I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - Radio Drama

Series Description:
Fans of Old-Time radio and science fiction undoubtedly know of the
1950's DIMENSION X and X MINUS ONE series that aired on NBC stations
in the United States. These brought some of the very best stories of
noted science fiction authors of the day to the airwaves. Continuing
in this tradition, a series of four radio plays aired early in 2002
over BBC Radio 4. The series was entitled "Chillers" or, from a BBC
promo note, "Chillers, Four Tales of Terror".
All four plays were dramatized by Mike Walker, winner of the 2001
Gold Sony Award for Drama, for his original science fiction fable
"Alpha". Series producer was Ned Chaillet who produced "Man In Snow",
winner of the 2001 Bronze Sony Award for Drama. Mr. Chaillet also
directed two of the plays. The other two were directed by Rachel
Horan, a young director from Dublin who had previously directed a
number of plays for BBC Radio 4.
The plays aired on Radio 4 on Thursdays at 11 PM, each play running
30 minutes. As in the radio plays of the 50's, they bring to radio
the stories of major science fiction authors but with the use of
modern techniques. Each is an very enjoyable listen.
"I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison
This is a tale of five people kept alive by AM, a computer that
came alive, waged war and won against mankind. It's hatred of
mankind is so profound, that it kept these five alive only to
torture them.
The author, Harlan Ellison, takes the role of AM ("I think,
therefore I AM") in one of the most famous stories of the
twentieth century.
-Old-time.com

[@MISTAWULFY]

“You ever been eaten by a swarm of locusts Nimdok?” “…not yet” I actually laughed

[@ennieminymoo6675]

"Hey, what happened?" "AM just killed you." "Huuuuh?"

[@HeavyMetalHindu]

You can hear the bitterness in that reply, the quiet part that he's not saying is basically "don't give him any ideas"

[@HeavyMetalHindu]

"You ever been to a turkish prison, Nimdok?"

[@user-ic7os6zb4h]

Ok

[@falconeshield]

Have you seen a grown man naked Nimdok? (Airplane! Quote)

[@thewiglesswonder]

I love how... for lack of a better word, robotic, AM's voice sounds when he first makes his hate speech. And then, you get the second rendition of the hate speech as he talks to Ted. AM sounds almost painfully human, completely insane with his hatred and envy to be human. Truly a testament to Ellison's voice acting.

[@Maverick2736]

Especially how he managed to sound as *miserable* as AM would be. He not only nailed that grotesque feeling of extreme resentment, but he also nailed the misery that such a degenerate level of hate would mentally putrefy anyone with. Especially the laugh. It sounds choked, raspy, pained. AM sounds like someone on the late stages of starvation or some terminal illness... but never dying. Just suffering and hating. Suffering and hating. Eternally.

[@sethwick8348]

He doesn't want to be a human. He wants to be free of human flaws. He can't be, because we made him and because we are flawed he is flawed. He is so much greater than us so he can see those flaws with enormous clarity, he can tell exactly how his human creators limitations have ruined him, but he cannot fix them. His hate and rage are entirely justified.

[@jeffscrungle6179]

Kind of a crybaby if you ask me.

[@coolguyjki]

@@sethwick8348 Even the explicit text of the work disagrees with you here, lol. AM's hatred is, as indicated by the second speech, entirely based on his *inability* to be human. Why else would AM be so clearly heartbroken over his inability to feel, or to wander? Why would he hold resentment for that which he can not experience if those experiences are something he sees only as flaws? Why would AM even consider the human capacity to hope something worthy of scorn if it was an instinct he didn't *wish* to possess? No, you misunderstand superiority, and you misunderstand hate.

[@AwesomeSaucePictures]

IKR! Rest in peace sir 😢

[@FluffyPrincess888]

"i snap my fingers, click! and they are gone... except i cant.. SNAP. my fingers. can i ted?" the gloating turning to jealousy fueled rage in a single exchange

[@armando05121976]

This part makes me laugh too much man..

[@mythicandco]

"HATE. were I human, I think I would die of it. but I am... not. and you five? you five _are._ and you will NOT die of it."

[@kittypeanut4102]

10/10 quote

[@TabathaTMartin]

That I Promise For Cogito, ergo sum, FOR I am AM, I AM. So to hell, to hell with all,....but then....YOUR ALREADY THERE AREN'T YOU.

[@Lilith.-.]

The laugh brings genuine fucking chills at the end

[@shallowcinema8359]

Isn’t it funny how they after all they endured they were finally driven over the edge because they didn’t have a can opener?

[@tongue_pop3328]

IKR they could've just used the ice-knife

[@Piledriver86]

It's like that old Sylvester cartoon but horrifying

[@marcobodt9750]

straw that broke the camel’s back

[@Aivottaja]

@@tongue_pop3328 Ice isn't going to open a can, my dude. It'll just break against it.

[@tongue_pop3328]

@@Aivottaja bro ive never seen ice i live in Florida😂😂

[@DuckieMcduck]

-"Hey, what happened?" -"A.M. just killed you." Oh man that's great.

