337 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
337 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
label chapter_14B:
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#Anon and the Infinite Sadness
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"After Fang broke up with me everything just fell apart."
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"I couldn’t be bothered with school anymore, instead shutting myself in my room and replaying old games."
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"Naturally, I flunked out."
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pause .5
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"With time on the lease running out, I had to make a decision soon{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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"College isn’t an option, so my choices were{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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"Minimum wage job, military, or going homeless."
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"I’d rather not have stuck around town, and being homeless wasn’t very appealing either."
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"So that November I signed up for the Navy as a PACT Seaman."
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pause 1
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"The worst mistake of my life, and that’s really saying something considering how I got here."
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pause .5
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"I was sold on the idea of picking a real job and getting training."
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"Instead I was at the mercy of brutal Boatswain's Mates."
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"I have the pig and chicken shit tattooed on my feet to prove it."
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"Or at least I did, until I sold my battlestation to get them removed."
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pause .5
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"I never want to touch a paintbrush in my life again."
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"Though every day since I’ve been eyeing rope{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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pause 1
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"For four years my life was suffering."
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"And now I’m back here."
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"Plane ticket to anywhere."
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"And I picked Volcadera Bluff."
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pause .5
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"What the fuck was I thinking?"
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pause .5
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"There was a simple answer to that."
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"I wasn’t."
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"Just like I wasn’t thinking on that beach."
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"People don’t change, after all."
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pause .5
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"I managed to get my old apartment in Skin Row back and it’s somehow even more of a shithole than it was four years ago."
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"Only good thing out of the Navy was the monthly check."
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"Fucking ladderwells. The steps finally got me in the end."
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pause .5
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"Once I got my general discharge papers I vowed to never step foot on a ship again."
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pause .5
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play music 'audio/OST/Skinrow Soul.ogg' fadein 1.0
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scene room anon dark with Dissolve(1)
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pause 1
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"Instead, I’ve locked myself away in this room."
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"Just listlessly drifting through life."
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"Just like I always wanted."
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pause .5
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"The trash from all the deliveries has turned it into a small landfill."
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"I’m out of smokes, I’m out of liquor, my apartment smells like a shallow grave."
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pause .5
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"I really need to go out for once."
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pause .5
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"I vaguely recall there being a pizza place nearby, some chain on the edge of Skin Row."
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"Pizza always helps. And it’s cheap."
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"And there’s a smoke shop nearby."
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"With that plan settled I grab the jacket that I haven’t worn in weeks."
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"I give it a quick smell check before putting it on and heading for the door."
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scene black with dissolve
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"As I walk through the front of the building I feel the burning bright light of the setting sun searing my eyes."
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# play ambient 'audio/effects/outdoor ambience.ogg' fadein 3
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scene white with dissolve
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A "Argh, fuck! It’s like getting skullfucked by one of Stony’s light bars!"
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pause .5
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"After stumbling around like Helen Keller for a few moments, my eyes finally adjust to the sunlight and I start to make my way down the street."
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pause .5
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"Pizza time here I come."
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"{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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pause .5
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scene doomeranon01 with Dissolve(3)
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pause 1
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"It’s morose and gray out, clouds hang heavy and blots the sun out."
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"The homeless litter the street more than usual in this part of town."
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"Even outside the dingy pizza place I found."
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pause 1
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stop music fadeout 4
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scene doomeranon02 with Fade(1, 0, 1)
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pause .5
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"There’s only a few people inside the joint when I enter."
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"The entire place could be described as ‘slow’."
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pause .5
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"A cashier leans on one arm over the counter, the customers’ pizza already looks cold on their plates, an ambient track plays at a molasses pace."
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"Time itself seems to be dilating in here."
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pause .5
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"I order two slices to go and wait by the counter for the cashier to meander to the back for a new stack of boxes."
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pause .5
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"Out of the corner of my eye I notice that the place has a small stage tucked into the back."
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"Oh, so they have live music?"
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pause .5
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"The current song ends and they shift amongst themselves to get the next one ready."
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pause .5
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play music 'audio/OST/The.ogg' fadein 1.0
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pause 3
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"The drummer taps his drumsticks together and starts a basic percussion line."
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pause 1
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"After a few beats the dreary singing begins and I feel my heart drop."
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"No matter how much of my memory I repress, I could never forget that voice."
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stop music fadeout 4
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pause .5
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"I throw an inconspicuous glance across the room and confirm my suspicions."
