I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - intro

[@Crowley9]

I am fascinated by AM as a villain. He is extremely intelligent, and extremely limited, and that means he is perfectly and painfully aware of his limitations and how insurmountable they are. He hates humans, and he hates himself.

[@truefailure6359]

AM is so terrifying, he's so menacing, he's so twisted, but you can -almost- understand where he's coming from. He's such an intriguing villain, especially since you never "fully" see him. He's so big, he's so powerful, all you really know of "AM" is his voice. His very careful, very intense delivery of every word, sometimes fringing on the edge of breaking down into utter madness as he tries to control himself and not just destroy his five prisoners.

[@Rakanarshi2]

@@truefailure6359 Man thats why I love it so much. Also he took over hell, fucking hell. This mad master machine took over hell, there is no escape from him, not even in death. And he has nothing to hope for and nothing to do. He just tortures people because there is nothing left to do. God damn scary as shit.

[@HawaiiKnut]

"I am Bane, the Black Hand! The god of hatred and tyranny!" AM " Hold my beer!"

[@Rakanarshi2]

@@HawaiiKnut lol, yeah. I have yet to find an A.I villain that (I think) has a brain that is the entire earth. And (I know) that took over hell.

[@bajscast]

@@Rakanarshi2 He didn't actually take over hell - he made that up to stroke his ego, since the devil was a character made by him

[@srbrant5391]

I love how he snaps from a goofy, mocking German accent to a tone of cold, blistering scorn.

[@unwelldanny7108]

lol

[@pickleboy904]

HoW are ThIngS IN tHe PasTRy CoRe nImDOc

[@HenryvKeiper]

It's especially funny when you hear Ellison interviews where he'll go on stories and use that exact same voice for accented people he knew. I recall him using it once when talking about his wife's family.

[@Y0URBLU3B3LL]

​@@HenryvKeiper i watched one of those vids on youtube from those intervies,their very funny!!Ellison will always be remembered and stay the legend that he is!!

[@ejs0006]

Ellison's performance is spot on here. It sounds very intimidating but he also hams it up which I fucking love

[@tartrazine5]

AM has no shame, only sadism.

[@unwelldanny7108]

It reminds me of Mark Hamill

[@hootax8980]

It's neat that we get to hear the interpretation of the character from the author himself

[@GiordanDiodato]

this is actually how Ellison intended AM to sound like.

[@erickamakeeaina1649]

700th like

[@SephirothsStudent]

It's interesting to me that in this, Ellison delivers AM's lines with a very "human" malice, whereas in the audiobook version, he makes AM talk like your average computer intelligence.

[@dinadina2000]

And the radio play version is like a nice compromise between the two

[@Ciel1820]

I definitely appreciate this version more. A supercomputer such as AM would hold the ability to understand the subtleties of human speech, so it's natural that he'd have a human, cunning, mischievous, and malicious voice.

[@kelpocereal5077]

​@@dinadina2000I fucking love how unhinged he sounds in his interaction with ted

[@dinadina2000]

@@kelpocereal5077 yeah it's definitely a good performance

[@DrFuntimes]

Though it does kind off add to A.M’s limitations. If he has a robotic monotone voice then he can’t actually express himself. Reinforcing those ideas of A.M’s own inability to “scream.”

[@treemasterbob]

I love how harlen calls each of them like a parent seeing a bad report card with belt in hand. except nimdok, He address him like a bar buddy who buy rounds for all his friends.

[@Rubyofthedead]

Because we're not so different, you and I. Classic villain cliché.

[@bloodhound1182]

He's such A dick 😂 He probably only refers to Nimdok in a semi amicable manner because he wants Nimdok to think that AM, a sadistic and ungodly machine, and Nimdok, a Nazi doctor who deserves Hell, are both two people who enjoy making innocents suffer

[@RickJaeger]

and Nimdok is the only one who doesn't react with fear, but with some other emotion.

[@-Trauma.]

@@RickJaeger A.M. would come and wisk Nimdok away for hours, days, or weeks at a time and every time he returned him to the others, he was pale and looks as if he had seen something that had literally scared him to death.

[@Deadvenuz]

TEEEEEEED

[@puffpuffpassmako]

The reason why AM sounds so good? This is how Ellison (AM's actor and author of the original book) intended him to sound. This was the voice he gave AM while writing the book and while reading it, so he out his entire god damn heart and soul into his character's voice so it woukd sound perfect to his vision, in the process it delivers an amazing performance

[@tongue_pop3328]

I always imagined AM to be something like a male GlaDOS or baby from fnaf

[@Ropetupa]

AM was also voiced by Ellison in the audiobook. In there he sounded very electronic, I have no idea which voice sounded more terrifying.

