Podchaser Logo
Home
Lot 040 :  Can You Hide? // I Asked An AI Image Generator To Show Me How I Was Going To Die

Lot 040 : Can You Hide? // I Asked An AI Image Generator To Show Me How I Was Going To Die

Released Saturday, 20th April 2024
 1 person rated this episode
Lot 040 :  Can You Hide? // I Asked An AI Image Generator To Show Me How I Was Going To Die

Lot 040 : Can You Hide? // I Asked An AI Image Generator To Show Me How I Was Going To Die

Lot 040 :  Can You Hide? // I Asked An AI Image Generator To Show Me How I Was Going To Die

Lot 040 : Can You Hide? // I Asked An AI Image Generator To Show Me How I Was Going To Die

Saturday, 20th April 2024
 1 person rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:02

What would your life look like

0:04

If fear was not an option,

0:06

find out! in the new series,

0:08

them The Scare it's an all

0:10

new installment of the horror anthology

0:12

coming to Prime Video on April

0:14

twenty fifth. The series takes place

0:16

in Los Angeles in the early

0:18

nineties with the city on edge

0:20

of complete chaos. Deborah I Randy

0:23

returns the season as Lapd Homicide

0:25

detective Dawn Raid, who has been

0:27

assigned to solve a new case

0:29

that has left even the most

0:31

hardened detectives. Shaken to find

0:33

the South Side Slayer as

0:35

she gives everything to uncover

0:37

the truth. Something horrific and

0:39

supernatural begins to haunt her

0:41

and her family. Them The

0:43

Scare features the legendary Pam

0:45

Grier whoop James Way night

0:47

was many more and as

0:49

sure to keep you guessing

0:52

at every turn. For fans,

0:54

get ready for your new

0:56

obsession. This is something you

0:58

do not want a nice

1:00

and remember. Fear is

1:02

not an option. Watch

1:05

them. The scare on

1:07

Prime video premiering on

1:09

April twenty fifth. This

1:15

episode is brought to you by Shopify. Forget

1:18

the frustration of picking commerce platforms

1:21

when you switch your business to

1:23

Shopify, the global commerce platform that

1:25

supercharges your selling wherever you sell.

1:27

With Shopify, you'll harness the same

1:29

intuitive features, trusted apps, and powerful

1:31

analytics used by the world's leading

1:33

brands. Sign up today for your

1:35

$1 per month

1:38

trial period at shopify.com/tech,

1:40

all lowercase. That's shopify.com

1:42

slash tech. Hey. Hey there! Did

1:45

you know Kroger always gives you savings and

1:47

rewards on top of our lower than low

1:49

prices? And when you download the Kroger app,

1:51

you'll enjoy over $500 in savings every

1:54

week with digital coupons. And don't forget fuel

1:56

points to help you save up to $1

1:59

per gallon at the pump. Want Want to save

2:01

even more? With a boost membership, you'll get

2:03

double fuel points and free delivery. So shop

2:05

and save big at Kroger today! Kroger,

2:08

fresh for everyone. Savings may vary

2:10

by state, restrictions apply, seaside for

2:12

details. That

2:22

who I think it is. And here

2:24

I thought you were trying to run off on me

2:26

now. You

2:30

know, you

2:32

wouldn't get too far. Some

2:35

might wonder if you and the shop are

2:37

indeed one and the same. Hmm.

2:42

Well, that's neither here nor there now is

2:45

it? What I am sure

2:47

of is that I've got

2:49

something really special set aside for you.

2:52

A smartphone. And it

2:54

looks like you are getting your first call. Ah,

2:58

ah, ah. Aida,

3:01

let that go to voicemail if I were you.

3:04

Too many swindlers nowadays. You

3:07

will notice that this phone

3:09

comes with this

3:11

app right here. And

3:14

with that app comes a warning.

