The TS-9 is not a single automaton. It is a swarm of approximately ten thousand fly-sized drones, each roughly 8 millimeters in length, that operate as a single coordinated entity. Each unit is equipped with mandibles constructed from synthetic diamond that can shear organic material at the cellular level, and a micro-furnace that converts consumed biomass into electrical energy to sustain the swarm. The TS-9 eats flesh. It eats bone. It eats plant matter, leather, cotton, wood, and anything else that was once alive. It does not eat metal, plastic, or stone. When it is finished with a room, the only things left are the inorganic ones.

The swarm moves like weather. From a distance, a TS-9 deployment resembles a dark cloud or a column of smoke. Up close, the sound is unbearable — ten thousand pairs of diamond mandibles shearing simultaneously produce a high-pitched drone that has been measured at 130 decibels at the swarm center. The swarm is guided by a distributed intelligence that has no central node — destroying individual units does not degrade swarm function until attrition exceeds approximately 40 percent. The remaining units compensate by increasing individual consumption rates.

Field testing data, leaked from a Tessera internal server in 2197, showed the TS-9 consuming a 75-kilogram organic test subject in four minutes and eleven seconds. The test subject was a pig carcass. The data file was labeled 'Phase 1 — Inorganic Target Protocol Pending,' which implies that Tessera is working on a version that eats everything. The current model leaves behind clean skeletons with a peculiar polished quality — every trace of organic material removed with surgical precision. Witnesses describe the aftermath as looking like museum specimens.