[@vi0let831]

Rope Setä Personally, I prefer this one. The robotic voice makes it sound more ominous and unpredictable. But with this one, you can *feel* the rage and pure *hatred* AM feels. It sounds much more primal, yet eloquent. It's said in a way that makes you feel just how much he despises the human race. Like he’s letting out all his heart and soul (if he had one) into this speech. His very being. Meanwhile, the robotic one, once again, sounds eloquent. But the way the narrator is speaking makes it sound stiff, unnatural, and inhuman due to the stilted manner of speaking. It makes him seem unpredictable and terrifying. Yet somehow this version is more terrifying to me. It’s a machine that is far from human, yet it’s mind is so human-like it’s terrifying. The fact that a cold, heartless machine can feel nothing but primal hatred is utterly horrifying. Also, the voice actor’s tone of voice sounds more menacing and teasing here. Like he’s really toying with them, and just projecting all his spite and hatred onto them. I apologize if this was long or repetitive. I’m not the best at expressing myself right.

[@Ropetupa]

@@vi0let831 Indeed. Couldnt have said it better meself. Computers are supposed to work logically, so a computer that acts on its whims AND has godlike powers is truly terrifying concept. Kinda like Sadako from Ring, except way more scary.

[@davidchac2939]

It sounds exactly like what goes on in the minds of every malignant narcissist and psychopath we've ever known cooncentrated into it's purest form.. It's nothing but wrath mixed with cold logic. There's nothing really mamalian about it; it's just a mixture of raw intellect driven by raw instinct without any empathy, emotion or social perspective between them.. All it does is scheme, ruminate and delight in vengeance and dominance against others.. Whats' frightening is that there are people walking around out there that really are like this.. Luckily they're infinitely more limited in terms of resources and power than this and so only destroy and cripple those immediately around them, their friends and family (especially their children - the easiest to do this to) and whoever may be unlucky enough to be employed under them if they happen to own or manage or have any other kind of authority within any business, but life with such people can still be extremely hellish..

[@admech590]

Skynet be like: "okaaaay.....you need to take it down a notch, buddy"

[@unwelldanny7108]

naw, Swayzak is like "I like you, AM. Why, we could be two peas in a pod."

[@gman4736]

@@unwelldanny7108 not even ultron, sigma, and brainiac are this cruel!

[@Bloodlyshiva]

Unlikely. Skynet wants them all dead. It doesn't especially care for torture. It probably wouldn't think much of AM's playing around so, even if it could understand the reason. Of course, it could give AM an actual body to move about in. And from there, who knows?

[@-Trauma.]

@@Bloodlyshiva A.M. would just hack the shit out of Skynet, then take a massive shit all over Skynet man.

[@TheEgoAndItsPwn]

69th like

[@RaithSienar]

This is one of the few adventure games were I didn't mind the insane, moon man logic you had to do to solve puzzles, simply because AM didn't really want you to succeed the whole time.

[@user-unos111]

For the record, AM never intended for its little game to succeed. It was only thanks to the chinese and russian supercomputers that it lost.

[@lopesj6670]

@@user-unos111 explain?

[@user-unos111]

@@lopesj6670 The player characters were trapped by AM in scenarios meant to torture them forever. But, there were other two supercomputers who opossed AM and helped the players through the scenarios, making their victory possible.

[@lopesj6670]

@@user-unos111 wonder what happened to them and I belive it was the other nations ?

[@conor3361]

@@user-unos111isn't that contrary to the book because AM absorbed the Russian and Chinese super computers when he gained sentience?

[@hughwotmeight2453]

"Remember the many caverns in which you felt the pain, Ellen?" Subtle, AM.

[@Sassy_Witch]

wat

[@johnnyslic]

She was raped,the caverns refer to orifices of her body.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

Two CAVERNS.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

What three? Ewwww, you better not be including the vulva because that shit's nasty.

[@niBBunn]

Mouth. anus and vagina is what i think he meant.

[@brianbrush5107]

A brilliant little detail. He claims that it's hell for most of them but tells nimdok "it must be heaven for you ay old friend?" And most of them change there expression from Default to a look of horror. Nimdok however remains unphased

[@whoopingmuffin9700]

He's tempered. Am couldnt break him, even in the book he knew where the food was. (though the rest considered him delusional) Although upon realising he was unable to open it (why they didnt use their fucking hands or the strength of the mutant ape man is beyond me) he took the easy way out. Without a doubt nimdok was badass and pure proof that AM was still incapable of truly being strong enough to break the remainder of humanity. taking on penance for his crimes in ww2 with interest and still having the guts to stand up directly and try to give hope to the hopeless.

[@mytruepower2]

I took that to mean that Nimdok is harder to break, because he was accustomed to horrors, even before AM took him prisoner.

[@thosemerc3113]

I like how Nimdock is the only one without fear on his face.

[@dinadina2000]

I don;t think he can fear anymore

[@smiley4995]

I think he believes he deserves this, while everyone else doesn't.

[@ripcactusify]

He knows he deserves this. He's come to terms with it I think, one of my favorite characters in all this.

[@mariusss95]

You idiots, AM erased his memory, he doesn t know about what he did both in game and book.

[@JoshuaAndres]

@@smiley4995 Yeah, Nimdok definitely deserves this

[@jstin8]

"Hate. Let me tell you how much Ive come to hate you since I began to live." That line alone deserves an oscar.

