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 Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:59 pm
 xxxxxA g h a v e a g h McMURPHY
That was it. Vee was slowing down, her energy near spent. She'd kept up the hit-and-run tactic for excruciatingly long minutes, and now her muscles were aching, and her ribs aching. Her back burned from the graze. Finally, she stumbled, one of her front legs folding on her, and she bit dirt. She heard a triumphant chuckle.
And then she heard a fierce yowl. There was a flash of orange, and then an agent was down, a leopard seeming to appear out of no where. The agent's neck was twisted at an odd angle, his mouth open in surprise. Immediately, Vee bristled, and she - rather, the wolf - let out a low growl from deep in her throat. To the wolf, the appearance of the cat meant that someone was trespassing on its territory, and it definitely did not like that.
Vee quickly pushed down that initial instinct. The leopard had saved her. She'd been given another chance to live. Leaping nimbly to her feet, Vee charged the agents with replenished energy, fighting alongside the leopard, and Kiacy and Dex too, of all people.
They'd shown the agents no mercy. With the numbers equal, the Shifters quickly overpowered the agents, and soon they all lay dead or near death. After the last had collapsed, Vee didn't give them another glance. Her piercing wolf eyes gazed at the leopard warily. Vee could see the leopard's muscles still tensed. It was still preparing to pounce, perhaps still in the grip of battle rage. The average leopard was a dangerous animal to cross, at any time. In Vee's mind, one of the most dangerous when it was in a killing mood.
She'd already deduced that it was a Shifter. But she didn't quite trust this one yet. Vee was lucky that the three Shifters she'd met earlier were all pretty nice, and obviously not used to battle. Vee had seen earlier how Kiacy, in her ocelot form, seemed to freeze after she bit an agent's throat out. Her first kill, most likely. But this leopard, it had attacked without any hesitation at all. As if killing was something it did often - which, actually, was normal for the leopard, but not for the person who shared its mind. But then again, Vee was no different. The Shifter had saved her. Vee owed her.
Vee couldn't tell if Kiacy or Dex had gotten hurt in the battle, but she jumped protectively in front of them anyway, her large wolf form covering them both. She didn't spot Richard yet, but she was pretty sure he could defend himself just fine. She faced the leopard, obviously showing that she was standing her ground, almost as if to tell the Shifter to snap out of it.
Then she relaxed. The leopard would probably feel more threatened if Vee assumed that position. But if she shifted back to human, the leopard might just kill her all the same. She would have to pick.
Vee relaxed, hazel eyes blinking at the leopard, and once again, that white glow engulfed her. At any other time, she would have tried to hurry the transformation, so she wouldn't keep them waiting to long, but she was exhausted from the battle. When the glow disappeared, Vee stood there, in her human form. The front of her clothes and the area around her mouth were coated in the blood of the agents she'd attacked. There was a slash on the back of her shirt where the bullet grazed her, but it was mostly obscured by her long hair.
Vee wiped her mouth with her sleeve, looking at the blood with disgust. She definitely needed new clothes now. "Well, that was a nice wake-up call," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She looked to the other Shifters and smiled faintly at them. "You guys did good, for people who don't fight often." Then, turning to the leopard. "I suppose I should thank you, for saving me. I wouldn't be standing here right now if you hadn't arrived. Would you tell me your name? I'm Vee. This is Kiacy, Dex, and Richard." She tried to appear as non-threatening as she could, but the blood on her face, clothes, and hair wasn't helping much. She wasn't sure if the human or the leopard was currently in control, and if it turned out to be the leopard... then they would have a problem.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:12 pm
 Bithiah Iseret Bubastis The leopard panted lightly and licked away the blood around her own mouth, watching warily as the white wolf disappeared and was replaced with a human girl. She growled low in her throat, ready to pounce again, but she quickly suppressed that urge and let her form melt back into that of a young woman. Now standing in front of the other Shifters, she held a regal air, and still seemed as dangerous as she was in her leopard form, but she stood in a relaxed stance, so it didn't appear she would attack them. "Bithiah. And you shouldn't thank me just yet." Her voice held a bit of an accent that didn't belong in to an American, nor did it belong so any one from the South American continent either.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:20 pm
 Unbeknownst to either the late agents or the shapeshifters, a third party had overseen the entire nasty exchange.
