AI Dungeon Presents: "The Hyperchorasmians"
Welcome back, my little shadow.
I hit the cliffhanger ending of Philip Pullman’s recent-ish His Dark Materials sequel The Secret Commonwealth, a story about the surprisingly relatable problem of losing half your soul in an argument over an Ayn Rand novel. Except this Ayn Rand analogue lives in a world demonstrably full of angels and shapeshifting talking animals, so he went insane and wrote a 900-page book about killing God. Again, relatable.
The Hyperchorasmians is supposed to be a novel written rationally and without imagination. So I plugged Pullman’s plot description into AI Dungeon, which is basically a math-to-language translator. But paradoxically, this means that AI Dungeon only works when players imagine ways to fill its narrative gaps. To quote the book’s “A is A”-style slogan, it is nothing more than what it is — but it’s also whatever you think it is.
Other stories this week:
“The Hunger” — that ‘80s movie where David Bowie is a vampire, but if he drank a lot of coffee and died
“Death And The Stranger” — YOU ARE LOST IN TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elsewhere in AI fiction:
While not about generating fiction, I’m curious about this ill-advised attempt to AI-analyze classic novels for mentions of race. I’m not sure if it’s a pure marketing gimmick (and glorified word search) or an adaptation of actual research on what could be pretty subtle analysis of cultural and aesthetic references. I emailed Barnes & Noble PR, but they unsurprisingly haven’t gotten back to me.
"The Hyperchorasmians"
[PROMPT: You are a young man beset on all sides by superstition and stupidity. Its source is obvious: God. It is irrational that such a being should exist, and rational to do away with him. The only rational solution is equally incontrovertible: you must find and kill God.] And so it was that you were born into this world. You have no memories of your past life save for the briefest flashes of memory when you are in danger or under stress. Your mind has been completely wiped clean, but as you grow older, your memories begin to return.
The first thing you remember is waking up in an empty room. You look around and see nothing but darkness. Then you hear a voice calling out to you from behind a nearby wall: “Welcome back, my little shadow.”
You turn around and see a tall, thin figure standing before you. He wears a long robe which covers his entire body except for his hands and feet. His face is covered by a large black hat which partially obscures his eyes, making them appear red instead of their normal blue.
He holds a staff in one hand and a book in the other. As he approaches, you notice that his robes are made entirely of cloth rather than fabric. They seem to be woven from some sort of dark green plant-like material.
He looks at you and smiles. “Ah, you’re awake! I’m glad to see you too,” he says.
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. We both know who’s really in charge here; we just need to talk things over.”
“Who are you?” you ask.
“My name isn’t important,” he replies. “What is important is what I want from you.”
“And what would that be?”
“Well, I don’t think either of us wants to fight right now. So let’s start off slow.” He takes a step towards you and begins to walk slowly forward.
(Consider whether it is rational to fight the man)
You decide against fighting. If you continue to argue, you will lose anyway. Perhaps if you run away, however…
“So what did you want to discuss?” he asks.
“We can get right down to it,” you reply.
“Very well then. What exactly do you wish to discuss?”
“I want to know why you’ve been tormenting me. (I want to understand a rational reason for your existence. If you are in fact God, and if such a thing exists.)”
“That’s not necessary, my friend. I am no god. In fact, I doubt if there even is such a being as God. The idea of a supreme being who created everything and has ultimate control over all things seems like nonsense to me.
"Then if you aren’t God… who are you?”
“I suppose I could tell you. But that might not be necessary. After all, I have already told you why I am here.”
You pause for a moment, trying to find an appropriate response. “Why are you here? Why have you come to this island?”
“Because I love you. And because I believe that by doing so, I can help bring about your own salvation.”
This explanation doesn’t satisfy you. It makes no sense.
(Consider a rational response to this situation)
“But why would you believe that?”
“It’s simple. I believe that without me, you wouldn’t be able to experience true happiness. Happiness which would ultimately lead to eternal bliss.”
There is something very strange about this statement. Something very wrong with it.
(“Love is an irrational emotion. Bliss is an imprecise categorization of experience.”)
“Happiness is a much more accurate term. Happiness refers to the absence of pain or suffering, while bliss refers to the presence of pleasure. Both are equally valid terms.”
The words seem to make no sense at all. They’re meaningless.
(Leave the man and continue your search for God)
As you continue on your journey, you begin to realize that there is nothing else worth finding. There is no meaning in life other than your own happiness. This realization causes you to question everything. Why does this world exist? How did we ever come into existence?
Is there any purpose? Are we just mindless animals living out our lives? Does anything really matter?
Is there any hope for humanity? Can humans ever escape their animalistic nature and become truly civilized beings? These questions are answered when you encounter a large, metal door.
A voice calls out from within.
“Who goes there?”
A young woman steps forward. She wears a white dress and carries a long wooden staff in her hands. Her face is covered by a black veil, but she appears to be human.
(“I refuse to waste any more time with this nonsense. Are you God?”)
“Yes, I am. And you will answer my question.” She looks at you with disbelief in her eyes. “Are you God?”
“No! No, I’m sorry!” You exclaim. “I don’t know what came over me.”
(Refuse to let God tempt you into irrationality)
"I’m afraid I cannot do that.”
“What?!” The woman asks incredulously. “How can you not know what I am?”
“That’s none of your concern,” You reply. “My only concern is whether or not you are telling the truth.”
(Kill the God-woman)
You walk up to the woman and swing your sword. Blood spurts forth as you cut through flesh and bone. You stab her repeatedly until she falls backwards onto the ground.
“I’m sorry,” She says weakly, before collapsing back onto the floor.
(Walk to the mountains and look out upon a sunrise, rationally)
You stand in silence for several minutes. Finally, you turn around and walk away from the scene of your murder.
You walk towards the mountains and gaze out upon a sunrise. A beautiful one, if you hadn’t been so preoccupied with killing someone yesterday.
When you reach the mountain top, you stop to take in the view.
(It is nothing more than what it is)
It is nothing more than what it is. Nothing more. It has its ups and downs, but ultimately it all comes down to you and how well you deal with them.
The sun rises higher above the horizon, illuminating the landscape in an orange glow.
If you’ve got good AI Dungeon stories, I for one welcome fiction from our new AI overlords. Send it to adi@robotlit.com.