A Scanner Darkly

While Arctor and his supervisor “Hank” peruse a list of suspects, Arctor bemoans his emotional numbness in the face of some of the drug’s worst casualties. Hank and Arctor, both in their scramble suits, don’t know each other’s true identity. Arctor (codenamed Fred) reports on the whereabouts and movements of his own undercover identity—Arctor uses and is low-wage employee. Hank, unaware that Fred and Arctor are the same person, assigns him to keep tabs on Arctor.

At night, in Arctor’s backyard, Barris tests a homemade silencer while he and Freck haggle over stolen electronics. In his room, Arctor reflects on his past: Once married with children, he realizes he hates the straight life. He divorces and goes undercover as part of the drug counterculture. He lies in bed and obsesses over his broken “cephscope” and Jerry Fabin’s aphid delusion. Barris comes into Arctor’s room and “theorizes” that he himself damaged the cephscope, although it’s only a theory. Arctor swallows two tabs of Substance D and falls asleep.

Arctor, Barris, and a third roommate Ernie Luckman, drive to San Diego, and Arctor as special agent Fred informs his supervisor of their absence so the agency can install “holo-scanners” in the house.