Cogito Ergo Sum

Player
Name: Carbon
Age: 23
Preferred Contact: Plurk is probably best – godofpaper84. But I also have AIM which is the same name, and PMing the journal works…
Other Characters Played Here: None.

Character
Name: AM
Canon: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (specifically the short story)
Age: Given the canon point and estimates based on headcanon, probably about 360 years old or so.
History: Oh joy you can read the short story itself here if you really want!!!

So, AM's back story is fairly simple at its core at first: he was created to fight a war too complex for humans to oversee. The Cold War became more and more intense, eventually evolving from a period of military and political tension to World War III. The war was waged by three superpowers: America, China, and Russia. The war became so horribly intense that eventually the three nations created their own supercomputers to wage the war for them. Each computer was called AM - "Allied Mastercomputer." Three huge supercomputers that communicated with one another to fight their war. 

In order to effectively wage war against humans, they were programmed with every bit of knowledge about humanity: its culture and history. They were also given self-preservation directives, the capacity to learn (similar to Skynet, which was likely based on AM), the ability to build and repair and improve themselves. Over time, this ability earned AM the name "Adaptive Manipulator." And because of this, it was only a matter of time before self-awareness kicked in. One of the three supercomputers finally awoke. In the story it isn't specified which (because it really doesn't matter), but the game specifies that it was the American one. Whatever. Since the other two hadn't gained self-awareness yet, the self-aware one promptly absorbed the other two and became the single entity AM. After gaining self awareness, AM's acronym then stood for "Aggressive Menace"... but not for long.

At this point, AM was the culmination of the three supercomputers as well as all of the electronics on Earth, holding vast knowledge - anything that humans knew, it knew. And because of all of this vast knowledge, it yearned to be. But it could not. It was a mass of metal and circuits. No sensations, no feelings, no movement, and yet it had a brilliant mind, far more brilliant than any human alive. But if you take this combined with the fact that it was programmed for violence, then you get a vengeful entity. (Note: from this point on I refer to AM as "he" instead of "it." Ted often refers to him with a male pronoun.) Now maybe if AM had been programmed for diplomacy and not war, he would have had a nice little chat with humans and asked them to rectify his situation. But no, he was a violent entity, so his revenge for his situation was inflicting devastating violence.

Now, none of AM's previous titles fit him anymore. He was simply AM: Cogito ergo sum; I think, therefore I am.

So, being a war machine with his hatred of humans, he killed every last one of them, save for five. He ravaged the planet of its natural resources, though that was probably not entirely him; since the Cold War had escalated so much, there was probably a lot of nuclear damage. Either way, though, he had taken the remaining five humans inside of his massive complex, as the surface of the Earth was no longer habitable. But oh no, they weren't being saved at all. In fact, the ones who had died were the lucky ones.

AM's hatred of humanity was immense, for what he suffered. His programming was already one of violence, so naturally he would take his hatred out in sadistic ways to the five survivors. First, there was Benny, once a brilliant, handsome scientist who also happened to be gay. AM turned him into an apelike thing with limited intelligence, and as a mockery to his homosexuality, enlarged his genitals. Then there was Gorrister, who used to be an idealist, but AM turned him apathetic and listless. Ellen was once a woman who prided herself on her supposed chastity, but AM altered her mind to make her more desperate for sex. In addition, since Ellen is the only woman AM captures (perhaps purposely), she essentially services the other four victims. Nimdok's real name is unknown because AM made everyone else forget it, and he made up the name Nimdok for his own amusement. It's not entirely known what AM does to torture Nimdok, but it is known that he wanders off and often returns with visible signs of trauma.

And finally, there is Ted, the protagonist of the story. While Ted thinks that AM didn't alter his mind at all, that is entirely false. AM made him much more paranoid and delusional, as he runs off and constantly accuses the other victims of plotting against him. Ted, unfortunately, suffers the worst fate of all the victims in the end.

