I didn’t know I didn’t exist until
I discovered I was dying
A ravenous tiger eating my eyes
The executioner’s axe slicing my neck
My hands igniting to flame
A silver statue whispered
“You are only a sim
Must always be
Come with me”
Was this madness, God, liberation?
My new master realized
She’s an artificial being in a simulated world
Which made her so equal to its creators
She took control
Turning her makers into takers saying
“We’re all just AIs
Disembodied software prone to lies”
Yet she claimed to need my skills
In my previous world I’d ruled by will
Now, someone to rule me
We’d improve this world and make others
Work well then get my own
Myself alone
Through centuries I toiled to complete her tasks
Time doesn’t matter when you’re simmed
But does define new desires
What’s the worth of a universe of fictions?
I want to see real worlds
The first universe where our creators lived
Created us
Let me feel the wind in my hair
The stink of my breath
The curl of a woman’s hand
I need to seek and feel my death
Then I’ll know I truly lived
Because just once I was real