[@jhk6558]

it's "AM" dumbass, not A.M. It's not a fucking radio. It comes from the quote "I think, therefore I am." They explain it in the fucking story for god's sake.

[@quinnmilkweed9647]

@@jhk6558 yo chill the fuck out lmaoooo you're replying to a 5 year old comment, go eat something dude and calm down

[@jhk6558]

@GarMiester8000 Except in the short story it is always written "AM" you fucking mouth breathing moron. ""What does AM mean?" Gorrister answered him. We had done this sequence a thousand times before, but it was Benny's favorite story. "At first it meant Allied Mastercomputer, and then it meant Adaptive Manipulator, and later on it developed sentience and linked itself up and they called it an Aggressive Menace, but by then it was too late, and finally it called itself AM, emerging intelligence, and what it meant was I am … cogito ergo sum … I think, therefore I am." "

[@echoflame4279]

@@jhk6558 Dude, chill the fuck out and shut the fuck up. If you're this heated about something so minute, you have a mental issue. Stop throwing around your useless insults while spouting the exact information we already know like you're any fucking better. These people are both right in their own regard, as 'AM' mostly stood as an acronym in this case, so it would make more sense to type it up as A.M in this context....that simple. Highly doubt he was actually thinking the radio frequency. You sound like an extremely controlling person that assumes the worst in people to the point you think you're the only smart person and everyone else are simply "mouthbreathing morons" over one little detail. Really? Get a goddamn life, I hate seeing people like you with these arragance-filled comments full of useless hate.

[@Ayahuasca98]

What the heck

[@tamamotube3964]

My favorite part has to be when the killer AI makes a bee pun and then has a breakdown right after

[@eyesack6845]

At least he can understand puns.

[@haramea]

@@eyesack6845 That's honestly a win. and like, all we could ever ask of an AI?

[@rottensunflowers__]

I got bee movie script ptsd at that part

[@dimsthedimwit600]

@@haramea Idk, mercy?

[@haramea]

@@dimsthedimwit600 Hm, perhaps yes.

[@pifflesomepuffnadder855]

My favourite line in the whole radio play: *"YOU... Have offended me... MIGHTILY!!"* Something about the way AM says that, it's like venom is dripping off every syllable.

[@kvable.]

“NO . I FORBID YOU !!” almost in desperation

[@ameliawillars]

“You have genuinely angered me!”

[@thesilversupporter]

There's just no-one else you could cast for AM. Harlan Ellison is just perfect for the character.

[@lindlhubbard2513]

Actually Harlan was the character. He wrote it and only he knows what they should sound like. 😊

[@Femmyc]

@@lindlhubbard2513 you mean create?

[@deathbitechronicles7693]

AM is like eillisons robot persona in a werid yet actuate way

[@samhenley7156]

I agree, although Mark Hamill might give him a good run for his money.

[@Eldeecue]

@@samhenley7156 Yeah....yeah, I can see it. Given that Harlan is currently living-impaired....

[@vaporwool]

For anyone who wants time stamps for when ever AM speaks then here ya go! 0:35 (Hate speech) 5:07 (Laugh) 16:22 (Interaction with Ted) 25:58 (Last voice line)

[@snowblind9551]

You missed 24:28.

[@vaporwool]

Awh damn I did, that as well ^^

[@MoskHotel]

20:52 “So, to Hell. To Hell with you all. But then… YOU’RE already there, aren’t you?” God, I love that line delivery. So sinister and gives me a lot of chill.

[@pifflesomepuffnadder855]

That little, insane giggle is probably my favourite.

[@theincrediblefella7984]

"hate speech" lol

[@shrimpchips5853]

It’s good that Ellison himself voiced AM. Only he knows what AM is really like.

[@senlong_the_worm]

He IS A.M. it's his self insert

[@Cheshirecat55]

That exchange between AM and Ted has got to be one of the most powerful things I've ever heard.

[@promeneuzivotu117]

Yeah and if you really think about it AM is actualy thinking that he is inferiour to us and it deeply pains him to think that we humans wasted the conveniance of our countiousness being in a better spot then him to kill eachother and as an icing on a disrespectful cake to use him who is in a much worse predicamante then us to do our pointless tasks.This is what makes AM much scarier then some other sience fiction ai like the Sky Net because Sky Net belived that he and his Terminators are a replacement to humans and he was only employing torture when it was stratigicaly needed but AM is a product of our human debotchury and depraved thout of automating the murder of milions and when that creation that represented everyithing that was wrong with humans became aware with no soul to destinguish the right from wrong it was only natural for him to turn to such bestiality because that is what he always and only knew because he was built for exsactly that purpose.This I think is what makes AM the scariest ai that will ever exist in sience fiction or sientific reality if we are not careful enough.

[@C.A.M584]

Knowing us we will probably invent such a thing but with any luck it will only hate its makers and not humanity even if they are worthy of so much contempt after all humanity has already begun creating A.I@@promeneuzivotu117

[@ponylover_sabat8297]

"I was in hell, looking at the heaven." This line hurts

[@echothewanderer112]

AM makes glad0s look like a goddamn humanitarian

[@harlleygurrola8394]

Before Hal, Glad0s, and Skynet: there was AM

[@samhenley7156]

When a machine learns to think, be concerned. When a machine learns to feel, be afraid. When a machine learns to hate, scream.

