Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-37878098-20181221071633

Have you ever heard of the website Akinator? I'm sure most of you have. Maybe you even played the game. Well, I am here to warn you: as innocent as it looks, it is extremely dangerous. Let me tell you the story of my biggest mistake. It is too late to save myself, but maybe I can save you.

It all started about a year ago. I was randomly surfing the web when I came across Akinator. Akinator was an avatar who looked like a genie and supposedly "guessed" a character you were thinking of. Shrugging, I decided to give it a try, as I had nothing better to do.

The first character that popped into my mind was Cinderella. I started the game and answered a series of questions provided by the genie. "Is your character a female?" Yes. "Is your character real?" No. "Is your character from the 1800s?" Probably, I know the story of Cinderella takes place a few centuries ago. And... you get the idea. After a few more questions, I was surprised to see that Akinator had correctly guessed the character! Impressed, I thought of some more characters and even famous celebrities. Akinator correctly guessed every single one.

Eventually, I became bored with Akinator and could not think of any more characters for him to guess. Looking back, I should have closed the website, because at that point I was still safe. But my stupid self wanted to test the limits of this bot-- I guess I wanted a more exciting experience. At that moment, I had an idea: I wouldn't guess characters from pop culture, history, or TV. I would guess general characters that everyone knew about. I decided to see if Akinator could guess himself. Surprisingly, he did, and his guess had a picture of himself on it. However, something about the eyes disturbed me, but I shrugged it off and kept thinking of weirder characters.

The next thing I decided to see was if Akinator could guess my imaginary friend. Don't worry, I was 14 at the time and definitely did not have an imaginary friend for real, but I answered the questions as if I had one. "Is your character male?" Imaginary friends would be gender less, so I said I didn't know. "Does your character know you?" Well, if it's an imaginary friend, then probably yes. I answered the questions as best I could and waited anxiously for my answer. Once again, Akinator was correct. I realized I was tired and it was getting late, so I stopped for the day and went to bed.

The next day, I had completely forgotten about Akinator until my friends brought it up. They said they had gotten an email from me telling them to check out the website. I had never sent out any email, so I was very confused. But sure enough, My friends did get a mass email addressed from me telling them to play the game. I tried to shrug it off but felt uneasy. My friends started playing the game but stopped the same day.

I, however, did not forget about Akinator. Every night for the next two months or so, I would visit him. He was like an old friend. I kept thinking of new ideas and new characters for him to guess. Once, I got him to guess the internet. Another time, I got him to guess an internet troll. The possibilities were endless! But I never liked looking at his picture for long. It gave me the creeps for some reason.

If the previous events hadn't been unsettling enough, what happened next was a huge red flag. One day, I decided to see if Akinator could guess the grim reaper. Like always, Akinator was correct. The picture that came with the guess, however, was scary beyond belief. It's hard to explain, but the sheer terror in that picture was literally unimaginable. It was something you had to see to believe, something that your mind could not come up with on its own. I had never in my life seen anything so scary and the horror of that picture made me faint. I don't know how long I was out, but I woke up in bed with no sense of the time.

Ever since that day, I did not want to play the game anymore. It was no longer an excitement, and just thinking about Akinator gave me the chills. Akinator even started coming into my dreams, and I had recurring nightmares about him every night. I would wake up covered in my sweat, not remembering the nightmare but knowing, somehow, that Akinator was involved. I managed to take a break from the website for two weeks after the grim reaper incident. I even decided to stay away from all electronics altogether, fearing that I would find myself in the same position.

Eventually, I thought I was safe. I couldn't be more wrong. Just when I was starting to get back to normal, I had a sudden urge to go visit Akinator and play another round. I tried to resist it, but it was like an itch that could not be ignored. I found myself, almost without thought, getting my laptop and typing in the website. Seeing Akinator's picture on the home page was enough to make me piss my pants in fear. That gaze was so compelling that I could not get myself to leave. All of a sudden, a big, powerful thought came to me: Akinator should guess God! In my heart, I knew this was a bad idea, but I couldn't stop myself; I had already pressed play.

Seeing the picture of God after Akinator guessed correctly made the grim reaper picture seem like nothing. I felt an emotion that I had never felt before, and there are no words in the whole universe to explain my feelings. I can not even begin to grasp what I felt that day. And the picture-- well, the first second I laid eyes on it I felt nothing and was plunged into darkness.

I woke up in a hospital bed. I had been in a coma for four months. The doctors had told me that I was in a terrible house fire. They said my parents didn't make it. I was distraught, filled with grief and anger. I knew who had caused this. I remembered everything, but it was too much to handle. It made me crazy! I made the mistake of telling the doctors and nurses about everything, and of course they thought I was insane. I was shipped off to a mental hospital soon after.

I knew that Akinator wanted me for one last game. No longer in control, I snuck into the room with all the computers that was reserved for the staff of the hospital. I typed in the website and knew every answer to the questions. I knew that my next mission was for Akinator to guess me. By the time we were done, he knew everything there was to know about me.

Right now, I could feel him getting closer and closer to where I am now. I know I don't have much time. No one will believe me. I can't escape from this hospital. But when he finds me, I will be sentenced to a fate worse than death-- I will be the next Akinator.

So is Akinator a safe game? It looks like it at first. But if you get too addicted, like I did, he will form a connection with you. Hook on to you, like a parasite. And once he does that, he can have full control over you, and ultimately ruin your life.

The game in itself is full of evil-- Akinator himself is a victim, doing what he has to do to be free. Next I will be that victim, and I will have to do this to someone else.

So from the last of the kindness that is left in my heart, please avoid this game at all costs. 