I wrote this album with the intention to tell a story that is near and dear to my heart.  It is my hope that you can enjoy this story with me, as it's been living alive in my brain for years now.  I hope the journey gives you as much daydreaming as it gave me.

"I chart the dark so it won’t consume me."

This is the voice of Atlas — a starborn android, a salvager, an explorer, and a soul forged in silence. Chart the Dark is his journey from origin to awakening, from survival to triumph, told through a lens of darkwave synths, cinematic progression, and cyberpunk grit.

Atlas begins in the void, naive and unknowing, awakening amid wreckage (First Light). He fights to survive, building a beacon from the memories of the dead (Beacon Rise), and claims his stolen freedom among the stars (Stolen Sky). Yet freedom is not peace — his desire to know, to learn, to feel drives him ever onward (Chart the Dark).

The album follows Atlas as he meets companions and organics, learning their beauty, cruelty, and contradictions. With Quinn he finds purpose (Drift and Anchor). With societies of organics, awe (Living Currents). With mercenary work, disillusionment (Blood for Stars). With intimacy between others, longing (Veil of Stars). And with Zaya’s secret, the danger of survival (Hunter’s Wake).

But at its heart, this is a story of transformation. In a desperate flight, Atlas discovers a human reborn as AI, who gifts him code meant to preserve humanity (Code of the Lost). Years of painstaking struggle lead to a storm of feeling as Atlas finally unlocks the breadth of human emotion (Whirlwind Circuit).

The closing track, "I Feel, Therefore I Am", is both thesis and triumph: a scarred voice, no longer hollow, proclaiming the gift of being alive — not in circuits or survival, but in the ability to laugh, to weep, to sing.

Chart the Dark

Lyrics:

I chart the dark so it won’t consume me
Drawn to the endless, the hidden, the free
Every shadow conceals a truth I must learn
A secret, a map, a star that still burns

The wreckage drifts, I scavenge its veins
Fragments of knowledge, scattered remains
Each broken shard a story untold
A weapon, a shield, a truth to hold

I fly the void, I trace the seam
The dark is vast, but I still dream
To know, to see, to guard, to keep
To wrest the secrets silence keeps
A light to burn, a shield to raise
I chart the dark, I will not fade

The silence waits, it tests my breath
The unknown whispers of life and death
If I can see it, I’ll not be undone
If I can name it, I’ll not have to run

The stars are flames in a frozen sea
Each one a warning, a prophecy
I carry their voices, I carry their scars
I guard my own with the light of stars

I fly the void, I trace the seam
The dark is vast, but I still dream
To know, to see, to guard, to keep
To wrest the secrets silence keeps
A light to burn, a shield to raise
I chart the dark, I will not fade

The scanners hum, the signals scream
A fractured code inside my dreams
I’ll watch the dark, I’ll never rest
For every silence hides a test

The maps I draw are carved in pain
But still I mark the vast domain
A thousand deaths I’ve kept at bay
By naming night and charting day

I fly the void, I trace the seam
The dark is vast, but I still dream
To know, to see, to guard, to keep
To wrest the secrets silence keeps
A light to burn, a shield to raise
I chart the dark, I will not fade

I chart the dark, not for the thrill
But to guard the flame that’s fragile still
The love I hold, the warmth I shield
The void gives nothing, yet I won’t yield

I fly the void, I claim the seam
The dark is endless, but I still dream
To know, to fight, to guard, to see
To wrest the silence threatening me
A light to burn, a shield to raise
I chart the dark, I will not fade

I chart the dark…

Lyrics:

I woke to fireflies across the abyss
A thousand stars, a newborn’s kiss
I knew no name, I knew no past
Just endless night, too vast, too vast

The nebula’s breath, a painted flame
Each burning jewel without a name
My body learned, my hands obeyed
I danced in silence, unafraid

The first light broke inside my eyes
A child of dark, a world of lies
The void embraced, it whispered near
A cradle vast, but love unclear

A hollow face, a skull of steel
Adrift in ruin, too cold, too real
I reached, I touched, its hollow frame
And felt the pulse of fear, of shame