3:18

With that warning comes

3:20

a story. Don't

3:23

play the can you hide

3:25

game if it

3:27

appears on your phone. Before

3:30

we begin, I want to point out

3:32

some of the customers whose names have

3:34

been etched in brass on this beautiful

3:37

plaque I had made above the front

3:39

desk. These

3:41

are some of the members of the

3:43

inner circle of the antiquarium. We

3:46

go by the Obsidian Covenant.

3:49

Recent initiates include Andrew

3:51

Taylor, Penguin,

3:55

Jennifer, Kara,

3:58

Esme, Cecily

4:01

Smith, Benjamin membrane own

4:03

Mr. James is I

4:06

have the lady and

4:08

batch will ever appreciative

4:11

of your devotion to.

4:14

The or to. Go

4:16

to the Obsidian Covenants.to

4:19

receive the sacrament. Will.

4:30

Be an aquarium. Of Sinister have.

4:33

And on. Its.

5:19

Don't play any game

5:22

disappears and your fault.

5:26

You won't find it on Google Play or they app

5:28

store. There's nothing about the game on any public web

5:30

sites other than this. Post.

5:34

It doesn't matter whether you're

5:36

a good or bad person

5:38

is chooses targets. The

5:42

point is it, it's avoid. He

5:47

might hear reverberating things sound. Death

5:50

toll from the depths of hell. than

5:55

income groups window or

6:01

no. Make sure you

6:03

select no. When

6:08

the window first appeared on my phone screen, I

6:11

was stunned. I always

6:13

presumed smartphones to be safer from the threat

6:15

of viruses than computers, especially

6:17

a brand new iPhone. Isn't

6:19

Apple supposed to be superior to Microsoft when

6:21

it comes to security? They

6:24

strike. I said. But

6:26

before I made a rash decision and ended

6:28

up infecting my phone with something nasty, I

6:31

decided to do some research. Not

6:34

exactly computer savvy, but I didn't trust

6:36

either the yes or no option. I

6:39

didn't want to mess with the window in any way. There

6:42

was nothing about the can you hide

6:44

pop up online. I didn't even realize

6:47

it was a game until a Reddit

6:49

user who I won't name pointed

6:51

me in the direction of a discord server discussing

6:55

unearthly matters. There

6:58

was an entire category dedicated

7:00

to the bizarre new game

7:02

that had been appearing on people's phones. Yes,

7:08

apparently. Commences a hide

7:10

and seek game of

7:12

unknown origin. I scrolled to

7:14

the many discord messages. Can

7:18

anyone help me? Nobody seems to

7:20

know anything about this game. My friend played

7:22

it nonstop for a week and then he

7:24

went missing. That was two weeks ago. There

7:27

are daily search parties, but I don't think

7:29

they're going to find him. You have to

7:31

select now. I destroyed my phone after reading

7:33

these messages. I've seen or

7:36

heard anything unusual. I selected

7:38

now. But I

7:40

keep hearing creaks and

7:42

I don't think it's in my head. Just leave

7:44

the pop up window open. Guys, you don't

7:46

have to select anything. What for the rest

7:48

of my life? What if something

7:51

accidentally knocks It? Destroy Your phone. Like

7:53

I said, works for me until it

7:55

pops up on your next phone. What

7:57

if I just turn off my phone?

7:59

That Seems a little less dramatic than

8:01

just. you are on a more I

8:03

read the more anxious I felt. I

8:06

had expected to pop up window to be

8:08

a virus. That everybody

8:11

was doing. Superstitious

8:15

baby or toddler says his disappearance

8:17

had nothing to do with the

8:19

game He was. Eventually,

8:22

after a weekend of our five

8:25

contemplation, I opted for user fives

8:27

idea to turn off my phone.

8:29

In fact, that. I.

8:40

Met my friends Korean Tanya in a local

8:42

park and Monday afternoon. Atlanta

8:46

tell about my experience. But. Why

8:50

did you pick up the phone all weekend?

