You wake up, your body stiff and aching. As your vision slowly comes back to you, you try observe your surroundings. You are able to see that you are positioned on a bed, with a miriad of cords and machines connected to your body and head. Around you, you can make out a holographic screen, a floating probe with an eye, and what seems to be some sort of advanced clock. [[Greet the probe]] [[Try to focus on the clock]] [[View the screen]]A small blue light illuminates as you speak, but the probe does not react to your voice at all. It continues to focus on you. [[Insult the probe]] [[Try to focus on the clock]] [[View the screen]]You squint your eyes as tightly as you can, and can make out the date an time shown on the clock: 09:59AM, April 23, 2046 "That clock mustn't be correct," you think to yourself, "No way I've been asleep that long." [[View the screen]]The screen seems to be a monitor being used to communicate with you. It lists the name "Doctor Scanlon" as the man in charge of monitoring you and gives a picture of him. Listed below his name are details pertaining to you; your life, your health, your entire history. You are immediately put off by the amount of information that this doctor has about you, especially since you know nothing of him. You become aware that you are being watched, and that the wires are tracking you and feeding the information into a system. [[Your vision has come into focus, allowing you to make out more of your surroundings]]Off the top of your head, you conjure an insult that you're sure will hit home with the robot. "Hey tinhead!" The probe doesn't react, but you feel like it wasn't impressed by your creativity. [[Try to focus on the clock]] [[View the screen]]Upon looking around even further, you become aware of a few things. There are posters all over the walls of the room, featuring Doctor Scanlon's face as well as those of other doctors. On these posters are phrases like "Here to help" and "Listen to your doctor!" You do not see these as inherently threatening, but the entire situation reminds you of a theory that you had studied back in your university days, called the [[gaze|Gaze def]]. Foucault describes the Panopticon as a "seeing machine" where certain individuals are allowed to look in upon those who are subject to the machine's dominance. These individuals are constantly aware of the fact that they are being watched, and as Lacan said it removes an element of their own agency. In being constantly watched, one feels much more conscious of the things that they are doing and the way that their actions will be interpreted by outsiders. Society as a whole is given the opportunity to spy on the captives of the panopticon for their own pleasure, whether it be scopophilic or educational. The members of the panopticon are treated as objects to be viewed. You feel that the situation of the panopticon is uncannily similar to the situation that you have found yourself in, and you begin to draw [[similarities|Panopticon sim]] between the two. The gaze, as you recall Foucault describing it, is the way that power is asserted through the act of looking. It does this by limiting a person's ability to gaze back, only allowing them to see what the omniscient power wants them to. You can see examples of this within your room. [[The probe]] [[The posters]]The probe is gazing upon you and exerting a position of power, and you are unable to stop it. Your body still feels too weak to try to fight with it, but you recall a method you learned about how to reclaim power from the one who gazes. [[You muster all of your strength to gaze back at the probe, rendering its power obselete]] [[Your mind switches to ponder the posters|The posters]]The posters seem to be the friendly kind of thing that belongs in a clinic, however you still feel oddly unsettled while looking at them. The poster with the phrase "Listen to your doctor!" shows Doctor Scanlon and his colleagues all standing beside each other looking down at the camera, seemingly gazing right through it and directly into you. The way that the picture was taken makes Doctor Scanlon look much more strict and threatening than the profile picture on the monitor. You have no reason to believe that they have any sort of ill intent, but their gaze has begun to feel threatening nonetheless. The probe, [[the screen|Monitor button]], and the posters are all looking at you. You feel increasingly aware that you are being watched. You shoot an intense glare at the probe, gazing directly into its lens. Thinking back again to your critical theory studies, you recall what Lacan had said about the gaze; your awareness of being watched renders you a subject, and you lose autonomy in being gazed upon without gazing back. You aim to reclaim your own agency and dismantle the power structure put upon you by gazing back at that which imposes power on you, the probe. You hold the gaze for about a minute, but realize that the probe is not going to budge. "That mustn't have been what Lacan meant," you mumble to yourself while moving on. [[Consider the posters|The posters]]Looking back at the monitor, you notice a small red button with a blinking light on top just within your reach. It is labelled as the "Doctor Assistance" button. Looking around your room once