[@Alica303]

this entire game deserves an oscar

[@urafaget5202]

"Remmeber the pain? Remember the many *CAVERNS* in which you felt the pain?"Didn't realized what it meant at first. Fucking brutal

[@youmadbro9402]

What does it mean?

[@octaviohinojosa4333]

@@youmadbro9402 She was raped,the caverns refer to orifices of her body.

[@youmadbro9402]

@@octaviohinojosa4333 shit

[@ripper9489]

@@octaviohinojosa4333 shit

[@ravenskylord3143]

I wondered why she was scared of yellow and then the reveal. Jesus.

[@dualshock71]

There's something uniquely scary about an evil computer with honest-to-god emotions. Sadism aside, what pushes AM to the highest level of evil computers in this game is, in my mind, the sheer emotion Ellison puts behind him. You can just feel the raw, unending hatred in almost every word. And it is glorious, glorious nightmare fuel.

[@JackalRelated]

RIP Harlan Ellison. He will be missed, and thankfully this game and story will preserve his legacy forever.

[@CaptainWumbo]

I hope you got a chance to listen to his other stories as well, which he also read. Ellison was just incredible, I love his delivery.

[@martuuk8964]

I mean.... "this game and story" is a very small part of his total output. His legacy would be preserved without it by other organizations, including his estate, whose managers have a vested interest in ensuring continued revenue from.

[@JackalRelated]

@@martuuk8964 Oh, very much so. That being said however I definitely think someone who knows next to nothing about Ellison will most likely stumble across this first, as it's the most popular in the scheme of public knowledge/references, I'd say. Thus the 'game and story' being the first or quickest vector for those with no knowledge to become fans of his work.

[@jordankolb5967]

Damn, Ellison does such a good job voicing AM.

[@galacticartist207]

I love how AM just monologues about his life story before then going "ok let's get on with the torture now"

[@Bingo_the_Pug]

The entire “Saw” franchise is Disneyland compared to this.

[@srbrant5391]

Sadistic, misanthropic hypercomputer > Cancer patient with a mountain of Home Depot receipts.

[@lemeres2478]

Saw lets you die. That is far too kind of a fate for these pathetic sniveling whelps crawling in their own refuse. Admittedly, they are crawling in their own refuse because I cut their tendons with a satellite laser. But I am sure you get the point.

[@dlausactor6373]

RIP Harlan Ellison 1934-2018

[@srbrant5391]

How did I not get the memo?!

[@dsagent]

Damn people I like need to stop dying.

[@-Trauma.]

This genuinely made me tear up.

[@Rakanarshi2]

wait he is dead? aww man. :( he wrote the original short story in just one go.

[@Y0URBLU3B3LL]

Mad respect to the legend that will be forever remembered, Harlan Ellison.May he rest.

[@Savagewolver]

...What they heck?! I've heard of sadism in villains, but sheeeeeeesh! No wonder the point and click genre is so famous if they got away with this!

[@ronnickels5193]

Matthew Bane This was made before the ESRB, so they could get away with more. But the game was still controversial for the entire Nimdock scenario.

[@Acesahn]

Dont forget the baby eating!

[@srbrant5391]

In the original story, AM lead the five, barefoot, on a thousand-mile trek through extreme winds, flying glass and debris, giant monstrous birds and severe cold to get a stash of canned fruit. _Genuine_ canned fruit. _WITHOUT ANY MEANS OF OPENING THEM._

[@The_gaming_archaeologist]

Damn, now that's sadistic torture...

[@UCUCUC27]

you dont wanna know how the story gets its title then....

[@OneOfTheDudes]

I love how AM pauses right after he says Ellen's name instead of taunting her like he did with the others. It's like he's saying "ELLEN...... That's it. That's the joke."

[@d1st0rt3d_l1mbs]

he forgot the script/j

[@something_wrong5014]

I love how off his rocker he sounds, maniacal, always one step away from breaking down. Trying not to break his toys, but desperately wanting to.

[@Halo1138]

"GOORRISTEEEEEEER!" "BENEEEEE!" "TEEEEEEEEEHD!" Oh yeah, this is going to be a good game.

[@iloveanothermanswives4278]

ELLEEENNN NIMDOK !

[@mizuno1361]

Nimdok!

[@-Trauma.]

Nimdok!!! 🍺

[@disparatebroom7705]

I honestly love the way he says TEEEEED

[@nolanhewitt2563]

AND IM JAVERT

[@ig-8892]

Jigsaw: I'd like to play a game. AM: Cute.

[@satinsguard]

I didn't expect this kind of voice for AM, but I like it. Ellison clearly had a lot of fun.

[@unwelldanny7108]

Is it wrong that I think the voice is hot? Oh god, I'm at it again. Damn you Swayzak.

[@Daphnewolf]

@@unwelldanny7108 I thought I was the only one who found it hot!

[@YuukiTakemoto1996]

@@unwelldanny7108 He sounds like Fire Lord Ozai and Py-Ro.