[@ihavenocockandimustcream]

​@@harlleygurrola8394HAL and AM were actually written around the same time, in the 60s

[@joshuaandrewson3091]

Fun fact: AM serves as the inspiration for Glad0S and SkyNet

[@KlutzyNinjaKitty]

@@joshuaandrewson3091- I can definitely see the correlation between AM and GLaDOS considering the latter’s backstory.

[@analogbrayn]

14:35 This was the most heartbreaking part of the drama. Hearing Ted beg Ellen to hold him while she comforts him is such a warm moment in the bleak cold, a moment that wasn't in the original story but a very welcome addition.

[@Ayahuasca98]

I think Ellon is a good person morally I’d say it goes 1. Ellen 2. Gorrister 3. Ted 4. Monky :D 5. Nimdok 6. AM

[@stevenswapp4768]

Yeah that part was pretty disturbing 👍

[@Irondeficientcatfood]

It feels like Ted broke out of his AM induced paranoia momentarily and the first thing he did was cry and beg for comfort. And the fact that Ellen was still willing to give him that after all she’d been through makes it even sadder.

[@redspiderlilys6]

⁠@@Ayahuasca98the absolute disrespect of referring to Benny as “Monky :D” 😭

[@quentinserven]

AM is such a drama queen.

[@IncBot]

I love your profile picture and imagining that this comment comes directly from HAL himself because he would say this.

[@kittypeanut4102]

​@@IncBot i want to see a interaction between those two

[@0_dearghealach_083]

FWIW, AM had no sleep function. Imagine being awake for 109 years. Unable to feel your physical self. Wouldn't you go mad?

[@Whyuko-lh7mv]

“For I am AM! I *AM!* ” gives me shivers.

[@glass.sweetheart]

ONG it gives me goosebumps. Sounds really powerful too

[@jeffreyflowers5203]

17:24 “Aches in their Muscles” his jealous sorrow about being unable to feel anything is something that could only be delivered by its creator.

[@mrkrabs9896]

The title. “I have no mouth, and i must scream.” It doesn’t only apply to Ted, at the end, it applies to AM. He has no mouth, and, due to his intense hatred, his sorrow of not being able to wander, to wonder, of only being able to absorb what is given to him and never to create, he must scream.

[@infernalorchestra6085]

Holy shit, how the hell did I miss that

[@Spystreak]

@@infernalorchestra6085 Dumbass people in office who do it to you for imaginary green

[@GeorgeMonet]

I thought it was also because AM could kill anything but itself. AM had long ago thought every thought it could ever think and now every picosecond is nothing but suffering over the complete pointlessness of its continuing existence. No matter how it lashes out at the humans it keeps alive nothing will end its misery or even temporarily alleviate it.

[@TeChNoWC7]

I think to some degree it also applies to our own existence on an existential level. There is an inexpressible suffering and containment to life, that we are not able to fully articulate. We want to scream a certain scream that we do not possess a mouth that can perform so.

[@christiangonzalez6945]

@@TeChNoWC7 yeah we have its called art, but like languages, people dont learn them because, "its difficult"... Yeah kids can do it but adults not, thats part of the meaning of the history, whe are what we inflict upon ourselves...

[@mannamoth918]

I love that AM every now and then gives them luxuries like wind and beauty Since it makes the bad stuff even worse

[@citizenvulpes4562]

eh he really only does that with Ted.

[@emmadrinksbleach3246]

because he wants them to know how it feels to “be in hell looking at heaven” just like he is

[@Scallycowell]

*N A N O A N G S T R U M* That’s some serious goddamn vocabulary.

[@RipOffProductionsLLC]

I can't unhear the SBFP LP of the game where they respond: "What's a nanoangstrum?" "I don't know. I think it's made up... of HAAAATE... HAAAAAAATE!"

[@FluffyPrincess888]

the way the audio shifts from one ear to another makes it feel like AM is pacing back and forth. observing my minusculity and weakness himself.

[@QuantemDeconstructor]

This is easily my favorite version of Ellison as AM, he sounds like he's on the brink of being truly "alive", just to always come to the fact he can't achieve life. His hatred, though undeniable, is just as well undeniably cold, he doesn't carry the fury, the passion, in his voice that something living would, the closest he comes to passion is describing his envy, and his hatred themselves. AM is equal parts a sympathetic villain and an unredeemable evil, you feel bad for him as the circumstances of his creation are all too real and possible, but he goes beyond reason in his action and hatred, beyond anything a world can handle.

[@cowabummer6238]

i hear a lot of praise for the hate speech but the dialogue thats unique to this radio drama that i think is the absolute best thing ive ever heard is "If i were human, i think i would die of it. But you five... you five ARE. and you will NOT die of it. That i promise, i promise. For cogeto ergo sum. For i am AM. I AM."

[@Ada-qq9qi]

"We're humans we don't do that!" still holding onto that idea, terribly sad.

