The scene starts with a dimly-lit, dingy bathroom. The space is familiar, but the perspective isn’t—it’s playing out from the blurry eyes of a child, one that seemed far too small, physically speaking, to be between the ages of thirteen and fourteen. There’s a small body, thin and pale as a fresh corpse, wedged between the toilet and a bathtub. He just barely fits into the space: it doesn’t seem possible, but the boy has so little fat and muscle mass on his body that his limbs and bones fit closely to each other like puzzle pieces. A few feet away there is a pair of glasses, discarded and forgotten—the likely source of the visual distortion.
Retching. Sobs and sniffles. Groans and whimpers of pain. All muffled, silenced by the boy and his crushing sense of fear; the terror of being found out. He’s cowering just as much as he is clinging to this space for safety. No words are spoken out loud, but the scene evokes a specific, acute sense of agony to anyone watching it: it’s a quiet, unnameable suffering that stretches on for only a few minutes, for Tony, but what must have been hours for Peter.
The sound of an opening door, followed by two distinct voices. A feminine tone that sounds suspiciously like May, and a deeper, masculine cadence that is unfamiliar. They’re having a normal conversation: discussing work, what they’re going to have for dinner, what they need to get done over the weekend. The topic shifts to Peter, and both go silent.
There’s footsteps, approaching. A knock on a door, but not the one to the bathroom Peter is currently bunkered into. The man is calling out Peter’s name—once, twice. He tries again, sounding aggravated at first, and then worried. Finally, he walks away, speaking to May in a sincerely disappointed—even a bit defeated—whisper.
“I just don’t know what to do, May. He doesn’t listen to me.”
“He’s a growing boy, dear. You know how they are. Peter will come around, he loves you.”
“I know. I just wish he would open up more. It feels like he’s always getting in trouble, and no matter what we do, we can’t reach him. I understand that we’ll never be Richard and Mary, but—“
“Just leave him alone, Ben. He’s probably tired from that field trip he went on today.”
The voices fade, and the footfalls grow distant as both figures travel to the other end of the apartment. And, at last, the simulation pings.
Idealized calming scenario identified. Initializing sequence. . .
The figures do not return. No one comes barging in to save the day. Peter is not found where he is.
The clattering of dishes and distant laughter can be made out, and slowly, the noises of Peter’s suffering taper out. His ragged breathing slows, and he closes his eyes for a final time. His breathing stops, followed shortly by his racing heart stuttering out of existence.