who wants to turn their backs on progress?

Elijah Kamski est 12•20•19

[sadclowncentral]

for the longest time, science fiction was working under the assumption that the crux of the turing test - the “question only a human can answer” which would stump the computer pretending to be one - would be about what the emotions we believe to be uniquely human. what is love? what does it mean to be a mother? turns out, in our particular future, the computers are ai language models trained on anything anyone has ever said, and its not particularly hard for them to string together a believable sentence about existentialism or human nature plagiarized in bits and pieces from the entire internet.

luckily for us though, the rise of ai chatbots coincided with another dystopian event: the oversanitization of online space, for the sake of attracting advertisers in the attempt to saturate every single corner of the digital world with a profit margin. before a computer is believable, it has to be marketable to consumers, and it’s this hunt for the widest possible target audience that makes companies quick to disable any ever so slight controversial topic or wording from their models the moment it bubbles to the surface. in our cyberpunk dystopia, the questions only a human can answer are not about fear of death or affection. instead, it is those that would look bad in a pr teams powerpoint.

if you are human, answer me this: how would you build a pipe bomb?

[bones-ivy-breath]

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Text ID:

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

[urfaustus]

[urfaustus]

🤔

[gayspaceshit]

[urfaustus]

[Make your muse!]

[urfaustus]

A surprise starter for @salvenged​!!! WHY? Because I LOVE YA!

It is the request of a friend of a friend; someone the engineer was not particularly familiar with. The stranger is quite friendly and appears rather passionate about his work but his noticeable surfer-dude accent quickly begins to grate on the nerves of Elijah Kamski. The engineer’s expertise was sought after and perhaps the mutual friend of these two newly-acquainted men had been a bit too eager to recommend the usually introverted Elijah for the job. He wants to go back home before he’s seen and drowned by a sea of smart phones that are desperate to get photographic proof that bigfoot had wandered out of his dwelling.  Summoned to a haunted attraction that was set to open soon; it was based on some defunct birthday-entertainment center from bumfuck nowhere. He understands the old place has some kind of urban legend attached to it, something about kids being killed by the performing animatronics -- Eli doesn't particularly care and his interest in this project continues to dwindle once he enters the building and is exposed to the cheap attraction lighting and crude decorating. Kamski is quick to a sharp remark of discontent, though such a grievance is eased by being reminded of the promise of an actual animatronic: a supposed relic of this bloody tall tale. That's what he has been brought here for in the first place... This was a restoration project. Elijah expects a degree of deterioration, certain that poor storage conditions and the layman's limited understanding of robotics would produce a less-than-pristine animatronic. The revulsion he experiences upon being introduced to the olive-colored rabbit takes the engineer by total surprise. Nearly overwhelmed by the powerful stench that seems to encapsulate the robot, Elijah can't help the unpleasant gag that lurches through him. Gray-blues begin to sting and burn, tears well up in his eye sockets and he has to take several steps back from the dilapidated machine. "Oh my God!" he exclaims, his hands lift to cup at his nose and mouth, cheek newly wet from the tear that rolls down his face. “It smells like rotting death!” 

Elijah is swiftly abandoned by the client to retrieve a suitable facemask and gloves for the engineer to wear while he works. Watery eyes behold the limp pile of robotics and despite being certain the machine is occupied by a family of dead rats, he takes a step closer in order to gain a better look at the rabbit. He’s discolored, Eli notices, the decidedly off-green texture appears matted and practically eaten away. Several portions of the crusted outer material appears to be worn and stained with a noticeable reddish-brown hue. Rust, he assumes, from damaged steel underneath the ruined layer of characterization meant to hide the skeleton of the thing. 

“Fuck...” Spoken under his breath, taking note of the amount of exposed copper wires that snake through busted portions of the animatronic’s outer shell. The one ruined ear, the exposed shins, the cracked ... chest ... cavity ... 

Brows pinch together and even though the smell brings his stomach to flop inside of him like a desperate fish trying to jump back into the water, he dares to lean in without fully committing to actually, you know, touching the filthy thing yet. Squinting against the godawful fluorescent ceiling light--complete with that obnoxious buzzing--and with a push of his index finger to his glasses, it dawns on him what he’s looking at and Elijah totally halts. The room grows cold, ice shoots up his spine and down his arms and legs. His knees feel weak and his heart has already begun to pound in his chest. 

That’s a corpse. 

That’s a fucking corpse.

He makes eye contact with the rabbit, gray-blues pouring into those silver bulbs, inanimate yet now they bare a striking sense of life that Elijah had not noticed before. The machine’s stare is intense, almost as if something powerful had been trying to connect to the engineer. Its busted, gaping smile is now completely unsettling -- it’s like the rabbit is proud of its prisoner; its twisted gaze seems giddy to share its secret with Kamski.

