"Okay, couple of things." Xander said when the Scoobies met the next day. "Mayor Finch's inquires have stirred up a hornets nest. When he mentioned the word Initiative they practically started doing that whole run around like a chicken with their head cut off thing. It supposedly was something that was shut down decades ago. That it's still operating and apparently trying to abduct private citizens, has people in Washington freaked out. Mayor Finch says a bunch of alphabet agencies, including military ones, are moving to do something about it."

"Is that why the campus is shut down today?" Buffy asked.

"Partly. It seems Dr. Walsh couldn't be found when the police went to the campus yesterday. Mayor Finch doesn't know much, but he was able to find out, she's been murdered. Must have happened right around the time her soldiers were coming after me."

"Oh that's awful." Joyce said. "Do you know what's going to happen now?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean yes and no?" Giles asked.

"No, I don't know anything more in regards to the government's investigation. Yes, I do have some idea of what else is happening. I got another note." He set it on the table in front of him and everyone leaned in to read it.

'Dr. Walsh murdered by ADAM project. She frankenstiened a demon cyborg. She planned to have a control chip inserted in it's brain, but it killed her before she could. Powered by an uranium core. Soldiers blasters feed it. It wants to make more of itself.'

"A demon cyborg?!" Willow exclaimed. "Why would anyone want to make something like that?"

"They could justify it by saying it could save solders lives." Xander said. "They could use this thing to attack enemy soldiers. The cost of creating it would be offset by not having to pay hazard pay to soldiers. A small army of them could replace a large human army."

"That is a very slippery slope." Giles said. "They do need a control chip to control it after all. Such an item could cease functioning and then the creature is the danger. Just like this one currently is. And then there's the effect it would have on the US economy. Military spending is a significant portion of that. With fewer people serving, they'd have to find civilian jobs. The unemployment rate would soar."

"It seems clear someone didn't think this through on a lot of levels." Joyce agreed. "But that still begs the question, how are we going to stop it?"

"With an uranium core, I'd advise against blowing it up, like we did the Judge." Xander said. "Even I know how bad that could be."

"Yeah, blowing up a nuclear device is definitely not a good idea." Willow agreed. "It probably isn't very big, but it could still cause contamination."

"I take it it's probably very strong, maybe Kakistoes level strong?" Faith asked.

"That would be a likely hypothesis." Giles agreed. "We have no idea what demon or demons she used as part of this Frankenstein monster of hers, it could be extremely strong and virtually unkillable. At least by conventional means."

"Then we need an unconventional way of killing it." Buffy concluded. "And hey, we're good at that!"

With agreement on that matter from the others, they all set to work to brain storm ideas.

"We've got three separate problems in regards to this thing." Xander observed.

"How do you figure?" Cordelia asked.

"Problem one, we don't know where it is. Problem two, we need to contain it. Problem three, separate its power core."

Willow looked thoughtful and then said. "Actually, I remember seeing a spell in one of Anna's books on separating two things. If it's a doable spell, we'd only have to locate it, not contain it."

"What are the details of the spell?" Giles asked.

"A potion and a chant. The potion has to make contact with the subject, but it can be thrown in something like a water balloon, which would break when it hits this thing. And then the chant. It could separate the power core. Or it could go further and separate the machine parts out from the demon parts as well. Either way, it won't be able to continue fighting."

"An intriguing idea." Giles said. "Let's see if Anna is willing to do it."

She was and began mixing the potion, once it was completed she met with the Scoobies. "It requires multiple casters, so for best results, we should all memorize the spell and cast it together. Once you've located the thing, I mean."

Turns out finding it wasn't that difficult. It was killing both humans and demons and cutting them open. The demons were scared too and passed on information through Willy. The Scoobies found Adam in a cave, just beginning to set up his operation. He hadn't even begun his recruitment pitch to the demons yet. The potion, in a water balloon, just as Willow had suggested, was thrown at Adam and broke on contact with his body. Then the Scoobies, along with Giles and Anna, recited the spell.

I know you now

O thing of terror.

So separate now

From your wearer

And watched as Adam literally came apart in front of them.

A/N Separation spell from Charmed wiki.