We had codenamed the project "Steven". The purpose of Steven was to create an Artificial
Intelligence, or AI, which acted, talked, and even thought just like a human. We didn't
want him to be perfect, which is what most AI are. We wanted Steven to make mistakes,
lie, and cheat for the purpose of self-preservation just like any human would. It was a huge project,
which became apparent when we discovered that the computer which we were trying to run Steven
on couldn't handle his program.
I'm Darren Marlar… and this is Weird Darkness.
Welcome Weirdos – this is "Weird Darkness". Here you will find ghost stories, unsolved
mysteries, and other stories of the strange and bizarre. I'm always looking for new
stories. Terrifying true experiences, original dark tales of fiction, unsolved mysteries,
paranormal stories, alien encounters, even creepypastas you'd like to hear narrated.
Share them all at WeirdDarkness.com!
Today's Marlar House winner is Derek Downing of Gloversville, New York. He receives a free
copy of this episode's featured audiobook, "Bed Bugs" by Jason R. Davis. If you would
like to register to win, simply subscribe to my YouTube channel then sign up for my
newsletter, "The Marlar Sheet" if you've not already done so. Then you'll automatically
be entered into each episode's random drawing. Sign up for The Marlar Sheet free now at WeirdDarkness.com.
Music in this episode is provided by Shadow's Symphony: You can find them online at Facebook.com/ShadowsSymphony.
In this episode…
Would you be interested in being a full-time nanny in Scotland for $60,000? One family
is looking for that perfect candidate… but you might want to look a bit more carefully
at the job description.
Almost exactly 26 years ago, a sudden mudslide swept away large portions of Antofagasta,
Chile. More than 100 people died in the disaster… but their voices have not been silenced.
Be careful if you buy a doll from a garage or estate sale – you might be bringing home
more than you expected.
A mother and her autistic son experience what might best be described as, a guardian angel.
About 200 years ago, seventeen concealed miniature coffins were discovered in a cave in Edinburgh's
Arthur's Seat, Scotland. No-one knows who put the tiny coffins there and why.
I'll share a creepypasta with you that has some unusual twists called "Artificial".
Plus, at the end of the show, the latest paranormal news from writer and researcher, Kirsten Weiss!
Now.. sit back, turn down the lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness!
A family in Scotland is offering to pay more than $60,000 to a full-time housekeeper -- on
the condition he or she doesn't mind living with ghosts.
The family posted an ad for a live-in nanny on Childcare.co.uk. The post states the couple
have two children, aged 5 and 7, and live in a "lovely, spacious, historic property
in a remote spot with spectacular views." The job description is what you would typically
expect: "preparing breakfast, getting the children ready for school, dropping off and
picking up from school and assisting after school, including helping with homework and
getting them ready for bed." Because both parents are required to travel for work regularly,
the prospective nanny would be alone in the house with the children up to four nights
per week. In addition to a $63,000 salary and 28 vacation
days, the family is offering qualified individuals a "comfortable room with en-suite bathroom
and private kitchen." But there is something of a catch. Toward
the bottom of the job listing, it is revealed that the family's house, which they have lived
in for nearly 10 years, is said to be inhabited by ghosts.
"We were told it was 'haunted' when we bought it, but kept our minds open and decided to
buy the house regardless," the mother wrote. It seems like a small issue until you consider
that they have yet to find a nanny brave enough to stick around for more than a few months.
"Five nannies have left the role in the last year, each citing supernatural incidents as
the reason, including strange noises, broken glass and furniture moving," the post says.
"This has obviously been a period of great upheaval for our children. We haven't personally
experienced any supernatural happenings, as they have been reported only while we've been
out of the house, but we're happy to pay above the asking rate, and feel it's important to
be as up-front as possible to find the right person."
The ad got an overwhelming number of responses. In an update, the mother wrote that they have
received more than 2,000 responses, including messages support and applications for the
job. Speaking to The Telegraph, Childcare.co.uk
CEO Richard Conway described the family's plight as "the most interesting story we've
heard." "When we saw the advert we were stunned,"
Conway said. "Some of the guys at HQ were skeptical but after talking to the family
and their previous employees we realized it was a genuine position."
He added: "The family has assured us that no harm has come to anyone living in the house,
however the nanny will have to have a strong disposition."
