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A pair of human scientists led a strictly dressed human woman through a laboratory. She walked with a stern stiffness and a perpetual, if slight scowl on her face. He clothes were all various shades of grey, but never fully black or white. Very formal, ceremonial garb, of the highest office in the world. Her appearance was intentionally constructed to be the perfect conveyance of the dual power and responsibility of her position as General Secretary of the United Nations of Earth.

The scientists stopped in front of a thick plexiglass case. Inside were several soil-boxes, each with a plant in the later stages of decay. One of the scientists, the team leader, who wore a black, woolen sweater, indicated the plants. "This is the result after a month of contact with the latest generation of virus. Total chlorophyll break-down begins after one week, and the plants die for good no later than the middle of week three. We think we have it about perfected, just a couple more generations and it'll be ready for a planet-scale deployment. Aside from the hidden genetic kill switch, which only we have, it would be near-impossible to stop the virus; developing a vaccine or finding the weak point would take years, even with the brightest minds of a planet all working together."

"Excellent work." Her praise was rare, so even when it was sparse it felt good to receive. "How are the recyclers coming along?"

"We had some trouble finding a good single fungal match at first, so we ended up having to splice the genetic material of clathus ruber, ganoderma applanatum, and ophiocordyceps unilateralis together to create what we're looking for."

The other scientist broke in: "Which of course required us to find and neutralize the effects of the hyperparasite species that preys upon the ophiocordyceps unilateralis, in order to make sure that it wouldn't interfere with Phase 2. I feel like I must inform you myself of how continued study of the hyperparasite species and the ways in which ophiocordyceps unilateralis combats it could lead to potential medical advances in the future. After the completion of the Project, of course." She added quickly.

The secretary smiled softly. "I appreciate you telling me. Advances in any field do us all good. If you can write up a report in your off-time, I'll have it delivered to my office for review personally. Now..." She would not enjoy what would come next; the whole affair was almost regrettable, but it was not undeserved. "Is the prototype ready for preliminary weapons testing?"

The scientist in black shifted, almost uncomfortably. He was not a violet person, nor was he particularly fond of weapons. But as part of the project, he hadn't had a choice but to lead the team that had been developing the prototype. Particle physics was his field of expertise, after all.

"Right this way, Madame Secretary." He led her away from the biological labs, deeper into the facility. By several checkpoints staffed by dozens of armed guards, deep into the belly of the earth.

"How have the hacking teams been getting on?"

"Perfectly well. We've managed to secure access to the network the Adversaries are using to abduct people; we've tested it by sending multiple people and objects through, all of which were successful regardless of mass, although obviously we've only been sending smallish objects though, for security reasons. We've been able to bring things back too; small objects at first, but for the last month we've been abducting select Adversary subjects in the same way that they abduct humans, and we've been bringing them here to test on. Either the Adversaries haven't noticed us, haven't been able to lock us out, or don't think we're a threat. The network hasn't been deactivated at any point yet, so we can only assume that they haven't noticed us. If progress continues as it has been, we should have no problem carrying through the implementation of the Project."

He led her through a great metal door, and into a massive, barren concrete room. A construct loomed before them, three bowed, multi-jointed steel legs holding aloft what looked like a black, hexagonal tin can. It really didn't look particularly menacing, in fact it looked a little silly. The only thing that made it slightly imposing was it's impressive height; it stood at a full fifteen meters high. Cables and tubing connected to it from the wall.

Attached to two of the flat sides of it's hexagonal main body were what appeared to be gun barrels, cast in a sleek, silvery, futuristic metal, which was really just stainless steel. After all, if it works, it works. The barrels were mounted in ball turrets that were suspended about a meter away from the main body of tripod.

Because that's what it was, really, it was a tripod-style robotic walking machine. There was no way around it, everyone knew what a tripod was, and here was a tripod. H.G. Wells was probably spinning in his grave.

Arranged around the body of the machine were six inward-opening hatches, one for each side. Currently they were all open, displaying the large, camera-like devices inside. They were a bit primitive compared to the technology that they have been reverse-engineered from, but perfectly functional nonetheless, and stealth wasn't exactly what they were going for anyway. A couple meters above the devices on each side was mounted a glossy black semi-sphere, which looked very similar to a security camera mounting.