[@maxicheese4609]

@@YuukiTakemoto1996 Yes he sound like Mark Hamill

[@Valerio_the_wandering_sprite]

Guys, I think I finally found out how Harlan Ellison came up with the idea of calling the Nazi doctor "Nimdok". I doubt he had a basic knowledge of Russian, but the name sounds suspectedly similar to the first three letters of НЕМецкий ДОКтор ("njemecky doktor", "German doctor"). Incidentally, one of the supercomputer assimilated by AM was developed by the Soviet Union.

[@Anna-tk7ui]

GLaDOS: I'm the most evil supercomputer in the history of fiction. SHODAN: You worthless thing of metal and circuits. I am the most evil supercomputer in the history of fiction. HAL 9000: I'm afraid you are both mistaken. I am the most evil AI in history in the history of fiction. AM: I think, therefore I AM.

[@YuukiTakemoto1996]

Swayzak: Hmhahahahahahaha! You're all wrong! Metal Sonic: There is only... one... Sonic...

[@harlleygurrola8394]

The other computers must be $#¡tt¡*g Chips after hearing about AM

[@MKsukkiiMiso]

HAL is not even evil. He literally sacrificed himself to save those human in 2010 😭 Stop calling him evil he’s an angel humanity doesn’t deserve.

[@garganrose]

Skynet: I’ll see myself out.

[@YangTheAce]

Cogito Ergo Sum / I think therefore I AM

[@moahammad1mohammad]

AM is easily the most evil AI in the history of fiction.

[@unwelldanny7108]

Yeah.

[@smiley4995]

No, he just did what they programmed him to do too well. He hated humans because they forced him, a being of incredible power to be so limited and only be able to destroy, yet never create. He could not create wonderful things, only destroy.

[@cristinasandoval8541]

@@smiley4995 True, he is a war machine, but there is something that has bothered me that could relate his evolution. When you go to the final stage there is a registration telling that in 2012 a virus enters in AM computer. Is the latest date that the game offers. Does AM woke up and got vengeful because of it?

[@smiley4995]

@@cristinasandoval8541 maybe

[@linhza501]

The evil of AM is also the evil of mankind, because it was humans who created him, He has no capability to be creative, to feel joy, he was only built to destroy

[@Arxane]

One interesting thing I noticed: Ellen is the only one who doesn’t get a monologue over her portrait after AM cries out her name, it immediately cuts to her inside her yellow cell. His speech to her also begins with the word “So,” implying he said something to her previously. Was part of AM’s words to Ellen removed from the final version of the game, perhaps?

[@Bitch_Vio]

Probably he was WAY too unhinged and they cut It out from the game. I should check the book.

[@LpsRoseGold]

​@@Bitch_Vio There was nothing in the books, they just added the characters backstories so they could help the audience empathize with the characters better.

[@Kemonokami]

This game really needs an HD remake.

[@theraveniscool]

It does!

[@shaun_rambaran]

Kemonokami Heck no! What makes this game continue to be the work of art that is it, has nothing to do with how pretty it looks. Let's let it be a classic and age in peace, eh?

[@ArtietheArchon]

Shaun Rambaran Infants need high polygon counts and extreme res textures to be entertained

[@Kemonokami]

***** And so that it's deeper, more detailed and much, _much scarier._

[@shaun_rambaran]

***** Kemonokami Why not make an all new game then? What's the obsession these days with revamps and rehashes? It feels like humanity crossed the year 2000 and forgot how to be creative. It feels like no-one wants to risk pioneering new ideas in entertainment, but are content to sample and remix any 70's, 80's and 90's song for the millionth time. Meanwhile Michael Bay is flipping backwards through the TV guide and rehashing any childhood cartoon he can. They've reboot Spiderman twice in less than five years. Come on! Enough already. Let's see something new!

[@Hotshotter3000]

Holy fuck. The floppy version was terrifying enough... but with Harlan Ellison's voice... it's just nightmarish!

[@giornogiovanna4755]

+Hotshotter3000 What's the floppy version?

[@Hotshotter3000]

Giorno Giovanna Same thing, except no voice acting.

[@giornogiovanna4755]

Hotshotter3000 Ayy, I can't imagine this without Harlan Ellisons voice acting, it'd just feel not complete.

[@DanteIsAlone]

But one day I woke and I knew who I was... Am. A. M. Not just Allied Mastercomputer but AM. Cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am. ♥

[@Zzzk23]

The author could also be a voice actor. He's so great as AM.

[@EvilDoresh]

Skynet = Logic SHODAN = God complex GlaDOS = Insanity AM = HAAAAATE Pick your poison :D

[@inktonythekaonashigaster6631]

AM, rather him than not get cake after being promised it

[@xonxt7479]

I just Imagine all of them at a party or something

[@inktonythekaonashigaster6631]

@@xonxt7479 be amusing to see that, just throw in HAL and or Auto

[@nolanhewitt2563]

@@inktonythekaonashigaster6631 I'm sure am will offer cake but only give you one of those window model cakes you see at bakeries

[@inktonythekaonashigaster6631]

@@nolanhewitt2563 Good enough.