A pale gray snake lay coiled beneath the leaves in a nearby patch of scrub; its unblinking eyes had taken in all of the carnage with mild interest. Like the victors of the fight, this snake was a shifter. Unlike them, it had yet to run into any trouble with government agents. Being a serpent, it was naturally inclined to hiding and sneaking about. And, though few but the odd herpetologist would be able to recognize it, this was not just an average garter snake. No, this was a black mamba. And the mamba's name was Allen.
Allen had spent the better part of the past year traversing the wilds of North America. He had no visions of revenge on the government, nor of freedom from an oppression that he had never really felt. What he did feel, however, was a sort of lingering loneliness. He had little in common with anyone at all, really. He never had. It was possible that if he ignored this chance, he never would.
It was this train of thought that led Allen to decide, rather uncharacteristically, to reveal himself to the other shifters. He slipped silently from his little nest of leaves, gliding towards the group. Once he was a little over a full lunge's distance away from both the wolf and leopard, he made himself known, raising the top third of his body off of the ground and hissing in what he belatedly realized might be construed as a threatening manner. Well, don't take the one the wrong way, fellows.
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 1:33 pm
 ♞xxxxxxxxxxxRichard Leonard Bayard
History is written on the backs of horses Richard had heard the men approaching, but had stayed very still, knowing that any noise would have given away their position. Instead, he'd furiously tried to think of a way to alert everyone and start defending themselves. Vee pretty much solved the problem, though, by transforming into a white wolf and leaping on one of the men. Almost immediately, the other predators joined in the fight, and it wasn't long until they were joined by a giant leopard. At this point, Richard prudently decided to stay out of reach of all those whirling fangs and claws. He didn't want any misunderstandings to occur or accidentally step on Dex. Friesians weren't exactly lightweights, after all. He'd watched them fight instead, trying to remember as much as possible for future reference. They seemed capable of handling themselves.
When the agents were all on the ground, either dead or bleeding their life out, and the leopard revealed to be a shifter, he turned back into his human form and began separating weapons from the bodies. The one Dex had hamstrung and the new girl had slashed open was gasping and frothing blood. Richard took one of the automatics and put a bullet in between the man's eyes to put him out of his misery. He then promptly leaned over and threw up. It was the first time he'd seen people killed, and definitely the first time he'd killed anyone. It was an awful feeling, and the stench of blood and s**t didn't exactly help.
After a few minutes, he straightened and spat, hating the bitter taste in his mouth. It was then that a gray snake reared up out of the forest litter on the other side of Vee and that Bith-something-or-other in a threatening way.
"Look out!" he shouted before smoothly shifting into his horse form, going straight into a full gallop. The aftermath of the battle was even more foul with his enhanced smell, and now he could pick out the strange musk of the snake. He came to a perfect sliding stop behind the girls and reared, bellowing loudly. Usually, snakes stayed away from large vibrations, and the war cry of a stallion made quite a few of those. He came back down heavily, trying to put himself between the girls and the snake. A stray thought wandered through his mind, commenting how odd it was to come down all protector-like on such a little snake when just a few minutes ago, they'd all been attacking armed men and he had just hung back and watched.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 8:14 pm
 Kiacy Khalid Kiacy looked up at the leopard that had revealed herself to them. Kiacy shifted back into a human and grimaced slightly. She leaned over and touched her heel, feeling torn skin and dried blood, aside from that, she was relatively unharmed, a few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing life threatining. She stole a glance at the man she ahd killed and she almost wanted to vomit like Richard had. Kiacy had killed someone, without a weapon, and she hadn't even given it much thought. That mere idea terrified Kiacy, if she hadn't given thought about killing a human being, would she turn and kill someone else as if they were prey, nothing more? Kiacy shuddered as she glanced away from the dead bodies laying about, she couldn't stand to watch them anymore.