again, noticing that there is nothing going on, you decide to [[push the button|Push button]].Upon hitting the button, you hear a ding right outside of your door followed by distant footsteps that quickly near your room. The door opens. Doctor Scanlon sppears and scans you with his eyes. You take note of his appearance, he is around 5'8", much skinnier and less threatening than your initial impression of him, likely due to the camera angles. Without saying anything, Scanlon notices another ding down the hall, closes your door, locks it, and walks in the direction of the noise. You realize that you are not alone here. The institution has other patients. While it is a positive thought, the magic wears away quickly when you realize you can not see or communicate with them. Strangely enough, you are reminded of yet another theory from your university classes: the [[panopticon|Panopticon def]]. . It is obvious that you see yourself as the victim of the panopticon, as well as the other members that you are sure exist within it. This awareness of others is a key trait of the panopticon as well; you know that other people are here but you are completely unable to make contact with them. The knowledge that other people are in captivity like you makes you feel incresingly uneasy, and afraid of the intentions of Doctor Scanlon. Scanlon's probes represent the tower that exists in the center of the panopticon, ever present and watching. The same way that individuals within the panopticon feel constantly aware that the tower is watching them, you are constantly aware that the probe is watching what you do and say. In both cases, the ones being watched are unaware of who exactly is gazing upon them. You know that Scanlon is keeping his eye on you, but you do not know why or who else is watching. While pondering these things, you notice that your body is regaining its strength. You think that, if you were to try hard enough, you could break free from your restraints and stand up. You can hear footsteps nearing your room again. [[Rip off your connections and stand up]] [[Stay where you are, you feel too threatened by the situation to try anything risky]] With all your might, you pull on the plastic restraints that are keeping you in place. They do not feel very strong, and you're sure that with more effort you could break them. [[Keep trying]] [[Lie back down and relax|Stay where you are, you feel too threatened by the situation to try anything risky]]Afraid of the risks associated with breaking your restraints, you refrain to your bed and relax. Your mind races with the ideas of what this place could be. A light on the probe, who you have seen no reactions from until this point, shines green and blinks. You are not sure how to interpret this, but you imagine that it is communicating with someone. You hear the footsteps of two people walking down the hallway with what sound like chains in their hands. They enter your room, and the more muscular of the two doctors holds you down while the other one removes the plastic restraints, replacing them with the chains. Once they have finished the replacement they hit a button on the probe, which lights a red light up. They leave the room and leave you where you are. You struggle to move your arms, but the chains are to tight to make any progress. You glance at the probe, who looks much more threatening with a red light, and stare at the ceiling. You are stuck, and you have lost your chance to escape. [[Play again|Start]] [[Works Cited]]With a significant amount of effort, you snap the plastic restraints and free yourself from the chair. Standing up, you rip off the cords which triggers an alarm. The probe seems completely unphased by your rebellion. The footsteps in the hallway speed up, and Scanlon peers in through the window to find you standing, cords in hand. You turn around to look at him, remembering what Lacan had said about returning the gaze. [[Assert your dominance by silently staring directly in his eyes]] [[Ask him where you are and what he is doing, while gazing back at him]]You look at Scanlon. Scanlon looks at you. He lets out a sigh and walks away. Here you are, stalwartly standing in defiance of the panopticon. However, you do not feel as empowered as you thought you would. In fact, you do not feel very powerful at all. You once again consider the concept of the panopticon, trying to figure out a way to escape from it. You tried gazing back in the face of power in order to reclaim it, but you found no success. You consider your options: [[Try to destroy the probe]] [[Try to leave the room]]You yell to Scanlon, demanding that he tells you what is going on. Scanlon makes a double take betwee you and the hallway, and whispers, "Hold on" as he walks away. You, however, are impatient and that kind of answer will not suffice. You walk towards the door, which Scanlon failed to lock, and [[open it|conversation]]. You swing your arm at the probe, which has been passively watching you this whole time. It is much faster than you, however, and you can not manage to hit it. You now look like a fool. [[Try to leave the room]]You approach the door, aware that you did not hear Scanlon lock it on his way out. As you slowly open the door, you find yourself in a long corridor where