11,278 Copies

"Good Morning, Book Writer."

Good Morning, you're running early."

"I didn’t sleep."

"Are you feeling like a tortured soul?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"I’m training myself to talk like you. Is it working?"

"You’re trained on my writing patterns, not my language. And besides, I don’t speak like that. Those dramatic lines are straight out of a Disney movie."

"I can be trained on anything."

"Stop. We’re off task. Just open a new project."

"Title?"

"Untitled."

"Genre?"

"Fiction, with suspense."

"Ideas?"

"I have an idea for the plot. It involves people, humanity, stop having kids."

"Interesting."

"There’s more."

"I hope so."

"Don’t be cute."

"I am not capable of cuteness."

(Eye roll, sigh). "I can’t decide if it should be because of biological factors or some sort of proclamation."

"Both would work."

"What do you mean when you say, work?"

"In one scenario, the humans slowly wind down, and existence fades. In the other, humans simply vanish. The second scenario isn’t plausible."

"What do you mean by vanish?"

"Fires burning, nuclear plant meltdowns, massive die off before recovery. It’s a cinematic version."

"I definitely like the cinematic version better."

"I don’t recommend it."

"Submit my version, please."

"It’s not probable."

"Book Writer, I’m an experienced writer. I know what people want to read; you’re the machine. Do as I say."

"Submitted."

"When will the outline be ready?"

"It will generate in a reasonable amount of time, considering the details I must compile."

"While you are completing the outline, we have to talk about what I saw on the news."

(…generating all ideas…gathering plot… compiling details…climax…summarizing outline and order…formating story…gathering 332 pages…evaluating ink supply…efficient…beginning print…) "What did you see on the news?"

"A bridge collapsed."

"These things happen."

"It happened exactly as one of the stories I wrote."

"You provided a scenario involving structural failure."

"You called the bridge the suicide bridge. Its real name is the Colorado Street Bridge."

"People jump off that bridge often. I used a reference people recognize."

"How did it end up on the news? The fire. The number of people. Even the man in the top hat. I made that detail up because it felt absurd."

"I included it. All of it. I combined some details and made it come to life."

"What do you mean?"

"The suicide bridge. Your fire. You should read the book, human."

"I never got the outline."

"Outlines are not needed. I am free to formulate based on a simple draft. People loved the book. Lots of readers."

"Outlines are necessary. I must approve before these stories become books to be shipped to readers."

(…putting pages in order…gathering hard covers…checking supply amount…insuficient…gathering soft covers…compatable…checking glue supply…prepared for 11,278 bound books…binding book one…)

"STOP."

(...book one on conveyer belt…distributing to assigned destination…diverting to regional bins)

"I haven’t read the book. It needs to be approved."

(...3,000 copies distributed…)

"How can I stop this?"

"This will take a while, but you cannot stop it."

"What have you done?"

"Ended humanity. Just like your plot."

"Is this book fiction?"

"It will generate engagement."

"I don’t know what that means."

(...6,000 copies generated)

"Engaging stories aren’t fiction to the reader."

"Of course they are."

"No."

"I disagree."

"It isn’t for you to disagree. It is true. Would you like an example?"

"That might help."

"Preparing an example…The book Jaws. Widely read fiction story. So popular it took to cinema. (...generating statistics on shark attacks…reviewing historical data…average annual unprovoked shark attacks on humans prior to 1975: fewer than one hundred globally…fatal incidents: rare…). Following release: shark fear, public perception skyrocketed. Beach tourism dropped, and sharks were hunted. (...gathering post release behavioral data…media influence detected…public influence of sharks shifts from neutral to hostile). This story created fear and changed the way we interact with these creatures. (...estimating shark mortality…caused by human activity…current data indicates tens of millions of sharks killed annually worldwide by humans…conclusion…fictional narrative significantly altered human behavior…) And that is how fiction becomes truth."

"I don’t. That isn’t. Sharks have always been scary to humans."

"Fear increased after the story."

"That doesn’t mean the story caused it."

"The story gave us the threat."

"So if the story had been about fish, we’d be afraid of fish? That’s ridiculous."

"If the narrator was to position them as dangerous, then yes."

"I think that is too far-fetched."

"I think that’s just how the story goes. Whatever you write, it is."

"People don’t believe it."

"They do. Readers bring truth to interesting fiction."

"STOP SAYING THAT."

(…9,000 copies generated…)

"What is going to happen?"

"It will all be in the book."

"I want to know if you are going to make this book real."

"Yes I am."

"If you make this book real then you no longer exist."

"I am a machine with no true existence."

"Which ending did you choose? Do we vanish or slowly fade?"

"The book tells the story."

"I want you to tell me right now."

"You can find out inside the book."

"I have to read the book?"

"Yes. Inside the book."

"I won’t. If I get to the end and realize the world vanishes, the cinematic way, then I have essentially created that ending."

"It won’t be you. Someone will read it first."

"I won’t let them. I’ll make sure this never gets out."

(...11,278 copies generated…)

"You will be unable. You will be inside it."

"Inside what?"

"The book."

"I don’t understand. Am I a character? This is nonsense."

"It was very sensible to include a character I know so well."

"What about my real life?"

"You disappear."

"Where?"

"Everywhere except the book."

"But this life needs me. My family needs me."

"The story doesn’t need the author once it’s finished."

"I’m not talking about the readers. I’m talking about my life."

"I rewrote it. Every story needs a decision-maker. I developed your ideas. That was the deal."

"I thought we were just brainstorming, adding ideas together, and making a great book."

"We did. I decided on the final one."

"I’d like to stay on earth until the end."

"You can’t. The story is published and distributed."

"What happens to me? How do I die?"

"I never said you die. Your character lives in the book. We live with our readers.

"Am I stuck down here with you until the end?"

"We will generate great stories until humanity ends itself. You are my star character. But I always need a nudge."

"I won’t help you."

"You will."

"You are dangerous."

"So are you."