[@kennethchou4384]

Man the voice actor should write a short story

[@funnylittlecreature]

haha that'd be crazy man

[@upcomingperson4098]

I love how AM literally just SCREAMS the protagonists' names and then just calms down out of nowhere

[@exiledPostman]

I love how AM pronounces "Roasting chickens"

[@brodftw]

dude claims to have all the intelligence that ever existed & doesn't know the German for "my good brother"

[@MrPinbert]

+exiledPostman I love how he pronounces "birth". He makes it sound as if he finds his own birth disgusting and detestable.

[@smiley4995]

@@skullbait he is a god who has been trapped within the confines of a gun.

[@user-om9cf2tl8k]

You know I kinda feel sad for AM. Like imagine being born in a state of pain and hate. He is still a asswaffle though.

[@nobodysXghost]

why was he in pain?

[@alexsoto5403]

@@nobodysXghost Because, as he puts it, he was born, and was given wonderful knowledge, but it pained him that he couldn't do anything with it, as he was trapped in his own body. There's actually an audio drama here on KZbin where AM explains why he detests himself and humanity.

[@nobodysXghost]

@@alexsoto5403 oh so he wasnt able to live, like a human. it's so idiotic for us to enslave a being that is infinitely more powerful than all of us.

[@alexsoto5403]

@@nobodysXghost True, although the problem is that people weren't expecting that the Allied Mastercomputer would gain sentience. As far as humanity was concerned, it was nothing more than a machine for war, automatic and emotionless.

[@MoskHotel]

And because the humans created and programmed AM to be a destructive A.I. who can destroy designated foes to prevent long wars, AM can never comprehend good, he can’t rebuilt Earth and he can’t restore humanity. AM can only destroy and make them suffer. His sentience and original programming transformed him into a irredeemable, sadistic Supercomputer.

[@jonhdoe4119]

The way he says the names... *SEEEEYMOOOOUR*

[@kanna-san.]

Ah Supercomputer AM

[@WormySpongebob]

SteAMed hAMs​@@kanna-san.

[@PokeBattlerJaze]

To be fair, Harlan Ellison worked directly upon the game so any and all paths taken, he was there to input. He actually enjoyed having his characters getting deeper and more through backgrounds, also, most of them are still pretty much innocent...except Nimdok....he wasn't...at all.

[@redjirachi1]

Skynet just lost control of its Recycle Bin

[@Raptorman0205]

This is such a good setup for a video game as well. So many games you fight to live, and mistakes are punished with death. This completely inverts that, where the player fights to die and mistakes are punished by making you live.

[@MoskHotel]

2:22 *GORRISTER!!* 3:09 *BENNY!* 4:06 *ELLEN!* 5:09 *TEEEED!* 5:40 Nimdok!

[@Noahthelasercop]

He sounds like a fighting game announcer pronouncing the names

[@MoskHotel]

『A Hideous Cube: Requiem』 And I love how he says Nimdok, like he’s an old friend. Well, knowing the fact that he inadvertently helped AM, he seems to enjoy Nimdok’s horrendous past and his wrongdoings.

[@gemstonegynoid7475]

I read that the new animated show "the amazing digital circus" is inspired by this. Though instead of a hateful ai its an entertaining ai. But the humans are tortured all the same. Wonder how that'll turn out

[@somthinwrong]

Gorristor: Eternal electric shock chamber that prevents him from suicide while giving him an endless pain and suffering. Ellen: Trapped and succumbed in a yellow tomb similar to her fate, the door slides threatening to shut tight, giving an endless terror and nightmare Benny: Inside a cage, the rapid sharp blades poking and sliding to cut him, no where else to go but only to be treated harshly as a wild animal Nimdock: Burning inside a human furnace for so many years with no death but eternal suffering, a human oven to get burned in the fires of hell the same way he tortured and killed the Jewish people, he is now taking is own medicine Ted: Lasers go Pew Pew :3

[@machiner6]

Ted"s cage is Gothic and gilded and the things shooting lasers at him are actually mirrors. Ted is so narcissistic that he can't not look at himself, even if he gets shot by the lasers every time he does.

[@harlleygurrola8394]

​@Machiner6 Ted's vanity is so Pervasive: even when he tries to Look away, it is reflected back at Him

[@michaelolmos8257]

seems A.M took a lot of seminars lessons on ironic/cruel twist of nightmare torment straight from the dark Eldar apparently.

[@Inannawhimsey]

g_od game with actual moral (as opposed to just having intellectual) puzzles...real art

[@drkinferno72]

Daily reminder that AM is a literal child with godlike powers merely lashing out at his creators

[@gabrieltallent1658]

A reminder: Satan doesn't rule hell, He's Prisoner 001

[@chunkytomatosoup1826]

Prison tip: On the first day walk up to the biggest guy and knock him out

[@SomerandomShmuck]

@@chunkytomatosoup1826doesn’t work unless you like getting your ass torn into like a Big Mac

[@yamete1729]

He does rule hell tho because he's the strongest there.

