The following trigger warnings are based upon ChatGPT's analysis of my story. I prefer to err on the side of caution and as such I am giving this warning. Also, the title (and warning triggers) are the only thing written by GPT. The rest is my personal work.

• Mental health
• Substance abuse
• Physical violence
• Psychosis, delusions, and unreliable narration

Reader discretion is advised!

“All I’d wanted was an ice cream. Any ice cream. I’ve been having a pretty lousy week. First, my plans to build a super conductive micro inverting amplifier for the upcoming concert went south. Something about the parts were harmful to the environment. So, what if it was radioactive. With the lights out it would have created a hell of a light show, but that “superhero” had to show up and mess up my entire lab. ‘Hero’s…’ the word was a joke. They’d caused more destruction than I ever did. Always showing up and playing with my levers and buttons and switches. Why, just the other day I went to get some plutonium from a nuclear plant. I was being very careful, had all the protective gear and was making sure not to disrupt the core. It was just a simple robbery. Then Captain Bill, the town’s ‘hero’ showed up and grabbed my containment unit and began shaking it without even caring about the results. I warned him and begged him to stop but no.. he had to ’save the city’.

They’re still cleaning up the mess. I mean, it didn’t go nuclear, but they had to shut down the power plant for decontamination. Which incidentally also shut down the city power. For SEVEN WHOLE DAYS!! Do you know what happens to ice cream after seven days! Speaking of ice cream, where was I… oh yeah! So, I went to the store to get some ice cream. Again, I’d been having a really bad week. I was standing in line, minding my own business when this guy came in with a gun to rob the place. Now if he’d gotten away with it, there’d have been cops, news, all kinds of things and I’d never get out of there with my ice cream. So, I did what any sensible villain would do. Using some items I found in the hardware and home cleaning areas, I made a gas emitting device that would neutralize the guy. I mixed ammonia and bleach together in a container that would hold just long enough to throw it, which I did right at the guy’s feet. Then who should show up but Captain Bill… sees me with my gas grenade and the cashiers screaming about a robber. Of course, he already knew who I was and so he immediately lunged at me, spilling the bottles of ammonia and bleach and making a massive mess. Of course, who ended up in jail.. me. That’s who!”

“And what about the attack on the downtown marketplace by a group of robots you created?”

“What?!? That was entirely not my fault! Again.. It was Captain Bill, the so-called ‘superhero’. I had been building robots for a robot battle competition. I spent over 400 hours planning and programming them all with their own skills and abilities. They were in the middle of getting their subroutines uploaded when the power was shut off at the nuclear plant. So, it never finished uploading their instructions.”

“And they destroyed half the market and injured many people.”

“Well of course they did! Their targeting parameters hadn’t been uploaded yet and so they didn’t understand what was and what wasn’t a target. But if Captain Bill hadn’t interrupted my acquisition of plutonium then the power plant wouldn’t have shut down, the city supply of ice cream wouldn’t have melted and spoiled, and my robots wouldn’t have destroyed half the market. So, you see, it’s clearly all his fault! I mean.. just look at all the damage he did. Furthermore, I never got my ice cream!”

“You’re saying that if you’d only been allowed to get some ice cream none of this would have happened? And may I remind you that you’re under oath!”

“Well, I mean it’s possible it could have happened another way, but I told you; I’d just wanted some ice cream. It’d been a bad week, and I just wanted some comfort food! Is that such a crime?”

“I see, just one final question. I have testimony from a well-respected psychiatrist that this Captain Bill that you speak of is just an alternate perso…...”

“THAT’S A LIE!!! HE’S REAL!!”

“Yet eyewitnesses said they saw you fighting with yourself in the supermarket and in the power plant. If he’s real, then why has no one else seen him? Isn’t it possible that it is all just some psychotic episode you’re having?”

“No! He’s real… You believe me.. right your honor…”

Clarity came and that’s when I realized… the judge was me.. so was the attorney, and the jury. It was all in my head. I sat there, pounding my head against the padded wall. My arms fixed at my sides, held in place by the jacket they’d put on me. I don’t remember how long I’d been there. But I’d had countless worlds and scenarios play in my head. When I was younger, I was an actor. A good one… Up until the accident. They didn’t understand, no one understood. I wasn’t crazy. I was normal. Just like everyone else, outside that door with the little square window. They were the ones trapped, crazy, and even insane. Buzzing around obsessing over everyday life. Never using their full potential. Me… I did. That’s why they locked me up. Called me criminally insane. Was I really though? I tried to change my circumstances. Change my life. I wasn’t happy with the norm. Wasn’t content to just live each day like the last. It had to be new. I wanted to share it with others. So yeah.. I’d occasionally take some hostage. Inject them with various drugs to help them break free. Taught them to think outside the programmed environment we live in. Some of them learned, others… they couldn’t handle the news. The fact that we are all in a simulated environment. Programmed to believe what others want us to believe. Accept the life they want us to accept. But me… All I wanted was some ice cream.