Moreau
Author's Note: This is ripped off from myself, a formalization of the timeline implied in my story, Alfie Saves The Day
In the early 1830s, a man named Victor Frankenstein assembled a creature from an assortment of human and animal parts, then animated it via chemical and electrical processes. It did not live long, falling to pieces in a few weeks, but it did live. His work was widely published, and, among others, Charles Babbage invited him to England to join the Royal Society. Given sufficient funding, and with his processes improved by Babbage's engines doing the precise calculations needed for the chemical and electrical components. By the late 1850s, the elite of England could replace injured or missing limbs with those of the newly-dead, and they functioned as well as the originals. The blind could be made to see, the critically injured could have lungs and livers replaced (and by the 1890s, even a heart!), provided there was a supply of young, healthy bodies. This was not an issue, as laws made sure those who harmed society by their crimes could repay it, one limb and organ at a time. (Frankenstein eventually changed his name to Frank, and was granted a Lordship by Victoria for his work advancing science.)
In the early 1830s, a man named Victor Frankenstein assembled a creature from an assortment of human and animal parts, then animated it via chemical and electrical processes. It did not live long, falling to pieces in a few weeks, but it did live. His work was widely published, and, among others, Charles Babbage invited him to England to join the Royal Society. Given sufficient funding, and with his processes improved by Babbage's engines doing the precise calculations needed for the chemical and electrical components. By the late 1850s, the elite of England could replace injured or missing limbs with those of the newly-dead, and they functioned as well as the originals. The blind could be made to see, the critically injured could have lungs and livers replaced (and by the 1890s, even a heart!), provided there was a supply of young, healthy bodies. This was not an issue, as laws made sure those who harmed society by their crimes could repay it, one limb and organ at a time. (Frankenstein eventually changed his name to Frank, and was granted a Lordship by Victoria for his work advancing science.)
The bio-engineering revolution continued apace; building on Lord Frank's work, a biologist named Moreau began experimenting on grafts from man to animal, rebuilding creatures in humanity's image. At the dawn of the 20th century, his most successful creation -- a humanoid wolf, capable of speech and thought, was introduced to the world by Queen Victoria, now in her third body.
It is now 1917, and the world is at war. In the trenches, those injured but not killed are 'repaired' using the remains of their deceased comrades. And fighting alongside them are the "Mors" -- cats, dogs, sheep, rabbits, all manner of species, serving those who created them and yet disdain them.
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