The Unworthy

by Agustina Bazterrica

The unworthy grew bored, left Mariel alone, and she went on licking the wall until her tongue began to bleed.

Finally, she spoke: Spiders are crawling through my thoughts. I feel the tips of their legs like hot pins pricking my brain very slowly. She didn’t scream when she said this, just repeated it until she fainted.

I don’t really understand what artificial intelligence is about. It was something intangible, Mom told me, that controlled a large part of the world. She said there were groups of people who worshipped it.