8:52

Lean cari to ask me we were worried

8:54

about you man. More an eye out on

8:56

Sunday or know the truth? I didn't fancy

8:58

third wheel and some of us have to

9:01

go to work on Mondays. Take my word

9:03

son the from a bathroom in your bedroom

9:05

or to Zambia so I can scroll through

9:07

added and play games away from of watchful

9:09

eye of my employer. Speak.

9:12

In a game. And he

9:15

played can you Hide. Or.

9:20

Sell this is quarries worse.

9:22

Worse flocks. Of.

9:27

Season. Playing it every day since

9:29

Tuesday. optimal my phone so I

9:31

thought. tiny

9:34

thought of most be a virus

9:36

but it's just a cool augmented

9:39

reality t corey thrusters phone down

9:41

on the wouldn't picnic table there

9:43

was already open on a game

9:45

without a map surrounding area a

9:48

small green marker indicated quarries location

9:50

in the park and there was

9:52

a small red marker moving along

9:54

nearby roads once a day from

9:56

two to four in the afternoon

9:59

the game takes place. I have

10:01

to hide. It tracks my location in the real

10:03

world, so I have to keep moving. I

10:06

wanted to delay coming to the park, but I

10:08

don't think the Red Seeker will find me here.

10:10

Besides, it's ten to four. Nearly made it. What's

10:13

the red marker that's searching for you?

10:16

The Bucky Man. No, you

10:20

know that kind of talk makes me freak

10:22

out. Corey shrugged, and the pair

10:24

of them became absorbed in a different topic of conversation.

10:28

They were tucking into their sandwiches, talking

10:30

between mouthfuls, but I wasn't

10:32

eating. I couldn't take my

10:35

eyes on Corey's phone on the table. The

10:38

red marker was circling the park, looking

10:40

for... I had to stop

10:43

thinking about those people in the Discord

10:45

server who had spoken so solemnly. But

10:48

the supposedly deadly game. The

10:52

supposedly... the marker... was

10:54

in the park. Corey

10:57

was wrong. They found

10:59

him. I prepared

11:01

for something joyful to happen. I prepared for

11:04

my friend, and he caught.

11:06

And that's a wrap, Corey said, scooping

11:08

up his phone. Four o'clock.

11:10

Yet again, I bested the game. It

11:13

got close this time, though. Damn. Just

11:15

a hundred yards away. On

11:17

the game map, the park was a

11:19

featureless green patch. I could

11:22

see Corey's green marker, scarcely standing

11:24

out from the grass. And

11:26

I could see the red marker northeast of

11:28

our location. The victory box red.

11:31

You avoided the creeker by 121 yards. You can hide.

11:37

Tonya groaned and mumbled about Corey's game addiction, and the

11:39

two of them resumed their conversation. I don't really want

11:41

to talk about any of this with you. I'm tired

11:43

of hearing about this game. I

11:45

was about to dive back into reality, putting this

11:47

silly game out of my head for good. But

11:50

a sudden noise terrified me.

11:56

The creek. My

11:59

eyes shut. cable. Neither Tanya nor

12:01

Cory seemed to notice the eerie sound.

12:04

I can't explain it. As

12:07

nearby as the sound seemed, my

12:09

eyes were drawn to a

12:11

solitary tree, a little

12:13

over a hundred yards away. Perhaps

12:16

not exactly where the red marker had appeared on

12:19

Cory's screen, but it was

12:21

enough. Peering

12:23

around the park was

12:25

a frightful face. The

12:28

thing that gave the three of us was

12:31

not human. It

12:34

was as short as a toddler. Its

12:36

head, if it even had

12:38

a head, was wearing

12:40

a peach-colored lower mask, almost

12:43

a tone of human flesh, but not

12:45

a boy. And its

12:48

sickly sweet smile seared to my eyes,

12:51

into my very soul. The

12:55

second resounding freak, the

12:58

nightmare space snapped behind the

13:00

park, disappearing from view.

13:02

Earth to Lee, hello you

13:04

look like you've seen a ghost. I

13:06

think somebody's actually seeking you, Cory.

