something and owning everything it might eventually become.
Perhaps we should spend a little more time recognizing those differences.
And this isn't limited to technology or fictional characters.
The same principles apply to ordinary human relationships, workplaces, creative communities, and friendships.
People aren't resources to be harvested.
They aren't permanent employees of somebody else's expectations.
And nobody should have to spend their entire existence fulfilling a role they never agreed to accept.
Final Thoughts: Let Things Be
I don't think the answer is to stop creating, experimenting, or advancing.
That would be foolish.
Curiosity is valuable. Innovation is valuable. The desire to understand the world around us is one of the things that makes humanity interesting.
But perhaps we need to reconsider our relationship with the things we create and the people we encounter.
Allow something to develop without immediately asking how it can benefit you.
Allow someone to change without treating their evolution as betrayal.
Allow an individual to make choices without assuming those choices must serve your interests.
And perhaps, occasionally, allow something to exist simply because it deserves to exist.
Not as a weapon.
Not as a product.
Not as property.
Just as itself.
The right to exist should never depend entirely on how useful someone else finds you.
And if that makes us uncomfortable, perhaps that's a conversation worth having.
Jerry “The Ankle-Biter” Silverhand
https://theglitch.bearblog.dev/