Luke Ellis awoke recalling a dream of a blond woman leaning over his bed saying, "Sure, whatever you want," an unsettling echo of the night before. He initially believed he was in his own room, recognizing the wallpaper, posters, and his bureau with a Little League trophy, but noticed the window that should have looked out toward Rolf’s house was gone.

After confirming the missing window by blinking and physically checking, Luke dressed in clothes laid out as if by his mother. He inspected his sneakers and found small discrepancies: the initial "E" stroke length was wrong, there was no street grit, and the laces were too clean, though the shoes fit perfectly. He pressed on the wall where the window should have been and felt only solid surface.

Luke considered whether he might be having a psychological break but dismissed it, recalling what he had read about mental illness. He checked familiar items for verification. The political button—Wings for Willkie—that he kept in his Little League trophy cup was missing. The Tony Hawk poster looked right but lacked a small rip he knew should be there. These cumulative differences convinced him the room was a fabricated copy.

Luke calmed himself with deep breaths and tried the door, expecting to be locked in, but it opened. Outside was not his family’s hallway but a cinderblock corridor painted pale industrial green. A poster across from his door showed kids running through a meadow with the caption, "JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE," adding to the institutional feel.

Surveying the corridor, Luke saw double doors with push-bars at both ends. Near the set to his left, a black girl around his age sat on the floor wearing bellbottoms and a puffy-sleeved shirt, apparently smoking a cigarette. This confirmed the presence of other youths in the facility and that Luke was no longer in his home.