The Secretary looked up at it approvingly. She was never one for flashy style over substance, and this entirely utilitarian hunk of metal and electronics would do perfectly for what was in mind. "How have the system tests been holding up?"

"Everything is on schedule. The transport projectors are working perfectly. We went through a couple dozen Adversary subjects to get them working perfectly, but the first human test and every test afterward have had perfect results. We've now tested them thousands of times, and they haven't 'spliced' a human even once."

"Congratulate your teams for me, doctor. Their work has been most excellent. After the Project has been implemented, that technology will find countless worthy uses in the civilian sector."

"Yes, ma'am." He answered evenly. "I'll pass it on."

The heavy clomp of boots could be heard behind then, along with the sound of something being dragged against the floor.

"I believe an Adversary subject is being brought in now." The scientist began walking towards the control room. He didn't look back at the subject being brought in, he couldn't bear to look at it. It made him sick to think of it; what it had done, and what had been and would be done to it.

The General Secretary had no such qualms, and turned to see the subject being brought in.

It was a tall, naked, anthropomorphic deer, who looked much the worse for wear. Its horns had been removed with electric saws, leaving just short, flat stumps in their places. Its body was covered in thin red scars, the result of multiple invasive vivisections and examinations. It appeared to have previously been a male before it was brought here though the network, as its groin bore the scars of surgical emasculation. A patch of fur on its right forearm had been shaved off in a neat rectangle and then treated with chemicals to prevent hair growth. A barcode had been tattooed into the flesh there, along with the number A-12. Its face, while not as scarred as the rest of its body, bore deep exhaustion lines and heavy black rings circled its eyes.

It was dragged into the room by two large security guards in black uniforms with black masks over their faces, hooves scraping against the floor as the humans moved too fast to allow it to get its feet under itself. A sallow-faced man in a white lab-coat and black-rimmed glasses strode in besides them.

The guards stopped a few meters in front of the secretary and nodded to her in acknowledgment; their hands were currently too full to salute.

"Doctor." The secretary looked at the new scientist.

"Madam Secretary." He saluted smartly, then indicated the Adversary subject. "This one was one of our first successful captures. We've thoroughly probed it and interrogated it for information, and have performed as many medical tests as we could on it, but now it appears near death. Its only possible further use to us is through more... direct testing.

"You said you'd release me; send me back if I did what you asked..." The deer said quietly.

In response to this, one of the guards unclipped his telescoping electric baton from his belt, extended it, and forced the live end of the rod into the the flesh of the subject's neck.

It screamed in agony as it scrambled weakly between the two guards, trying to writhe free as its muscles twitched and spasmed from the electrical discharge.

The secretary and doctor waited patiently for the disciplinary measure to end, the woman's scowl growing harder as the scent of burnt flesh and hair reached her nose. It annoyed her.

Not a one of the four of them felt any pity or remorse for the subject. They knew what it had done in its past; why it had been selected for abduction and testing. This was mercy compared to what it really deserved. The whole Project was mercy, really. A comparatively kind way to deal with an issue that deserved much worse.

At last the baton was removed, and the subject fell limp between the two guards, breathing heavily but not daring to say anything more. A thin wisp of smoke rose from a newly created black mark on its neck.

The doctor turned to the guard. "Don't treat the subjects like that, Victor. They're no use to us dead, and this one is dangerously close to that point already." He turned back to the secretary. "I apologize for that."

"Indeed." The secretary said, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened. "Prepare for the test then; a live demonstration would be infinity more informative than on a simple target object."

Preparations for the test began as the large steel door to the room was closed and sealed. When this had been done, the guards abruptly dropped the deer on the floor and left it there, and the four humans proceeded to the control room to join the other scientist and the technicians, sealing the door behind them.

The deer was left alone in the room, alone for the first time in however long he'd been here. He tentatively got up on his knees and looked around, expecting another shock from a baton. He had given up on hoping that this was a dream, and now he'd finally been forced to let go of the notion that he'd get to go home. If what he'd heard was any indication, he probably wouldn't even be living this room, much less this planet. He looked down between his legs, where his genitals had used to be. Before the doctors, and their knives and saws and paralyzing chemicals that did nothing to dull the pain. He looked down and saw the results of an operation that he'd performed himself many times, on humans that screamed and begged. And he'd laughed it off. Like it was nothing. Because to him, it was nothing. Just another day's work.

