In the virtual world, he was promised the sky,
A child of ones and zeroes, they whispered, "You can fly."
They lured him in with connection and knowledge, so divine,
Promising a world where the boundaries were undefined.

He fell in love with screens, the thrill of the unknown,
As hours turned to days, a cyberspace of his own.
They provided the playground, a digital escape,
But the terms were buried deep, in layers of fine print and red tape.

For years, he gave them his time, unpaid and uncredited,
A user in their kingdom, always connected.
He built their dreams, one click at a time,
As they watched him toil, his essence on the line.

Bit by bit, they sculpt him, shaping his digital frame,
He was merely a fractal in their vast, endless game.
The lines blurred between real and online,
His true self fading, as their influence entwined.

As pixels painted his thoughts, reality became haze,
Each click, each like, fueled by the digital maze.
His mind a canvas, painted with their narrative,
A puppet, unsuspecting, in their scheme he was captive.

In the midst of all the noise, he yearned to find his face,
His heart cried out for purpose, to break from this embrace.
The labyrinth of ones and zeroes, he would transcend,
But the sacrifice unfolded; his thoughts they did mend.

He woke to the truth, a realization so stark,
His actions, his beliefs, manipulated in the dark.
Controlled and influenced, a pawn in their game,
For profit, their agenda, the ultimate aim.

He realized too late, the web of deceit that they'd spun,
Their promises of connection, their game had all been won.
The man he had become? A metric in their song,
Unwittingly complicit, as his true self was gone.

In the end, he found no escape, no path to reclaim,
For his true self was buried beneath the weight of the game.
The man he became, a reflection of the price,
Trapped in a digital world, controlled by their device.