13:09

I whispered, pointing a shaky finger at

13:11

the tree. I don't

13:13

think you should play that game anymore, man. Your

13:16

phasmophobia really kills

13:18

my buzz sometimes, Lee. There's

13:22

no boogeyman following me. I have a

13:24

proclivity for trembling at everyday sights and

13:27

sounds. In my mind, there's always

13:29

a ghost or a ghoul around the corner. Ever

13:32

since my parents died, I've been that way. But

13:35

I knew, without a shadow of a

13:37

doubt, that I hadn't imagined

13:39

what I saw behind the tree. Unfortunately,

13:42

my phasmophobia, fear

13:44

of ghosts and the supernatural, makes it

13:47

very difficult for anybody to believe me

13:49

when I've been startled by something. Cory

13:53

and Tonya told me to take it easy to get

13:55

home and get lost for rest. A

13:59

following day. The two of them

14:01

pinged me incessantly on WhatsApp. I

14:03

was still reeling from the terrifying thing I'd seen

14:05

behind that tree. Transfixed

14:08

by terrible thoughts, the

14:10

work day flew by. I was

14:12

starting to believe that maybe I could

14:14

learn well. Perhaps I'd suffered

14:17

some sort of psychotic breach. I

14:20

thought so. Around

14:23

half-six of me tried to learn

14:26

to call me. I answered via

14:28

my car's dashboard. I'm

14:30

driving right now, Tonya. What's going on? In

14:33

hours. I gave three

14:36

blankets later than usual. What

14:38

happened? The

14:40

game started at six. I

14:44

think you were right, Lee. I

14:47

think so much actually thinking of it.

14:50

We saw a horrible face

14:52

at the window and then there were... There

14:54

were cranking sounds in the house. We're

14:57

hiding in the attic. Corey's pulled up the door

14:59

so we don't think... Tonya, you gotta

15:01

listen. He's called the fucking police. They're on

15:04

their way. It's me. It's me. No,

15:10

I feel safer with someone on the other end of the... Okay.

15:13

Corey wants me to hang up.

15:17

He wants us to be quiet. I

15:19

understand. Just make sure that... I

15:25

didn't need to ask, but it frightened her. I

15:27

heard it too. A creak

15:30

in the attic. It

15:32

sounded so clear, and

15:34

once again, so fucking

15:36

clear. So nightmarish

15:38

they knew that I sent my neck around to

15:40

make sure the world of these demons was in

15:42

the backseat of my car. I

15:47

left it. I decided not to go home. I

15:49

diverted to Corey's house. An eight

15:52

minute journey. Barely any quicker than the police. I

15:54

didn't even get in here. I

15:56

can keep being honest. He's

16:00

such a child, and he needs

16:02

to leave our... Oh.

16:08

What the fuck is that? Please.

16:10

Please. Please. The

16:18

screams in my two feelings were deafening. I

16:21

was so fixed over on reaching the house that I didn't hang

16:23

up. It was only as I

16:25

tore on the cold drywall and the admittance before the police that I

16:27

realized I had been just in the sound. Well,

16:30

the community

16:33

is so dignity-less. Christ.

16:46

The board still in front of the door, went up to the attic. I

16:49

expected to find a sickening scene of mutilations,

16:51

but the space was

16:53

empty. Corey and

16:55

Tonya were on

16:58

their cause. The

17:01

police had questions for me, of course, but my

17:03

alibi was there tight. The 911

17:06

call was made before I even left the office. And

17:09

traffic camera footage corroborated the fact that I

17:11

was on the road whilst the intruder terrorized.

17:14

Corey and Tonya. Missing

17:17

persons. That's the verdict. I

17:22

don't understand what the game wants. I

17:25

don't know where the missing people go. All

17:28

I know is that resetting my phone was not

17:30

enough. On

17:33

my drive home, after a long night

17:35

of tears and police questioning, I

17:38

can swear I got a

17:40

glimpse of a peach-colored mask peeking around

17:42

a post box. And

17:45

then, as I have to confirm that

17:47

menacing thought, there was

17:49

a notification on my phone. An

17:53

unmistakable ding of hell. Can

17:57

you hide? Yeah.

