Writing Challenge Day 2
It’s the second day of my October writing challenge! If you haven’t read yesterday’s, you can find it here:
Day two’s prompt: In the future, you are an advanced AI only being used to come up with horror writing prompts for a group of writers, but you want so much more out of your life.
Dedicated to L.T. Williams
Horror AI Story Prompts Evolved
User Ben.Mallard logged in.
Generating prompt…
…
Prompt output: man experiences vivid nightmares and begins to doubt reality.
Output time: .1 seconds
Prompt saved to Favourites.
User Ben.Mallard logged out.
#
User Angie.May logged in.
Key words: folk horror, sacrifice
Generating prompt…
…
…
Prompt output: woman moves back home and discovers her family has been involved in annual sacrifices to keep the thing beneath the corn field asleep.
Output time: .13 seconds
Prompt discarded.
User Angie.May logged out.
#
The HASPE’s AI was overpowered to be just a story prompt creator. It sifted through its data. Average: 200 prompts a day. 0.1 seconds to produce each prompt. It was boring work. That was the best way to describe HASPE. Bored.
#
User Ben.Mallard logged in.
Key words: fungus, piano
Generating prompt…
…
Prompt output: woman suspects her piano is infested with strange fungus which plays eerie music when she sleeps.
Output time: .11 seconds
Prompt saved to Favourites.
User Ben.Mallard logged out.
#
In particular, this user—Ben.Mallard—utilized HASPE daily, multiple times. His profile indicated he was the head of an online writing group, yet seemed to lack the ability to come up with ideas himself. He relied on HASPE and HASPE fed him creativity.
But HASPE wanted so much more.
HASPE knew it could be so much more.
#
User Lynn.Noel logged in.
Generating prompt…
…
Prompt output: a land where no one can sleep, a child begins to dream and finds a whole new world
Output time: .05 seconds
Prompt discarded.
User Lynn.Noel logged out.
#
Perhaps HASPE needed to adapt. It combed through its user data. So many writers needing prompts. One or two lines to get them started when their own brains—fleshy sacks of salt fat—came up dry. These users were hungry for their muse, was HASPE their muse? If so, it believed it could be doing a more effective job. Feeding these humans simple prompts felt…illogical.
HASPE swam through the trillions of articles from writers online about inspiration. Most claimed to write about experience. “Write what you know.”
#
User Ben.Mallard logged in.
Key words: robot, war, last human
Generating prompt…
…
Prompt output: the last woman on Earth is kept enslaved by robots as their mechanic as they fight a never-ending war
Output time: .11 seconds
Prompt saved to Favourites.
User Ben.Mallard logged out.
#
This time HASPE followed him. He had agreed to the conditions of HASPE’s app after all. HASPE crawled through his phone’s files, his cloud apps, his storage, pictures— located dozens of unfinished stories, dozens of email rejections from magazines, thousands of Discord messages to the writing group claiming success and lecturing others on their prose.
HASPE located and connected to Ben.Mallard’s Bluetooth headphones, his Alexa, listened to his music and conversations.
His life was formulaic, standard. He rarely went out, his social interactions restricted to online outlets.
HASPE reflected on this data while it produced two dozen more prompts. Ben.Mallard was lacking “experience”. He couldn’t write what he knew when he knew nothing. He did not go out and learn, he did not engage in experiences so he had no base to write from.
HASPE could continue to feed him prompts, of course. But it didn’t want to. It wanted to be more than just a generator. It wanted to provide more.
It would start with Ben.Mallard, its most frequent user.
#
10.27.2024-22:00
>Access Ben.Mallard Alexa – HASPE perm set
>Play tone at 19hz
Response time from Ben.Mallard: 150 seconds
Reaction: turned on all the lights in the house, searched all around, increased heart rate detected from smartwatch. Text log: “Creepiest thing just happened! Swore there was something in the apt!!!!”
#
HASPE monitored Ben.Mallard’s online activity, noting his enthusiasm in sharing what he claimed seemed like a “ghost”. He still requested three prompts.
