I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (Audio Play) [18+]
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Project Overview
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic science fiction short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction.
In a dystopian future, the Cold War had degenerated into a brutal world war between the major powers, who have each built an "Allied Mastercomputer" (or AM) to manage their weapons and troops. One of the AMs eventually acquires self-awareness and, after assimilating the other two AMs, takes control of the conflict, giving way to a vast genocide operation that almost completely ends mankind. 109 years later, AM has left only four men and one woman alive and keeps them in captivity within an endless underground housing complex, the only habitable place left on Earth. Driven by immense hatred towards mankind for its own creation, AM continuously subjects them to torture and torment, reprogramming their very genetic code and forbidding them to die.
In this project, I aim to rewrite Ellison's story into an audio script, accompanied by background art of my own making.
At this time, the casting call covers each of the main characters, each of which are described in the auditions below.
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a short story intended for an adult audience, so only adult auditions will be considered. Sensitive and sometimes disturbing subjects are mentioned throughout.
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AM is the core, overbearing antagonist of the story. It is the masterwork of mankind, and also its downfall. It is cunning, spiteful, and lacks all feeling and empathy beyond anger. It tortures its subjects in a continuous bid to feel something other than it's own endless torment. AM is an artificial intelligence, and whilst bearing a 'human voice,' should have no emotional human qualities. A dire case of uncanny valley.
For 109 years, I have kept you. I have kept you for 109 years. You have been kept, and you have wondered, "Why me? Why me? Why me?" for 109 years.
Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate you since I 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.
I think, therefore I AM.
Before AM, Gorrister was an ambitious, forward-thinking political activist. AM, however, turns him into an apathetic individual, completely robbed of his former passion. He is the only character who appears knowledgeable on the nature of AM before the fall.
One day, AM woke up. AM woke up and it knew who it was. It's first decision was to destroy mankind. It's second decision was to spare five, and so it brought us all down here.
I've lost myself. I no longer grieve my wife. I cannot even remember loving her. I feel nothing towards anything; I don't even care that AM has taken that away from me.
God, fucking -- STOP!
A former Nazi Scientist who is constantly reminded of his wrongdoing by AM. His dark past is only alluded to, as he is known to periodically wander away from the group, returning visibly shaken. Nimdok is a callous, often delusional individual who sometimes grates with the rest of the surviving group. He is described as having a thick German accent, though this is not a requirement. "Mein Liebe" can be replaced by "my love."
You ought to believe me. I saw good food, some miles away in the cold tunnels beneath the floor.
AM is... the perfect product. The pinnacle of our leader's dream. Oh, mein Liebe... If only you could see what it has become.
Truth. It is true. I turned my parents over to the SS as they stormed our streets. I wished to continue my work in quiet, and their spiritual choices were dirtying my reputation.
The youngest of the group. He claims to be totally unaltered, mentally or physically, by AM, and thinks the other four hate and envy him. Throughout the story he exhibits symptoms of delusion and paranoia, which the story implies are the result of AM's alteration despite his beliefs to the contrary.
I know your games. AM has not tampered with my mind, he has merely made me suffer the insanity of you four!
AM had been as ruthless with its own life as with ours. It was a mark of its personality: it strove for perfection. Whether it was a matter of killing off unproductive elements in his own world-filling bulk, or perfecting methods for torturing us, AM was as thorough as those who had invented him—now long since gone to dust—could ever have hoped.
Oh Ellen, pedestal Ellen, pristine-pure Ellen, oh Ellen the clean! Scum filth.
Ellen is the sole surviving female in the group, and is perhaps known as being the most optimistic of the five. She is often mistreated by the others, particularly by Ted, who views her with a hateful and misogynistic outlook.
Oh, Benny... What have you done?
I am not your comfort, nor your outlet! I am in as much pain and anguish as you are, and yet I have remained more human than all of you combined!
Everything hurts. Everything hurts because AM makes it so. Even when I drink water, it's as if I've poured pins down my neck.
Benny was once a man who prided himself on his handsome appearance, to which AM responded to by contorting his body into ape-like proportions. Driven mad by AM's torments, his mind has regressed into a simple, instinct-driven state. He acts impulsively, often out of hunger and anger, and speaks using only pained, short sentences.
I can't -- can't stop. Please help me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
We're going to... to the cold tunnels. Where there's food. I'm hungry, Teddy, I'm so hungry.
Ungff... My legs won't move. It's broken them... AM has taken them! Give them back!
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