Paulina: Enough, J. I really don't give a crap about what you've learned "on the streets." I don't want to hear it.
Paulina: I'd rather take my chances and die out there than stay here and never live at all.
J kicks the door hard, smashing a hole straight through it.
J: You really think you're gonna build connections with the government? Rub shoulders with the upper class? You think they'll take you seriously?
J: You're no different from any of the "cannon fodder" at the bottom of their system! You're gonna be fighting a battle even tougher than the one on Haight Street!
He stomps forward with a domineering presence, playing every bit the role of a stern father.
J: Why do you think I kept those government suckups from finding you in the first place?
J: Listen. It doesn't matter where you go, as long as it's not the St. Pavlov Foundation!
J: You could go to college, join a company, a hospital. You'd live a better life than anyone else!
She closes the suitcase, then looks up at him with a smile of genuine warmth.
Paulina: Hah. "A better life than anyone else," huh? Listen to yourself. That's ridiculous!
Paulina: You finally said what you really think, didn't you, J? Our righteous boss and kindhearted neighbor.
Paulina: But you know what? I'm not interested in comparing myself to anyone else! I actually want to do something meaningful with my life. Something beyond you, beyond myself, beyond the whole of Haight Street!
Paulina: And there is nothing you can do that is going to stop me from pursuing my dream.
He sneers.
J: But who's gonna help you when you're in danger? Those idiots in white robes? How can you entrust your life to the Foundation and not your family or friends? And all because of some dream you're not even sure you can realize?
J: You know, one day, you'll come crawling home and cry about how the world is nothing like you imagined.
J: And I'll just laugh and say I told you so.
She looks at him coldly.
Paulina: Fine, then laugh, J.
Paulina: Some people are willing to deal with pain, even willing to sacrifice themselves if they have to.
Paulina: If I die out there, it'll be because I chose to.
Paulina: If that's the price I'll pay to protect everyone, then so be it.
J: ...
His mocking expression falls away; he leans up against the wall and lets out a long, deep sigh.
J: What happened, sis? Since when did we walk such different paths?
Paulina: Ever since you beat up that voodooist who tricked me and laughed because I was a human, that's when. You beat him to a pulp, Joe. You forced him to beg on the street.
Paulina: Everyone here is stuck in a vicious cycle. One person tortures another, then he tortures someone else, and so on and so on. It never ends!
Paulina: Well, I think I've found a way to break the cycle, and I'm going to try it, even if I make mistakes. I know you think you can stop anything—bar fights, arguments—but you can't stop me.
She pushes open the door.
J: Bike's broken.
Paulina: I'll take the Greyhound.
J: They're not running today.
Paulina: Then I'll walk.
Paulina: I'll walk until I get there.
"Thud ..."
J: coughs and vomits
Matilda stands in front of him, resolute and unshakable.
The taste of blood and vomit mingles in his mouth, trickling out from behind his teeth.
Throbbing agony sears through him from each movement.
???: Alright, blondie. Ready for a formalin bath?
Matilda: ...
She realizes in a moment of terror that she is completely unarmed.
Matilda: As an investigator of the St. Pavlov Foundation, I, Matilda Bouanich, have a duty to protect the people, even at the cost of my life!
Her voice wavers, and her legs buckle—barely holding.
This is the responsibility that the SPDM has taught her.
Z: Tell me, Matilda. When you confront the Manus, are you certain that you'll have the courage to come face-to-face with death?
Z: Are you sure you're ready to serve as a field investigator?
Matilda: I will do everything I can to protect everyone.
Matilda: With honor and dignity, I will make the Bouanich family proud.
J's eyelids feel chained down, dragging his consciousness downward with them.
In his periphery, a jagged snake tail writhes and twists in the air.
A slender figure stands before him.
It is as if he sees that blue ribbon fluttering past his eyes again.
He lets out a final deep cry.
J: Run, you idiot. I don't need you to protect me! I don't need your sacrifice!
J: I don't care about your duty or whatever the Foundation says! I don't f*****g care!
J: You don't get it, do you?! If you die like Hollick back there, everything you have—everything you've been through—will be gone for good.
J: coughs Tell your boss that I got in trouble because I didn't follow the confidentiality agreement. Tell her I deserved it.
J: And tell her that stupid big guy over there picked the wrong side and got himself killed.
J: You've done your job. No one can blame you.
Matilda: No. I decline your offer.
Matilda: I will stand and fight until the reinforcements arrive!
Her hand steadies and tightens into a fist.
J: Just run ... coughs
J: Forget about us. Save yourself.
Paulina: Some people are willing to deal with pain, even willing to sacrifice themselves if they have to.
Paulina: If I die out there, it'll be because I chose to.
Paulina: If that's the price I'll pay to protect everyone, then so be it.
J: I wish you could've lived a different life.
J: I wish you'd been born into a happy family.
J: That you'd had your own room with a huge bed and lived in a beautiful, fancy house.
J: I wish you'd been a rich girl. I wish you'd been cherished by your parents and that everyone had been proud of you.
J: I wish you'd never known about the poverty, disease, and war in the real world.
J: I wish you could've slept in a room without a broken window and with a fireplace that kept you warm at night.
J: I wish you didn't have to live in that run-down room I set up for you. I wish you could've worn new clothes that no one laughed at.
J: I wish you could've been surrounded by kind and loyal friends.
J: I wish ...
J: ... we'd never met.
???: There they are!
