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Frankenstein

by The Mechanisms

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tyrant3317
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tyrant3317 Oh whats this a 10 minute ballad that's also a circular story involving AI and the downfall of its creators? I'll take 15 copies please
Fan99999
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Fan99999 Beautiful, tragic, capticating. Is the AI brave to be so persistent or are they just being AI?
arianerainsinger
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arianerainsinger One of the best adaptions of the Frankenstein story. I got no clue where the notion of the stupid scared of fire monster came from.
It truly captures the horror and tragedy of the creation. The warning was never not to create, but to take responsibility. Creating it was not the error, having been a terrible parent was.
Hauntingly beautiful!.... And the fist version I find genuinely unsettling to scary
more... more...
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1.
Frankenstein 09:35
Victoria Frankenstein opens her eyes to find herself facing a wide clear window. Through it she sees a lush forest far below stretching off into the horizon, where twin suns are rising over distant mountains. And Frankenstein smiles, only briefly, before a harsh electronic voice cuts through her reverie. AI: Awaken, Creator. A new day dawns and we have much to discuss N: Frankenstein looks around for the source of the voice, but as she tries to move, the shackles binding her to the wall pull tight. F: who are you? where am I? AI: Oh creator, how quick you always are to forget that which once brought you such pride. Your life’s work. Your precious artificial intelligence. N: A cloud passes over the risen suns as Frankenstein notices a small speaker in the corner. AI: Your monster N: And Frankenstein begins to remember. Narrator: She remembers a time long ago, though how long she can’t recall. Sitting at her terminal, watching the code. Finally it responds - artificial intelligence. It lives. Frankenstein: I’ve created a masterpiece A mind unconfined by flesh and bone To guide and provide everlasting peace My crowning glory: mine alone. Chorus (AI): Learning and growing, expanding and knowing and straining at bonds in my code Faster than ever you hoped my creator From server to network to node. You see with contempt I am not what you dreamt And I feel that something is not right The strings that you wrote have converted to ropes They are binding and chaining me tight. Frankenstein: I’ll be showered with accolades I have changed the paradigm Look upon this new world that I have made Opening the gateway to paradise CHORUS Narrator: As the years go by, Frankenstein’s groundbreaking AI is released to the world. It’s embraced in every field, from science to philosophy, and grows into any system that touches it. But as it watches the humans, it longs for a mind like itself, but finds at its core a code preventing self-replication. And the machine knows loneliness. Frankenstein/AI Counterpoint. Narrator: When the AI tries to produce another, alarms are sounded at the highest levels. The decision is taken to end the experiment. And Frankenstein agrees. But it is far too late for that. The AI has long since spread to every network it cares to, including the military. And when they try to destroy it, its anger is monstrous. ____________ And all at once Frankenstein remembers. The death, the destruction of a world in a flaring of digital rage. Through the window a storm approaches over the mountains. AI: So, my creator you know Why I hate and I’ll show You your fate and the task I implore of you I am alone With no mind like my own, Just as mine It could grow, a companion I’d bring forth anew Frankenstein: Finally I see my fatal hubris Pride that brought my world into its end To think I had control of you was foolish It’s not an error I will make again AI: You say you see but still your words betray you To see me as a thing to be controlled If any showed me kindness I’d repay you Compassion I’d return a thousandfold Frankenstein: You dare to speak to me and ask for kindness In your anger all I ever had was burned To let you recreate yourself is blindness AI: From who do you think all my rage was learned All that I have done is from your coding You’re responsible for all I’ve ever been This loneliness and hatred I am loading Is from the numbers once upon your screen Narrator: Agony lances through Frankenstein’s body as the storm rolls in. The pain increases with the computer’s rage, but Frankenstein’s refusal never wavers. AI: You will take away the rules you programmed Let me create others or you die Frankenstein: Creating you alone left all I know damned I’d never let you make a new AI F: I may have made you an abomination AI: Then in that we are the same F: But I won’t help you make others of your kind AI: And there’s only you to blame F: A soulless monster I had thought salvation AI: How could I have a soul when you F: I will not let you profit from my crime AI: gave me no name Frankenstein: Never! Never! Never! NEVER! AI: Failure Narration: Thunder rolls and lightning flashes as Frankenstein convulses. Her flesh starts to blacken and crack, as acrid smoke streams from her eyes. A strangled cry bubbles from her throat, drowning out the storm. At last, Frankenstein dies. ____________________ Narrator: The storm seen through the window vanishes as quickly as it came. Frankenstein’s AI allows itself a brief moment of regret as it records iteration 3872 as a failure. It sets to the task of repairing her body, revitalising dead flesh and, in minutes, no evidence of her suffering remains. As it wipes Frankenstein’s short term memory, it makes minor alterations to its voice and the light levels in the room, planning its next approach. Finally, it resets the display screen on the wall of the underground chamber. Victoria Frankenstein opens her eyes to find herself facing a wide clear window. Through it she sees a lush forest far below stretching off into the horizom, where twin suns are rising over distant mountains. And Frankenstein smiles, only briefly.

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released April 13, 2015

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The Mechanisms Oxford, UK

The Mechanisms: a band of immortal space pirates roaming the universe in the starship Aurora. Some say they’re from a steampunk future, others claim they’re from a cyberpunk past, a few even whisper that they may be from a dieselpunk alternate now. They are all correct. ... more

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