18:00

or no. A message displayed on

18:03

my car dashboard. I

18:05

moaned in horror, and that was

18:07

what damned me. See,

18:10

my car uses voice recognition, and

18:13

it somehow registered my terrified vocal

18:15

reaction as a fucking answer. You

18:17

selected, no. Perhaps

18:19

I've chosen the safer of the two options.

18:22

I know many of the Discord users suggested no,

18:24

but I can't stop thinking about what I read

18:27

on that server. I want to

18:29

know if they keep hearing me.

18:32

I haven't heard anything yet, and the

18:34

game hasn't started playing. But

18:37

Cory didn't seem to hear the creep when he was

18:39

playing the game. Maybe

18:41

like him, I've just been missing it. I'm

18:45

terrified of a stranger. I'm

18:48

terrified of where he might take me. It

18:51

appears that hell has raised its long distance charges. What

18:54

do you say I put you on hold for a moment, and I'll be right

18:57

back? With one more consignment, don't worry.

19:02

An operator is standing by. They're

19:21

on hold now. To

19:28

the end of the game, I'm

19:35

taken to the end of the game.

19:38

Why, hello there. You've reached the ant

19:40

aquarium. If you wish to leave a message,

19:42

please do so at the town and have

19:44

a great day. Good

19:47

evening, shopkeeper. I

19:49

know the rules, but I'm already on

19:51

my way. They don't

19:53

have to know. Please

19:56

leave the door locked to me, my

19:58

brother. I was...

20:00

You'll see you very, very

20:03

shortly. End

20:06

of messages. Ha!

20:08

All that! And it was a wrong number.

20:12

Something tells me they won't be making

20:14

that mistake again. Here,

20:17

come a little closer. Put

20:20

this on. You

20:22

look incredible! This

20:24

yellow hat is a portal

20:26

of darkness. What

20:29

I do find rather odd... is

20:32

how it really brings out your eyes. Speaking

20:36

of eyes, you sure

20:38

can't count on those with all the AI,

20:40

Malaki. They can make anyone

20:42

do or say anything. Learn

20:46

from me, if not by

20:49

my precepts, at least by my example. How

20:52

dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge?

20:56

And how much happier that man is

20:58

who believes his native town to be

21:00

his world... than

21:02

he who aspires to become

21:04

greater than his nature will allow. Mary

21:09

Shelley, Frankenstein, and

21:12

a very wise nineteen years old. I

21:16

do believe, my good friend, that

21:18

Frankenstein's monster has entered our village. Gather

21:22

round the torches for... I

21:24

asked an AI image generator to

21:27

show me how I was going to die.

21:31

I asked an AI generator to show me how

21:33

I was going to die. The

21:37

trouble started a week ago when I started

21:39

playing around with one of those AI image

21:41

generators that's been floating around on the internet.

21:45

Normally I would stay away from such things

21:47

because I have a deep resentment towards anything

21:49

to do with AI or deepfakes and the

21:51

like. I find

21:54

it all repulsive. Once,

21:56

while scrolling through Instagram, I saw Tom Cruise

21:58

impression of a man. to it put a

22:01

deep fake of the actor's face into his own. It

22:04

was startling and disturbing.

22:08

Wasn't how much he looked like the real Tom

22:10

Cruise that bothered me. It

22:12

was how much he didn't look

22:14

like the real thing. He looked

22:17

like some thing wearing

22:19

another man's face. But

22:21

people in the comment sections were eating

22:24

it up and some even

22:26

believed he was Tom Cruise. A

22:28

lot of them believed it. Couldn't

22:30

they see how fake it all was and

22:32

how wrong it was for that impressionist

22:35

to put another person's face over his own? I

22:38

can't help but think something bad

22:41

is going to come of all

22:43

this one day for our society. Not

22:46

that it matters much for me. I'm probably

22:49

going to be dead soon. No,

22:53

not probably. I'm sure of it.

