Gladys leads Luke past his room to an elevator lobby, cheerfully making small talk that Luke pointedly ignores. In the elevator, they descend to “B,” an underground level with clinical corridors, staff, and numbered rooms, confirming to Luke that the Institute is a large, hidden operation.

As they pass a break room, Luke recognizes a blond woman as the person who sprayed him during his abduction. He confronts her with “It was you,” but she offers no response and Gladys hurries him along, offering tokens if he behaves at their destination, room B-31.

Inside B-31, Tony, a blue-clad staffer, greets them. The room contains a dentist-like chair with arm straps. When Luke refuses to sit and resists an ear “chip,” Tony abruptly slaps him across the face, making clear that compliance will be enforced. Luke, shaken, submits and sits in the chair.

Tony pierces Luke’s earlobe with a tracking chip, then prepares a hypodermic injection. Luke asks what it contains, but Tony refuses to answer and administers the shot, causing a strong, brief burning sensation in Luke’s arm. The procedure underscores the kids’ lack of consent and control.

Afterward, Tony conducts a simple sensory test: he turns Luke toward a blank white wall, has him close his eyes, listen for hallway sounds, and then count to twenty and report what he sees. Luke reports hearing footsteps and Gladys’s laugh and seeing only the wall with no additional phenomena, aligning with prior advice to answer truthfully.

Tony declares the session complete, offers ice for Luke’s ear, and ends the encounter. Luke leaves with the stinging confirmation that the Institute’s staff, including his abductor, operate openly and that physical coercion ensures compliance.