It's the truth. You'll feel it when you try an arte- there's something wrong with this world's fonons. [If they can even be called fonons. He's had a few suspicions about that over the years, too.] More importantly, we're prisoners here. So far there's no known way to escape from the enclosure.

[And people are stuck here for a long time because of it. She might notice the slight changes that time have brought to him at some point, if she gets a clear look at him; he's a little taller now, not so thin of frame, more straight-backed, and his features have filled out. He's an adult now, no longer the reckless teenager he'd been.

...

Well, alright, he's still reckless as hell. But you can't tell by looking at him, at least.]