Hayner felt entitled to the truth. He had spent more time here than anyone—at least, anyone who wasn't in a tube.

He and Olette had escaped the lab and were now wandering through a network of underground access tunnels. The passageways were made out of cracked concrete. Faded yellow stripes ran along the walls.

Olette seemed to know her way around. He decided to put his faith in her. If she was going to betray him, she would've done by now.

"What's going on here?" he asked. "What are they doing to those people?"

Olette tried to think of a way to explain it. The true answer was endlessly complex, but to put it simply, "They're trying to create the perfect society."

"What?" Hayner was blindsided by the answer." How?"

Olette faced him seriously, and her unnerving stare made him sweat. "Do you think people can change?"

"Y…yeah?"

"Then you'd be wrong."

"I don't get it."

She resumed leading the way. "You don't have to."

He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "I saw myself out there! I've been here for months and nobody, not even my family, searched for me. It's because I'm not missing am I? What are you doing with those people?"

"Nobody's missing," she explained dully. "All those people in the tubes... They're just placeholders."

"Placeholders?! What are you talking about?"

"This house is the only place where people can truly change. We're talking about real progress, about moving civilization forward by accepting what's necessary for us to evolve. It's true that we've taken people in, but that's only because the process takes time. When it's complete, the placeholder returns and the real person is released back into society the same way they got here."

"Through the party."

"And finding the keyblade is a part of it."

"I don't…" Hayner grabbed his head. None of it made sense. "I don't get it. What does the keyblade have to do with anything?"

"It represents everything. Once the subjects have undergone the process, they must complete the last stage of their conversion through a practical live exercise: the search for a better tomorrow. The keyblade represents the future and freedom. It's a simulation that mirrors our reality. Once society's ugliness reveals itself, only then does the need for change become reality. Do you understand now?"

But if that was true, "Then all this time I've been running away…was a waste?"

Olette offered a sad smile. "You could've been home by now."

He fell to his knees. "Then why didn't you take me back?"

"I felt sorry for you. You were afraid of things you couldn't understand. Most people, given the chance to change, never accept it. They'd rather die than change. We remove that from the equation. I believe what we're doing is for the better good but…it may not be the right way."

She reached out her hand and pulled him to his feet. She led him by hand through the passageways.

"The keyblade search is a test, you see. There are two groups: those who have been invited and those who have gone through the process. Without exception, the changed group has always found the keyblade first. It showed us that society cannot change on its own, but in a way, the test was unfair."

They reached a doorway.

"Society has always ignored the warnings signs until it's too late, which is why we've taken matters into our own hands. But even if society as a whole doesn't pay attention, perhaps the few that do can change everything. You, Riku, and everyone else may have chance to break the cycle and show them another way forward. That's what I want to believe. That's why this is where my help ends."

"What—"

Olette hurled him through the door and shut it.

"You'll have to do this on your own. Goodbye."