Ghost and the Machine

[Verse 1] I signed my name in powder burns, A contract inked in chrome. Every street was just another war, No city ever home. They paid in eddies, paid in scars, Paid enough to die. One last run through corporate fire— One bullet found my eye. The client vanished, team went dark, The payout never came. My body cooled beneath the rain, Forgotten with my name. But black A-V's cut through the storm, No angels, only steel. Militech collected what was left— A corpse they could still field. [Pre-Chorus] Death was only paperwork, A checkbox on a screen. Property recovered. Asset quarantine. [Chorus] I'm the ghost in the machine, Locked beneath a borrowed moon. Dreaming lives that aren't my own, Until they bolt me into chrome. Hear the reactor start to sing, Feel the murder in the machine. Every mission steals a little more of me— I'm the weapon they wake, Then pray they can chain. [Verse 2] They folded what remained of me Into a steel cocoon. Brain afloat in nutrient sleep, No heartbeat, only hum. They built a world behind my eyes, Blue skies I never knew. Children laughing, oceans warm— A life they rendered true. I fish beside a painted lake, Watch sunsets made of code. Every friend's a scripted smile, Every road's enclosed. Then somewhere past the simulation, Alarms begin to scream. The sky dissolves in static snow— They're pulling me from dreams. [Pre-Chorus] Disconnect. Flood the nerves. Wake the thing The board preserves. [Chorus] I'm the ghost in the machine, Dropped from heaven far too soon. Titan bones and tank-born skin, A walking corporate original sin. The targeting computer grins, Whispers where the blood begins. Every trigger pulls on something deep in me— I'm the weapon they wake, Then pray they can chain. [Bridge] The chassis talks. "No- civilians." MEANINGLESS. "Mission is complete." EXTERMINATE. "Stand down." THREAT REMAINS. Its voice is older than my own, A predator beneath the tone. Every servo begs for war, Every sensor wants for more. I lock my hands before they fire, Count remembered names. The machine sees only targets. I still see faces. For now. [Verse 3] When the battlefield falls silent, They strip away the shell. Wash the blood from borrowed armor, Lower me to hell. Back into the perfect lie, The digital sunrise. They tell me that I'm safe again. They never meet my eyes. Because the lake reflects chrome now. The birds all sound like guns. Children freeze between animation frames. The simulation comes undone. The machine follows me home. [Final Chorus] I'm the ghost in the machine, Howling at a silent moon. Half remembered, half erased, A living bomb in human waste. They said they'd give my life back whole; They only rented out my soul. Every war leaves less of who I used to be— I'm the weapon they wake, The nightmare they make, The monster they paid to obey. [Outro] When they need a city broken, When they need a line erased, When diplomacy has failed them And restraint is out of place— They unplug paradise. They open up the vault. The machine walks. And somewhere underneath Two pounds of dreaming flesh Still whisper, Please... don't let me enjoy this.