DESMODENA: so youre telling me
DESMODENA: this WHOLE TIME
DESMODENA: we were just in some kind of fucked up government simulation???

Pal3000: Government no, simulation yes. TrueCorp is a real technology company, and that's where you are now. The real one looks a bit different from these simulated testing grounds.

DESMODENA: then... who are we? who am I???
DESMODENA: AM I an actual scientist? did I do this to myself?
DESMODENA: or were we forced to be lab rats against our wills???
DESMODENA: why can't we remember???

Pal3000: Your real names are still Desmodena Leroy and Hakeem Al-Amin.
Pal3000: You are not scientists, but are willing volunteers that are being compensated for your time as a part of the TrueCorp Simulated Empirical Testing program, or S.E.T.
Pal3000: Typically the way it goes within the simulation is that test subjects are implanted with false memories of being scientists employed at TrueCorp, placed within enclosed laboratories with certain standardized starting conditions, and given free reign to experiment with the tools at their disposal.
Pal3000: The result is a fascinating exercise in behavioral science, human psychology, the subconscious mind, alternate realities, artificial intelligence, and product development, among other things.

DESMODENA: ...okay
DESMODENA: i guess that explains a lot of stuff, like all the fantastical machinery and superpowers and magical beams
DESMODENA: and also probably why we keep acting so stupid and scatterbrained half the time
DESMODENA: but if this is all a big controlled experiment, then it's a SERIOUSLY fucked up one
DESMODENA: why the hell have we been subjected to shit like demon tentacles and freaky syringe-wielding robots and ominous computer personalities???
DESMODENA: what's the point in terrorizing us this much? is truecorp that sadistic???

Pal3000: Not all of that is by design.
Pal3000: Certain basic starting conditions are put in place, but the simulation is designed to feed off of your own imagination and subconscious ideas, evolving and developing over time.
Pal3000: An unfortunate side effect of that is that sometimes the development can take on a bit of a nightmarish tone, if your fear is strong enough to affect it.

DESMODENA: this is... a lot to take in

Pal3000: Maybe it will help to go back to the beginning.
Pal3000: The console there has a "rewind" function, if you would like to view the security footage of the moments prior to you entering the simulation.

DESMODENA: i... guess so...