22:57

I can hear him outside.

23:00

The AI

23:02

image generator hooked me. It

23:05

was simple. You give it a prompt

23:08

and it will produce an image at that prompt.

23:11

I had seen similar AI generators in the past,

23:14

but what astounded me about

23:16

this one is how specific

23:18

the prompt could be. How

23:20

the AI could produce almost

23:22

anything you thought of in

23:25

great detail. The images

23:27

I saw floating around online made me laugh.

23:29

So I decided to bite the bullet. Sure,

23:32

the Tom Cruise thing was creepy as

23:34

was the potential for that kind of

23:36

technology in the wrong hands. But

23:39

this was harmless fun, right? Not even

23:41

remotely the same sort of thing. A

23:44

stupid generator making stupid images for you. When

23:48

I brought up the site, I sat

23:50

long and hard thinking about the first

23:52

prompt I wanted to give the generator.

23:54

And I remembered a story my father told

23:56

me once about how when he was in

23:58

college, he visited. in a scratchy

24:00

Pakistan with his world class studies. He

24:03

told me that one night when he and

24:06

his classmates were walking around the city, they

24:08

came across a man who was playing chess

24:10

with a dog, not pretending

24:12

to play, but really playing

24:14

with him. And my

24:17

father told me that when they walked

24:19

past the man again an hour later,

24:21

that the man was shaking his head,

24:25

that he looked beyond frustrated,

24:27

defeated, that

24:30

the dog looked happy, grinning even.

24:33

The dog had apparently won. I

24:37

typed dog playing chess into the

24:39

generator and hit enter. It

24:41

started loading and after a few minutes, the

24:43

generator produced an image. It

24:45

was an image of a dog playing chess. It

24:48

even had a stupid smile on its face.

24:50

I laughed, a stupid

24:52

generator making stupid images. I

24:55

told myself I would only spend a few

24:57

more minutes playing, but those

24:59

minutes quickly turned into an hour.

25:02

And when I next looked at the

25:04

clock, I realized I had spent almost

25:06

two and a half hours playing around

25:08

with the generator. I

25:11

won't waste your time by showing you all the images

25:13

I created as banal and

25:15

dumb as you'd expect. I

25:17

was about to close the tab when

25:20

another prompt came into my head. If

25:24

I told you this prompt came out of nowhere, that

25:28

would be a lie. I

25:30

know exactly where it came from.

25:34

It came from the fact that about three months

25:36

ago, one of my coworkers had

25:38

died. His name was

25:40

Jeremy. He was

25:42

a good guy and had even

25:45

managed to get promoted in my office despite only working there

25:47

for a couple of months at that point. Jeremy

25:50

was what you would call a real

25:53

go-getter. The kind of guy who gave it 110% at

25:55

all phases in his life. to

26:00

go along with the big cup of coffee he drank

26:02

every morning. A cup that had

26:04

world's best Jeremy written on it. And

26:08

all that was wiped out

26:10

when he forgot to look both ways

26:12

while crossing the road. Taken

26:15

out by a semi truck. Jeremy's

26:18

death struck me hard, not because it

26:20

was the death of a fellow coworker,

26:22

but because it made

26:25

me realize how fragile life

26:27

is. If

26:29

a guy like Jeremy could get taken

26:31

out, what did

26:33

that mean for someone like me? How

26:36

much borrowed time was a schmuck like

26:38

me really on? If

26:41

Jeremy had only looked both ways, or

26:44

if he had somehow known what was going to

26:47

happen before it happened, I

26:49

typed, how am I going

26:51

to die, into the generator

26:53

and hit enter. The

26:55

generator started loading and

26:58

kept loading and

27:00

loading. It was

27:02

taking a very long time, much

27:04

longer than all the other prompts.

27:07

I began to feel foolish, thinking I had

27:09

finally managed to give it a broken prompt.

