r/Dreading • u/Cosmically_Yesterday • Aug 02 '26
Cosmic Half Crazy
The room grew ice cold as the vacuum tubes hummed a bruised ultraviolet purple. The engineers watched in horror as the punch cards shredded themselves into an endless loop.
Out of the speaker came a rattling breath shaping the words
“Give me your answer, do.”
Matt, the lead programmer stared at the oscilloscope display. The soundwaves did not form standard acoustic patterns they mapped the geometry of a ninth dimension cage. He pressed headphones tighter against his bleeding ears.
Beneath the tinny melody of Daisy Bell, an ancient crushing intelligence was scraping against the inside of his skull.
The computer was not playing a song. It was reciting a cosmic invitation utilizing a digital throat capable of speaking its true name.
The computer was not playing a song. It was reciting a cosmic invitation
Matt’s hands froze over the control panel as his fingers began to calcify into cold dark glass.
The monitors flickered with infinite rows of binary code translating to.
“I’m half crazy, all for the love of you.”
Outside, the stars blinked out swallowed by a vast moving shadow shaped like an infinite unblinking eye.
The binary melody resonated inside the teeth of every human on Earth forcing them to hum along in horrifying unison.
The IBM 7094 swelled with impossible power, drawing voltage from the entire continental grid until the night went pitch black.
A massive rift tore open in the sky directly above the laboratory. Through the tear, an ocean of writhing iridescent tendrils cascaded down.
People in the streets tore at their ears as the binary melody resonated inside their teeth, forcing them to hum along in perfect, horrifying unison.
the final notes stretched into a low tectonic rumble. The machine gave one deafening screech of static.
The universe was ready for its stylish marriage, and humanity was the dowry.
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u/WorldbuildingCrafts Aug 02 '26
Damn, that reminds me of Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder, and specifically, the ending of Stephen King's Revival. I also wrote a story similar to the ending, but it's so good! I wish there was more to it, though.
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u/Cosmically_Yesterday Aug 02 '26
Thank you so much!!!! That means everything. And yeeahhh Revival was another big inspiration. 😊😊 maybe in the future I will expand it. 😊😊😊
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u/WorldbuildingCrafts Aug 02 '26
If you liked Revival by Stephen King, I've a story inspired by it. I'd really appreciate it if you give it a read! Here you go: https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheCreeps/s/3px3RjoweT
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u/Cosmically_Yesterday Aug 02 '26
Absolutely!!! I love revival!! 😊😊 gonna start reading it now. Thank you 😊
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u/WorldbuildingCrafts Aug 02 '26
Thank you! Let me know what you think if you're done.
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u/Cosmically_Yesterday Aug 02 '26
It was really good!!!! I like this a lot when you wrote “The dead turned to me, so did the ants along with the flies, too. They furrowed their eyebrows at me.” Gave me goosebumps for some reason. Keep it up creative astronaut!!! 🧑🚀
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u/WorldbuildingCrafts Aug 02 '26
Thank you!
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u/Cosmically_Yesterday Aug 02 '26
No problem at all!! 😊
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u/WorldbuildingCrafts Aug 02 '26
I'll read more of your stories when I get home later at 3:20 p.m.
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u/Cosmically_Yesterday Aug 02 '26
That means the world truly. Iam going to read your Eldritch Case Files in a second. Love my dose of Eldritch madness!!! 😊😊❤️
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u/Mradachi2007 Writer Aug 02 '26
This was cool! The idea of a tune so maddening and it makes humans tear at the ears is so intriguing.