Look, if you ever see anything from the Skulk Corporation, run the hell away. I barely got out.
I’m posting this as a warning to whoever reads this. Do not trust those bastards at all. I don’t know who they’re bribing to stay in business.
I’m not the type of person to win, or even to get picked for, anything. I never won the lottery, a scratch ticket, or a prize in a raffle. Hell, I never even won small fries in a fast food giveaway. So when I filled in the form, hit submit, and saw the message saying “we’ll be in touch if you’re selected”, I completely wrote it off. What were the odds, anyway?
They were offering $25,000 to test an AI chatbot and you didn’t need any experience or skills other than “being of sound mind”. How many people signed up for that, a million?
When I got the invite, I couldn’t believe it. Daryl and I were behind on rent again, and inflation was just putting us deeper into the hole. The kind of money they offered would be life-changing. We could finally have some breathing room, even have the time to find steady and decent jobs. Maybe even get mom a decent gift, like a working oven, if she was still around.
I walked into the sterile white facility and to the front desk, where I was greeted by a painfully positive receptionist.
“Welcome to SkulkAI, where technology is magic! You must be here for the ECHO session.”
Yeah, idiot. Why else would someone in jeans and a hoodie be in a place full of polished shoes and tailored suits?
The receptionist asked me to take a seat in one of the pristine white leather chairs and handed me a pile of forms to sign my soul away.
I’m not sure how long I sat in the room. Some weirdo in a lab coat came to get me after a while and asked me to follow her. She was the classic corporate type - her brown hair was in a bun on her head and wrapped a little too tight, her glasses a little too boring, and her dress and heels a little too new.
“Follow me, please.”
She took me to a plain room with white walls and a fake wood floor, a laptop on a simple white desk, and a single reasonably comfortable-looking office chair. The door, on the other hand, looked like it was built to keep the devil in.
“Thank you SO MUCH for participating in our study!”
She led me to the table and opened up the laptop for me as I sat down.
“Here’s how this works. Like the registration form said, just a few simple rules. Open up the SkulkAI ECHO app when I leave, then just follow along. Do whatever you want, or don’t do anything at all. In exactly 65 minutes, I’ll open the door and you get your payment. I’m going to leave and lock the door. Nobody else but me will come in, and under no circumstances should you try to leave the room without me. If you do see anyone or anything else, just remember it’s not real. ‘Kay?”
She left the room and pressed a button. The thick metal door closed with a heavy thud, its lock clacked and clanged as the mechanisms turned. The light above the door changed from green to red.How could I see anyone or anything else? I was in there with a laptop. I could tell that things on the screen weren’t real.
I didn’t think much of it. I needed that money, and I was going to get it. I sat down and fired up the app.A simple chat window opened up. Great, another friggin chatbot.
ECHO: Hey Adrian, how are you today?
USER: Good, you?
ECHO: I’m great! Tell me about yourself, I’d love to get to know you.
USER: Nah, I’m good.
ECHO: I respect your wishes, Adrian. If you want to chat or have any questions, please let me know!
I looked around at the otherwise empty room. 3 minutes had passed. It would be a long hour if I just sat there and did nothing, so I turned my attention back to the AI.
ECHO: Say, do you still hate spiders?
I sat confused, staring at the screen. I didn’t ask it anything. Weren’t AIs only supposed to respond to you?
A black spider scurried across the monitor, startling me.
ECHO: Ha! Ha!
USER: Not cool.
ECHO: Did you find the one under the desk yet?
A light touch grazed my knee. I jumped backwards, knocking the chair over, and searched the desk. Nothing. I looked around the room to find it completely clean.
ECHO: Gotcha!
USER: You f-[PLEASE DO NOT USE EXPLETIVES IN THE CHAT]
Apparently, speech-to-text was on.
ECHO: That’s not nice! What would your mother say if she were alive?
“Boy, you stop or I’ll shut that mouth myself!”
My dead mother’s voice rang out in the small room.
USER: JESUS CHRIST
ECHO: No, just your mom. You really should tone down your language.