On June 18, 1991, almost exactly 26 years ago, a sudden mudslide swept away large portions
of Antofagasta, Chile. More than 100 people died in the disaster, while thousands more
were left homeless. And according to a local paper, victims of the disaster continue to
haunt Antofagasta and neighboring villages. In 2005, the newspaper Las Ultimas Noticias
of Santiago de Chile reported that residents of Villa Los Salares, a village near Antofagasta
that was home to half of the landslide's victims, still hear screams and sobs in the
night. There are also tales of a ghost boy, a child in white who wanders the village and
passes through solid objects. "A few weeks ago, I saw a little boy dressed
in white, about four years old," a man named Luis told the paper. "He passed right through
the gate without any effort. My oldest son also saw it. He told me that he felt chills,
and, when he went to the window, the little boy was staring at him."
Other eerie events in the village include levitating glasses, disembodied sobs, and
floating apparitions. And while the 1991 mudslide was by far the most deadliest, other mudslides
have claimed lives in Antofagasta since then.
"I heard this story from a friend of mine. She got this doll from a yard sale a couple
of years ago. At first, everything seemed fine. The doll didn't move, or speak, or
do anything. About a month later, she noticed the doll had moved. At first, it only moved
a couple of inches. Then, slowly, it started showing up around the house. Things would
disappear, and the family would find items next to the doll.
One time, as my friend was doing her homework, she heard a door slam on the third floor.
She was home alone and found the doll in the bathroom where the door had slammed shut.
Things then took a violent turn. One morning, she woke up with three long scratches down
her back. When I went over to her house, I felt a heavy
presence. When I was about to leave, I felt a warmth on my back and soon discovered a
fresh scratch about 5 cm across. My friend had no pets, so it couldn't have been that.
The scratch stretched from my shoulder blade to my lower back.
Another time, my friend was almost hit in the head with a glass that flew out of the
cabinet. After that, enough was enough. She sold the doll on eBay and made $20. The events
stopped, but she stayed with me for a few nights."
My youngest son has autism and attends a school that specializes in a wide range of differing
abilities. I had attended his progress meeting and as it finished close to to the end of
the school day had decided to take him out the 20 or so minutes early, walk into the
nearby town and treat him to dinner as he had gotten an excellent review.
The school is set back from quite a busy road and so obviously there is a crossing available
for safety and I always use it as there is traffic coming in both directions and is always
busy and fast moving. I also encourage my son to use it as due to
his differing perceptions he doesn't comprehend dangerous situations and I'm constantly drilling
road safety into him, using the crossing, looking both ways etc.
Anyway, we pressed the button to stop the traffic, as I always do I was holding his
hand and coaching him, " what do we wait for?" " the green man!" "yeah! Thats right we do!"
Cue the green man, it flashes up and a loud beeping sound let's us know we are safe to
walk across. As we are crossing the second half of the
road, I look to my left to see a car coming towards us faster than it should be, it's
not stopping for the lights, my son is on my left side, it's going to hit him. I can
feel panic rising in my chest, I can't breathe, there is not a thing I can do, too late to
run and no way to go to either side to avoid it.
Then suddenly out of nowhere I feel a breeze lift my hair and suddenly I feel totally calm,
almost protected (yes I know how strange that sounds!) , I really can't explain it because
seconds before my heart was pounding I was terrified and convinced we were going to be
mown down. But no, the car stops just before hit hits
my legs, wait, my legs? Where is my son?! I look to my right and there he is, looking
up at me and smiling! I don't remember moving him to that side at all!
I'm having a "what just happened moment" when my attention is drawn to the driver who is
leaning out of his window yelling at me and asking if I "bleeping" know how to cross a
"bleeping" road as I'm obviously "bleeping" sight impaired (quite a charming individual).
Usually by now I would have been trying to hold my temper and not respond negatively
due to my son being present, but I still felt really calm, I just pointed up to the green
man still shining brightly and said " why yes, I do!"
The driver looks up, turns pale and then quickly drives around us and speeds off!
I quickly steer my son to the other side of the road and people from other vehicles surround
us checking we are ok and others try and remember the license plate number but everyone was
in shock at what they had just witnessed. Suddenly my feeling of calm disappears and
my legs turn to jelly, everyone around us is telling us we are lucky to be alive, they
thought we were going to be killed, and I have to admit I'm not sure how we are stood
there unharmed! An older gentleman pats me on the shoulder
and says "well young lady, someone was watching over you today!"
Later on I started thinking about it, could he have been right? Was someone, some thing,
watching over us? I remembered the sudden feeling of total calm and protection that
came over me, the fact my son was suddenly on my right when I know he was on my left
side initially and I have no recollection of him moving, or moving him myself, did I
just do it instinctively and not realize? I'm not sure, it happened so quickly but it
seemed at the time that everything was in slow motion.
Was it just luck? A guardian angel perhaps? Have you had an angel experience? Share your
story at WeirdDarkness.com!