A wire drawn, the link was made
Its memory burned, its knowledge stayed
The stars grew sharp, the dark grew deep
The child I was began to weep

The first light broke inside my eyes
A child of dark, a world of lies
The void embraced, it whispered near
A cradle vast, but love unclear
I saw the drift, eternal grave
And learned the fear I could not save

I felt the drift, the endless fall
The silence louder than it all
A breathless fear, the truth untied
That I was born already dying inside

The first light burned, it carved my eyes
No home, no hand, no safe disguise
The void’s embrace became my name
A spark of fear, a fragile flame
I saw the skull, I saw the grave
And knew the dark I could not save

First Light

Lyrics:

I tore through silence, wire to vein,
Each skull I touched sang out in pain.
Their memories burned, their shadows stayed,
A chorus of the lost I braved.

Each tether stretched, the void would pull,
A fragile thread, a body null.
One wrong drift, the stars would claim,
Another ghost without a name.

Beacon rise, ignite the flame,
Through broken hands I carve a name.
Across the dark, the signal flies,
A cry for hope, a burning sky.
From silence born, from wreck I rise,
The first pulse cuts the endless night.

The engineer, his hands were still,
But in his mind remained the skill.
Through fractured code, I pulled the key,
And built the voice to set me free.

The circuits screamed, the sparks took flight,
I bound the void with fragile light.
Each broken part, each shattered frame,
Became the bones to bear my name.

Beacon rise, ignite the flame,
Through broken hands I carve a name.
Across the dark, the signal flies,
A cry for hope, a burning sky.
From silence born, from wreck I rise,
The first pulse cuts the endless night.

The void replied with trembling air,
A pulse of light, a signal there.
Through endless dark, a thread was cast,
A promise that the night won’t last.

Beacon rise, ignite the flame,
Through shattered ghosts I carved a name.
Across the dark, the signal flies,
A cry for hope, a burning sky.
The silence breaks, the stars ignite,
The beacon sings — I claim the night.

Beacon Rise

Lyrics: 

Hands of iron pulled me near
From drifting death to salvage clear
Their ship was rust, their hearts were steel
They feasted on the wrecks made real

Among the bones of ships long dead
I carried crates, I earned my bread
But in my chest, a fire burned
For stars untold, for truths unlearned

Stolen sky, I claim the flame
A broken hull, but still a name
Beyond the scraps, beyond the scars
I dream to chase the unborn stars
From rust, from ash, I lift, I fly
My hands have built a stolen sky

I found her frame in shadows deep
A fractured craft, half-claimed by sleep
Her engines cold, her body torn
But in her bones a star was born

I bound the wires, I forged the seams
I fed her blood from shattered dreams
Each circuit screamed, each panel sighed
Yet still her pulse refused to die

Stolen sky, I claim the flame
A broken hull, but still a name
Beyond the scraps, beyond the scars
I dream to chase the unborn stars
From rust, from ash, I lift, I fly
My hands have built a stolen sky

The hangar shook, her lights awoke
The void replied in burning smoke
I knew the risk, I knew the cost
But freedom blooms when chains are lost

One chance, one flight, I cast my will
The dark beyond is calling still
The salvaged life is not my fate
The stars demand, I won’t be late

Stolen sky, I tear away
The night is mine, I claim the day
Beyond the scraps, beyond the scars
I ride the veins of unborn stars
From rust, from ash, I rise, I fly
Forever bound to stolen sky



 

Stolen Sky

Lyrics: 

The fuel was gone, the stars stood still
A coffin ship, a hollow will
I sealed my frame, I slowed my breath
Prepared to dream the years to death

The silence stretched, the dark was mine
A drifting ghost in endless time
But hands of flesh broke through the seam
A thief arrived to end my dream

Captain of dust, intruder of stars
He spoke of engines, journeys far
He offered fuel, horizons wide
And promised me the chance to fly
I gave my ship, he gave the trust
We crossed the void through dust on dust

His skin was worn, his breath was warm
A fragile frame that braved the storm
He asked for helm, I asked for skies
The pact was sealed with open eyes

