Brother, you already *were* a ghost. Up there, screaming — along with all of them. Scaring each other. Haunting each other. It's the living who are ghosts. The dead are silent. They don't rattle windows or write letters in blood. The living do. Leave them behind. Rest.

I'm a bad person. I believe I could have done anything.

SHIVERS - Snow falls and there is no answer. Some things are not for mortals to know.

FLCL REANIMATED OUT NOW

I'm a deeply flawed individual, but I bring joy to the world.

SHIVERS - A grey rain falls on Martinaise. The city soaks in it, cold and dripping. Waves hit the concrete breakers. The homeless huddle by the fires behind the fences. There, among the shacks, is your home. Stay. Have a drink. Forever.

VOLITION - Subdue the regret. Dust yourself off, proceed. You'll get it in the next life, where you don't make mistakes. Do what you can with this one, while you're alive.

VOLITION - No. Not a disaster. Weave this into the story of you. Walk out of its *ruins*. Save those who still can be saved -- *I'm* on your side.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN

Still, there's something inherently violent even about dice rolls. It's like every time you cast a die, something disappears. Some alternative ending, or an entirely different world...

STEBAN, THE STUDENT COMMUNIST - “In dark times, should the stars also go out?”

A tremendous loneliness comes over you. Everybody in the world is doing something without you.

You shiver, and the city shivers with you.

No. This is somewhere to be. This is all you have, but it's still something. Streets and sodium lights. The sky, the world. You're still alive.