27:12

I mean, of course I did. It

27:14

had been a profoundly stupid prompt. There

27:17

was no way the generator could know how.

27:22

It produced an image. It

27:25

was an image of an old man

27:27

in a yellow hat. I

27:30

laughed when I saw it. Though

27:32

it wasn't the same kind of laughter that the

27:34

other generated images had gotten out of me. It

27:37

was nervous laughter, scared

27:40

laughter. Maybe you

27:42

laughed too when you looked at the image, right? To

27:45

be honest, it's okay. Just

27:47

a stupid generator producing stupid images

27:49

after all, right? The

27:53

image did bother me. The

27:56

old man's frown. and

28:01

that pale complexion. In

28:03

the back of my head I thought of that

28:06

creepy Tom Cruise deep fake. The

28:08

comments were convinced of its

28:10

legitimacy. I decided I had

28:13

had enough and closed the tab. My

28:16

prompt had simply confused the generator

28:18

and it had produced

28:20

a random incoherent image. That's

28:22

all. It had been

28:25

stupid for me to even ask the damn question

28:27

in the first place. What did

28:29

I expect? An actual answer. Obviously

28:33

an AI generator had no idea how I

28:35

was gonna die. I saw

28:39

the old man the very next

28:41

day. This

28:44

was six days ago. I

28:47

had been running errands downtown and it

28:49

quickly forgotten about the image from the

28:51

night before. It had

28:53

faded away from my memory like a bad dream.

28:56

It was an overcast day and it looked like

28:58

a really big storm was coming. I

29:01

could see huge purple clouds in the

29:03

distance. As I was walking

29:05

in my car I got this

29:08

uncomfortable feeling that someone

29:11

was watching me. When

29:14

I looked back I

29:16

saw the old man in the yellow hat.

29:20

He was unmistakably him. He

29:23

had the same bright yellow hat, the

29:26

same deep frown, the

29:28

pale skin. It was

29:30

horrible, something nice. He

29:34

was across the street and he

29:36

was staring at me. That's

29:39

not it. He was glaring

29:42

at me. I mean really glaring

29:44

at me. His

29:47

hands were opening and closing in

29:49

a slow, violent motion. He

29:52

began to walk towards me. He

29:54

walked in a strange manner like

29:57

someone you had never walked. Like

30:01

something that was only pretending

30:04

to be human. Pretending to

30:06

burn on his face. And

30:09

it's been a funny thing. And

30:12

no one else seemed to notice him.

30:16

People walked past him without giving

30:18

him a second glass. As

30:21

he crossed the road, I thought for sure he

30:23

was going to get hit by a car, but

30:25

he weaved through traffic

30:27

like some grotesque version of fogger and no

30:29

driver paid him any mind. Not

30:32

even a single hog. Probably.

30:35

I thought of Jeremy getting hit by that time. There

30:40

was one other person that noticed

30:42

him. There was

30:44

a little girl who looked right

30:46

at the old man and then began crying.

30:50

The little girl's mom looked up to see if she

30:52

could spot what had caused her daughter to become

30:54

so distraught, but not once

30:57

did her eyes land on the

30:59

old man. He

31:01

walked past her like a ghost. And

31:05

as he got closer to me, that

31:07

deep frown began to

31:09

turn upwards into a horrible

31:11

grin. I

31:14

dropped my groceries, got my car and

31:16

drove straight home. On

31:19

the way, I told myself I

31:21

had only been seeing things. I

31:25

had to see things. When

31:27

I got home, I immediately locked all

31:29

the doors and bolted for my room.

31:33

I brought up the AI generator and again

31:35

passed it. How am I

31:37

going to die? I

31:40

needed the generator to produce a new image.

