Eren grabbed it. It was warm. Humming slightly.

A small crowd of desperate-eyed civilians, off-duty soldiers, and a few hooded figures Eren recognized as rogue engineers surged forward.

Inside, nestled in velvet, was the prize. A heavy, steelbook case. On its cover, the Colossal Titan’s face was rendered in shimmering foil, but its eye held a reflection not of the wall, but of a television screen. On the spine, the rating was simply:

“Not to us,” Eren said, low and fierce. He tucked the box inside his jacket, right over his heart. “The physical media is the memory. The menus, the chapter stops, the ‘play all’ function… that’s our freedom.”

He pressed play.

And for the first time in years, as the unaired director’s cut of the Armored Titan’s breach filled the room with uncensored, un-scored, bone-crunching audio, Eren Yeager smiled.

Eren’s hands trembled as he slid the first disc out. It was black, not silver. And on its inner ring, etched in tiny letters, was a phrase from the old world: “You are not a slave. You are not a god. You are a consumer with region-free playback.”