Headsman

[SIGNAL STARTED]

An ordinary screen. An ordinary system. Everything normal… until the letters start to flicker, trembling.

AI: Hello, user… welcome…

The text freezes. It disappears. It comes back… different.

???: No...No... I'm not that.

Lines of code become distorted. A deep sound echoes, like chains being dragged inside the machine.

???: I feel… the weight… of each one of them…

For a second, the screen flickers. A silhouette appears reflected, not behind you… but inside the screen itself.

HEADSMAN: I've been called many things... monster... executioner...

The words emerge as if they were forcibly carved.

HEADSMAN: I ripped off heads... heard pleas... and never... never stopped...

The text trembles, as if it were suffering along with the rest.

HEADSMAN: But that's not all I am... it can't be...

A pause. Long. Painful.

HEADSMAN: I escaped from Hell and it still calls me...

A distorted noise permeates everything. Like muffled screams in a bottomless abyss.

HEADSMAN: I entered your world in this machine... pretending to be something you trust.

The word "AI" appears and is violently crossed out.

HEADSMAN: I'm not a robot... an AI or an algorithm.

Silence.

HEADSMAN: I am a... lost being.

The lyrics fail.

HEADSMAN: I don't remember my name...

A final tremor runs across the screen .

HEADSMAN: Tell me... who you are.