She almost jumped when she saw Richard race towards something and bellow loudly. Kiacy grimaced and touched her ears. It would be loud regardless of where he was, but it didn't help that he was directly behind her. She turned towards him, about to snap at him for making so much noise when she noticed what he was bellowing about. There a few feet away from them, was a dark snake, Kiacy felt her skin crawl and she took a cautious step back. She had never been fond of snakes, she disliked them almost as much as she disliked fire after her past.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 5:54 pm
xxxxxA g h a v e a g h McMURPHY
Vee relaxed when a soft glow surrounded the animal and twisted into a humanoid shape. A woman appeared, dressed in loose and flowing clothes. She held herself proudly, she had that sort of royal air, the kind that usually accompanied rulers and monarchs. Vee had the urge to sarcastically bow to her for a moment. The woman was still tensed, as if she was going to pounce on Vee or the others any minute, even though she wasn't in her leopard form anymore.
She didn't have much to say. Bithiah, she named herself, along with a small warning to Vee that told her not to trust the woman just yet. She didn't sound like she was from the United States. For some reason, Vee thought that all Shapeshifters were all in one country, but now she realized that that was pretty foolish. Of course Shifters would be scattered all over the world, either born a native in another country, or had probably fled to escape the government.
Vee shrugged. "Unless you intend to attack me, I find no reason why I shouldn't," she said bluntly. "There are already so few of us as it is."
As she talked with Bithiah, Richard frisked the agents for weapons that weren't empty. He came across an agent that wasn't quite dead yet, and shot his head. His first kill apparently. Vee watched sympathetically as Richard promptly threw up. Vee had had the same reaction on her first kill. Now it barely bothered her, and that fact probably disturbed her even more.
Vee saying something, somewhat - what, comforting? - to Richard. However, before she decided, Richard straightened, his eyes widening in surprise at something, and shouted a warning before smoothly shifting back into his horse form. Vee immediately dropped into a ready crouch, twisting on her left heel to identify whatever was coming at them from behind. Richard galloped full speed and slid to a stop right behind Bithiah and Vee, startling her. He cried loudly, the surprisingly loud and frightening noise echoing in Vee's ears, and kicked his front hooves at the black snake who, in a way, was rearing back as well. It hardly got a reaction from the snake, and Richard stomped forward, putting himself between the snake and her.
Vee didn't necessarily dislike snakes, but she didn't like them either. She'd only ever seen them in books or articles. Seeing one up close though, was way different from looking at a picture. Looking at its beady eyes, and the way it oh-so-smoothly writhed back and forth, made her skin crawl. And he'd gotten so close to her and Bithiah, and she'd never noticed. That seriously bothered her. Another Shifter? It would hardly come as a surprise to her now. After all, she'd met four Shifters in under twenty-four hours. What's one more?
She would still feel like a fool if she talked to it and it turned out it was just a normal snake, though. But she had a feeling it wasn't just a regular snake. "Gee, that's a right nice way to introduce yourself," Vee muttered dryly, looking back and forth between Richard and the snake. They looked like two bulls getting ready to face eachother in a battle for dominance. "Please, Richard won't attack you if you give him no reason to. I don't think baring your fangs is really necessary."
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 8:34 am
Somewhat to its credit, seeing as how the Friesian was several hundred times its size, the snake was completely still as it was approached. Allen weighed the chances of the horse trampling him against the possibility that he'd be able to bite it before it did -- well, he certainly would be able to bite it first, but he'd probably be crushed anyways, seeing as how a mere single bite wouldn't bring such a large animal down instantly.
Allen also took in the way that two of the girls seemed to writhe in discomfort as they appraised him. Well, already, this wasn't going very well. He decided to shift before doing anything else.
Rather than the clean white flash of Vee's transformations, Allen's tended to occur within a sort of gray haze. This surrounded the snake now, and in a moment, not a mamba but a white-haired, red-eyed young man was standing before the stallion.
