Sacred Cow
ShortStory 7,359 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Taffy’s bedroom was a bit too warm, but I sensed that the chamber itself was cold. Couldn’t feel it of course. It was just a projection from Geneva. And it was probable that none of the people I faced were really at ARM’s Geneva facility at all. The committee chamber was dark at the edges, with bright glowing circles spotlighting each of five ARM executives."
Content warnings 2
animal-harmsuicide
Quasar links out; the story lives on Analog, where the author gets the click.