I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Imagine if the Architect of The Matrix were a perverse and sadistic bastard who had trapped a few humans to torture for all of eternity. Such is the situation in Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. Other than personality, the main difference between The Matrix and the evil computer AM is the captive's length of stay. In The Matrix, one can simply be unplugged to escape its virtual grasp. But in AM, the only option for escape is death. Yet death proves difficult because AM is one sick puppy; it keeps its captives immortal while making them feel artificial starvation and intense, constant pain. Why?, you may ask. As punishment for mankind's abuse of machines.

Another difference between The Matrix and AM's virtual world is AM's absence of a Neo, or messiah-type character who will save humanity from the machine(s). The closest character to Neo in Ellison's short story is the narrator Ted, whose heroic act is the killing of two other main characters.

So if you ever find yourself face to face with AM or an equally sadistic sentient machine, you can forget about your Neos, Mr. Andersons, and good-natured Architects, because what you'd be up against is simply heinous.