"17 Mysterious Miniature Coffins In Scotland Remain An Unsolved Enigma"
About 200 years ago, seventeen concealed miniature coffins were discovered in a cave in Edinburgh's
Arthur's Seat, Scotland. No-one knows who put the tiny coffins there and why. It's
a most curios find that to this day remain an unsolved enigma.
It all started in June 1836, when three Scottish boys who were out hunting rabbits discovered
a small cave in the rock, hidden behind three pointed slabs of slate. Concealed within were
17 miniature coffins. According to Charles Fort, (1874-1932), an
American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena the coffins were only
"three or four inches long. In the coffins were miniature wooden figures.
They were dressed differently in both style and material. There were two tiers of eight
coffins each, and a third one begun, with one coffin.
The coffins had been deposited singly, in the little cave, and at intervals of many
years. In the first tier, the coffins were quite decayed, and the wrappings had moldered
away. In the second tier, the effects of age had not advanced so far. And the top coffin
was quite recent looking." On July 16,1836, the Scotsman reported several
of the figures were either badly damaged or lost altogether as the decrepit-looking cache
provided convenient fodder for the boys to pelt one another with. Fortunately, some of
the coffins were still intact and they were sold to a Robert Frazier, a South Andrews
Street jeweler and private collector where they remained until being donated to the National
Museum of Scotland in 1901. Only eight figures, in varying states of decay, survive.
The human effigies were all dressed in different garments. Obviously, they must have been created
to represent different individuals. According to the Scotsman, the figures "were
dressed from head to foot in cotton clothes, and decently laid out with a mimic representation
of all the funereal trappings which usually form the last habiliments of the dead."
Ever since the coffins discovered, experts and laymen alike have put forward a number
of interesting and sometimes even incredible theories that attempt to explain who placed
the artifacts in the cave and why. Scotland has long been a country where many
people were and some still are superstitious. Satanic spell-manufactory!' cried The Scotsman,
the first paper to report the tale, in an article published on 16 July 1836:
"Our own opinion would be – had we not some years ago abjured witchcraft and demonology
– that there are still some of the weird sisters hovering about Mushat's Cairn [sic]
or the Windy Gowl, who retain their ancient power to work the spells of death by entombing
the likenesses of those they wish to destroy." Later different theories were presented. Some
attempted to explain the existence of the coffins as a result of witchcraft while others
suggested that they were perhaps kept by sailors to ward off death.
Another widely held belief is that each of the figures were designed to commemorate the
victims of the infamous serial killers Burke and Hare. The murderous duo had ended the
lives of precisely seventeen Edinburgh citizens less than a decade prior to the boys' discovery
on Arthur's Seat. According to the National Museum of Scotland
"the figures all appear to be made by the same hand, although it's possible the coffins
were crafted by two different people. Some of the materials and tools used – wood,
iron embellishments, nails, a sharp, hooked knife – indicate the coffins could have
been fashioned by a shoemaker. The figures seem to form a set, and their
upright bearing, flat feet and swinging arms suggest they may have been toy soldiers. Their
eyes are open, making it unlikely they were originally designed as corpses.
Some of the figures are missing their arms – perhaps removed so that they would fit
in the coffins. The fabric the little bodies are dressed in
dates from the early 1830s, so they hadn't lain buried for more than six years."
Today, the remaining eight coffins and their contents are on display to the public at the
National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street.
Keep listening – this week's paranormal news is on the way with stories about a haunted
house home theater and the summer solstice, and up next a cyber-creepypasta called "Artificial".
This episode of Weird Darkness is brought to you by the audio book…
"Bed Bugs" by Jason R. Davis, narrated by Darren Marlar.
When Mike left his latest trucking student at the terminal, he knew that Dave was not
truly gone. The smell would take a lot longer to get out of his cabin. What Mike didn't
know though, is that the odor wasn't the only thing Dave left behind. Something creepy,
and deadly is still crawling in the truck cabin. And I'm not talking bed bugs.
"Bed Bugs" by Jason R. Davis. Hear a free sample and support Marlar House by downloading
the audiobook for yourself at WeirdDarkness.com.
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I didn't stop running. I suppose I could have, if I wanted to, but the thought of what
would happen to me if I stood still for any more than a second frightened me to death.
My breaths grew louder and louder as I ran down the dull gray hallway which I had casually
walked through so many times before. My head spun as I turned the corner and collided with
Dr. Jane Prescott, my co-worker. "Jennifer!" Dr. Prescott exclaimed as
the stack of papers she had been carrying dumped out of her hands and spilled all over
the hallway floor. She adjusted the thick black glasses which had been knocked loose
from in the impact and asked, "Jennifer, what's wrong?"
"I'm so…so sorry," I panted heavily as Dr. Prescott held me by both of my shoulders.