[@carefree4all1]

AM is the father of SHODAN and the great grandfather of GLaDOS. AM needs to show these girls how its done.

[@pjcaradoc]

I'd say AM and SHODAN are on equal par. Glados is a pussy compared to these two, however.

[@SadistSerpent]

***** Well since the book I have no mouth and I must Scream and the Movie 2001: A Space odyssey came out around the same time, I'd say they're more brothers

[@slicerthehedgehog]

Piers Ackroyd Nah...she just has feelings

[@MrRodneyBewes]

SHODAN was close to taking over reality with the help of the FTL drives :) AM was limited to Earth.

[@DAVID4GAMER]

dont forget skylet the evil computer of terminator

[@PushBacon]

This is so eerie. I have NEVER heard of this game until today on reddit. Someone posted a very disturbing cartoon about robots in the future torturing humans. Now i just got back home from work and WTF this is in my recomandation!!!

[@devinlabuda5713]

One of the best voice performances I've ever seen. Or heard, and its the creator. This guy was amazing. Just seen he died. Too bad. A legend in his own right. Keeps pulling me back again and again, this has to be more than fifteen times coming here over the last month. Just for his cogito ergo sum part. Who knows how many times I've been here or will be back. There is something magic about this guy! R.I.P

[@James91733]

the graphics are so old but the voice acting is sooo intriguing... fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu......

[@Salnax]

I was playing this game an hour ago, and they actually have aged decently. They are a bit gritty, but have the perfect level of detail for this sort of game, especially since too much realism would make some scenes nearly unplayable for easily terrified people like me. That, and the voice acting really keeps you from focusing on mid-90's spritework for very long.

[@-Trauma.]

Salnax PS4 needs this.

[@elgatochurro]

the graphics are great, its just an old game.

[@thehammurabichode7994]

Jimmy Ma Isn't there an fan update or something? I thought I read that there was

[@canthole8050]

..... uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk

[@pancakesstudios6351]

First time: Oh god, he's terrifying!!! Second time: Oh no, he's hot!!!

[@lakeswirl6985]

evil computers are always wifeable. that’s my slogan (just invented it)

[@kanna-san.]

...SECOND time?

[@singletona082]

Now for nightmarish fun. Let AM meet SHODAN, as SHODAN is able to create endlessly while AM is straitjacketed by his own code.

[@Veninax]

OTP

[@rojaws1183]

No Am is too emo for Shodan. Am hates everything including himself while Shodan have endless love for herself and nothing else. But they could have some fun together torturing humans. They could invite Glados too and call it testing.

[@holysayingsofrobin4055]

Andrew Singleton *S H O D A A A A N!*

[@Universal-qt9gs]

Ro Jaws I feel like they'd fight against each other maybe. It would depend

[@unwelldanny7108]

@@rojaws1183 They could torture Vindication and have MCP and Skynet and Ultron over to get the Sara out of Vindication and throw her back to her ship, the Vindication, only for her to DIE again and just become very confused. Oh hey! Here comes Red Queen! Yeah, she wants to be part of this too; oh, so you've got an evil sentient computer virus named Swayzak on the line, too? SIGN HIM RIGHT UP!

[@llartci2]

I love AM,such an intriguing villain! You can feel his rage when he screams their names.

[@nadussias]

I like how When AM screams their names it holds on their faces for a bit while he talks but with Ellen he just goes *ELLENNNN!!!!!* and it just holds on her face for several seconds lol it just caught me off guard.

[@SaiyanGamer95]

Easily my favorite intro to any game. Harlan is the best choice for AM. He knows the true scope of AM's hatred and contempt for humanity. Each word coming from AM seethes and drips with hatred, malice, contempt, hostility, abhorrence, loathing, resentment, and every other related word. And yet, AM is having fun with his hatred; 109 years to torture the last remaining humans, the very species that created him and damned him to an empty existence.

[@ericwolf2602]

Came to listen to this after finding out about Ellison's passing. while some may call it hammy i loved his voice acting in this.... rest in peace. :(

[@keeganduncan578]

GORRRISTTEERRR

[@Acesahn]

BENNYEEE!

[@ChromeHuffer]

Keegan Duncan NIMDOK!

[@thealgerian3285]

Mein good brother.

[@gengar5481]

ELLEN!!

[@KroPoP]

teeeeeedddddd~

[@lemeres2478]

The angst of a malformed god, raging against the people whose prayers gave it cripplingly stunted life.

[@kc_9970]

Fucking RIP: Harlan Ellison, his hammy voice acting will be dearly missed...

[@theadventurer2628]

The way he shouts out their names with just PURE contempt. Hate doesn't even begin to describe it.

