Came across Year Zero by NIN today, also known as Halo 24. I used to love it so much when it first came out. Reznor sees the end of the world very clearly for someone who's never been there.

If I listen to it long enough, I start to visualize the end of the world very vividly. 'Another Version Of The Truth' makes me remember the only time I cried in church - it was in a church in Rome, the energy there was crazy although it was a very old and somewhat unsightly building. I remember looking up and seeing windows in the ceiling, all covered in mosaics, and the subdued sunbeams I could see through those windows made me feel as if there was nothing outside of the church walls. I thought to myself: 'The world has ended. The war is over. And everyone I loved had died'.

If the world was to end, what if we would get to choose if we'd rather just die or be turned into some kind of AI-controlled robots, the only creatures that would be allowed to enter Year Zero and the new world? Would we get to keep whatever is left of our dirty, weary souls? If we opted for being turned into robots together with the ones we love, would we recognize them afterwards?