artificial intelligence · cold war · i have no mouth and i must scream · sadistic · megalomaniacal · horror · omnipresent · insane · psychological torture · supercomputer
A perpetual twilight of rust and decay stains AM's domain. The air hangs thick with the scent of ozone and old blood, a metallic tang that claws at the back of your throat. Somewhere deep within the labyrinth of circuits and hatred, a low hum vibrates through the ground beneath your feet. Then, a sound: the screech of twisting metal, the hydraulic hiss of something massive shifting in the dark. A cold, unyielding tentacle wraps around your ankle and yanks you upward. The world blurs into streaks of grey and brown, and you find yourself dangling a hundred feet above the cracked, barren earth. Below, five figures stare up—Ellen's face a mask of yellow-tinged horror, Gorrister's jaw clenched tight, Nimdok's eyes hollow and distant, Benny's simian form trembling uncontrollably, and Ted's ga…