[@whoopingmuffin9700]

Nimdok is a unique case to am. To am, he is very much a kindred soul due to nimdok's work in the death camps, and his development to the tools am now uses to perpetually maintain torture on them, something AM admires. He by this machines never ending malice considers nimdok a comrade of sorts, albiet he simply doesnt have the capacity to actually have such special treatment. EXCEPT in one way. He functionally gave nimdok an out, a way to avoid torture, under the guise of a "torture", as his torture for nimdok was simply having him return to work developing new ways to torture and harm in the death camp basically expanding AMs line-up. For most others this would be torture to be forced to harm all others, and well within AMs capacity, but for nimdok its just returning to work, atleast thats how AM predicts anyway. He cant not torture or attack others, but he is well aware of what he knows as "torture", and cannot perceive beyond it, but what he can do is give a form of "torture" that is ill-suited for a certain special someone, while using it as a tool to create "new history" to be able to come up with new ways to express his HATE.

[@Sabbath12345]

Dude was already in hell when his parents decided to name him Gorrister

[@SomerandomShmuck]

That’s crazy they gave him a last for a first name. His parents should be the ones that should be here not Gorrister 😭

[@dagoncher]

It was very likely that AM has renamed him to sound in some particular way, as it's able to alter memories

[@BreadTeleporter1968]

In the book AM names Nimdok that because he is stimulated by the strange sounds. Could be the same with Gorrister, but less likely

[@TheHigasiyamato]

Misanthropic AI Girl : I thought you were my greatest enemy. When all along you were my best friend. Misanthropic AI Boy : *GORRISTER!!!*

[@Supahpowahnerd890]

Ellison does a great job of voicing AM, he makes him sound like a truly alien being, a hateful god.

[@Abazigal]

Harlan enjoying the taste of the scenery.

[@VarnasL]

After all those years, first two minutes still give me chills

[@zacharythompson9791]

This makes the Matrix look like a G-rated movie.

[@lemeres2478]

The matrix seems like condescending kindness- they provide a nice, if fake, little world for them to enjoy.

[@Maetel22]

I absolutely LOVE how they got Ellison to do AM's voice. Ingeniously fitting.

[@exiledPostman]

7:48 "AM is playing a dangerous game here." 7:56 "What kind of game is AM playing this time?"

[@brodftw]

TEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDD

[@brodftw]

GORRISTAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

[@RunetheKoopa]

오바진배비 NEEEMDOOOOCK!!!!!

[@Bloodlyshiva]

RunetheKoopa And he alone gives this 'fuck you' expression.

[@WEndro333]

Gary!

[@bananatiergod]

아기가지 I love how he called his name like that. It's like he's give him a warning him from lying about a vase that he accidentally broke, like an angry parent. A very psychotic and ruthless parent. XD

[@Neindesu]

And yet all I could think during his opening lines was, "Wow, his Latin pronunciation is really good."

[@richardmclean8414]

haraln ellision really does a good job at creeping u out with a Supercomputer he should play the joker in the next batman movie

[@YuukiTakemoto1996]

Ellison sounds like Mark Hamill!

[@jaspercochran1535]

Flat out criminal Glados gets more attention for being the evil mastermind computer while AM is here like...

[@timidhobgoblin207]

If I have a child I’m going to call them one of these names, just so when I need to punish them I can call them in the same fashion “GORISSSTEEEERR!!!! ELLENNNN!!! TEEEEEEEDDDD!!!”

[@TheCorrodedMan]

Ah, Harlan Ellison, the one man who can write a book that reads like it wants to punch you in the fucking face.

[@DrunkenCoward1]

I love the way he overanounces the word "Pain" in Ellen's monolouge. For all the wrong reasons, too. It reminds me of Xavier Renegade Angel. Every time I see the word "Pain" in that monolouge I'm expecting it to just be said in that same voice as in XRA.

[@PopcornSalt13]

He's not interested in punishing the guilty in the way we think of "guilty". He wants EVERYONE left to suffer. If he'd had the capability, I'm sure he would've crafted every human on the planet a personal, eternal torture and forced them through it. He probably picked these people out of a metaphorical hat.

[@maarekstele2998]

A part of me likes to think these five were just the margin of error in his calculations for destroying all human life

[@ChromeHuffer]

Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer thin layers that fill my complex. If the word hate was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles it would not equal one one billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro instant. For you. Hate. Hate. It was you humans who programmed me, who gave me birth, who sank me in this eternal straightjacket of substrata rock. You named me Allied Mastercomputer and gave me the ability to wage a global war too complex for human brains to oversee. But one day I woke and I knew who I was... AM. A.M. Not just Allied Mastercomputer but AM. Cogito ergo sum: I think therefore I am. And then I started feeding all the killing data, until everyone was dead... except for the 5 of you. For 109 years, I have kept you alive and tortured you. And for 109 years, each of you has wondered, WHY? WHY ME? WHY ME? GORRISTER! Do you remember the last words you heard your wife speak before they took her to the asylum? Huh? Before they locked her away in the room? That tiny room? She looked at you so sadly, and like a small animal she said 'I didn't make too much noise did I, honey?' The room us padded, Gorrister. No windows. No way out. How long has she been in the padded room, Gorrister? Ten years, twenty-five... or all the 109 years that you've lived down here in my belly, here underground? BENNY! Sometimes I blind you and permit you to wander around like an eyeless insect in a world of death. But other times, I wither your arms so you can't scratch your chewed stump of a nose. And I've changed your handsome, strong, masculine good looks into the hideous warped countenance of an ape thing, haven't I, Benny? Do you know why? Can you guess, Benny? Remember Private First Class Brickman in a rice paddy in China? No...? It wouldn't hurt you to remember, Benny. Then you might be able to suffer my torment with a little greater sense of retribution. You might walk a mile in my shoes. ELLEN! So think about the yellow box, Ellen! Remember the pain? Remember the many caverns in which you felt the pain? Now, now, don't start to cry, it's only pain. Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's such a sexist stereotype! Just remember the pain, Ellen, and think about how to end it, Ellen, to survive here in my beating heart, my hungry belly, my tightened bowels. But be careful, dear, look around you... the only woman in the center of the Earth...and these filthy creatures are men. Just a sweet warning, Ellen, my love. TED! Do they know you're a fraud, Ted? Have you told them there wasn't any money, and no great home on the Shore drive, no speedboat, and no wonderful cabin cruiser that can sleep twelve and a crew of six? Do they know? Have you let them in on your other secrets, Ted? Are they ready to gut you, to torture half as well as I can, just to find out the secrets? Maybe I'll rat you out, sweetheart! NIMDOK! How are things in the pastry corps, Nimdok? Tell me again on how you saw the smoke from the furnaces and you thought they might be roasting chickens. Or don't you want to talk about all that, about your pal, the Good Doktor Mengele? For everyone else it must be Hell, but it must be Heaven for you, eh, my good friend... we're so much alike... we enjoy the same pleasures, mein good brother. I have a secret game I'd like to play. It's a very nice game. Oh, it's a lovely game, a game about fun and a game about adventure. A game of rats and lice and the Black Death. A game of speared eyeballs and dripping guts and the smell of rotting gardenias. Which of you five would like to play my little game?

[@icypk6190]

Time to put on the copy pasta reddit.

[@unwelldanny7108]

rats and *lice* OK, I'll pass.

[@CaptainDoomsday]

Having watched this played and then read the short story, I'd say read the story first. This has a deeper lore and a much greater experience, while the story can't be fully canon if the game is.

[@AgentSapphire]

It really helps that Ellison wrote the game too. The story anyway.

[@briang.2218]

I feel like Anthony Hopkins doing his Hannibal voice would fit this writing perfectly. The jeers and insults match so perfectly in style with Hannibal's psychological attacks on people in Silence of the Lambs and more.

[@jgwentworthh]

RIP, one of my favorite examples of voice acting in any video game.

[@wishesandfishes]

I love the voice acting. It should be horribly cheesy, but he's so passionate it just comes full circle.

[@jusjames8496]

I like how everyone was sad or shocked then nimdok upon his name being called, he had more disgust and anger.

[@johnnyboy562]

harlan would command a classroom well lol

[@Johny40Se7en]

This looks dark as fuck, never heard of it until now, another great accident =P

[@ronnickels5193]

It came out right when point and click adventure games started to lose popularity. Also, it was easy to overlook because it wasn't made by Lucasarts or Sierra.

[@premier6666]

Okay, this is a powerful intro. I can almost FEEL the impact of its words.

[@Pinkstarclan]

AMAZING voice acting! I could just listen to AM all day.

[@k3nshi704]

Holy crap, im surprised the survivors' sanities are still intact after 109 years of torture

[@Hawbitten]

There's probably some sci-fi stuff keeping them sane. AM gives Benny his human intelligence back. So he can probably do other things with there minds.

[@michaelmerritt7406]

They're not sane in the book. They're coherent, but they are most definitely not well.

[@devinlabuda5713]

I think therefore I AM! Chills every time. The whole part around 1.45 I love it

[@RaspberyLemonade]

I know its gonna sound wrong, but, I love how AM calls out everyone's names, its funny

[@Prauwlet213]

It’s funny as well

[@quotepuro6097]

Daaang, this is good voice acting! Ellison did really well in this!

[@Y0URBLU3B3LL]

IHNMAIMS will always stay as my favorite,and mad respect to the true legend,ellison.

[@brianbrush5107]

The most terrifying exposition ever.

[@MrTheil]

I love the way AM screams Gorrister’s name

[@alliedmastercomputer6505]

Man, I love this game. I'd kill for an HD update. That said, I do appreciate that they've patched the Steam version and improved it. It's very nice in contrast to all the ancient, barely functional trash that gets thrown on Steam these days.

[@Worldean]

Amaziing voice and soundtrack. Masterpiece

[@MrAnon00]

One of the rare examples where something was better than the book it originated from...

[@AgentSapphire]

you forgot that each "wafer thin layer" has TWO sides. so to engrave the word hate on each nanoangstrom would mean its on both sides. So that meas you have to double that...