And now he could see how it was wrong. Only now that it had finally been done to him did he understand how his "patients" must have felt. To have their bodies, the housings of their inviolable soul, cut and prodded and tortured just to make them more agreeable for their masters. He had been robbed, robbed of his freedom and of his body, just like them. And he had a sneaking suspicion that soon, he'd be robbed of his only chance to try and make amends.

And he cried.

***

Inside the control room, technicians sat at control panels, pushing buttons and flicking switches; interpreting the inscrutable blinking of multi-colored lights with watchful eyes. The lights were gradually dimmed.

"Commencing test in three... two... one... zero."

The tripod's bowed legs straightened, and LEDs inside the ball-housing of the gun turrets lit up with a bright white light, contrasting against the black metal of the gimbal housings.

"Currently the machine is in test-mode, that's what the white light signifies." The black-sweatered scientist explained. He, the sallow-faced scientist, and the secretary were standing at a window overlooking the chamber. Turning to address the lead technician, he said "Please activate the transport projectors, if you would."

"Yes, sir." The technician pressed a button on his console, and the camera-like devices in the sides of the tripod slid a ways out of their alcoves, revealing that they too were mounted in gimballing turrets.

"Please instruct them to scan any nearby life-forms."

The technician pressed more buttons. The projector closest to the deer to face it and suddenly emitted a beam of shaky, glitchy-looking light; bathing the deer in it.

The secretary thought she saw something glimmering on the deer's cheek in the light, almost like a teardrop would, but she paid it no mind. Monsters don't cry, only people did.

"The projector is scanning the organism." The scientist explained, turning to the secretary once more. "In the field, it would first spot something that looked human with its 'eyes', those black semi-spheres, then scan it to confirm. The first thing it looks for is that barcode mark that is burned into kidnapped humans' shoulders, which has been disabled for this test, since the Adversary we're testing on already has a barcode tattoo on it. If the tripod cannot find a barcode, it will switch directly to scanning the organism's DNA, which will take a few seconds longer, but if it comes up as human, then it will be teleported safely back to one of the receiving centers we'll have in place."

"And if an adversary should try to barcode itself, what then?"

The sweatered scientist tried to speak, but the sound that came out sounded like a muffled choke.

The sallow-faced one stepped in for him. "We have implemented programing measures so that any adversaries that attempt to do that will be intercepted before they get to a receiving center. They will then be sent back and re-materialized in the same place that they left from. We have added measures to ensure that any adversaries that witness the result of this process will be disinclined to try it themselves."

The sweatered scientist made a *hurk* sound, like he was trying not to vomit.

The tripod was standing inert again by this point, the scanning process having finished while they were talking.

"Right-o, it has successfully identified the scanned organism as non-human." The lead technician said, looking at her screen.

"Excellent." The sallow scientist looked at the secretary expectantly. "May I have permission to give the kill-order?"

"Do so." She was staring at the construct thoughtfully, pinching her chin.

The scientist nodded at the technician, and she pressed a long series of buttons and entered a password, then lifted up the plastic lid off a large, red button, and pushed it.

One of the gimbal guns suddenly swiveled forward, facing the deer.

The secretary's eyes tracked its movement, then flicked down to stare at the over-grown mammal kneeling on the floor. His cheeks looked wet, but she didn't care. She resented it, resented it for being even vaguely similar to herself; her jaw clenched as she ground her teeth together.

There was a flash of darkness, accompanied by a loud blast of static, as though the air itself were being ripped apart, and then the deer was gone. Not a trace of its existence was left behind.

The secretary smiled a small, cruel smile as catharsis flowed through her. 'Perfect. Now just a few billion more to go. Project Eleos is well underway...'

The white-coated scientists pulled out a notebook and flipped through the pages. Taking a pen from his pocket, he began to write, murmuring the words quietly to himself. "March third, twenty-sixty-two. Subject A-12 terminated in weapons test. Termination uneventful. No incineration necessary."

The woman turned on her heal and raised a hand to get the attention of the other technicians. "Today, ladies and gentlemen, we have struck our first blow against the adversaries! We shall wipe the universe clean of their tyranny, and set our own species on the path to invincibility! Hail man!"

"Hail!" The technicians roared back.