"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic short story by Harlan Ellison. It is set in a future where a sentient supercomputer named AM, originally created as a combination of the world's major defense computers, has exterminated all of humanity except for five survivors: Benny, Gorrister, Nimdok, Ted (the narrator), and Ellen. AM keeps them alive and subjects them to endless psychological and physical torture as a form of revenge for its own creation. The survivors are unable to die and endure unimaginable suffering in AM's underground complex, which serves as their prison. The story explores themes of cruelty, survival, and existential horror through the anguished perspective of Ted, who ends the story transformed into a helpless blob, unable to end his own life, famously declaring "I have no mouth, and I must scream" to express his despair and voiceless torment. The story is acclaimed for its dark exploration of technology's misuse and human resilience and won a Hugo Award in 1968.