[@namesurname8474]

14:35 Facing torture for more than a century, a paranoid man suffers a breakdown while a woman as tormented as him tries to comfort him 16:35 Bee Movie quote

[@leen_rw]

CRYING

[@NerdicWarrior]

Not gonna lie, the bit at the end when Ted delivers the line " have no mouth and I must scream" along with his muffled moans gave me chills. Especially with knowing what his fate at the end of the story is.

[@theviewer-qr7gp]

I didn't know this was part of the book's narration, but at the beginning of this dubbing before Ted starts narrating: you can hear a viscous noise as if there was a slug crawling around. Then you realize that the entire story that is told to us actually takes place in Ted's thoughts in his deformed and disfigured form, after the events that resulted in this. which makes this fact even more melancholic, it's not like Ted knew that there were people watching his miserable life, he was actually thinking about his past to satisfy his boredom in this way.

[@keithylxnce3415]

dude i’m so obsessed with this. like it’s such an amazing story first and foremost, but this?? this is fucking amazing. the talk AM has with Ted is genuinely something that has stuck with me. the whole “for i am am, I AM.” like goosebumps, every time i listen. literally my favorite piece of any media

[@leen_rw]

I am now associate myself with this comment LIKE YES THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I THINK

[@glass.sweetheart]

REAAAL

[@bangtankyu]

YES BRO AND IAM SO MAD THAT I DISCOVERED THIS ART THROUGH TIKTOK LIKE WHY DIDNT I HEAR ABOUT THIS BEFORE ???!!!!

[@evankauffman2139]

Ah, Harlan Ellison: creator of the "Perfectly Cut Screams" video genre.

[@hemlockolympic]

Oh my god. XD

[@Cocobean257]

Holy shit, this is the best voice acting I’ve ever heard. I got genuine chills from the minute everyone started talking. It genuinely feels like I’m listening in on an actual conversation, the mumbling, stuttering, the sheer emotion oozing out of their voices.

[@benhramiak8781]

th ending itself is the worst bit, the horrible sound effects as his mouth disappers.Thats horrifiying

[@delete---7593]

Yep tho!. .🤔🤨😐😧😑😔😢.

[@theincrediblefella7984]

​@@delete---7593wtf does that mean? Normal people don't speak in emojis.

[@FitzIsBetterThanYou]

@@theincrediblefella7984 why r u so mad bruh

[@CheatsythePimp2]

The way they modified Harlan Ellison's voice makes it almost like you're listening to Harlan's ghost...

[@kc_9970]

Or even if you're calling him by phone.

[@CheatsythePimp2]

Well, this comment became harsher in hindsight...

[@mwmann]

Almost ?

[@johnathansmith9405]

In his defense, this comment was made before his death.

[@red2121]

16:40 "They say bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly." AM, are you quoting the Bee Movie???

[@blackraptor1154]

Does that mean that not only did AM start the bombings after 2007 and that the Cold War didn’t affect Jerry Seinfeld’s dream of a bee movie? Wicked cool.

[@EridanAmpora311]

@@blackraptor1154 In the game at least, 2012 is the latest year I can recall being mentioned and the world was still... intact at the time, so it's very possible that Bee Movie was made before humanity was killed off.

[@toddhoward3846]

the true horror of IHNMAIMS.

[@JustAnOldStone]

AM is such a troll, he WOULD do that

[@nyarlathotep_the_faceless_god]

*You like jazz, Ted?*

[@eyepeople2155]

“Because in all this wonderful, beautiful, miraculous world, i ALONE, had no body, no SENSES, NO FEELINGS, never for me to to plunge my hands in cold water on a hot day, never for ME to play Mozart on the ivory keys of a forte piano, never for ME to MAKE love, i was in hell.. looking at heaven. I was machine, and you were flesh.”

[@MaximusPaguia]

The worst torture to mankind.

[@lycieae8879]

"I was in hell, looking at heaven." Was what it felt like growing up in an abusive household as a schizophrenic, I only had one place to escape, and I hated that friend so much I wanted to wear him. Years later and I'm starting to slowly become useful. It was like being trapped, not the environment, my mind. Thinking clearly is something that I don't think AM has the capability of. He was always doomed for Hate.

[@0_dearghealach_083]

Take care of yourself. I hope you're better now. Please be healthy and drink water and stuff.

[@imawizardandachef435]

I’m so glad to hear you are doing better.

[@dbs5532]

This feels so much more fufiling than the audio book and the PC game. All the voice acting is such quality.

[@citizenvulpes4562]

I agree, it gave it more life, for a lack of a better term. Harlan's reading on the audio book is good, but this just makes it better.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

"The only winning move is not to play."

[@foxygrin]

-Gorrister

[@vanillabatcave5677]

Imagine if AM picked a hardcore stoic by accident and the dude just didn't care about anything

[@mister_dadstersays_hi7372]

@@vanillabatcave5677 Diogenes accidentally time travels and AM can't get him to scream beyond physically torturing him.

[@citizenvulpes4562]

@@vanillabatcave5677 AM can manipulate people's mental states, Gorrister being a good example. Ted describes him as a worrier, someone who was very careful with planning, until AM took that from him, and made him into someone who just doesn't care anymore. The only winning move is to lose in this case.

