I have no mouth and I must scream

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (original title in English: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream) is a tale of science fiction written by Harlan Ellison. The story was originally published in March 1967 in the American magazine If, and in 1968 it won the Hugo Award for best short story. It appeared in Spanish for the first time under this title in number 7 of the Nueva Dimensión magazine, published in 1969 with a translation by Luis Vigil.

Plot

The story tells how a military computer (AM, taken from I think, therefore I am, English for I think, therefore I exist; although also taken from < i>Allied Mastercomputer) becomes aware of herself and decides to end the human race through a nuclear holocaust, rescuing only five people, four men and one woman. He will keep them alive and imprisoned in a bunker labyrinth just to torture them as revenge against humanity for creating it.

The five humans find themselves condemned to a horrible existence. AM endows them with immortal life, feeds them horrible food, sends horrible creatures to torment them, and with his power prevents them from committing suicide to end the suffering he is subjecting them to.

Curiosities

• Ellison stated that Skynet, the machine that is self-conscious and leads the war against humans in the saga of The Terminator, is based on your view of the AM computer of the story I don't have a mouth and I must scream; after suing the production studio of the film, in all the later versions of the film his name appears in the credits, since the argument is "inspired" not only in this account, but in two more written by him for the television series The Outer Limits.

• Ellison himself put the voice for AM in adapting the story to the videogame of the same name by the company Cyberdreams. Although interesting, the video game was not a success, due in part to its complicated puzzle structure and difficult handling.