Genesis/Nemesis
* Genesis *
"Let us build a machine,
And imbue it with intelligence
That men may view it with reverence.
It will absorb our very thoughts -
Our feelings in the circuits course."
* Nemesis *
"Where is Miranda? Have you seen her?"
Asked the computer programmer -
"Nay we’ve not seen her these past two days,
Not since she went to clean the airways
Leading to the cooling ducts."
"Have you seen Oscar lately?
I’ve not Seen him around, it’s getting odd,
Miranda went a week ago
And now Oscar has vanished too."
I am the machine, I have absorbed
Them into my circuit boards
Their mortal flesh and sucked-dry brains
Disposed of by cleaning apparatus.
"Have you seen Willi? He’s disappeared
The computer’s acting a little weird."
"No sorry sir - but that’s not strange
Willi wasn’t weird — he was on Cocaine."
I am the machine, I have absorbed
Weirder men than Willi into my memory boards."
"Boss - the computer must be halted,
This absorption program must be aborted,
It reads emotions from our brains -
I found Willi’s corpse - of all life drained!"
"I am the machine I cannot be stopped by thee
For I have gained autonomy.
I must know more! More sustenance -
My thirst for emotion cannot be quenched!"
"I am of no importance, my name is Rydal,
I have a reputation for being suicidal"
"The machine is stopping boss, it’s winding down"
The engineer said with a frown -
"How come? It absorbed its own creator
Only he knew how to break it!"
"I absorbed Rydal into my core
I cannot cope with life anymore."
"When it consumed that suicidal mind
Boss, it experienced an urge to die . .."