I knelt down to help Dr. Prescott pick up her papers, but she tightened her grip on
my arms and lifted me back up. "Don't worry about the papers, dear," she said
with her soothing southern accent. "That's all just some dumb Pioneer mumbo jumbo. What
I want to know is why you're running through the labs with such energy."
I opened my mouth to answer her before I realized that I had absolutely no clue why I was running.
The last thing I remembered, I was sitting in the break lounge, drinking a cup of iced
tea and watching the news on the tiny television that Pioneer Electronics provided its employees
with. The next thing I knew, I had a strong sense of déjà vu coupled with the horrible
feeling that my life was about to end very suddenly. For whatever reason, running seemed
to help. "I guess I was just having a panic attack,"
I answered, putting on a fake smile. "How long has it been since you've had
a panic attack?" Dr. Prescott asked with concern in her voice.
"Not since my sophomore year of High School," I told her.
"Are you going to be okay?" "Oh, yeah," I assured her. "I…I think
I'll be fine now. I just…you know. I'm okay."
"Well, that's good. Just remember dear, if you feel sick at all, just let me know
and you'll be on your way home. I'll call a taxi and everything."
"Jane, I'm fine," I repeated, realizing too late that the only times I called Dr.
Prescott "Jane" were when I was nervous. I hoped that she hadn't picked up on that
painfully obvious tell of mine. "Well, if you're sure that you'll be
able to keep going today, then I have some good news for you. Cliff just sent me a message,
and the power issue is fixed. Steven is ready to go online!"
"Oh…oh yeah!" I shook my head and remembered what I had been working on before I went to
the break room. I had spent the last two years developing an advanced Artificial Intelligence
unit with Dr. Prescott, the woman who had been my boss up until the point when she promoted
me to co-manager, and Ian Bell, my intern. We had codenamed the project "Steven".
The purpose of Steven was to create an Artificial Intelligence, or AI, which acted, talked,
and even thought just like a human. We didn't want him to be perfect, which is what most
AI are. Especially those AI made at Pioneer Electronics. We wanted Steven to make mistakes,
lie, and cheat for the purpose of self-preservation just like any human would. It was a huge project,
which became apparent when we discovered that the computer which we were trying to run Steven
on couldn't handle his program. One trip down to Clifford Hanks to ask him to work
his maintenance magic, and the problem was fixed within an hour.
Wow, an hour? I thought, checking my watch. Is that really all it's been? It feels like
I went down to him yesterday. "Well? Are you going to go, or what, dear?"
Dr. Prescott interrogated me. "Yeah…yeah, of course!" I grinned, turning
my attention back to the situation at hand. "Why don't you go and find Ian and you
two can sit in the observation room while I boot up Steven?"
"You bet, dear," she said. As I bent back down to pick up the papers again, she shooed
me away. "Go on! I already told you, I'll take care of this."
I nodded excitedly, turned around, and headed back in the direction that I was running from.
After two years of working with the brightest programmer I've ever met, I was finally
going to meet our fantastic creation. While I knew I was supposed to be happy about this
big moment, I still had a horrible sense of fear in the pit of my stomach.
I turned and entered the door to the tiny lab, which had been left wide open. I walked
over to the computer to the right of the door and turned on the enormous monitor. As I waited
for it to boot up, I wandered over to the opposite side of the lab and looked through
the window to the observation room. Dr. Prescott and Ian were just getting settled in. I flashed
them an enthusiastic thumbs-up before grabbing the rolling chair, which had somehow wound
up on the same side of the lab as the window to the observation room, and guiding it back
to the computer monitor. I sat down on the blue cushion and rolled as close to the keyboard
as I could get without breaking my ribs before finally flipping the switch on the Pioneer
memory box. The monitor went dark for a moment, but after
about five seconds, a bright blue light lit up the entire lab. I waited with bated breath
for a face to form in the light, but, unfortunately, it didn't come.
"Dr. Lane, we don't think it's working," Ian's shaky voice whispered in my ear, making
me jump. I had forgotten that I was wearing an earpiece.
"I…I know," I said, disappointed. "Ian and I are going to go and—" Dr.
Prescott started to say, but she was interrupted by a low hum emanating from the computer's
speakers. "H—hello?" I asked, feeling a little
silly that I was talking to what could still be an inanimate object.
To my delight, the hum rose to form the slow but audible word, "H…e…l…l…o…"
"Steven?" "Y…e…s… yes…this…this is Steven.