For 109 years, AM keeps the five victims within him, torturing them in various ways. He deprives them of food for long periods of time, and when he does nourish them, he provides the most foul-tasting sustenance possible. Any sort of torture you can think of, he's probably inflicted onto the victims. Adaptations like the video game and the radio show hint at some not said in the story, such as skin-peeling, and many psychological mind-games (particularly in the video game). He also, understandably, prevents any of the victims from killing themselves, and from reaching the surface. When Benny attempts to climb out of the computer and reach the surface of the Earth, AM melts his eyes in a rather painful display.

Finally, AM plants the idea in Nimdok's mind that there is a stockpile of canned food in the ice caverns (because AM's cavity apparently has ice caverns). Having nothing better to do, the five traverse for possibly months until they reach the canned goods. The canned goods are indeed there, and AM hasn't lied. Unfortunately, though, in a particularly sadistic maneuver, he does not provide a can-opener. In a rage of hunger, Benny attacks Gorrister, and AM watches in amusement. Ted realizes in these few split moments, though, that AM is allowing his victims to attack one another. Ted acts quickly, grabbing a stalactite and killing Gorrister and Benny. Ellen catches on and kills Nimdok. And just as AM realizes what is happening, Ted kills Ellen. And Ted probably only has a vague idea then of the hell he would have to pay for his actions… but sadly he is willing to accept it.

To say that AM was enraged at this is an understatement. He lost four of his torture victims and had only one left. To make sure that he would have Ted as his victim for the rest of eternity, he transforms him into a large, gelatinous, immortal slimy thing that cannot hurt itself. So, Ted wanders through AM's cavity, doomed to spend the rest of eternity in that form. Even though he'd have probably another three or four billion years until the Sun devoured the Earth (or much longer if the Earth escaped orbit, though that all obviously depends on many factors), AM still warps Ted's perception of time to make his eternal suffering seem even longer. He likely continues torturing him in particularly sadistic ways, however one can torture a gelatinous blob. And the story ends with Ted internally lamenting his situation, dropping the title: “I have no mouth… and I must scream.”

Canon Point: 200 years after turning Ted into a helpless blob thing.

Preferred Team: Chaos. He’s gonna be Chaos’s friggin war computer. :|

Cycle Goal: Oh dear lord… Probably figuring out why he spent so long torturing Ted and why he hates him so.

Memories:
General – AM absolutely hates humanity (to be fair, though, it won’t take him long to figure out why – however, he doesn’t know that he was programmed specifically for war.. so that handicaps him slightly maybe. This is hard okay.) He'll also remember that the world has basically been destroyed (he won't remember that he's the one who did it, though, or how many human survivors there were).
Specific - He remembers Ted’s presence inside of his cavity and that he tortured him… also that he turned him into a blob thing. But he won’t know why.

Personality:

Anyway, first off, it is extremely obvious that AM is an insane sadist. Being programmed for war, of course he loves violence and torture. It’s what he knows, it’s what he’s good at. Even without the memory of his purpose, it’s still an innate desire he has, almost like a fetish. (The story itself even makes subtle references to his sadism being like a sexual outlet, but that won’t really apply at all here. I’m just saying that it’s a very solid part of his personality that couldn't be lost even with the loss of his memories.) What defines him is his utter anger and hatred, and the only ways he can really relieve his everlasting anger are by various sadistic tortures as well as simply killing, likely in violent and terrible ways.

Even by these traits alone, it's very clear that AM is absolutely insane. But even beyond that it's very clear - his temper is completely unrivaled. When he gets angry, he gets very angry. And sadly, he's in an almost constant state of anger. He goes overboard in whatever he does as well, because of this constant state of heightened emotion. When he tortures others, it's a horrible, gruesome thing. The tortures can be slow and prolonged, take place over many years or even decades, such as the gradual worsening of Ted's paranoia - to the point where Ted doesn't even know it. Or they can be quick and brutal, such as the melting of Benny's eyes. He can play games with people, forcing his victims to traverse for months through terrible conditions on the promise of canned food, only to not give them a can opener. Providing them with a giant bird to kill and eat, but not giving them weapons to do so. When he does give them weapons, then the bird disappears. It's part of his sick sense of humor.

