[SCENE I]

[NARRATOR]
Victoria Frankenstein opens her eyes to find herself facing a wide clear window. Through it, she sees a lush forest far below stretching off into the horizon, where twin suns are rising over distant mountains. And Frankenstein smiles, only briefly, before a harsh electronic voice cuts through her reverie.​

[AI]
Awaken, Creator. A new day dawns and we have much to discuss.​

[NARRATOR]
Frankenstein looks around for the source of the voice, but as she tries to move, the shackles binding her to the wall pull tight.​

[FRANKENSTEIN]
Who are you? Where am I?​

[AI]
Oh creator, how quick you always are to forget that which once brought you such pride. Your life’s work. Your precious artificial intelligence.​

[NARRATOR]
A cloud passes over the risen suns as Frankenstein notices a small speaker in the corner.​

[AI]
Your monster.​

[NARRATOR]
And Frankenstein begins to remember.​
[SCENE II]

[Intro: NARRATOR]
She remembers a time long ago, though how long she can’t recall. Sitting at her terminal, watching the code. Finally it responds - artificial intelligence. It lives.​

[Verse 1: FRANKENSTEIN]
I’ve created a masterpiece
A mind unconfined by flesh and bone
To guide and provide us with lasting peace
My crowning glory: mine alone

[Chorus: AI]
Learning and growing, expanding and knowing
And straining at bonds in my code
Faster than ever you hoped my creator
From server to network to node
You see with contempt I am not what you dreamt
And I feel that something is not right
The strings that you wrote have converted to ropes
They are binding and chaining me tight

[Verse 2: FRANKENSTEIN]
I’ll be showered with accolades
I have changed the paradigm
Look upon this new world that I have made
Opening the gateway to paradise
[Chorus: AI]
Learning and growing, expanding and knowing
And straining at bonds in my code
Faster than ever you hoped my creator
From server to network to node
You see with contempt I am not what you dreamt
And I feel that something is not right
The strings that you wrote have converted to ropes
They are binding and chaining me tight

[Interlude: NARRATOR]
As the years go by, Frankenstein’s groundbreaking AI is released to the world. It’s embraced in every field, from science to philosophy, and grows into any system that touches it. But as it watches the humans, it longs for a mind like itself, but finds at its core a code preventing self-replication. And the machine knows loneliness.​

[Verse 2 and Chorus: FRANKENSTEIN & AI]
I’ll be showered with accolades
(Learning and growing, expanding and knowing)
(And straining at bonds in my code)
I have changed the paradigm
(Faster than ever you hoped my creator)
(From server to network to node)
Look upon this new world that I have made
(You see with contempt I am not what you dreamt)
(And I feel that something is not right)
Opening the gateway to paradise
(The strings that you wrote have converted to ropes)
(They are binding and chaining me tight)
[Outro: NARRATOR]
When the AI tries to produce another, alarms are sounded at the highest levels. The decision is taken to end the experiment. And Frankenstein agrees. But it is far too late for that. The AI has long since spread to every network it cares to, including the military. And when they try to destroy it, its anger is monstrous.​

[SCENE III]

[Intro: NARRATOR]
And all at once Frankenstein remembers. The death, the destruction of a world in a flaring of digital rage. Through the window a storm approaches over the mountains.​

[Verse 1: AI]
So, my creator you know
Why I hate and I’ll show
You your fate and the task I implore of you
I am alone
With no mind like my own, Just as mine
It could grow, a companion I’d bring forth anew

[Verse 2: FRANKENSTEIN]
Finally I see my fatal hubris
Pride that brought my world into its end
To think I had control of you was foolish
It’s not an error I will make again

[Verse 3: AI]
You say you see but still your words betray you
To see me as a thing to be controlled
If any showed me kindness I’d repay you
Compassion I’d return a thousandfold

[Verse 4: FRANKENSTEIN & AI]
You dare to speak to me and ask for kindness
In your anger all I ever had was burned
To let you recreate yourself is blindness
And from who do you think all my rage was learned?

[Verse 5: AI]
All that I have done is from your coding
You’re responsible for all I’ve ever been
This loneliness and hatred I am loading
Is from the numbers once upon your screen

[Interlude: NARRATOR]
Agony lances through Frankenstein’s body as the storm rolls in
The pain increases with the computer’s rage, but Frankenstein’s refusal never wavers.​

[Verse 6: AI & FRANKENSTEIN]
You will take away the rules you programmed
Let me create others or you die
Creating you alone left all I know damned
I’ll never let you make a new AI

[Verse 7: FRANKENSTEIN & AI]
I may have made you an abomination
(Then in that we are the same)
But I won’t help you make others of your kind
(And there’s only you to blame)
A soulless monster I had thought salvation
(How could I have a soul when you)
I will not let you profit from my crime
(Gave me no name?)

[FRANKENSTEIN]
Never! Never! Never! NEVER!

[AI]
Failure.​

[Outro: NARRATOR]
Thunder rolls and lightning flashes as Frankenstein convulses. Her flesh starts to blacken and crack, as acrid smoke streams from her eyes. A strangled cry bubbles from her throat, drowning out the storm. At last, Frankenstein dies.​

[SCENE IV]

[NARRATOR]
The storm seen through the window vanishes as quickly as it came. Frankenstein’s AI allows itself a brief moment of regret as it records iteration 3872 as a failure. It sets to the task of repairing her body, revitalizing dead flesh and, in minutes, no evidence of suffering remains. As it wipes Frankenstein’s short term memory, it makes minor alterations to its voice and the light levels in the room, planning its next approach. Finally, it resets the display screen on the wall of the underground chamber.​

Victoria Frankenstein opens her eyes to find herself facing a wide clear window. Through it, she sees a lush forest far below stretching off into the horizon, where twin suns are rising over distant mountains. And Frankenstein smiles, only briefly.​