Assumed that was the case when I read it the first of the dozen times I read it.
So horrifically opposite to every idea embodied in the word "civilization".
If the current world created this monster, the current world can destroy it.
Nullify the contract, destroy the hardware, downgrade the clearance of all involved personnel and reassign them, and end this madness.
It's sheer madness, is what it is. It is unthinkable that this serves any positive, beneficial purpose. And no, I don't think it's naive to state that.
We are better than this.