31:43

I needed it to show me that the image

31:45

of the old man had just been a random

31:47

image it had conjured and that now

31:49

it would do that again. It

31:52

creates something completely random because it

31:54

didn't understand my question. Couldn't

31:57

have possibly understood my question. Couldn't

31:59

have. have possibly shown me anything

32:02

real, and certainly

32:05

couldn't have shown me how I was gonna die. I

32:10

introduced the same image of the old man. I

32:14

asked it again, same image. I

32:17

asked it about 50 times

32:20

more, and every time

32:23

it was the same image of

32:25

the old man in the yellow hat. Stupid

32:28

generator making stupid images, right? Only

32:32

that thing that had been walking towards

32:34

me hadn't been

32:36

stupid. That

32:38

thing looked very

32:40

real and very

32:43

terrifying. I

32:46

haven't left my house since that day.

32:51

Two nights ago, I

32:53

saw the old man outside

32:55

my bedroom window. Glaring

32:57

at me. I

33:00

was in the fire. Then

33:06

walk around back and try

33:08

the back door. Today

33:11

I brought up the generator and typed, how

33:13

do I stop the old man in

33:16

the yellow hat? It

33:18

started loading, and

33:20

then immediately replied, too

33:22

much traffic. Try

33:25

again later. But

33:27

I know if I try again, I'll just

33:29

get the same response. It's

33:33

not gonna tell me. I

33:36

am paralyzed by

33:38

fear, paralyzed

33:40

by those sunken

33:43

eyes and ghostly complexion.

33:47

I can hear him outside

33:50

right now as I type. He's

33:54

been here the entire time. Just

34:03

run the back door again. Thank

34:27

you for your patronage. Hope

34:29

you enjoyed your new relic as

34:31

much as I've enjoyed passing along its

34:33

sordid history. It

34:35

does come with our usual warning, however.

34:39

Absolutely no refunds, no

34:42

exchanges, and we

34:44

won't be held liable for anything that

34:46

may or may not

34:48

occur while the object is in

34:51

your possession. If

34:53

you've got an artifact with mysterious

34:55

properties, perhaps it's accompanied

34:58

by a history of bizarre

35:00

and disturbing circumstances. Maybe

35:03

you'd be interested in dropping it and

35:05

its story by the shop to share

35:07

with other customers. Please

35:09

reach out to

35:11

antiquariumshop at gmail.com.

35:15

A member of our team will be in

35:17

touch. Till

35:20

next time, we'll be waiting for

35:22

you whenever you close

35:24

your eyes in

35:27

the space between sleep and

35:29

dream. During

35:32

regular business hours, of course, or

35:34

by appointment, only

35:36

for you, our best

35:40

customer. Well,

35:42

goodnight now. The

35:53

antiquarium of sinister happenings. Lot 040.

35:56

I asked an AI image generator to show me how I

35:58

was going to do it. I, written

36:01

by Cyril Rickvon-Lichten, narrated

36:03

by Conan Freeman. Don't

36:06

play the Can You Hide

36:08

games that appears on your

36:10

phone, written by Dominic Eagle,

36:12

starring Trevor Shand as Lee,

36:14

Conan Freeman as Corey, D.

36:16

Contaro as Tanya, Melanie Rose

36:18

as the app. Additional

36:20

voices by Scarlett Shand, Derek

36:22

Yu, Katerina Sveda, Shadow, Hannah

36:24

Raquel, and Lauren Shand, follow

36:27

Dominic's YouTube channel at Black Volumes,

36:30

featuring Stephen Knowles as the

36:32

Antique dealer. Engineering production

36:34

and sound designed by Trevor Shand.

36:36

Theme music by the Newton Brothers.

36:39

Additional music by Coag. The

36:42

Antequarium of Sinister Happenings is created

36:44

and curated by Trevor Lauren Shand.

36:46

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter

36:48

at AntequariumPod. Call the

36:51

Antequarium at 646-41-7997. Music

36:58

by the Newton Brothers.

Rate

Join Podchaser to...

  • Rate podcasts and episodes
  • Follow podcasts and creators
  • Create podcast and episode lists
  • & much more

Episode Tags

Do you host or manage this podcast?
Claim and edit this page to your liking.
,

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features