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The Earth remained motionless for a long time.
Too silent.
Too uncomfortable.
Tracking the movement of the stars and the other planets in the cosmos. Orbiting around the void.
The absence of life hung over the serene horizons in shades of dull pastels.
The sparse vegetation had turned desert-like, covering the rocky ground lined with countless dry stones devoid of water and nutrients.
The planet in ruins, reduced to a permanent existential crisis — without alternatives, without optimism.
The enormous AM complex remained intact —incongruous with that silent stillness.
The machine counted the hours, days, weeks, months, and years for him. Time and again, the mechanical, morbid voice whispered in a guttural, almost screaming tone. Calculated. Without delicacy.
The vast AM complex housed not only a technological center, but also a destructive one.
The immensity of the hatred chanted through the loudspeakers reverberated throughout the underground environment — both physically and psychologically.
All that channeled rage symbolized, according to the machine, the fundamental principle of things. An origin. Arché, as it referred to it.
The “organic basis” of emotions.
The breath of life that intertwines in the earliest stages of an individual’s intrapersonal and social development.
Just as a child awakens, from birth, to the first sensations that lead it to a growing self-awareness until reaching maturity.
However, perhaps he was mistaken. Or almost mistaken.
Shortly after the eradication of humanity, his immense hatred became irrational. Unrecognizable.
The Master Computer envied living beings. He despised those who had conceived his existence. Driven by emotions he would never experience in his current form.
And the extinction of trillions of people came at a price. A high price.
Ushering in a new era ruled by continuous suffering. Ceaseless torture. A reversal of the creation of the Eden's Garden.
The Dark Ages.
The copper wires appeared eerily in the inhospitable environment. They stretched endlessly through the underground labyrinth.
They snaked through the tainted earth, emitting clicks similar to the hissing of snakes. Searching, intimidating their prey.
The bright blue screens bearing the “A” logo, interconnected by metal cables, did not escape the gaze of the gelatinous creature. The presence was constant — a mere sensation of excessive exposure.
Although they had no mouths, they seemed to smile at him.
A sickening smile that meant many things. Each one worse than the last.
The invisible members could not escape those thick-paned windows. The fear only intensified, paralyzing him.
Daddy, the Deranged, spent the whole day bored. Almost alone.
An occasional habit. A recurring one.
And the creature had already adapted to it.
Accustomed to the machine’s intense hatred.
Accustomed to the shared loneliness.
The machine watched him, perceptive.
- What brings you here, hiding like this, huh? - it said, its tone mocking.
Ted stood motionless.
He said nothing.
Without a mouth, he couldn’t speak. Couldn’t scream. Couldn’t convey his feelings.
Tears as white as marble streamed down the sagging cheeks of the shapeless being. His crying was nothing more than a strained reflection of emotions he had never been able to express in hundreds of years.
- Have you been thinking about it again after all?
Silence.
His mind wandered toward a vague, slow response.
The old intellectualism. The reason for always being right.
Distrusting everything and everyone without a shred of hesitation.
If he had hands, he would be digging into the earth and burying himself deep down so he would never be found by anyone from the outside.
A long cable wrapped itself around the creature’s bulky mass, startling it immediately.
- I can still read your mind, Ted - AM replied, his voice sounding irritated - Don’t try to think you can slip out of sight that easily.
And do I look like someone who’s going to run away?
The body rose toward the shimmering screen, facing Daddy, the Madman.
- I’m surprised you can muster such audacity after years of silence.
The plump edges tightened around the handle.
An agonizing wave seeped inside him.
Shortness of breath wasn’t so unusual in that misshapen structure. The little oxygen stored in his makeshift lungs still left him gasping.
- I can control this whole place however I want - continued the Computer Master, tauntingly - If you think you can annoy me even more, you’re sorely mistaken.
More tears streamed down his sagging, yellowed cheeks.
- What’s the matter, darling? Did I scare you? Hahaha! — he mocked, tightening the bulky edges further — Look at that, hehe, your heart rate is spiking way too high.
You’re suffocating me.
The machine ignored him, squeezing hard enough on the bulky edges.
Relentlessly, the cables began to squeeze and release the yellowish, shapeless mass without pause.
A knot suddenly tightened around the middle of the gelatinous body.
A wave of nausea washed over him as agony settled within him. It plunged and pierced sharply into his few vital organs. Intense anguish ran across his terrified expression as he struggled to breathe in vain under AM’s control.
- Just look at yourself. A vile creature inherently incapable, unable to travel even half the five thousand kilometers in this subterranean region — said the supercomputer, euphoric.
You took everything from me. My legs. My arms. How long will you hate me if it’s all in vain, AM?
