I’m supposed to act like they aren’t here.
Assuming there’s a “they” at all.
It may just be my imagination.
Whatever it is that’s watching…
… it’s not human…
It doesn’t ever blink.
What does a scanner see?
Into the head?
Down into the heart?
Does it see into me, into us?
Clearly or darkly?
I hope it sees clearly, because
I can ‘t any longer see into myself.
I see only murk.
I hope for everyone’s sake
the scanners do better.
Because if the scanner sees only darkly,
the way I do…
… then I’m cursed and cursed again.
And we’ll only wind up dead this way…
… knowing very little and getting
that little fragment wrong too.

UPDATE: I really liked what Jack did with the track here; I had an inkling early on that ASD would be an interesting connection for what we’d eventually end up doing. Whilst it doesn’t line up perfectly, the film/book’s depiction of America not only shares alot of the elements we discussed (total surveillance, paranoia), it’s oddly prescient as well – the film was released in 2006, and the opening describes it as taking place “Seven Years in The Future”.

Per Wikipedia:

“The United States has lost the war on drugs. Substance D, a powerfully dangerous drug that causes bizarre hallucinations has swept the country, and approximately 20% of the total population is now addicted. In response, the government has developed an invasive, high-tech surveillance system and a network of undercover officers and informants.

Bob Arctor is one of these undercover agents, assigned to immerse himself in the drug’s underworld and infiltrate the supply chain. Sometime in the past, Arctor was abandoned by his wife and two children, leaving him alone in a now-rundown suburban house in Anaheim, California; the house has since been repopulated by Arctor’s two drug-addicted, layabout housemates: Luckman and Barris. The three spend their days intoxicated and having long, paranoiac conversations. At the police station, Arctor maintains privacy by wearing a “scramble suit” that constantly changes every aspect of his appearance and he is known only by the code name “Fred.” Arctor’s senior officer, “Hank”, and all other undercover officers, also wear scramble suits, protecting their identities even from each other.

Since going undercover, Arctor himself has become addicted to Substance D and he has befriended the main woman he has been spying on: a cocaine addict and Substance D supplier named Donna. Arctor hopes to purchase large enough quantities of Substance D from Donna that she is forced to introduce him to her own supplier, but he has also developed seemingly unrequited romantic feelings towards her.”

For those who want to watch the film themselves, a link to it is below:-

http://putlocker.cz/embed/a-scanner-darkly-tt0405296/