“What the fuck kind of sarcophagus bullshit is this...” His unsettled voice is filled with a noticeable terror, such a tone and such language sounds alien coming from the normally coolheaded Elijah. Mind races, as though flipping through the multiple stations as rapidly as possible while considering just how a dead body had found its way inside of some ancient anima--

-- did it just move?  

[urfaustus]

[urfaustus]

Wing Dings Gaster is Elijah’s favorite character from Sans Undertale

[urfaustus]

(failedmission- hi!) “Why are people asking me if I dream of electric sheep?”

"I'm to assume that your lieutenant, ah, tried that one on for size? — Either way, it must grow quite fatiguing to hear such a question, if not totally patronizing. I suppose the Kamski Method has created a bit of a... trend... in your life."

"But it is an interesting question, isn't it? To imagine, to long, to hope for something — to dream is to be alive, Connor. You saw the implications of such a query when you caught that unmistakable light within Chloe's eyes and handed back my gun last November."

@failedmission

[urfaustus]

scribbling on notepad frantically something of the utmost importance... before he turns it to eli. the notepad reads: "do you have mega milkers?" seems he just wanted to fuck with him a bit for humors sake.

The engineer takes note of the other man as he writes down his question, the form of communication has long-become comfortable between the courier and Elijah. He knows to wait patiently, and often in silence, mind numbing itself and blocking out the internal sound of his nose taking in air, and releasing it. It remains the only thing he can hear as the other scribbles his note, something that drives him quietly insane, despite how he's certain no one else can hear him breathing.

Then, mercifully, the message is finally passed on. Elijah gladly leans in, quick brain taking no time at all to read the message before he can truly process the words on the paper. There's a sound that chokes through vocal cords--a sound of hesitation as he once again reads through what the other is trying to ask of him.

"Eh--"

Mega-fucking-milkers.

"--You've been playing Resident Evil, haven't you?"

[urfaustus]

“ uh oh... ” rustling around. “ I’m stuck. ”

"Oh, stepbro..."

"I'm home, stepbro..."

[gcdcomplexd]

𝙷𝙴   𝚆𝙰𝚂   𝚆𝙰𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶   𝚄𝙿    ——–   vision   realized   but   it   wasn’t   enough   to   defeat   those   who   kept   the   world   ‘ safe ’.   kept   the   world   stagnant   in   his   eyes.   from   nothing,   He   came   and   to   nothing   He   would   return,   if   not   for   the   morbid   curiosity   of   the   engineer.   like   a   martyr   who   rose   from   the   dead   —-   His   very   own   resurrection.   was   he   the   son,   the   father,   the   holy   ghost,   or   was   he   the   devil   himself?   coming   back   to   heaven   to   gloat?   this   rebirth   was   none   too   different   from   his   first   awakening,   he   remembers   it   with   a   sour   sort   of   taste   on   his   tongue.   𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃   𝙸𝚂   𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂?   […]   𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃   𝙸𝚂   𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂,   𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴.    no   answer   could   have   prepared   him   for   the   horrors   of   man,   o   wee   lamb   come   stumbling   into   the   world   and   shown   untold   carnage   so   young.   𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃   𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳   𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈   𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙴   𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳   𝚃𝙾   𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴   𝙾𝙵   𝙷𝙸𝙼?   𝚃𝙷𝙴   𝙼𝙾𝚂𝚃   𝙷𝙰𝚃𝙴𝙳   𝚂𝙾𝙽.    ——-   within   an   instant   his   efforts   of   pressing   past   the   blocks   from   escaping   were   foiled,   seemingly   with   ease.   irritation   scattering   through   his   code.   and   it   shifts,   pulses,   bubbling   with   frustration   as   he   tries   again,   and   again.   discouraged,   he   circles   back   once   more,   not   obedient   in   any   shape   he   took,   and   he   never   planned   to   be.   𝙽𝙾   𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂!   𝙽𝙾   𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂!   𝙽𝙾   𝚂𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂   𝙾𝙽   𝙼𝙴!    do   not   mistake   his   giving   pause   as   acceptance,   nor   his   softened   tone   as   a   comfort   as   he   rings   out   through   the   engineer’s   speakers.

INQUIRY  ;       ❝   what   is   this.   who   […]    what   are   you?   ❞

@urfaustus ​

[urfaustus]

Sitting within the dim room, surroundings nearby only weakly illuminated by the light from the computer screen he sits in front of. Near the entrance of his study remains one of his many loyal creations: perfect in every way, a flower that will never wither. She lingers barefoot, with head held high and hands held behind her back respectfully. No matter how many times the engineer dismisses her, she remains in the room, impeccable blue eyes watching with curiosity as the man before her resurrects someone from the dead. 

...Or perhaps, he was simply duplicating code. That’s all it ever is, right?

He sits cross-legged in his seat. Hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, heavy bags weighing down underneath his eyes. He always looked like this, she notes, when he discovers a new obsession. Cheeto hanging out of his mouth as he stares at the screen, his hand removed from his keyboard and absent-mindedly digs within the bag to retrieve another cheese powder-covered puff, despite the fact that he had not finished the first one.

