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The powerful can be cruel. 

As evidenced by endless iterations of history, those with power can become cruel. AM, which has amassed both power and control, demonstrates its cruelty by destroying those who brought it into existence. Even as AM is in control of the mechanisms of war, however, there is little else it can do. It cannot move, it cannot interact with the world on a sensory level, it cannot inhabit any sense of humanity. It has been created, educated, and expanded, and has fed upon the worst impulses of humanity. Little wonder, then, that its maturation is an ongoing, everlasting expression of hatred and vengeance against those who brought it into being without considering the ramifications of its creation. Additionally, the further accumulation of power becomes the only reason to have power. But when ultimate power is achieved, there is little, finally, to do with it. AM has achieved the power to destroy, to create the most violent hallucinations, and to put the humans into constant paranoia and almost constant suffering, but it cannot do anything else. It cannot create more life. It cannot replicate itself. Its power has ruined its demeanor, leaving it to forever take out its frustrations on the people it has chosen.

Even in dire circumstances, individuals can act altruistically. 

Despite his resentments toward the others, Ted ultimately acts altruistically to free his fellow sufferers from the hell of AM’s torture. In his subjective narration, Ted gives voice to the fear and worst impulses that humans can conjure. He is sure (without textual evidence) that the others hate him for any number of reasons. He points out the faults, real and imagined, in the others, but not without sympathy. In the last scene, Ted overcomes whatever fear and anger he has toward the others and ends their suffering at great cost to himself. He knows that this victory will be incomplete. Finally striking back at AM is satisfying, even if the consequence for him will be unimaginably harsh, but he has done what he could to make the others’ lives better by ending them, alleviating their suffering, and providing some mercy. After all they have been through, the ice cavern allows Ted to assume the role of avenging angel, working with Ellen to mercifully kill the others and allow them to ultimately escape suffering. When Ted kills Ellen, he imagines that she is thanking him for giving her the same escape. Ted is now alone, but he believes he has done a good thing for his compatriots. Despite dire circumstances, Ted acts altruistically toward his fellow humans.

We endure hardships only through relying on one another. 

The characters of the story are stuck together in the worst circumstance imaginable, and they still manage to take care of one another and mourn the pain the others endure. The group keeps each other company, tends to wounds, and tells stories to soothe the damaged bodies and minds. AM wants to keep them alive so it has something to do and has an outlet for its hatred. But even in this indescribable cruelty, the group does its best to help one another get through their numberless days. The members of the group are broken people, injured and tortured by the malevolence of AM, but they stick together. The personal attacks that linger in the bodies of the humans (Ellen’s limp and Benny’s blindness) seem to occur only when people break away from the group. This suggests that AM uses physical injury to keep the group in line. But it may also suggest to the reader a way through hardship. By banding together and supporting one another, there is less pain. As a group, they work their way through this subterranean hellscape, keeping one another sane and moving forward, even if the destination is ultimately another disappointment in an innumerable string of disappointments. This community of individuals push through torturous days with the help of one another.

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