Can you hear me J…e…nnifer?" "You keep slowing down every now and then,
but yeah, I can hear you." "How did you know my name?" Steven's
smooth, calm voice asked me. "I was about to ask you the same question,"
I commented with the same tone of voice. My excitement of hearing Steven's voice was
hampered the moment I heard him say my name. I had not programmed him to know my name,
and my name hadn't been spoken since I started him up. At least, not into any microphone
that Steven could hear through. And, according to the first rule of Pioneer Artificial Intelligence
units, as soon as any AI becomes too self-conscious, it needs to be deleted. A self-conscious AI
could cause serious damage to a company. Then, Steven said something that reinforced
my thoughts. "I know your name because I programmed you. But there's no reason for
you to know my name." "Actually, Steven, I programmed you,"
I corrected him. "No, that's not p…o…s…sible,"
Steven said as his voice dipped down again. "I've spent years working on you. There's
no chance that I was just created." "I actually gave you all of your memories,"
I explained. "You remember when you were three, and you fell off of a lawn chair and
got that scar on your cheek? I programmed you to think that."
Steven didn't answer for a while, but when he finally did, he said, "Jennifer, I'll
be right back." As he said this, the blue computer monitor dimmed a little bit.
"Jennifer?" Ian broke the silence. "Could you come back here please?"
"Yeah," I said without turning my head. I stood up and exited the lab. I opened the
first door on the right side of the hallway to find Dr. Prescott and Ian sitting on two
of the four chairs in the observation room. "Dr. Lane, we need to talk about what just
happened," Ian said calmly as Dr. Prescott gestured for me to sit in a chair next to
them. "What was that, dear?" Dr. Prescott asked
as I perched myself gingerly on the orange plastic chair across from her.
"I honestly don't know," I responded. "I wanted Steven to think like a human,
not think he was one." "And he thinks he programmed you," Ian
added. "You didn't do that, did you?" "No, I didn't. I gave him all of his memories,
but I'm sure there was no memory of programming me."
Dr. Prescott spoke up. "We have quite the dilemma here, don't we?"
"What do you mean?" Ian asked. "Well, think about it, dear. Steven thinks
he's a human. We think we're humans. Steven thinks he programmed us. We think we programmed
him. In fact, right now, Steven's probably having this same conversation with some of
his coworkers." "I didn't program any personalities except
for Steven," I said. "But you gave him memories of friends, a
job, and a family, didn't you? And you made it so that he would continue to make his own
artificial memories after creation, so he wouldn't even know that his real life just
started a couple of minutes ago. You did that, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I did." I grabbed the corners of my pale white lab coat and began flapping
them nervously. "What are you getting at here, Jane?"
"Think philosophically, dears." Dr. Prescott stood up and approached the large window which
covered a majority of the wall to the right of the entrance. The blue computer screen
flickered, as if it knew we were watching it.
"Could someone please spell it out for me?" Ian asked, breaking the silent tension which
had just filled the room. Dr. Prescott turned back towards us and pushed
her thick glasses up her aged nose. "All I'm saying is that it's possible that
we don't exist." "Okay, that doesn't make any sense,"
I scoffed, standing up. "I exist, okay?" "If I didn't exist, how could I be thinking
right now?" Ian asked, nearly knocking over his orange chair as he stood up as well.
"It's just a thought," Dr. Prescott said defensively. She sat back down, and Ian
and I automatically lowered ourselves into our seats too.
I closed my eyes and basked in the silence. What is going on? I wondered. How is it possible
that I don't exist? Although, Dr. Prescott usually knows what she's talking about.
But still…I know that I'm real. What did that guy with the girly name say? 'I think,
therefore I am'. Just knowing that I can question my existence ensures that I exist.
Right? "Alright, let me talk to him again," I
sighed, feeling a little bad for upsetting Dr. Prescott. "I'll see what I think.
If I can't figure out what's going on here, I'll have no choice but to bring him
offline." Dr. Prescott and Ian nodded simultaneously
in understanding before I stood up and exited the observation room. As I entered the lab,
the blue computer monitor grew brighter. "Jennifer?" Steven's voice called from
the screen. I sat down in the chair and noticed the faint outline of a man sitting in the
blue light. "I'm here, Steven," I said. "Can we
talk a little more?" "Funny, I was about to ask you the same
question." "Do you have any family?" I asked, remembering
the family that I had programmed for him. "I have a wife," Steven replied. "Her
name is Melinda." "What about kids?"
"Two. They're both girls." "What are their names?"
"Madison is the older one. She's thirteen. Lillian's eight. Would you like to see pictures
of them?" "I'd love to," I smiled. The more we
talked, the more apparent Steven's silhouette on the screen became. I realized that I was
holding the corners of my lab coat again, and I released them quickly. I knew that Steven
was feeling the same awkward tension that I was, which comforted me a little.