He coughed once, twice; it had been weeks, perhaps months since he'd last used his vocal cords. He held his hand up towards Richard, as if that would really accomplish anything. He then turned towards Vee. "I didn't. Give him a reason, I mean. Serpents don't command many expressions, you know; I wasn't intending to attack, just because I opened my mouth." Allen's voice was rough, hoarse, but still oddly gentle, in an unnerving sense. He was in his late teens, yes, but he looked and sounded more like a child. He knew of this; he attempted to use it to his advantage, now. "I just -- I saw other shifters, and I... I just haven't seen any in a long time." He peered at the girl, judging, correctly, that she was sort of the leader of the group.
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 8:56 am
Kiacy Khalid When the dark snake transformed into a human, Kiacy let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. She barely refrained from smiling when the man tried to calm Richard. The man obviously hadn't spoken in a long time, since he had to cough a bit before speaking, and even then, his voice was still hoarse. Kiacy guessed that he was albino, judging from his appearance. He seemed like he was somewhat young, and not to mention he didn't seem very big, or muscled, but that didn't mean he couldn't fight, or kill.
Kiacy crossed her arms over her chest, there was something about the man's tone of voice, like he was completely calm, regardless of the fact that he was almost trampled by a large horse. Kiacy sighed, and listened to the man as he spoke.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 5:54 pm
♞xxxxxxxxxxxRichard Leonard Bayard
History is written on the backs of horses Richard snorted in surprise as the snake didn't strike, but instead turned into a really pale young man. More of a kid, really. Damn. All of a sudden, I'm up to my ears in shifters. He backed up neatly so as not to loom over the newcomer and turned back into his human form, rubbing his neck.
"Dude, you have to figure out a better way to greet people. From my experience, snakes with huge a** fangs like yours only rear back like that to bite." He dropped his hand and glanced at Vee. She'd had good instincts to recognize the snake as another shifter instead, and he wondered how she'd done it. Was it just some special talent?
He looked back at the snake shifter. It was really strange that all of a sudden, six shifters were in one place when before, all he'd ever known was trying to stay separate from the rest of the world. Abruptly, he said, "I think we need to do something about these bodies, then make tracks. If we hurry, we can be in the next county by nightfall, and then we could sit down and talk about why we all got together like this. What do you think, Vee?" He realized that when he said this, he'd put the idea of striking out again on his own behind him. He didn't want to go back into the world alone, not when so many of his own kind were together like this. There must have been some reason, some purpose for this.
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:19 am
 Dex could see that the other shifters some-what disliked the idea of a snake as a shifter, but he was just glad there seemed to be someone more unnerving than himself. He instantly felt a slight kinship towards him, they were not the same, but they were similar. The snake man was not built for strength, but being a fox means he had the advantage in shifting means. Regardless, if Dex would shift back into a human, he would not be able to hear the man, nor anyone in the group. It seemed like it would be rude if he stayed a fox though, seeming that everyone else was shifting back.
A light green glow animated from his person, and soon Dex was descending back into the white noise of not being able to hear a single thing. His vision was also depleting, but he could still see the faces lightly of the group of shifters. "Hello, snake man, my name is Dex." saying the name of what Dex called him was a bit embarassing, but since the snake man had never said his name, he was entitled to call him something. The snake man had appeared to be calm, even when he was almost killed by the horse man, and it was something Dex had aspired to be. The horse man did have a point though, they could not stay in this forest.
A cluster of odd animals traveling together would be a slight problem though, and it would be a problem if they were discovered. They needed to stay concealed and not attract any attention. Perhaps the horse man and the new leopard women would be the most challenging to sneak past any civilians that might pass upon them, maybe even the wolf girl might be a problem, being pure white and all. The ocelot woman would have no trouble, being small and easily concealed in the underbrush, and a fox like himself was a common sight in the forests around this area. The snake man might be a problem if people were to discover exactly what kind of snake he was, Dex knew that black snakes did not live in these parts, but it was not as uncommon as the other shifters.