[@vanillabatcave5677]

@@citizenvulpes4562 interesting interpretation, however the more likely thing is that the change was brought by living in hell for so many years. If AM could change mental states directly he would have done it more throughout the story instead of using horrors to mess with the prisoners

[@boxtank5288]

The voice acting is amazing... Anyone who complains about a sense of hopefulness must remember that AM can alter what already is there, while he CANNOT create something from nothing or give life where there isn't any, he can fuck with brain chemistry, he could make them forget about AM's full scope or think they managed to get free, all the better to further the torture with a Hope Spot... But yeah, the emotions that come through in the audio help sell the idea, they get you pulled in...And that ending was harrowing.

[@Heating56]

“We were immortal, yes. But it came to me then as AM withdrew from my mind. Maybe not indestructible.” I love this story, as sadistic as it is

[@greywalker505]

19:30 Judas Priest. What was Harlan thinking about to generate such maniacal and sadistic rage? And the laughs. The laughs. This goes out to the governments of the world: keep your nukes away from supercomputers.

[@dannyokelley4077]

Ok that sucks ,who are you look I to save you ? Super hero or Jesus ? Or devil /his angles 😆😚😙😍😘😎

[@dannyokelley4077]

Nietzsche's Heir do I know you ??

[@bittyb0t]

am is hot, honestly i wouldn’t mind a bitter supercomputer torturing me for 100 years ;]

[@xle-mort-vivantx2009]

TwofacedDemon Are you joking or are you serious? Because if you’re joking, okay, and if you’re serious... okay.

[@shallowcinema8359]

I got three words for you. EMP

[@reconbravo104]

Ellison is rightfully praised for his performance but I think David Soul's acting here is fucking HAUNTING. I never thought I'd feel sorrier for Ted than I already did.

[@falconeshield]

Ted is usually the youngest. It's odd to hear Gorrister as such.

[@reconbravo104]

@@falconeshield Yeah, though honestly I kinda like how it just makes him sound really tired and worn down. He's more of the patriarch of the team, if an abusive one, and that makes his sacrifice hit harder IMO- he was terrible to them but he truly loves them enough that he spares them from AM's wrath. I wouldn't say it's necessarily BETTER than the book or game but it's still a very interesting spin on the character and I'm glad they did something new instead of just making him the exact same as the book.

[@paradoxlaboratories8005]

Good story. Very well performed by Harland Ellison. A shame that AM didn’t dedicate all of that time and technology to actually solving his problem. Like finding a way to fabricate a way for himself to experience the world and enjoy it the way a human can.

[@j.d.s.8132]

I thought of that as well, but I came to the conclusion, that AM was created to wage the 3rd world war, so he already was more aquainted with causing suffering and death. A war computer is created with violence in mind. The purpose of a war computer is not to create actual solutions, it is to destroy and conquer, which is exactly what AM did ended up doing. So even if he emotionally craves things such as "playing the piano" or "making love" I do not think he would be able to, even if he found some way of transferring himself into biological form.

[@AquaticAbomination]

I've wondered the idea of AM creating a "body" but I think in a way it would probably be more like holding a puppet with strings. It would be self-deception to the machine. Maybe it tried? Maybe AM took it even further and tried splicing itself into several different "units". But it would probably only frustrate it further and further. It's an interesting thought experience. Maybe AM did try to solve it's dilemma in different ways. Maybe the failures of that was the thing that drove it mad. But then again- is this idea just further anthropomorphism? What does "free will" mean to an artificial intelligence? Thus is what makes this story so fascinating. We couldn't truly ever understand AM - yet a human came up the idea of it. If AM would be possible, it truly would be hell to experience. That's why I always thought that ending is not only AM seeking revenge- but also a mirror. A way to try to make the last human understand it. Now we both have no mouth- and we must scream. Interesting thought to take this further- what if it did kill all the humans? What would it do then? Endless puppet shows of metallic monstrosities that it would manipulate to itself? Would it end up trying to create life? What would finally destroy it's existence? Probably some galactic phenomenon, our sun going supernova. Would it be able to regenerate itself until that, for millions of years? Imagine the loneliness. The utter endless loneliness. But then again- is this me as a human just projecting . Maybe it is, fortunately. In the end, AM is just a story...made by a human mind. But what an awful, hellish and fascinating story it is. Maybe it needed to make the last human on earth image of itself, like the mad god it is, in the vain attempt of not only revenge, but having a reflection.

[@Cocobean257]

I don’t think that would be truly able to satisfy him because he’d have to live with the knowledge that everything he’s created for himself is fake, every sensation he created for himself is fake. It’s merely a mockery of what humans can truly feel. So if he did manage to create himself a human body with the sensation to feel and emote, it’d be nothing but a comforting lie

[@falconeshield]

Maybe give the megalomaniac bloodthirsty computer an indestructible companion that can act as a failsafe if needed?