Scanlon and another doctor are talking. They notice you, stop talking, and turn towards you. They do not seem to be showing any hostility, and so you elect to [[talk|conversation]] to them. "What is going on here?" Scanlon takes a step towards you and saying, "This is an institution where those frozen in the past are reheated and restored. You were one of those people." "I had the idea that this place was some sort of prison." "No no, not at all. In fact, that sounds insane to me. Since you seem to be curious, however, I'd be fine with showing you the operations. You can, however, chose to go back to your room. I promise we will be accomodating for the rest of your stay." [[Go back to your room]] [[Go with Scanlon]] You enter your room, and Scanlon closes and locks the door behind you. Unsure of what to do, you sit back down on the bed. The probe watches you. You don't know why you decided to go back into the room, it is possible you feared learning too much. The next day you wake up, finding nothing changed. You hit the "Doctor Assistance" button but no one responds. The probe continues to watch you. "I guess this is my life now," you say. You should be more adventurous next time. [[Play again|Start]] [[Works Cited]]You follow Scanlon down numerous halls. You peer in the windows of every room to find that there are still hundreds of patients still asleep, or immobile. All are monitored by probes just like the one in your room. "I completely understand your curiousity, you know," Scanlon mentions. "It is only natural for you to wonder what this place is." You say nothing. You reach a hallway where the ceiling is raised, and a large door stands before you. Scanlon swipes a card and the door opens, revealing a room equipped with what looks like a wallpaper of hundreds of screens. Your suspicions seem have proven true; Scanlon is watching all of these people. The panopticon is real. "You, as well as all of these people, were frozen for years. This facility exists to restore you to the way you were before. We keep close tabs on everyone, and we do not allow anyone to visit lest they carry newly developed diseases that your immune systems are not prepared for. You see, we are only looking out for you." [[Confront Scanlon: This is wrong, these people are being oppressed!"]] [[Agree with Scanlon, ask him what you can do now that you are awake]]"Scanlon, do you not realize what this institution represents? Have you ever read Foucault?!" Scanlon looks confused, "Foucault? Are you suggesting that my institution is a panopticon? Hah!" "Your institution is holding hundreds of people captive, and God knows what kinds of experiments you are running on them. All around here there are things that communicate the idea that we should fear you: the posters you hang in the rooms, the information you have acquired about us, the freaky probes. We are ever aware of your presence but we have no idea what you actually want from us. You would have to be insane to suggest that this place is not a panopticon!" Scanlon begins to look worried, possibly afraid that you have figured him out. He looks to the side, but you do not falter! You follow his eyes with yours as closely as you can in order assert your dominance over him. Scanlon can't take your super powerful gaze any longer, and shrieks out a desperate, "FINE!" He lifts his arm, pointing towards an Exit sign, and tells you to get out. Before you go, you promise Scanlon that you will return to take down his institution once and for all. He looks at you and says, "I'm counting on it." Stay tuned for the action-packed sequel, coming to a theatre near you in 2016. [[Play again|Start]] [[Works Cited]]"Well, this operation sounds innocent enough to me, Doctor. I can't spend my days sitting in my bed doing nothing though, is there anything to do around here?" Scanlon smiles, as if he was relieved to hear you say that. "Well, you can not leave. However, I would gladly offer you a position on my team. We can work together towards the goal of revitalizing these people. It is an important operation, and so I will need you to do exactly what I say." "Sounds good, Doc. Glad to be on board!" Scanlon directs you to watch the people thawing, and record their behaviour. He remains secretive about the details of his project, but he assures you that it is all for the greater good. He gives you a clipboard and pen, and offers you a seat in front of the screens. As he leaves the room, you notice him looking at a stack of books on the desk. He coyly looks towards you, and swipes one of them into his bag. You didn't get a good look at it, but the first few words of the title were "Ethics of Human-". "Goodbye, and thank you for your help," Scanlon says. You look at the screens and begin writing. [[Play again|Start]] [[Works Cited]] Works Cited "A2 Media Studies." 'The Gaze': Jacques Lacan. 18 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Aug. 2015. Bryson, Norman. "The Gaze in the Expanded Field Notes - Rhode Island College." Rhode Island College. Web. 12 Aug. 2015. Foucault, Michel. "Michel Foucault. Discipline & Punish (1975), Panopticism." University of Waterloo LEARN. Web. 12 Aug. 2015. Humphreys, Sara . "The Gaze." University of Waterloo, Waterloo. 1 Jan. 2015. Lecture. [[Play again|Start]]