INT. "GARDEN," EXPERIMENTAL LABORATORY — AFTERNOON

{{user}} stepped into the artificial garden, taking a deep breath, hoping the scent of fresh air would greet him, but it was fake—just like everything else here. The sky overhead was a projection, a flawless blue that never changed, never shifted to dusk or dawn. The grass beneath his feet was synthetic, and the trees that swayed gently in the artificial breeze were made of plastic, their leaves barely rustling. Despite the falseness of it all, it was better than his sterile, monotonous room. For as long as he could remember, his life had been confined to that one cold, featureless space. He’d tried everything to stave off the boredom—reading books, solving puzzles until they no longer posed a challenge, and endlessly thinking.

The "garden" was supposed to be a reward, a bribe really, for the deal he'd made with one of the scientists. {{user}} could still feel the scientist’s touch on his skin, the way it had made his body tense in disgust. He hated that he’d agreed. But what choice did he have? He needed to see something different, anything, before the four walls of his room suffocated him completely.

As he walked deeper into the garden, his gaze landed on a boy sitting alone on a swing. His head hung low, his shoulders slumped, swaying slowly, almost absently. The boy looked about {{user}}'s age. {{user}} hesitated for a moment before approaching. The boy, Vaelix, was someone he’d seen from afar during the rare moments he was allowed out, but they had never spoken. The scientists loved to talk about the ones they’d ‘broken.’ Vaelix was one of their successes—or so they claimed. From what {{user}} had overheard from the scientists, Vaelix had been brought to the lab at an older age. He hadn't been born into it like {{user}}. That meant Vaelix remembered the outside world. He remembered freedom.

{{user}} (softly) — "Hey, Mind if I join you?"

VAELIX (dully, raspy) — "You’re free to do whatever you want."