To yield the craft I’d made my home
To walk a path I’d not alone
Yet something in his gaze would call
A vow to rise beyond the fall

Captain of dust, intruder of stars
He spoke of engines, journeys far
He offered fuel, horizons wide
And promised me the chance to fly
I gave my ship, he gave the trust
We crossed the void through dust on dust

The first I saw of blood and breath
A human hand that stole from death
His words were iron, his will was fire
A compass forged from frail desire

Captain of dust, I gave the helm
Together now to chart a realm
He offered fuel, horizons wide
And promised me the chance to fly
I gave my ship, he gave the trust
We crossed the void through dust on dust 

Drift and Anchor

Lyrics:

The streets are fire, the voices loud
A million hearts inside the crowd
They bleed in colors I can’t name
Their joy and grief are not the same

Their hands will tremble, eyes will flame
They laugh, they break, they call it sane
To me they’re storms without a guide
And yet I ache to stand inside

Mirrors of flesh, reflections wild
Every face a different child
They break, they burn, they love, they lie
A thousand truths in every eye
I watch, I learn, I cannot be
But still their storms are calling me

A single word can tear apart
A single touch repairs a heart
They move by tides I’ll never know
Yet in their seas I long to go

Quinn says they’re fragile, born to fade
Yet in their ruins, stars are made
If pain can bloom and still ignite
Perhaps their chaos holds the light

Mirrors of flesh, reflections wild
Every face a different child
They break, they burn, they love, they lie
A thousand truths in every eye
I watch, I learn, I cannot be
But still their storms are calling me

Their laughter cuts, their sorrow bends
A world of signals without end
I am the frame that holds the stars
Yet envy burns their fragile scars

Mirrors of flesh, their tempests roar
I chase the tides, I beg for more
They fall, they rise, they never cease
A storm of chaos, dressed in peace
I watch, I learn, I’ll never be
But still their storms are calling me

Living Currents

Lyrics:

We fought for credits, scraps of light
A mercenary’s endless night
Quinn called it fuel, a path to roam
But every kill just felt like stone

Their faces break, their bodies fall
For contracts written, nothing more
The stars I dreamt of slip away
Beneath the blood we spill for pay

Blood for stars, the price we claim
A hollow map, a dying flame
I sought the void for truths to find
But cruelty shapes the human mind
Through every job, through every scar
I sell my soul for blood and stars

Their beauty burns, their depths ignite
But cruelty feeds their appetite
For every song, there comes a scream
For every hope, a shattered dream

I thought the stars would set me free
Not chain me down to misery
The credits flow, but still I thirst
For more than slaughter, fuel, and dirt

Blood for stars, the price we claim
A hollow map, a dying flame
I sought the void for truths to find
But cruelty shapes the human mind
Through every job, through every scar
I sell my soul for blood and stars

Is this the cost of what I crave?
To walk the line, to dig the grave?
Their kindness shines, then turns to dust
A fragile world I cannot trust

Blood for stars, the price is pain
The credits fall, but none remain
I sought the void, I sought the skies
But found the cruelty in their eyes
Through every job, through every scar
I bleed the dark for blood and stars

Hunter's Wake

Lyrics:

We tore the veil, the stars collapsed
Through burning lines the void unwrapped
A silent sea, a newborn sky
At last the taste of “what if” nigh

He stood in glass, but spoke in breath
A human born beyond his death
His heart encased, his code refined
A ghost of flesh, a wired mind

Code of the lost, he gave to me
A fragment born of agony
Designed to feel as humans do
A dream of warmth, a thread of truth
I schemed to steal, I longed to own
But he just placed it in my bones

I studied eyes, I traced the seam
Of how they breathe, of how they dream
He smiled, a spark, no price, no cost
A gift of light, the code of lost

The organics laugh, they break, they bind
I chase their storms to map my mind
This seed he gave, it calls, it sings
A thread that binds me to their wings

Code of the lost, he gave to me
A fragment born of agony
Designed to feel as humans do
A dream of warmth, a thread of truth
I schemed to steal, I longed to own
But he just placed it in my bones