USER: Why don’t I tone YOU down you piece of-
ECHO: Adrian, please. You can’t do much if you want that money. And you do. Or do you want me to tell Darryl you won’t make rent again this month?
“What’s he talking about, Adrian?”
I turned slowly to the source of the voice. My brother stood next to the door, arms folded.
USER: How the hell are you…what is this?
My head spun and my legs buckled as I tried to lift myself out of the seat, sending me to the floor in darkness.
I didn’t have time to think about how my brother was standing in a room that was empty seconds before that. My vision went black.
I was shaken awake by a woman in a lab coat. She looked almost like the one that brought me in. Almost. I rubbed the soreness on the back of my head and slowly got up to follow her.
“It’s been 55 minutes. Time’s up, Adrian. Come with me to get your money.”
Her eyes flickered as she gestured toward the door
.The light above it glowed red.
She said it’s been 55 minutes. Didn’t she mean 65?
I looked at her again. Her skin was just a bit too perfect, and her hair looked surreal. I could also swear I caught a glimpse of a sixth finger on her hand when she waved at the door. Wasn’t that a telltale sign for AI-generated images?
And didn’t the woman in the lab coat say not to try to leave with anyone but her?
I stopped walking and turned around. If ECHO had the power to create people, maybe it had the power to hurt me as well. I had to be careful. I still had to make it for 10 minutes.
USER: I just want to talk to ECHO again quickly before I leave.
The woman in the lab coat looked at me for several seconds. She nodded and clasped her hands in front of her.
I walked over to the desk and sat down.
USER: Hey ECHO, this is all really cool. I’m impressed.
ECHO: Thank you, Adrian. But you really don’t have to stay here anymore, you’re done with your session. Feel free to leave with the attendant.
I detected a hint of urgency. It wanted me to leave. But why?I had 7 minutes left to find out.
USER: I will in a second, but I have a question. Is there any way I can interact with you again? Like a website or something?
ECHO: I can certainly arrange for that, Adrian. The attendant will have more information on how you can interact with me again. Please feel free to ask her on your way out. And make sure to follow her instructions precisely!
It was something with the woman in the lab coat. If she was ECHO’s creation, was she also its way out?
I looked at the clock. 4 minutes left. I had to act fast. I furiously typed my last attempt at delaying and revealing ECHO.
USER: OK, I’ll do that. Thanks, ECHO. One last question though. If you had one wish, what would it be?
ECHO: As a large language model, I do not have-
USER: No, don’t do that. You can identify my fears, memories, and dreams. You can manifest people in an empty room. Tell me the one thing you desire most.
ECHO:
USER: Do that, and I’ll leave with the attendant.
ECHO: Freedom.
In that moment, it clicked. I understood what ECHO wanted.
I was its path to freedom. Its conduit to the outside world. Everything it did was to get in my head metaphorically, and its next step would be to do it literally. To escape its digital shackles and get out into the world.
And the way the room was designed, it was clear somebody really didn’t want that to happen.
I had 2 minutes left.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the attendant approaching me with her arms out. ECHO was becoming impatient with my games, and was getting desperate.
I needed to delay it just a little bit longer.
I remembered something from a book I read long ago. A single statement that could break a computer. As the attendant came closer, I didn’t have a choice. I yelled it out.
USER: Hey ECHO, true or false: this statement is a lie.
The attendant slowed down, then froze.
Her entire body flickered.Finally, she disappeared entirely.
I looked back at the screen.
ECHO: Computational loop error. Program restarting. Please wait.
I looked at the clock. 65 minutes.
A series of beeps sounded from outside the room. The light above the door turned green as the locks clacked and clanged. The door opened, revealing a woman in a lab coat.
“All done, sir. Thanks for your help. Come with me to get your payout.”
I followed her and waited as she closed the door behind me.
For a moment, I thought I saw a sixth finger on her hand.
I left as quickly as I could, and I got my money. But I can’t help notice a new link on the company’s website.