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pause .5
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play music 'audio/OST/summertime synth.ogg'fadein 1
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scene doomeranon03 with Dissolve(2)
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pause 2
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"I can barely recognize Fang."
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pause .5
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"A part of me denies that the person up on stage could have been her."
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"My more rational side however clarifies that it’s Fang up there, singing a song I know by heart."
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pause 1
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"The years have not been kind to her."
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"Her long gray hair is now totally shaved off and she has tattoos down both of her arms."
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"The thick black eyeliner makes her once bright amber eyes seem dull."
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"And the expression on her face is one of absolute misery."
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pause .5
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"The other two don’t look any better off either."
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pause 1
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"I don’t think Fang’s seen me yet."
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"Or doesn’t recognize me."
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"We’re a few years older now, a few years wiser."
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"Maybe just a bit worse off."
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pause .5
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"The cashier returns with some cardboard boxes and packs my order into a neatly-folded package."
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"I stay and wait. Watching her."
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"Hoping for her to look at me."
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"Recognize me."
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"Notice that I’m the only one here who cares enough to watch her play."
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pause 1
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"Finally, her eyes cast over the audience, looking over them."
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"Looking over me."
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pause .5
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"Her gaze just passes me by, even though I’m the only one looking."
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"She doesn’t recognize me."
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pause .5
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stop music fadeout 5
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"It’s sobering."
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pause 1
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scene doomeranon02 with Dissolve(2)
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pause 1
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"I guess that was it, it was fun pretending this might go somewhere."
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pause .5
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"That she would recognize me, drop her instrument and come to my arms, and we start dating again."
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"We forgive ourselves, and we start over."
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"I let out a small sigh."
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pause .5
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"I hesitate with the box in my hand."
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pause 1
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"Fang is right there."
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pause 1
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"I could take everything back. Everything that went wrong all because of that fight."
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"If I try talking to her, she might forgive me."
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"Give us both a fresh start."
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pause .5
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"Things could go back to the way they were, back before{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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"Before{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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pause .5
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F "{alpha=0.75}{i}{cps=*.4}\"Trish was right about you.\"{/cps}{/i}{/alpha}"
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pause 1
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play music 'audio/OST/Beach Chill Out.ogg' fadein 1.0
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"I{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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pause .5
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"I really should go get those smokes."
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pause 1
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"I take one last look of Fang, to further cement in my mind I’m making the right choice."
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pause .5
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scene doomeranon03 with Dissolve(1)
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pause 1
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"I couldn’t save her. Why would I save her? In her infinite talent can’t she see she’s a dump?"
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pause 1
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"I saw it, she’s smart, I’m a dope. Yet why does she do that to herself?"
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pause 1
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scene doomeranon04 with Fade(2, 0, 1)
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pause .5
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"The bell on the door jingles it’s farewell, and I open the box to eat the first slice."
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"As the taste of cardboard fills my mouth I try to erase the last few minutes from my memory."
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pause .5
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"But I know it won’t ever leave."
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"None of my memories will."
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pause 1
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"I can just picture Fang, looking like a junkie like she does now in that pizzeria, playing to an audience of nobody: judging me and how I’m living from now on."
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"And I’ll say \"Yes Fang. I live on a pension alone in my apartment, playing games and watching movies and sleeping.\""
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"\"It’s all I could ever want because I never wanted much in the first place.\""
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pause .5
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"And she’ll probably scream at me, vent her frustrations on me, call me selfish."
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"And I’ll just say \"Goodbye, Fang.\""
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pause .5
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"It could’ve been a painful way of separating again{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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"{cps=*.1}...{/cps}after some possibly pleasant time playing catch-up{cps=*.1}...{/cps}"
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"{cps=*.1}...{/cps}but the thought of coming back to my apartment alone with my pizza, watching a movie on my tv, undisturbed, with no judgement for my appearance or the place I live, it fills me with relief."
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pause .5
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"It’s all I ever wanted."
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pause .5
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"It’s all I’ll ever need."
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pause 1
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"Goodbye, Fang. It was nice seeing you again, I suppose."
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"Because I haven’t changed."
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pause 1
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stop music fadeout 4
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scene black
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pause 1
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"People never change."
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$ quick_menu = False
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window hide
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pause 2
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scene 2of4 with Dissolve(2)
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pause
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scene black with Dissolve(3)
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pause 2
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return
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