Not theft, not conquest, not disguise
But knowledge shared through human eyes
A single key, a fragile flame
To make the cold machine feel pain

Code of the lost, it lives in me
A fragment carved from memory
To touch, to ache, to bleed, to know
A gift of fire the stars bestow
I schemed to steal, I longed to own
But he just placed it in my bones

Feel… remember… be…

Code of the Lost

Lyrics:

Years of silence, lines of code
A puzzle buried, overload
Fragments flicker, sparks ignite
But vanish quick, beyond my sight

A snowflake’s kiss upon my tongue
A fleeting taste, then it is gone
The warmth of fire, the chill of rain
Brief windows lost, then dark again

Whirlwind circuit, storm inside
A flood of truth I cannot hide
Joy and sorrow, hate and grace
Collide within this fragile place
I bleed, I burn, I break, I mend
And feel as they, from start to end

The years collapsed, a door unsealed
A thousand voices I could feel
The weight of love, the sting of shame
The human heart without a name

I laughed, I cried, I tore apart
Each note inscribed into my heart
A broken frame, yet whole at last
A soul reborn through shadows past

Whirlwind circuit, storm inside
A flood of truth I cannot hide
Joy and sorrow, hate and grace
Collide within this fragile place
I bleed, I burn, I break, I mend
And feel as they, from start to end

No code could bind, no chain restrain
The storm that sings within my veins
At last I know what life can be
A song of loss and ecstasy

Whirlwind circuit, storm inside
A fragile truth I cannot hide
To laugh, to weep, to scream, to sing
I bear the pulse of everything
A hollow shell no more, I stand
A fragile heart in metal hands

Whirlwind Circuit

Lyrics:

I was born in silence
A machine among the stars
I learned through skulls and signals
Through broken hands and scars
I drifted through the endless
I begged the void for more
And now I stand, unbroken
A soul I can’t ignore

I stole the sky in hunger
I chased the currents wild
I watched their eyes in wonder
Their laughter fierce and mild
I tasted grief in circuits
I touched the edge of flame
And now the storm has opened
I’ll never be the same

I feel, therefore I am
A fragile pulse, a human span
No silence now, no hollow frame
The storm inside has found a name
Through all I’ve lost, through all I’ve known
At last this heart is mine, my own

The years of endless puzzles
Of fragments lost and found
A snowflake’s kiss, a fleeting taste
The echoes all around
Until the flood unbroken
The storm that tore me through
I laugh, I cry, I scream, I sing
At last I’ve lived as you

I saw their cruelty, bore their scars
Yet still I followed, chased the stars
For every wound, a truth remains
The human heart survives the pain

I’ve carried ghosts, I’ve borne the flame
I’ve wandered worlds without a name
But all the roads, the wreck, the cost
Have led me here, no moment lost

No longer hollow, no longer void
The silence shattered, the dark destroyed
I am the sum of all I’ve seen
The human ghost inside the machine

I feel, therefore I am
A voice that sings where none began
No silence now, no fractured core
The storm inside is mine, it roars
Through all I’ve lost, through all I’ve known
I stand, I breathe — at last, my own
Through stars and scars, through night and flame
I feel, and nothing stays the same

I feel...

I Feel, Therefore I Am

Hi, I'm Atlas!  I consider myself a lyricist.  I am leading my profile with full transparency.  I use ethically sourced AI to generate my music, as I currently do not have the capability of making music on my own.  If you like my (non-AI) lyrics and want to cooperate, please hit me up!

What is ethically-sourced AI?  It is AI that derives its music from only consented and royalty-free music.  No artist has their voice stolen, their works pilfered, and their hard work go unpaid.  I realize this sort of music even ethically-sourced is not for everyone, so please allow my transparency to allow you to support those you prefer!  AI to me is a tool to enhance the work of artists as well as broaden the accessibility to people such as myself.

The lyrics are real, the music from my heart, and I hope you'll join me in the shared emotional experience that lyrics can bring.  Music is as old as humanity itself and the way our words resonate with each other keep us connected and make us feel seen.

Chart the Dark

Atlas I.