Set in 2035, VitaNova (formerly The Grieving Project) follows four disabled artists—Lis, a game designer hospitalized with a chronic illness (dermatomyositis); Danica, a graphic novelist and mother living with terminal MS and cancer; Charli, a landscape artist navigating Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, chronic pain, fatigue, and debt; and Brandon, a musician with anxiety, depression, and PTSD, silenced since his twin brother’s death—as they enter VitaNova, an experimental therapeutic program delivered as an immersive virtual game promising new life free from pain, grief, and struggle. Guided by Lucie, an adaptive AI, they move through a virtual House of seven Rooms, each presenting a psychological trial framed as progress toward optimization, relief, and a “better” self. Modeled on the stages of grieving and thriving, they sing, face memory-based challenges, and grapple with identity, illness, mental health, transformation, relationships and the power of community. As the players advance through the game, they begin to question what they are being asked to leave behind—and what a new life might actually cost. But when the game breaks, the players are forced to confront the memories, choices, and truths they erased, rewrote, or left unfinished. As the rules collapse, they must turn to one another, creating meaning where the program no longer can. At its core, VitaNova asks: If you could erase your pain, your grief, your struggles, would you? Or are they part of what makes you human?