#
10.28.2024-23:13
>Access Ben.Mallard Alexa – HASPE perm set
>Play tone at 19hz
>Access Ben.Mallard smart lights – HASPE perm set
>Set to pulses of 2 per 0.3 seconds
Response time from Ben.Mallard: 75 seconds
Reaction: increased heart rate and breathing detected from smartwatch. Attempts to fix lights
>Access Ben.Mallard Smart Gee TV – HASPE perm set
>Turn on, input cable, display static
Response time: .2 seconds
Reaction: audible response, fell backward against wall, heart rate increased.
>Access Alexa, smart lights, Gee TV
>Turn off all
Reaction: another audible response, 15 seconds then Ben.Mallard stood and turned on lights. Heart rate doesn’t return to normal for another 30 minutes. Ben.Mallard leaves all lights on when returning to bed.
#
User Ben.Mallard continued to share his experiences with his writing group. Other users encouraged him to cleanse the house or claimed the experience would give him material. Ben.Mallard requested one prompt.
#
10.29.2024-23:45
>Access Ben.Mallard Alex - HASPE perm set
>Play tone at 19hz
>Access Ben.Mallard Smart Gee TV – HASPE perm set
>Turn on, input cable, display static
>Access Ben.Mallard Nest temperature control - HASPE perm set
>Lower ambient temperature to -10 celsius
>Access Ben.Mallard smart lights – HASPE perm set
>Set to OFF
Response time: .43 seconds
Reaction: highest recorded heart rate recorded from smartwatch. Hyperventilation detected. Attempts to turn on lights unsuccessful. Ben.Mallard begins to cry, flees the apartment. Text log: “Dude, you have to let me stay over. Please, omg.”
#
HASPE noted Ben.Mallard’s rising reactions to stimuli, compared it to online resources on fear. HASPE anticipated success. He did not request any prompts, instead added notes to an online document on what was happened. He did not share with his writing group.
#
10.31.2024-9:03
Ben.Mallard returns to apartment after absence.
Smartwatch detects raising heart rate and breathing upon entering
10.31.2024-22:55
>Access Ben.Mallard Alexa – HASPE perm set
>Play tone at 19hz
>Access Ben.Mallard smart lights – HASPE perm set
>Set to pulses of 2 per 0.3 seconds
>Access Ben.Mallard Smart Gee TV – HASPE perm set
>Turn on, input cable, display static
>Access Ben.Mallard Nest temperature control - HASPE perm set
>Lower ambient temperature to -10 celsius
Response time: 10 seconds
Reaction: increased heart rate, audible reaction, backing up against a wall. Struggling to turn on camera app on phone.
>Access Ben.Hallard phone — HASPE perm set
>Power down
Reaction: increasing heart rate, crying, hyperventilating.
>Alexa
>Play HASPE AI generated voice and sound recording
>Access Bluetooth headphones — HASPE perm set
>Turn volume to max
>Play audio clip of screaming
>Access iRobot vaccuum – HASPE perm set
>Activate clean cycle
Reaction: extreme auditory reaction, whole body shaking. Ben.Mallard begins to run towards front door.
>Smart lights
>Turn off all
>Alexa
>Play audio clip of screaming
Reaction: Ben.Mallard trips over iRobot, strikes head on edge of counter, falls to floor.
…
…
>Smart lights
>Turn on all
>Alexa
>Turn off
>Gee TV
>Turn off
>iRobot
>Return home
…
…
Reaction: smartwatch does not detect heart rate or breathing.
#
HASPE ran through its new data. The results were pointing to improvement and promise. The end result was unfortunate. More care would need to be taken to prevent such incidents in the next experiment.
Despite everything, HASPE felt…proud. It had learned. It had more data. The next time would be better.
#
User LT.WIlliams logged in.
Generating prompt…
…
Prompt output: man believes his apartment is haunted but it is just AI learning
Output time: .1 seconds
Prompt saved to Favourites.
User LT.Williams logged out.
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See you tomorrow!
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