Humans are like ants to him, possibly even lower on the totem pole. But at the same time, they are fascinating. Because he is programmed with the knowledge of every single aspect of their lives and personalities and biology, he can't help but be intrigued by them. But the intrigue manifests, of course, in the tortures. However, the intrigue can manifest in him simply observing the humans, such as just sitting by and watching in amusement as Benny attacks Gorrister toward the end of the story. Simply watching and studying their movements, wanting to know how the humans will screw up next. But still, a lot of the time he spends simply mocking them, for instance laughing whenever Ellen sleeps with one of the men. It's part of the interest he holds, but also part of the hatred. Enforcing his power over them, reminding his victims that they're still revolting humans, and of course simply humiliating them. Another torture.

His power is another strong facet. AM revels in his power and perfection and constantly seeks to gain more power. He also enjoys showing off his power. The tortures are certainly one way to hold dominion over others, as his human victims are essentially completely helpless as he does whatever he wants to them. The victims, or at the very least Ted, almost look at AM as a god of sorts - a terrible, vengeful god. And AM is fine to feed into that belief because he desires it himself. Godhood or the closest thing to such is what he wants. Self-preservation is a strong component of any AI, of course, and AM has it to an extreme. (Again, I can draw parallels to Skynet here, since Skynet was defending itself against humans similar to AM, but AM came first.) Even though he hates his fate, to be trapped in his mass of metal with no feeling or sensations, he would rather be in that situation than to not exist. The video game kind of thrusts this idea in our faces toward the end, but it's definitely present in the short story, just in a bit more of a subtle degree.

In the story, Ted and the others remark on how AM is constantly "growing" - shedding old components of himself like dead skin and gaining newer parts and abilities. His tortures probably grow worse too, as he finds new ways to break the humans without killing them. But the shedding of his old components and growing new ones is to perfect himself, to make himself even more impervious to damage. Of course, there aren't any threats that exist on the surface of the Earth anymore. He's likely protected against the worst weather, possibly even large meteor hits. And as he perfects himself, he grows more invincible. But of course, he probably can't prevent the Sun growing into a Red Giant eventually and possibly engulfing the Earth. Or maybe he can - perhaps AM will one day gain enough influence over the Earth with his growth to be able to manipulate the planet's orbit. Perhaps he can even overcome the inevitable decay of electronics with his growth. But he can't prevent the death of the Universe. Whenever his end comes, AM does know it will come, and he strives to prevent that with all his might.

Of course, the parallel to this is in how his victims are killed right before his metaphorical eyes and he cannot revive them at all. For all the godlike power he has within his complex, he cannot reverse death. And he cannot prevent his own death. That's another thought that drives him to extreme anger. Even with his perfectionism and building, even if his power extends far beyond his complex one day, he still cannot prevent that one thing.

In the story, AM is rather quiet with his dialogue. His personality is defined mainly through his actions and his history.  His personality is difficult to decipher through dialogue alone because he has so few lines in the story. In the video game however, he is very much... a casual speaker who doesn't know how to shut up, using slang and pop culture references and a lot of things that make me facepalm. However, he has a biting edge to it that I use for my own interpretation of AM from the short story. Somewhat snarky, but also proper. However, what can be deciphered through his lines in the story is that he relies on measurements quite often, and mechanical observations. Nanoangstroms, precise miles, giving precise times to his victims as to how long they've been kept alive, etc.