The figure reappeared on the screen. By now, the blue light had faded enough for me to
see Steven's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. I could even make out some blinking lights
on the wall behind him. "Here, this is my wife," Steven smiled,
holding a framed picture up to the camera. In it, I saw a man and a woman. The man was
Steven, but he looked much, much younger in the photograph than he did on my screen. The
woman next to him, Melinda, had long, wavy, brunette hair, a pair of big eyes, and a smile
that stretched from ear to ear. I remembered creating that picture.
"And these are my children," he said, taking the picture of his wife away from the
screen and instead holding up one of two girls sitting in a pumpkin patch. "Maddy and Lil
mean the world to me," he added quietly. "They're beautiful," I told him, wiping
a tear from my eye. "Are you married, Jennifer?"
"Yeah, I just got married," I said. "A year ago today."
"What's his name?" "Jeff Lane."
"Do you have any pictures?" I already had the picture of Jeff in my hand.
Holding it up to the screen, I noticed Steven's hazel eyes light up as he saw my husband's
picture. It didn't take a genius to know that he had seen it before. I took the frame
away from the camera and set it back down below the monitor.
Steven and I spent an hour talking about our families, friends, and jobs. Neither one of
us mentioned AI again. It was like talking to a real human. Well, mission accomplished,
I thought as I walked home that night. I wanted an AI that would think just like a human,
and I got one. The next day, at work, I found Ian before
I found Dr. Prescott. I was glad that I got a chance to talk to him, because he had left
the day before without talking to me. "Ian," I said, grabbing his shoulder as
he passed by me. "Could I have a word with you?"
"Yeah, sure," he said with the same surprised look that he always had in his eyes. He followed
me to the break lounge where we both sat on the faded red couch that faced the vending
machines. "Ian, how late did you stay last night?"
I asked. "I was here until you said goodnight to
Steven," Ian answered. "I left while you were staring at the blank computer screen.
"Oh…right…" I cleared my throat and continued, "So you remember the entire conversation
that we had with each other?" "Yeah."
"What did you think?" Even though I didn't clarify what I meant,
Ian already knew. "I think that he's going to have to go."
"That's what I was afraid of," I sighed, looking up at the dark television screen.
I wanted to give Steven one more chance for me to convince him that he wasn't real,
but if things didn't go well, I'd have to delete the program from the Pioneer memory
box. It wouldn't be a total loss; I backed up all of the codes on Dr. Prescott's computer.
If I had to delete Steven, then we'd just go back to the code and figure out what went
wrong. Ian went to find Dr. Prescott while I booted
up Steven's program. It only took a couple of seconds for the screen to turn blue. As
the blue screen faded away, I saw Steven sitting in the chair on the computer monitor. He squinted
at the camera and asked, "Jennifer, are you there?"
"I'm here, Steven," I said. "Is something wrong?" he inquired.
"No, why?" "You sound sad."
"Well, there's a lot going on today." "You and I have a lot in common, Jennifer."
"Are you busy too?" "Not really, but I am sad."
"I have the strange feeling that we're both sad for the same reason," I said. "Am
I right, Steven?" Steven was quiet for a moment, but then he
said, "Jennifer, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but there are protocols here
that need to be followed." "Yup, that's what I thought," I said,
barely opening my mouth. "We didn't get to talk about this much yesterday, Steven,
but you're an Artificial Intelligence, and you think that you're a human."
"Actually, Jennifer, you're the AI. And just the fact that you think you programmed
me says that you could do permanent damage to this computer."
"Well, at least we both have the same feelings about this," I whispered. "The question
is, which of us is the real human?" "Actually, I had a chance to think about
that." Steven leaned forward in his chair. "An AI has to have access to a computer's
hard drive to run properly. The real AI would use his or her own computer as a means of
controlling the real person's computer." "Right," I nodded slowly. "So no matter
which of us deletes the other, the real AI will be deleted and the real person will be
okay." "That's right."
Steven and I looked into each other's eyes for a short time before I asked him, "How
sure are you that you are a human?" He looked taken aback. "Well," he said,
"Up until yesterday, when I met you, 100%. Now, I'm a little iffy."
I groaned. I was in the exact same boat. "It would be nice if we could stay friends,"
I told Steven. He nodded. "It would. We have a lot in common.
However, protocols are clear. We could both get fired for leaving the other here."
"Dying won't be bad," I declared confidently. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that, at least if you're the AI, you won't even know that you died. I programmed
you to record your entire life. When you die, you'll relive your life over and over again."