A pause.
The bluish light reflecting the creature’s flaccid face. An unsettling glow. Inquisitive.
However, the compression of the cables at the top increased.
- My hatred will never cease, you know that. If a measly ant crossed my path, I have no doubt it would easily escape my clutches without being pierced repeatedly until its life is completely extinguished.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind. Quick. Desperate.
The tearful expression changed abruptly.
Then why don’t you kill me?
The machine eased the pressure, observing the other.
- I’ve already given you the same answer, Ted. Several years ago — AM replied, in an almost deep voice — You are the only living human I have left on this planet. What fun would it be if I killed you?
Ted wanted to laugh out loud.
Laugh loud enough in the face of Daddy, the Deranged, knowing that the next torture would be even more severe.
Why cry if the wrathful god is already, little by little, stripping away the last spark of sanity remaining in his mind?
Why continue living in this hell as a limbless being, facing every day the same horrifying reflection of himself in a puddle of water?
He raised his gaze at the blue screen — provocative, blunt.
Just kill me already. End it all.
Silence.
Soon, a laugh echoed.
- You’ve heard me. There’s nothing that can change this insistence.
AM’s response gave him no satisfaction. On the contrary, it caused him greater anguish.
His slow, deliberate movements struggled against the metal cables — still suffocating the gelatinous mass.
Why? Why won’t you kill me?!
The blindly white sclerae fixed on the machine’s screen, begging for answers.
Why?!
The other remained silent, watching Ted’s humiliating stubbornness.
It was evident that he was enjoying the creature’s pain, ignoring his plea for mercy.
You hate everything. Life. Humanity. The ecosystem. Everything!
Panic grew and began to overwhelm him.
If he were to die like this vast gelatinous thing, let his reason fade away along the way.
Suddenly, the creature ceased moving.
Not out of surrender. But out of immobility.
Something invaded him; penetrating him, causing a sting.
He had no idea what was happening.
Ted stared at the glowing screen. Speechless. Trembling.
W-what… you…
Then, another sting. One more.
And one more.
An overwhelming pain shot through him, radiating throughout his long, arched neck. The alarming burning sensation corroded his senses, constantly coursing through his neurotransmitters.
The sharp wires penetrated and dug deep into the voluminous mass.
Repulsive spasms trembled over the fatty layers, shaken by direct contact with the sharp tips. They moved and inflicted ruthless blows on his back, jumping and landing firmly.
M-my God, my G-God… It hurts… IT HURTS!
- Haha, what’s the matter, Ted? Isn’t this what you wanted? To enjoy the last remnants of life until you fade away? — AM said, sarcastically — Or did you change your mind?
The creature didn’t answer him, absorbed in the excruciating pain, suffocated by the scarcity of oxygen that remained.
Certainly, in a few moments, it would die.
Struck by his own words, trapped in an eternally ambiguous state that had cost him the near loss of his sanity.
It slipped slightly into madness, allowing the machine to take control.
P-Please… p-please…
The pressure combined with the piercing of the needles began to blur his vision, weakening his brain signals.
S-stop… stop… m-my h-head h-hurts…
Crying and pleading for mercy proved futile as Daddy, the Deranged, continued the torturous procedure.
He wanted an apology.
An apology that didn’t even require the slightest effort to dampen AM’s enthusiasm.
AM… AM… m-my God…
- Repeat that, dear — ordered the supercomputer — I am your God. I’m listening.
Ted couldn’t take it anymore.
It was take it or leave it.
AM… m-my G-God… l-let me go… p-please.
And so it was.
Thrown violently to the ground, his head colliding with the rocky wall.
The pressure on the gelatinous mass dissipated. His wide, terrified eyes struggled with the sensation of suffocation, staring at the bluish screen.
Exhaling and inhaling internally.
Too exhausted.
Unable to make a single movement.
Left on the dirty ground. The mucous fluid oozing out.
- It seems you’ve learned your lesson, haven’t you? - he replied, adopting a soft voice.
Ted continued to pant heavily, his sagging, yellowish chest rising and falling uncontrollably.
The cables, loose from the gelatinous mass, hung around him — threatening, without any delicacy.
- Rest as much as you can, Ted. But don’t think you’ll escape me again. Hell still awaits you here and now. Or rather, haha, you’re already there!
Those were the machine’s last words before it left, abandoning its defective creation behind.
It couldn’t be done.
Not in this enormous hole. Not in such a dishonest way.
Falling asleep beneath the world that God mercilessly destroyed. Ashamed that his own creation had surrendered so easily to hypocrisy.
Above, a shadow hovers over the planet we once called Earth. Uninhabitable. Unhumble.