Foreach 152 - A Human Face

Cliff Mason

Hey, Jiro.
You there?

—Jiro—

...

	Sorry, can't talk right now
	I need to meet with Sunny for our escape pretty soon
	I guess I've got time...
→	Yeah, I'm here. Is everything okay?

Cliff Mason

Thanks, man.
I'm just... I haven't been having an easy time of it.

Cliff holds his communicator in his hand, sitting on the roof of the Mundy household, watching the evening sun castint its long shadows over Fairwell.

Cliff Mason

I wanna believe I can just... be normal.
But this pattern I'm caught in keeps pulling me back like quicksand.
It's like the harder I push it the worse it blows up.

—Jiro—

...

	You realise that's exactly how quicksand works right
	Gods, you sound just like me... I keep trying that because I never learn from my own mistakes
→	Trying to force it will just kill you a different way
	You're talking to the wrong person about "normal"

Cliff Mason

You don't get it, I had this once!

—Jiro—

...

→	When?
	Did you really?
	It's kind of nice that you actually believe that

Cliff Mason

You know, before the war, before the Aveans, before the Earth was...
I dunno. I remember the kind of guy I was back then, and I think I liked him better.
Now I look at what I'm doing with myself, I can barely recognise him.
And I swear to God, the way people look at me now, it's like they know.
Painted on my face, I guess.

—Jiro—

...

→	You can't control how people look at you.
	You can only just switch one mask for another
	It all goes down the same road in the end

Cliff Mason

Well... they're polite about it, I guess. That's nice of them. But they still treat me like I'm loaded with the safety off.
Back before, God, I was a family man, Jiro!
I knew who I was.
How do I get back to that?

—Jiro—

...

	Just keep trying
→	You can't
	It's over for both of us

Cliff Mason

God. Yeah, maybe you're right.
Like I just gotta accept this thing I've turned into.

—Jiro—

...

→	Doesn't have to be a bad thing, to accept what you are
	I wish I could become something else.
	I wish I wasn't fucking stuck this way.

Cliff Mason

It'd just be nice to have a choice in what I'm changing into...
At least... at least it's not all gone.
Whatever happened with Earth. I can rest a little easier knowing you survived.

—Jiro—

...

	Ah. Ah.
	Fuck.
	I can't let this go on
→	I'm not from Earth, Cliff.
	I can keep pretending if you want

Cliff Mason

You're... not?

—Jiro—

...

	It was easier not to tell you.
→	It's hard to explain. But I'm not from your home, the one that was lost. I just got the communicator from Mercy.
	The reason I didn't tell you earlier is there's something wrong with me
	I like to lie to people because I don't care when they get hurt

Cliff Mason

I... oh.
It's just... I mean, even the camera, you looked so... human.

—Jiro—

...

	I get that a lot
→	I'm sorry

Cliff Mason

...You know what?
It's the damnedest thing, I think I'm gonna be alright.

—Jiro—

...

	Thanks
	You're just saying that
→	You don't need to lie to me, Cliff.

Cliff Mason

I'm not.
I just got it in perspective, now. It didn't matter so much the planet you were from as much as... there's someone I can talk to.

—Jiro—

...

	That does mean a lot, you know
→	Sounds like a pretty small comfort to me
	I really am glad I could help
	Wow, am I really the best you've got? That's bleak.

Cliff Mason

Bigger than you'd think, my man.
You gonna be alright out there?

—Jiro—

...

→	Yeah
	Seems unlikely

Cliff Mason

Gotcha. Stay safe, Jiro.

Ha... hhhaaah.

—Jiro—

...

	I know you're listening
	I know what you're thinking
→	See. There's something I've done right.

Oh. Have you.

Jiro is sitting on a ventilation unit. He lets his legs dangle off the side. Behind him is the Bastard, clamped to the wall by his wrists and wings and tail, seething at him.

How long

do you think

you can keep

this

up?

You're a man made of wire, Jiro.

A hollow fucking shell

And it makes me

fucking SICK

watching this puppet act.

—Jiro—

...

	Sunny would tell you to eat shit
→	You don't know anything.
	Is that all I care about now? What fucking Sunny would say?
	See what listening to her has gotten me

FUCK OFF, then.

Try your luck with the fucking

lizard.

Like it'll be be any DIFFERENT this time.

Jiro leaves through the vent, but the Bastard's echoing voice follows him.

Just watch.

There's no point

saving you

because there's nothing there

to save