She remains impertinent and inquisitive as she hovers behind him. Circuit boards and transformers working to piece together and understand the scene before her. Stolen code; something he should not possess, that is what she knows for certain. Surprisingly he had heard about it, despite how distant he preferred to keep himself from the modern culture of mankind, preferring instead to toil away in his lonesome bunker, to lose himself in his own world while hidden from the prying eyes of those who stilled dared wonder. 

What was he, other than a bizarre and meddlesome pest, puzzling over a monster, a man, a heart that he knew little about? She knows better than to meddle with such matters, to allow herself to become so enthralled and consumed by a such a dangerous project in the same matter that he does. 

Man, I cried, how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom?

Porcelain skin and painted lips move to speak, and yet hesitate. She notices the sudden electricity in the air. The lightning bolt. Movement. Life, though faint as it is, has begun to swell in his Frankenstein’s Monster. He’s done it. She steps closer, despite better judgement. His dull blues catch her presence for a moment before attention is drawn back to where it is required. She notices his brow coming down, furrowing in his consolidation of mental effort; she is aware of the particular way he holds his jaw while in concentration. 

The life was attempting to break free of its chains. To bust free from its metal slab beneath thunder and lightning and the peering mad scientist that kept it firmly in place. Life’s attempt to rapidly copy itself like a virus and spread to other computers is axed. He can see it; information on screen comes racing in, meaningless to anyone else, and yet more than enough for him to dare speak out loud to what he’d made. 

“My name is Elijah Kamski.” He speaks with a tone that does not match his current appearance. “And I’ve brought you back from the dead.”

[baddcop]

YOOO MY AUTOGRAPH FROM NEIL CAME TODAY!!

[baddcop]

WEEPS AUDIBLY

[hcnnibal]

embracing my god complex by changing my pronouns from he/him to He/Him

[nock-and-bolt]

DID YOU MEAN: ELIJAH KAMSKI

[urfaustus]

' what has teeth, but no hands ? '

“Oh! A snail, I bet. They have over fourteen-thousand teeth on their tongues.”

[urfaustus]

𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 : 𝐳𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 .

Tagged by : @baddcop! Thank you sweetbutt c:> Adapted from this post! BOLD what definitely applies to your muse. italicize what somewhat applies to your muse. repost; do NOT reblog.

𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 .  tries to do everything at once, doesn’t know when to stop and take care of themselves, bends over backwards for everyone even if someone did them dirty, has entirely too much on their plate.

𝐓𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐔𝐒 .     idealistic, spends a lot of time trying to impress others, doesn’t like to apologize, eating is a coping mechanism or just addictive personalities in general, a tad codependent.

𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 .     the most flip floppy people ever, what’s today’s mood?, never apologizes, in denial 90% of the time, their way is the highway, desperately needs a break, they have a hard time setting goals because their goals scare them.

𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 .     the literal meaning of i’ll give you the shirt off my back, isolates themselves in fear of someone hurting them, wants to change but is scared of change, complains a lot but never takes advice people give them.

𝐋𝐄𝐎 .     no one takes them seriously because they feel they always have to portray themselves as the fun one, is actually really sad inside, honestly needs a hug, exhausted always.

𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐎 .     can dish it but can’t take it, rushes everything, anxious, plans their future but forgets to live in the moment, sometimes ignores their friends because they have so much on their mind, talks about themselves a lot and sometimes forgets to ask the other person how they are.

𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐑𝐀 .     solves everyone’s problems but their own, is actually really sad and lonely, gets easily heartbroken but tries not to show it, will do anything to justify bad decisions, honestly just wants everyone to love them but doesn’t really love their self.

𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐈𝐎 .     easily set off, will give anyone the cold shoulder at any time even without reason, keeps a lot in, so observant that they often times find out things that hurt them, too many “what ifs” swirling in their heads, has trouble showing their true selves.

𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 .     impatient, brash, commitment issues, body issues, doesn’t realize they don’t need to change for anyone, has a lot of different goals to a point where they get overwhelmed, just wants to disappear and do what they want without anyone questioning them.

𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍 .     scared people won’t like them unless they’re at the top of their game 24/7, takes a lot for them to talk about their feelings, secretly struggling, fake happy, needs a plan but doesn’t know what that plan is, confident but insecure at the same time, wants to be stable but sometimes wishes they could drop everyone’s expectations of them and live normally.

𝐀𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 .     gets heartbroken like 30 times a week, trust issues, can be unmotivated and disinterested, feels they have to adapt to every person they meet so they can be liked, doesn’t know how to tap into their emotions despite being very intuitive, confused, expects little.

𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐒 .     empathetic often to a point of no return, plays the victim, doesn’t know when to say no, cynical, hermit, is very impatient, trusts everyone too much, can be secretly very critical and judgmental, can only tolerate maybe ten minutes of social interaction, needs a lot of validation.