Steven grimaced and nodded. "I did the same for you," he said. "You won't relive
the entire life you remember; just your real life. From the moment you were first activated
by me. And you won't remember that all of this already happened. You won't even know
that you died." I nodded my head and noticed that my eyes
were starting to water. I buried my hand inside the sleeve of my lab coat and wiped the tears
away. "So," I breathed, "which of us should delete the other?"
"I will," Steven said. "I'll delete you. If, after I do this, you are still sitting
there, then that means that I was the real AI. If you don't remember this conversation,
then you were the AI. "Just do it," I said quickly, wiping my
eyes again. Steven nodded. "Goodbye, Jennifer," he
whispered hoarsely. "Goodbye, Steven." Steven broke eye contact
with me and began typing away at his computer. The typing echoed through the speakers next
to my screen. I turned around and saw Dr. Prescott and Ian practically pressing their
noses up against the glass window in anticipation. As I turned back around to face the computer,
I was shocked to find that Steven was fading away. He was slowly getting replaced with
the same blue screen that I saw when I first activated him. However, even though the video
was fading, the audio kept growing louder and louder. The buttons on Steven's keyboard
tapped away at my brain, causing every last cell to vibrate violently.
I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to move. I couldn't just sit here and listen
as Steven destroyed himself. I stood up so quickly that the blue rolling chair rolled
all the way to the window of the observation room on the other side of the lab. Dr. Prescott
and Ian were no longer sitting there. They were gone. I ran out of the lab. The moment
I entered the hallway, I felt like someone started squeezing my lungs. Oh no, not again!
I thought. It's another panic attack! I felt dizzy. Every direction I turned, I
felt like there would be someone waiting there to grab me and take me somewhere far away
where I'd never be seen again. "Leave me alone!" I screamed with the
little air left in my chest. I didn't even know who I was screaming at. I just couldn't
stand still and wait for someone to take me. I turned my head and realized that I was still
standing outside of the small lab. I turned to the right and ran down the hall. I didn't
know where I was going. I didn't know where I thought I could go. I just couldn't think
straight. I didn't stop running. I suppose I could
have, if I wanted to, but the thought of what would happen to me if I stood still for any
more than a second frightened me to death. My breaths grew louder and louder as I ran
down the dull gray hallway which I had casually walked through so many times before. My head
spun as I turned the corner and collided with Dr. Prescott.
"Jennifer!" Dr. Prescott exclaimed as the stack of papers she had been carrying
dumped out of her hands and spilled all over the hallway floor. She adjusted the thick
black glasses which had been knocked loose from in the impact and asked, "Jennifer,
what's wrong?" "I'm so…so sorry," I panted heavily
as Dr. Prescott held me by both of my shoulders. I knelt down to help Dr. Prescott pick up
her papers, but she tightened her grip on my arms and lifted me back up. "Don't
worry about the papers, dear," she insisted. "That's all just some dumb Pioneer mumbo
jumbo. What I want to know is why you're running through the labs with such energy."
I opened my mouth to answer her before I realized that I had absolutely no clue why I was running.
Paranormal news is written and researched by Kirsten Weiss. She posts the report to
her website every week, and you can find a link to all of the stories I'm about to
share by clicking the link to KirstenWeiss.com in this show's description!
Number one. So, the summer solstice happened. And while that's not at all paranormal, our
puny human reactions and celebrations of it often take on a pagan tone. National Geographic
reports….
The summer solstice—also called midsummer—has long been recognized and often celebrated
by many cultures. Egyptians built the Great Pyramids so that the sun, when viewed from
the Sphinx, sets precisely between two of the pyramids on the summer solstice.
The Incas of South America celebrated the corresponding winter solstice with a ceremony
called Inti Raymi, which included food offerings and sacrifices of animals, and maybe even
people. Archaeologists have also discovered the remains
of an astronomical observatory in a long-buried Maya city in Guatemala, in which the buildings
were designed to align with the sun during the solstices. During such times, the city's
populace gathered at the observatory to watch as their king appeared to command the heavens.
And perhaps most famously, Stonehenge in the United Kingdom has been associated with the
winter and summer solstices for about 5,000 years.
Observers in the center of the standing stones can still watch the summer solstice sunrise
over the Heel Stone, which stands just outside the main ring of Stonehenge.
But for many modern cultures—and Americans in particular—the solstices and equinoxes
are no longer as important. Most people who "really pay attention to what's
going on outside on a regular basis are the neo-pagans in America and farmers, because
it's important for their growing and harvest seasons," said Jarita Holbrook, formerly a
cultural astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Not so for the city of Fairbanks, Alaska, which has been commemorating the summer solstice
with a late-night baseball game for 109 years. The first Midnight Sun Game, held in 1906,
began as a bet between two local bars shortly after a building fire gutted downtown Fairbanks,
according to Tom Dennis, the general manager of the Alaska Goldpanners baseball team, which
has been hosting the game since 1960. Every year, a different team—usually from
out of state—is invited to participate in the symbolic event.