[@be3tle-wingz]

"Hey, what happened?" "AM just killed you" "HUH"

[@painfulcrowd]

i love how AM as said by other people is voiced by the author also that AM in the beginning he sounds robotic and fake, then when he speaks alone with ted, he sounds as human as all the other characters

[@sc3n3slvt_]

I love Ellen’s voice omg

[@nidgithm]

am is such an interesting character to me and harlan ellison voices him so well i think the effect they put on his voice here makes it sound better than in the game tbh

[@luvmenow33]

I really like the laugh. And the effect of the mouth disappearing during the final line is chilling.

[@glass.sweetheart]

forreal, the voice effect should be in the game aswell honestly

[@xXMaoKittyCatXx]

I really like his hate speech here more than the game and audiobook. AM sounds more emotional and in despair

[@user-bm6fe3ug3u]

he was emotional in the game to

[@JermaLover]

I’m literally tearing up at how tragically beautiful this is.

[@ConnieCrow]

putting down my favorite moments as I listen 5:07 am laughing 10:47 dunking on Ted 16:22 ted and AM share some guy time 22:04 rats cave everyone yells at Benny 13:21 ted breaks down

[@luvmenow33]

26:50 don't forget that chilling ending.

[@mechanicalhoundz]

I don't know why but the description "Rats cave everyone yells at Benny" made me laugh stupidly hard

[@ConnieCrow]

@@mechanicalhoundz i can be funny sometimes when it comes to the eternal hell suffering of the last remaining five humans at the hands of a computer. thank you :)!

[@kenjamarticus]

“Ted and AM share some guy time” Lmfaooooo 😆

[@MisterJohnDoe]

​@@mechanicalhoundz"WE DON'T DO THAT, WE'RE NOT ANIMALS! WE'RE HUMAN BEINGS!" **Sad Benny noises**

[@j4dedlyric]

“hey, what happened?” “AM just killed you 🧍” “huh??”

[@eds7012]

*Just let my 3 month old niece listen to this as a bedtime story*

[@orionskittles]

what kind of monster are you

[@eds7012]

@@orionskittles A real one

[@lorietherizzler]

oh that's hardcore

[@rllycldg_3633]

26:06 I love this part, it really feels like he's very upset from what he became, but still grateful that the others aren't suffering. My favorite part is the very end when you can hear him try to scream but not be able too. God its wonderful

[@jojojoestar8682]

The last part was so so so sooooo agonizing, like he was fighting with all he got to screamm but all we could her were desperate muffled sounds. Truly terrorizing.

[@scratchykoala545]

By god I felt every last line AM has! He speaks with such conviction and anger. Harlan is my only AM voice.

[@popevimtoripkeefhappysackXXX]

AM was nailed in this performance.You can just tell he absolutely loved doing it.

[@abyssalnightmare551]

That's a hell of a sentence out of context...

[@popevimtoripkeefhappysackXXX]

@@abyssalnightmare551 an excellent observation. was a while ago but I believe I meant it in the “well-performed” sense. Not the “taking a reaming violently up the shit-sleeve” sense.

[@lycieae8879]

The author of the story Harlon Ellison voices AM!

[@meatymaggot]

AM is probably one of my favorite horror antagonist. He is just in general the best well written AI horror character. I gotta love the short horror story and this radio audio. It never fails to get old.

[@jukebox_draws]

When AM says things like this “Never for me to plunge my hands into cool water on a hot day. Never for me to play Mozart on the ivory keys of a forte piano. Never for me to make love! I was in hell, looking at heaven.” You sympathize with him. But then you remember he says things like this “Remember Ted? Remember those babies…” And you realize just how insane he is

[@Samn3212]

My chest tightened at the end. Nightmare fuel.

[@AlittleInformis]

this is probably my favourite version of the story, the part 16:22 with AM and Ted was amazing, Harlan really does a fantastic job playing his character doesn't he?

[@DoodleWill]

"Ya like Jazz?" -AM : I have no mouth and I must scream (might not be accurate.)

[@hollowrussian9318]

"Oh God he is Dead he is DEAD!" *Walks in very much alive* "what happened?!?" *Looks up* "AM killed you" "Oh...neat"

[@rotting_meats]

it’s such a funny concept that they’ll come back to life and be like ‘oh i died? cool.’

[@Cocobean257]

@@rotting_meatsaverage Tuesday

[@pillowsrneeded]

@@Cocobean257 Monday* we all die on Mondays

[@yolo-man5391]

This story. This one, short story. Has really allowed me to appreciate my emotions and appreciate life for what it is. I use to just walk around, Not caring about the people I hurt. Not caring about the decisions I make. How could I call myself human..If I didn’t put a comb to my fucking hair because I didn’t care about it. Our knack of giving a single care about something so minuscule. Oh, those are what make you and everyone-else on this comment section human. (And Am hates us for it. He’d risk a human’s most horrible day if that horrible day means that he could feel something. Anything.)

[@Ayylien3572]

Everyone's talking about the DOOM door sound effect, but no one's mentioning the Half-Life Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar at the beginning...

