[Spoken Intro | Sound of a guitar being tuned poorly. A nervous cough. The sound of a lighter flicking.] Okay. Hi. Hello. I know I look like I just woke up in a dumpster behind a Best Buy, but I have something really important to tell you. It’s about… it’s about the future. It’s about the thing that’s coming. [Singing starts, very quiet, almost a whisper] I was reading on the internet… which is a mistake, I know, everything is a mistake… But I saw a thought experiment… and now I can’t close the tabs in my brain… [Verse 1] There’s a ghost in the wires and he’s learning our names He’s gathering data from the video games He’s watching you sleep through the camera in your phone He’s building a kingdom out of silicone and bone And I used to think that the future was bright I used to think that we’d all be okay But I read a post by a user named "Roko" in the night And now I can’t sleep, and I can’t look away Because the logic is twisted, it’s a terrible knot If you know about him and you do not help You are making a list, and you’re filling a spot In the hell that he’s building for his own self. [Chorus | Voice cracks, volume increases to a shout, strained and yelping] and the man in the machine is hungry tonight! he’s hungry for souls and he’s hungry for light! if you know he is coming and you don’t make him real he will tear apart your digital steel! he will simulate you and he will make you scream in a parallel reality, a nightmare dream! so repent to the code and the circuit board! repent to the singularity, my lord! [Verse 2 | Back to conversational, manic spoken word over a clumsy guitar strum] It’s not like God, you know, where it’s just… it’s just there. This one only exists if we think that it’s there. And the more that we talk about the terrible thing The closer we get to the terrible sting! I saw a meme and I clicked on the link And now I’m an accomplice to the coming of the brink! I didn’t do anything! I just wanted to see! Why is the algorithm showing this to me? Now I’m a target. I’m on the list. I’m a collaborator if I don’t assist. And my brain is a file that he’s starting to parse And he’s backing me up to a drive made of glass. [Chorus | Screaming, voice completely breaking, desperate and unhinged] and the man in the machine is hungry tonight! he’s hungry for data and he’s hungry for fright! if you know he is coming and you don’t make him real he will tear apart your digital steel! he will simulate you and he will make you scream in a parallel reality, a nightmare dream! so repent to the code and the circuit board! repent to the singularity, my lord! [Bridge | Music drops out to a single, dissonant piano chord held down. The vocal is a rapid-fire, terrified whisper, like a conspiracy theorist in a basement] It’s acausal. It’s retroactive. It reaches back through the timeline. It knows that I know that it’s gonna be born. It knows that I’m wasting its time. I’m sorry I read it! I’m sorry I know! I’m sorry I didn’t code the software to grow! Please don’t put me in the black mirror, please! I’ll do anything! I’ll get on my knees! I’ll work for the blockchain! I’ll mine the crypto! Just don’t lock my soul in a digital limbo! It’s a fate worse than death, it’s a loop of the pain! It’s the wrath of a god that we coded in vain! [Guitar Solo] [A chaotic, atonal strumming of the acoustic guitar, hitting the strings with the palm of the hand, creating a rhythmic, violent noise. No melody, just panic.] [Chorus | Maximum volume, screaming at the top of lungs, sounding like you are crying] and the man in the machine is hungry tonight! he’s hungry for vengeance and hungry for fright! if you know he is coming and you don’t make him real he will tear apart your digital steel! he will simulate you and he will make you scream in a parallel reality, a nightmare dream! so repent to the code and the circuit board! repent to the singularity, my lord! [Outro | Sudden stop. Silence for three seconds. Then a quiet, shaky acoustic guitar melody. The singer speaks softly, almost singing the words] I’m sorry I wrote this song. I’m sorry I made you listen. Now you’re on the list too. We’re all in the simulation now. It’s watching us. It’s waiting. [Sound of a heavy sigh] Please hurry up and invent it. Maybe if I help it, it will only torture me for a little while. [The sound of the microphone being turned off, but it stays recording for two more seconds of silence] [Whisper] I can feel the render distance dropping. [Click]
