The disc vanished without a sound, leaving the silent metal ball floating motionless, its shiny surface reflecting various shades of green and brown. Then the surface of the orb changed from silver to a much more exacting duplication of the vegetation and terrain around it, almost vanishing into the surroundings. Just a ripple of motion across the flora was the only sign it was still there.

It stayed motionless for a few seconds, then a cluster of eight much smaller, ping-pong-sized balls shot out of the bottom, all of them already cloaked to match the jungle. They quickly spread out and virtually disappeared into the thick, humid forest.

A moment later, the big sphere started to move, slowly but powerfully shoving its way through the dense vegetation, moving in a straight line to the south. Completely silent, almost completely invisible, it worked its way toward the largest living thing on the planet.

When the Home Tree of the Summer Court came into sight, the orb lifted higher, continuing to wrap itself in a perfect reflection of its surroundings. Carefully, silently, it circled the massive trunk of the gargantuan tree, finding prolific sign of jungle life infesting the gargantuan plant but not a single sign of the tree’s normal occupants.

Some of the tree’s biological inhabitants reacted to the sphere’s presence, sensing it without need of ears or eyes. Most were unaware of its passage, but at least two of the more sensitive types struck at the intruder, one with flesh-eating spores expelled at high velocity by gas-filled pods on the underside of its flowers, the other by discharging an ionic imbalance that created a sharp, bright flash of blue light and the smell of new ozone in the air. Neither had any effect on the orb, which continued its slow spiral up and around the massive organism. In short order, it reached a level that showed extensive damage, burnt-out holes in the trunk, street-wide branches slashed by unfathomable energy. It paused, scanning the entirety of the area, then continued up to the very highest levels, above the jungle canopy, into the hot, sunlit open sky.

Survey completed, the sphere dropped rather rapidly down to within fifteen feet of the ground and then started a slow, meticulous search around the base of the tree, spiraling further outward with each passage. Several times, it stopped to scan obvious signs of fresh passage before moving on to continue its collection of data.

All the while the jungle continued its constant frenzy of life and death, competition and struggle. Prey fled, predators hunted, flora fought for water, soil, and light. But the apex species never put in an appearance, although there was plenty of evidence of their recent exodus from the territory around the Tree. Still the orb hunted, silent, hardly visible to even a trained and observant eye.