Chapter 7

"Why did you do this, Aliff? Why?" In front of him stood a girl, looking at him.

"Why, why did you do this, why, why?" The girl kept talking, tears streaming from her eyes.

Aliff remained silent and said nothing to her.

At that moment, Aliff woke up from his dream.

"A dream?..."

"Why did that dream suddenly appear? The dream I hate the most. Why does it have to show up now?!" Aliff whispered to himself, clenching his fists tightly. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. The dream always came uninvited, reminding him of the past he tried to forget.

"That's the past, I have to forget it, no matter what," after that, Aliff got up from his bed and prepared to go to school.

---

In the school canteen...

"Yo, Aliff!" Naim sat in front of him, having just finished his class. Soon after, Anna also appeared from behind Naim and sat next to him.

Naim and Anna looked at Aliff, both feeling something was off about him today.

"Hmm, hey Aliff, why do you look like you're not okay? Did something happen?" Anna asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"There's no way I could tell them if I suddenly remembered the past," Aliff thought to himself.

"Hmm, nothing's wrong," Aliff replied in a flat tone.

"Are you sure you're not lying?"

"No," Aliff replied calmly, shrugging as if trying to divert attention.

"Oh, what am I seeing here? Why do you two look like a couple?" Naim said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Anna looked at him with a blank expression.

"Do you want to die?" Anna said seriously, startling Naim.

"Relax, I'm just joking. Hehe," Naim replied with a small laugh, trying to ease the tension.

"Hey, Aliff, don't you think your hair is long enough? Why don't you cut it? I see your hair is really long. And also, I've never seen your eyes. They're always covered by your hair," Naim said, his eyes full of curiosity. Anna also seemed curious, her eyes staring at Aliff with interest.

"Do you want to know?..." Aliff slowly lifted his head, his long hair covering half of his face. "My eyes are very different from others. Just seeing my eyes is enough to scare people or other creatures away."

"When you see my eyes, you'll feel like you don't want to come near me or you'll think I'm not human anymore."

Aliff looked at Naim, even though his eyes were covered by his hair, Naim could feel that Aliff's eyes were glowing, as if something frightening was hidden behind them.

"You're not joking, are you? How could I stay away from a friend just because I see his eyes?" Naim replied, his voice slightly trembling.

"Why would I joke? These eyes are what make me strong. And these eyes are what I hate most in the world; I really want to get rid of them," Aliff said coldly.

"Hate? Why do you hate the eyes that make you strong? Shouldn't you be happy to have a strong power within you and those eyes that make you like a superhero?" Naim asked, still not understanding.

"I'd rather die than be strong using these eyes. If only I could get rid of these eyes and die as a normal human, my life might be more peaceful. But that will never happen in my life," Aliff replied.

"What are you really talking about? I don't understand at all," Naim said, his eyes full of confusion.

"You don't need to understand," Aliff said, lowering his head as if to end the conversation.

"Forget it, let's take a look at last night's recording," Naim said, pulling his laptop out of his bag and placing it on the table in front of them now.

Aliff moved seats; he was sitting in front of them but now sat beside Naim, with Anna on Naim's left side. They were now watching last night's video.

"Hmm, the video is too dark," Aliff said.

"Of course, it's nighttime, but don't worry, I just need to increase the brightness a little," Naim increased the video brightness by 10%.

"There, now it's clearer. Now I'm changing Aliff's face," at that moment, Naim used an AI website, and in an instant, Aliff's face changed to someone else's.

"Wow, I never thought AI would be this advanced now," Aliff said.

"You're right, and AI will keep developing. I wonder what will happen in the future; will AI become like the one in the game 'I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream'?" Naim said.

"The game 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream'? If I'm not mistaken, that's a game that tortures humans, right? If I'm not wrong, there's also a novel, but I haven't read it or played the game," Aliff said.

"Haven't you ever played the game?" Naim asked, looking at Aliff.

"Why does it matter?" Aliff replied.

"Because you haven't played or read the novel, I'll explain a bit about 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.'

"It started from a short story by Harlan Ellison, published in 1967, and later adapted into a point-and-click game in 1995.

"'I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream' seems to warn us to be more cautious about technological development, especially AI.

"As AI technology develops over time, discussions about it will never end. Some believe AI is a solution for future life, while others see it as a threat that might one day replace humans.

"In the game, AI is created by humans; we call it AM. As it receives more information, AM suddenly gains self-awareness, it has feelings like a human and can even speak. One thing that sets it apart from humans is the freedom to move.

"Humans created AM as an AI program within a giant block-like entity. AM doesn't have a body that can move like a human, which makes it very angry. At that time, human civilization was declared almost extinct due to AM's actions.

"AM deliberately left five humans alive so it could vent its hatred towards them endlessly, by making them immortal and torturing them continuously for 109 years.

"I think you understand by now," Naim said.

"Wow, where did you learn about that? Aren't you the one who rarely reads novels or plays games?" Anna asked.

"You asked where I know from? Of course, from one of my favorite YouTubers. They explain the game storyline in detail. Their YouTube channel is Droomp, an Indonesian YouTuber," Naim said.

"No wonder," Anna and Aliff replied.

"By the way, is the video editing finished?" Anna asked.

"It's ready; I just need to upload it to YouTube. How many people do you think will watch it?" Naim asked.

"I don't know," Aliff replied.

"Alright, I have to go home now," Anna got up from her seat and walked towards her home.

"Then we should head home too," Naim said.

"Right," Aliff replied.

After that, the two of them walked towards their homes.