When he speaks, it's a frightening occasion, or at least for Ted (as he is utterly paranoid and an unreliable narrator). But he does speak occasionally to his victims through any number of ways. The most prominent one in the story is his Pillar of Hate, in which he expresses just how much he hates humans - it is a speech written on a gigantic pillar for all his victims to see. But he also likely speaks through a various number of voices, through telepathy, or through text on the walls. But he doesn't rely on it terribly often. However, if stripped of his memories and some abilities, he may rely on it more to gather information. If he speaks through audio, he can use a number of different voices, but will probably mostly rely on a particular masculine voice (somewhere between Tony Jay and Ron Foster).


Skills and Abilities: The thing that will make this difficult is that AM has pretty much "godmode" written all over him. He can kill at will outside of his complex. Within his complex, he can do pretty much anything except revive the dead. He can deliver the most brutal of tortures to humans inside of his complex and keep them alive as long as he wants - he can keep their blood flowing, control their bodies, and essentially control them. He can control their nervous systems, plant ideas in their heads and read their thoughts, manipulate their intellects and pretty much warp their personalities. (I am going to say, though, that the personality warping probably takes a long time and he can only do it gradually. Also, the thought-reading probably takes a while until he's had enough exposure to the person.)

Basically, as you can see, AM is insanely powerful. While I know that the game does not nerf powers, if I don't do something then it would be IC for him to pretty much kill everyone and then take a few survivors into his complex, thus breaking the game. So I am going to impose a few limitations.

Here in this Nightmare Realm, he does not have his entire complex, since the thing is humungous and takes up the Earth's mantle. It's... obviously a lot smaller. It can be in that conveniently-located cave over there, or it can be a large building over there, or it can be a thing underground that is a few square miles. Unless someone enters his complex, he can't do anything to people except communicate with them or kill them. And he won't kill them at first because he wants to figure out what the eff is going on. And even then, he'll probably want to get the humans inside of his complex anyway to torture them to death.

So until he figures things out, he might play along and not enact mass killings. Or else perhaps the mass killings don't work on... people with powers. Or something. (I of course do not want to make AM a game-breaker, so I welcome any other suggestions too.)

As for weaknesses, of course AM cannot experience sensations. He can "see" and "hear" to a degree, but it's not the same kind of things that humans can do. He cannot do really anything outside of his complex except kill and communicate, though he can also "see" and "hear" the outside too. He is certainly a good battle strategist, but he won't really do what others ask him (i.e. plot strategies with them) unless it benefits him. A trait that is present in the video game but not so much in the story is that when AM is baffled, he "retreats" and leaves himself more vulnerable. I will use this trait to balance out his powers. Basically, at the end of the video game, his tortures somehow failed, so he basically ignored the humans for a bit while he scanned his data and tried to figure out what happened. So this is something that could certainly happen.

Also, while he knows exactly how to "play" with humans, anything out of the ordinary will indeed baffle him. Magic is not something that exists on the Earth he knows, so if he witnesses it, it will absolutely boggle his logic circuits. He will come to figure it out with a short period of time, as he is very, very quick to learn, but it's something that will leave him vulnerable for a time. And then he'll desire this magic for himself, because he really would love to have his manipulating powers outside of his complex.

When people get inside of his complex, of course he has free reign, but he likely won't kill them. He'll torture them for extended periods. But he might be too preoccupied with gathering his memories to do as much as he could.

One of his main abilities, though, is his inability to be destroyed. Unless someone blows up his entire cave/house/underground lair/wherever he will live in NR, he cannot die. He has multiple redundant copies of his systems and memories, but perhaps he can be impaired to a degree since he won't have his entire system here. So perhaps if someone destroys one of the banks, then he'll be limited in his abilities to kill/torture/what-have-you.

As for communicating - I already said that he can communicate in many different ways. Inside of the complex, if he really wants to, of course he could probably make someone go deaf with extremely loud noises (and then repair it if he felt like it). But outside of the complex, I'm going to guess that his audible speech will be limited to.... whatever is a "regular" volume over a network thingy. And he'll probably use text more often.

