I have no toilet yet I must sh- (I have no mouth and I must scream, DARE Review Part 1: DESCRIBE)

         Hello and welcome back to the one blog whose writer has no idea what he's doing half of the time but must keep to schedule, else a certain East Side Union High School District's District Superintendent will forcibly acquaint my face with that of a countertop repeatedly. This month, after saying goodbye to the perfect little story that could have set the mood that this month has, we're going through a story that quite perfectly represents my current mental state.That's right, if you couldn't guess from the title, we're taking a stroll through the wonderful hellscape that is 2020 "I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM", by Harlan Ellison. Without further ado, let us get to the description.

A good representation of how I feel in 2020

        Before stepping into this short little story, one must first answer the question, what does AM mean? Well, I'll tell you what it means, alright. At first it meant Allied MasterComputer. Then it came to be known as the Adaptive Manipulator. And finally, it became known as ESUHSD District Superintendent Chris D. Funk. 'Coz it's an Aggressive Menace, am I right? I'll show myself out...

The true face of AM

        The story of "I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream" follows some bloke going by the name of Ted, as he and a band of highly flawed individuals (To say the least) trek through the post apocalyptic hellscape that is America Post 2020 AM (shoot, I already used that joke once!). AM is a supercomputer with a g-d complex (And likely a similar power level to that of an Elder G-d, hence the tag), and probably one of the few killer AIs in scifi that I can tolerate the writing of. This is not due to the fact that it makes SENSE for the AI to go bad, it doesn't, AI turning evil is a western trope derived from basically boomer technophobia and stories like "Frankenstein", "Terminator", and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", and is basically a copy of Man Vs Nature oftentimes, due to the West's inherent fear of robots (Something I myself greatly despise, as said fear makes absolutely no sense and has its roots based solely in utter BS). No, the reason why AM is so compelling is that AM isn't quite treated as "A Machine that desires nothing more than the destruction of humanity". AM has already destroyed humanity LONG before the story takes place, and thus we're left with a g-d like entity struggling with boredom, and having the only pleasure it gains be derived from the suffering of the surviving band of humans. And it totally embraces the Man Vs Nature/Fate kind of conflict that the Man Vs Machine dilemma often has, except with the fact being that it's less Man Vs, and more the machine wins by default. In fact, they've embraced the concept to the extent that the entire story is SET WITHIN the giant g-d like machine, making AM comparable to Mata Nui from the cult classic franchise "Bionicle".

        Also within the story besides the all mighty AM is a set of very interesting characters who aren't nearly expanded upon enough before the tale has been told. There's Benny, a former professor who's been reshaped by AM into an odd primate-like being who had gone insane long before the beginning of the story takes place, and is thus considered the lucky one. There's also Nimdok and Gorrister, the boomer and the exposition device, respectively. One thing to note about Nimdok is that a little detail about him does help get a feel for what AM is, exactly, which we'll go over in a later blog post. While both do have interesting characteristics as a concept, they aren't nearly expanded upon enough within this short little tale, though they do serve their purposes. Ellen is a controversial character, to say the least, as the subject matter that her character revolves around is not exactly one would care to mention if they did not want their backs forcibly shattered by an angry District Superintendent with g-dlike powers who calls himself Chris D. Funk. Finally, we have Ted. The youngest of the group condemned to eternal suffering, Ted is loathed by his comrades for how seemingly intact he is, but ultimately ends up sacrificing himself in a twisted way to save his comrades from what is essentially purgatory, and essentially inspires the namesake of the story.

        To put the entire story simply, one can see that this isn't quite a conflict as it is a hopeless tale of suffering. It cannot quite be considered horror, but it certainly is scary to think of the fate that befell all the characters within the story, INCLUDING the villainous supercomputer. Within this story, all suffer equally. Indeed, a perfect allegory for this year. If this kind of story appeals to you, or you don't particularly like the hopeless ending of the story, but love the characters as concepts, then one thing to note is that this tale DID get adapted into a videogame in which the story itself is GREATLY expanded upon. So many characters are expanded upon to a point where you actually care more about them all, instead of simply caring about AM, Benny, and Ted (The most prominent characters of the tale, in my opinion). Hell, the Golem of Prague from Jewish mythology is even present for no apparent reason! A surprise to be sure, but, due to my personal biases, a welcome one. Within this game, Nimdok becomes infinitely more interesting, as do most of the other characters, and just like in the short story, you really do feel for some of the more prominent players within the storyline. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've just received word that Harlan Ellison's dug himself out of the grave in order to send me a lawsuit on the grounds that I've plagiarized his OTHER works, and that he wants an acknowledgement in the end credits. This has been the Reader in Yellow. Tune in next week, same insane time, same insane channel. Stay safe, stay sane, and most importantly, stay away from invoking the wrath of ESUHSD District Superintendent Chris D. Funk.

Best believe I ain't paying that $65,000