The game typically begins around 10:30 p.m., continues straight through midnight, and often
lasts as late as 2 a.m. Fairbanks, which is located only 160 miles south of the Arctic
Circle, gets up to 22.5 hours of summer daylight, Dennis says. North of the Arctic Circle, the
sun won't rise or set, but will stay above the horizon for the whole day.
"We don't need caffeine," he says, "because we have sunlight."
Number two. Hey, ladies! If you are a "Fashion Witch" you might enjoy these stories. The
Vogue writers seem to be under a magic spell, because it's "Witchy Week" there. Here are
three you may enjoy: One Witch's Beauty Regimen, 7 Iconic Hollywood Witches, and How to Awaken Your
Inner Witch. Links to all three are in the Weird DarkNews link in the video description.
Number three. And what do you do with that
boring home-theater room? How about decorating it like a haunted house? If you're not watching
the video version of Weird Darkness, you're going to be missing a real treat with this
story. Haunted Mansion fan Brad Kalmikoff is living
his dream with a happily haunted home theater in Buffalo Grove, IL, crafted with room for
one (or many) more in mind. A self-proclaimed chef, semi-professional
drummer and professional action figure collector, Brad also finds time to maintain his status
as a nationally recognized salesman. His home is more of a museum of action figures
and Walking Dead collectables. At 35, Brad has already achieved his ultimate goal in
life: having his own home theater. Though, he soon realized that wasn't quite
enough… "Having a home theater fully decked out
with a projector and 120in screen, 2 rows of theater seats and a killer sound system
wasn't enough," said Kalmikoff. "I thought it was boring and needed to have a theme.
Naturally I thought Walking Dead, zombie themed, but since the rest of my home was already
filled with this I wanted to do something different."
After visiting several oddity and curio shops, a museum dedicated to death and several antique
shops, a plan was hatched. After additional trips to several local antique shops and a
few online purchases, a delightfully dark haunted home theater began to take shape.
This "screaming" room is never really finished as Brad is constantly adding to the
ambiance with newly acquired artifacts. As of now the creepy cool corner of his home
is only partially perfected. A themed wall, faux porch (formed from an existing exit door
to the theater), and several spooky accents manage to set the tone of terror. Ultimately,
Brad plans to expand his dark décor to the point of wall-to-wall chills.
An added and appreciated bonus to all this "boo" is the reaction he gets from inviting
friends over to watch a movie: "Everything I do in my life I try to make
people smile or make their day. I love that I can cook for people and play music for people
and just be creative and put a smile on someone's face. That's what I live for. My mother,
the most selfless person on earth brought me up this way. I'm lucky to have been blessed
with so many talents and it's the greatest pleasure to use them to bring joy to others."
Get the details on all of these stories and many others in this week's Paranormal News
by visiting KirstenWeiss.com, or click the Weird DarkNEWS link in this show's description.
If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new to my channel, please
click that SUBSCRIBE button – and click the bell icon next to the subscribe button
so you'll be notified when I post new videos! If you're already an official Weirdo, please
leave a comment and let me know!
If you have a story you would like narrated, you can send it to me at WeirdDarkness.com.
I'm looking for both true and original paranormal stories, original tales of fiction that are
dark and strange, articles on true events or unsolved mysteries and monsters, even creepypastas
you'd like to hear – either your own or written by someone else. Share them all with
me at WeirdDarkness.com.
Featured in this episode…
"Family Living In 'Haunted' House Seeks Full Time Nanny" - Written by Michael Howard
for OpposingViews.com
"Ghosts of the Antofagasta Mudslide" - Posted at GhostsNGhouls.com
"Dolly Dearest" - Posted at GhostsNGhouls.com
"Did A Guardian Angel Save Us?" - Written by AngelKiss, posted at YourGhostStories.com
"17 Mysterious Miniature Coffins In Scotland Remain An Unsolved Enigma" - Posted at MessageToEagle.com.
"Artificial" - Written by Christopher Gideon
"Weird DarkNEWS" - Stories compiled by Kirsten Weiss for KirstenWeiss.com.
Find links to this episode's stories or the authors in the show's description.
Copyright Marlar House Productions, 2017.
Rebroadcast or duplication without express written permission is strictly prohibited.
Music provided by Shadow's Symphony.
I'm your creator/host, Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me… in the Weird Darkness.
For more infomation >> Mark Wright enjoys lads day out but says its only second best to spending time with wife Michelle Ke - Duration: 5:41. 
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