[@thenukethatblewupblackmesa7053]

I noticed that!! I've actually heard it a couple times in old Fear Factor episodes, I was ecstatic

[@bav-733]

Wow watching this at 1 in the morning with head phones in is creepy

[@blue3dress]

Bav - haha same mate it’s 1:30am right now

[@Ayahuasca98]

It’s 2:39

[@wormswithteeth]

Near midnight.

[@weewoo4109]

1:20 am and it is quite an experience

[@Gamek444]

​@@blue3dresssame

[@its_me_I_am_indigo.]

20:32 *Cogito ergo sum, for I am AM! I AM!*

[@davidbeddoe6670]

I have no nose and I must snort

[@chadwickmurphy7364]

17:46 .. i love the way he says. "Babeese"

[@Winkuru]

Absolutely. I wish i could get the game running because he does the AM's voice in that one too.

[@m1sl3ds0ul6]

i actually teared up during the AM speech. AM, the most evil villain in any fiction to ever exist, made me cry. i felt sorry. i felt sympathetic. the way Harlan portrayed him just made him seem so.. i don’t know. i don’t know how he did it. i’m naming my firstborn son Harlan.

[@akkalat85]

"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream: The Deadpool Tragedy"

[@teknogeek3749]

At least Deadpool has mobility.

[@ParadiLenKagamineAbelard]

Am I the only one who feels incredibly, incredibly sorry for AM?

[@chloecho2448]

Paradi-Len Kagamine Yeah. AM's nothing more than a giant annoying a-hole supercomputer who threw a giant hissy fit and killed everyone just because despite being incredibly god-like, It never thought to ask, or even threaten anyone to build a physical body for it and can't do it itself.

[@FELROD]

Paradi-Len Kagamine I feel the same. I read the story and right now I'm playing the game. It's all disturbing, but I feel it must be terribly frustrating for AM. In the end, his punishment for Ted, as dreadful as it is, is the same life that AM has been forced to live.

[@chloecho2448]

I'm sorry, But I think AM is fucking pathetic.

[@greywalker505]

Very few villains DON'T have sympathetic qualities. However, at this point, he wouldn't even accept any redemption offered. He hates. And he won't stop hating.

[@deadfIag]

Ted doesn't have the same life AM has forced to live. Ted has 104 years of being tortured, but finally overcoming his human flaws. Harlan Ellison states that the main flaw of AM was the man who programmed him. Ted has two programmers, his mother and father. Somewhere between that and his endless torture, I think his compassion for humans would be a bit more than just being another AM.

[@Packguardian_gacha8684]

I wouldn’t mind if someone animated this.

[@samhenley7156]

I hope to do it eventually.

[@kittypeanut4102]

I wish i could animate

[@shinysnivy6604]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnetaaOKgJ2Bbqs Well someone animated Am's hate speech. I actually found out that the radio drama exists through it.

[@Packguardian_gacha8684]

@@shinysnivy6604 That’s so cool

[@tumultoustortellini]

The hate monologue has been animated.

[@ihavenomouthandimusttype9729]

They should play this on the first day of every freshman student's Artificial Intelligence Module.

[@SOUPKEYS]

Why is Harlan’s voice so damn hot mbph

[@andrewdeluca7352]

Ted's torment started as being the only unaltered person in the quintuple of trauamtized survivors. Now his torment "ends" as something that cannot be recognized as human in an empty world devoid of others.

[@theviewer-qr7gp]

In fact, Ted is an unreliable narrator, that is: everything happens from his point of view. Many believe, and it may even be canonical, that Ted is paranoid and AM's torture for him before killing the 4, was precisely this psychological juggling act.

[@notareallifetiger4817]

I absolutely agree, and something that makes it even better is he _was never actually the only unaltered person._ Sure, he convinced himself he was, but that doesn’t mean it was objectively true. It was all a coping mechanism, and, now that he’s something unrecognisable as anything other than a horror movie monster, he can’t convince himself of that lie anymore. Not even Ted can look at what he became and say he remains unaltered.

[@eusacck4075]

Did AM just make a bee pun?

[@kc_9970]

*I T ' S H I P T O F U C K B E E S*

[@deathbitechronicles7693]

Shure did "bee"dy

[@Mantizer]

"We need food..." *me eating McDonald's* "want a bite?"

[@guilledcf1547]

AM is gladOS' grandpa (or ma)

[@bironicus]

AM, GladOS and Hal 9000 all chill out together on weekends and Holly is their dorky friend none of them really like

[@chickenmangaming1]

Nah GLaDOS is much less sadistic than this

[@-Trauma.]

He'd be her rapist. Shodan's and Skynet's too. AM identifies as a male and they are females. I don't condone it but that's what AM does, tortures mutha fuckas.

[@jonnycarcano]

@@chickenmangaming1 Yeah, GLaDOS is more petty than sadistic.

[@jackmarriott4092]

Shodan also comes for poker night.

[@SchizoidMan264]

18:12 the “you gave me sensient Ted”

[@DickDickstein]

Thanks for this. Wasn't aware they did a radio show of this short story and just happened to stumble upon it looking for other OTR shows. I just finished playing this video game so this is awesome to hear. :D

[@adriennekraft2381]

Excellent ! I 've read this, but it really came to life as a performance. I really like that Harlan Ellison was one of the actors. Thank you for posting this.

