everything's white. people in lab coats hustle back and forth. nathan, also in a lab coat, is hovering over a lucite encasement. inside we see two white mice, both attached to electrodes. they sit in little chairs at a little table. in front of each of them is a little plate of salad and three forks of varying size under lucite domes.
nathan hovers over the lucite case with the tiny dinner table in it. his assistant, gabrielle, presses a button, a door opens, and two white mice scurry in. the male pulls out a chair for the female. the female climbs up on the chair, and the male pushes the chair in, then scurries around to the other side of the table and climbs onto his own chair. the lucite lid over the silverware and salads lifts and both mice pick up the proper forks and begin eating. nathan scribbles in his notebook.
puff, in his lucite case, sits behind a set dinner table.
nathan is holding flash cards up to puff. puff tentatively reads aloud from the cards. gabrielle sits nearby on a stool, fish-netted legs crossed, arms crossed, and an angry expression on her face.
puff is in his case in formal evening wear in a makeshift opera box. there is a mannequin woman sitting next to him and a boom box pumping out beethoven's fidelio. puff seems attentive, refined, occasionally bringing a pair of opera glasses up to his eyes, pinky extended. outside the case, nathan and lila look on. the opera is over. puff stands, applauds, yells "bravo", and tosses a rose in the direction of the imaginary stage. the rose hits the lucite wall and falls to the floor. nathan and lila stand and applaud puff.
we see a montage of interactions between nathan, puff, and lila.
puff is sitting in a chair and facing a screen. the collar is around his neck. nathan and lila stand behind him at a slide projector.
lila, nathan, and puff enter. puff sees his lucite case.
nathan and gabrielle, in lab coats, sit chatting with puff.
lila brings her focus back to the room. everyone is watching her, waiting for some direction.