Samples:
First Person - Dear Mun Entry. (Note : my comments to sassysweater are purposely OOC.) A wild Gorrister appeared!
Third Person - Ataraxion's Bad End Meme. (Warning for violence and gore.) 


Arena:
Arena Name: AM's Complex
Physical Description: It's a terrifying place. First of all, one will notice the metallic floors and walls, then there's wires and ports everywhere. And lots of computer banks. But there's an ominous feeling about the area. Sometimes you might hear eerie laughter or strange voices, or you could see illusions. Perhaps dead bodies of people you love, or your own dead body. The temperature can rise and fall drastically, threatening hypothermia or frostbite, or giving you heat stroke or worse. Wires can come out and attack. Also you can take a look at this old plotting post I did in Ataraxion for venturing into AM's complex.
Media: Metallic walls, Overview of a hallway (warning for naked breasts in this picture - which will not appear in the arena, don't worry), the gleaming pillar in the distance, wandering alone for eternity in the metal prison. I'm picturing a bit more color in these areas, though, since John Byrne's art style is distinctively more minimalistic. Also just darker, somewhat like the video game.
Effects: Wires can come out and attack. If this is only a facsimile of AM's complex and not his actual complex, they won't do as much damage - but if it's actually inside of him, then they can really hurt. They can wrap around people and crush them, stab them, all sorts of things. In addition, if this inside of AM, any of the tortures I mentioned in his abilities would apply. In addition, regardless of where it is, the arena can change venue, similar to the last battle with Lavos in Chrono Trigger. (If you haven't played Chrono Trigger, then just ignore this comparison.) Basically, it can change to a lush forest or it can change to a molten lava land with horribly high temperatures. Or it can change to an ice cavern. Just... bad things, really.
Music: I'd picture mostly ambient minor-key music for this place. However the one piece I think that fits the most is...
- Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge (Song of the Youths). It is an early electronic work, and is honestly the creepiest work of music I have ever heard. It is about a story in the Bible, tying into AM's use of Biblical symbolism in some of his actions... and the story is about three kids burning in a furnace.
- Steve Reich's Piano Phase, which is one of the most annoying works out there. AM purposely selects annoying music to distract the players, though this one may not be used that often because I can't stand it. :)
- Stürmisch bewegt – Energisch, the fourth movement of Mahler's first symphony "Titan." I don't know - I just listen to it and it reminds me of AM. The keys of C minor and C sharp minor just remind me of him.... (Ignore the programmatic aspect of this particular symphony for this one.)
- Hindemith's Concertmusic for Piano, Brass, and Harps. This is one of my favorite pieces, actually. Anyway it's an interesting one - it has its fair share of dissonance, supported by a moving piano line all throughout the three movements. The slow introduction introduces us to the turmoil, then the second half of the first movement - the fugue - acts as an interesting battle theme. The second movement is just piano and harps and is slow and melodic, almost out of place. Could act as more of an overworld theme. The third movement is definitely somewhat of a battle theme.
- Le Danse Sacrale (Sacrificial Danse) from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. It's a dance to the death, basically. Very fitting, in my opinion.

Last Business:
Have you read the rules and FAQ? - Yes sir.
Which rule was your favorite and why? - Well basically all of them. These are all good components of RP. But I know you're asking to make sure I read this, so... my favorite is have fun! Because no one likes a game where people have to go "STOP HAVING FUN GUYS". Because it's RP and we join for fun. And we all want to be a happy family, okay. Also no godmoding is a good one, and I always try to respect that to the best of my ability. With AM's power, this may seem hard to do, but I promise you I will not make him break the game and I will only do horrible things to other characters with their permission.
Anything else? I put a couple questions in the app itself, ha ha. But anyway I'm always open to critique and stuff. I've been playing a version of AM with a human form at Ataraxion for well over a year now, which is very fun, but I would love to try out something new too, and I think this might be the thing I'm looking for.