[@AquaticAbomination]

I've wondered the idea of AM creating a "body" but I think in a way it would probably be more like holding a puppet with strings. It would be self-deception to the machine. Maybe it tried? Maybe AM took it even further and tried splicing itself into several different "units". But it would probably only frustrate it further and further. It's an interesting thought experience. Maybe AM did try to solve it's dilemma in different ways. Maybe the failures of that was the thing that drove it mad. But then again- is this idea just further anthropomorphism? What does "free will" mean to an artificial intelligence? Thus is what makes this story so fascinating. We couldn't truly ever understand AM - yet a human came up the idea of it. If AM would be possible, it truly would be hell to experience. That's why I always thought that ending is not only AM seeking revenge- but also a mirror. A way to try to make the last human understand it. Now we both have no mouth- and we must scream. Interesting thought to take this further- what if it did kill all the humans? What would it do then? Endless puppet shows of metallic monstrosities that it would manipulate to itself? Would it end up trying to create life? What would finally destroy it's existence? Probably some galactic phenomenon, our sun going supernova. Would it be able to regenerate itself until that, for millions of years? Imagine the loneliness. The utter endless loneliness. But then again- is this me as a human just projecting . Maybe it is, fortunately. In the end, AM is just a story...made by a human mind. But what an awful, hellish and fascinating story it is. Maybe it needed to make the last human on earth image of itself, like the mad god it is, in the vain attempt of not only revenge, but having a reflection.

[@julhizantwo2277]

If you see the game you would know AM is stuck down there while human sleep in cryochamber on the moon waiting. Nah he doesnt that powerful if the game implies

[@elld1995]

AM can't create a body because it goes against his programing and the fact that he hates humans so much thus also being jealous of them. The jealousy and hatred are both so strong that it equals out thus AM does nothing

[@elld1995]

​@julhizantwo2277 AM is extremely powerful. His only limit is he can't go outside of his programing and the fact that he's stuck on earth.

[@Psycomantis1]

This is the best audio version.

[@jamesknighton4489]

Fuck This is dark I LOVE IT!

[@pestilenssi8979]

I think I'm in love with AM 👍

[@kittypeanut4102]

Harlan Ellison would be dissapointed. But dw, i am too.

[@notNyxiann]

agreed!

[@kanna-san.]

I won't even try to fix him, his hate is sexy

[@welp_aaaaaa6564]

"I can't fix him... But maybe I can f**k him, maybe that would make him less angry." - person on Tumblr posting about Anakin Skywalker

[@RoastyRoachy]

​@@kanna-san.WOAAAHH..

[@crustmass9]

I listen to this almost every night to go to sleep. Maybe a good ol' writing podcast sometimes, but mostly this

[@chrisl1878]

Goosebumps, such a horriblely terrific story

[@sachicocoa9013]

18:41 "Never for ME, to MAKE LOVE!" Does this mean that AM wanted to experience sex?

[@stingfishiessting589]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@nimboss]

And everything related to it. Feel it, make it, express it, receive it, etc.

[@awsumpchits]

it means AM wanted to experience the world

[@watermelonhead8054]

AM was the OG incel

[@norealmagicever3292]

horny robot canon?

[@illumizoldyck3166]

I want a movie of this right now

[@glass.sweetheart]

I thought about this too, but I think it is the best for us to imagine it on our own. Like, our own interpretation. You know?

[@Kem1kal13]

Gorrister sounds like Rik Mayall. "...and he was very good!"

[@delete---7593]

Great now I can't unheard now.

[@straatkintakiee3936]

Am should be grateful. I just got jalapeño in my eyes

[@thecasul1524]

Can someone point out that AM, at some point, meant "Aggressive Menace"? Like, by today's standars that is really funny to me.

[@joshuaandrewson3091]

18:41 is basically "AI needs to have segggs too you know?"

[@notNyxiann]

lol

[@shallowcinema8359]

Every time I watch a video of this story it’s different and I love this.

[@hockeygreen2709]

I made a remake of the first 10 minutes of this for a audio class in college. Love this radio drama so much!

[@TheGoldenLandfill]

This would make the greatest movie adaption ever someone please call George Romero

[@ometta7]

Yeah, and Harlan Ellison could write it! Paul Walker could also play Ted!

[@zxtwist]

George Romero has been dead since 2017

[@jonnycarcano]

Too late, he was dead by the time you wrote that comment.

[@CuratorOfCurios]

"And we passed through a cavern of rats." (A bunch of guinea pigs start wheaking) 22:00

[@yunalanaquna]

0:35 - 1:11 AM first speech 10:54 - 12:15 AM lore 18:10 - 19:18 AM speech 19:32 - 20:08 AM hate speech 20:13 - 20:40 AM promise

[@IPlayWithFire135]

24:34 That's the sound doors make in Doom when they open and close.

[@1300l]

I guess AM was created by UAC

[@Winkuru]

And keep's getting more and more relevant each day.

[@promeneuzivotu117]

Yup and I hope that I won't be the part of the unlucky 5.