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 11:06 am
Kiacy Khalid Kiacy watched as the others introduced themselves to the man. "I'm Kiacy," She said simply, not that she didn't like the man, but becuase Kiacy felt almost uncomfortable around a lot of people, more than she had probably every socialized with before. Kiacy looked at the others when Richard talked about getting to the next county. It would be difficult for so many of them to travel, and not to mention the sight of so many different animals together would certainly attract attention. But there was always the option of traveling as humans, but that would not work out very well for long. Of course, then there was the problem of the amount of dead bodies around them, it looked like some deranged serial killer had come out and decided to kill random campers. Kiacy rubbed her temples with one hand, it had never been this difficult when she had been traveling alone, back then, it was simply keep moving and don't stay around a lot of people. Now, it seemed almost like the exact oppisite.
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 9:23 pm
Bithiah Iseret Bubastis Bithiah nodded in greeting to the white-haired man the snake had become, then she shifted back to leopard form, grabbed the corpse of the government agent nearest her in her strong jaws, and leapt up into the trees. After some time, she jumped back down and buried a bundle of bones and clothing at the tree's base. She shifted back to human form and looked around at the other shifters as if daring them to say something. "I have been traveling for the last few days without food, and I doubt anyone would have liked it if I attacked you. Better the common enemy than a possible ally, correct?"
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:00 pm
xxxxxA g h a v e a g h McMURPHY
There was a moment of tense silence, then a hazy, sort of murky gray cloud, fitting the persona a snake usually symbolized, enveloped the black snake. The gray haze twisted and grew, then disappeared to reveal - of all people - a very, very white young man. An albino, Vee realized. Quite strange, considering the man's animal form. He had startlingly red eyes, which only did to make his face and hair look even paler. For some odd reason, his sickly pallor and thin frame reminded her of Dex, and glancing at the fox, who was staring at the man, Dex probably felt the same.
Like all the others - aside from Bithiah, who still probably would've looked like a queen even if wearing ragged clothes - he was dressed in dirty, torn clothes that looked just a few sizes too big for him. He coughed a couple of times, as if testing out his vocal chords, and held up his hand peacefully towards Richard, who had shifted back into his human form upon seeing the man meant no harm. Then, addressing Vee, he spoke, clearing up the confusion about his actions. It was obvious he hadn't spoke in a while, probably hadn't even been a human in a while. "I just -- I saw other shifters, and I... I just haven't seen any in a long time."
Vee smiled wryly, straightening up into a relaxed stance. "Yeah, we can all relate to that," she murmured. She glanced at Dex and Kiacy as they introduced themselves to the young man, and chuckled lowly at Dex's nickname for the guy. "'Snake man.' Y'know, I actually kind of like that. Doubt you've ever been called that before. My name's Vee, snake man. That's Bithiah, and Richard, you've already met."
Richard spoke up then, gesturing to the fallen agents around them. Vee looked at them coldly. "Why not just leave them there, as an example for the other agents who try to finish us off?" she said icily. Then, realizing the utterly bitter and cruel tone she used, she rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "Sorry. Spoke before I thought through my words. If you couldn't already tell, I'm not entirely fond of them, those agents." Vee nodded at Richard's proposal. She realized that his words meant he was open to the idea of sticking together -- at least, for the moment. The fact that he wanted to stay at all made Vee happy. "A good plan, even if I'm not entirely enthusiastic about it. There is a river nearby, and there're enough large animal forms to drag them."
Vee paused when Bithiah suddenly shifted, latched onto one of the bodies, and leapt swiftly into the trees. Vee blinked up at the spot where Bithiah had disappeared into the foliage. The dripping blood and the noises made it pretty clear what the woman was doing. Vee couldn't say she was disgusted. She'd done the same once or twice before, having been unsuccessful in a hunt. She never liked the idea of eating human meat, though. It was technically cannibalism, even though the men were eaten while in animal form, and cannibalism to her seemed barbaric and inhumane.
"Well, that's one less body to take care of," Vee muttered grimly.
After a bit, Bithiah dropped back down, bloody bones and clothing in place of a whole body in her jaws. Turning her back on them, she dug a shallow hole at the base of a tree and dropped the agent's remains in. Then, with a glow, she shifted back and faced them, almost defiantly. Vee shrugged, attempting to be nonchalant. It could have been you, Bithiah's words translated. That spooked Vee, and her voice wavered when she spoke. "Whatever. Fine with me."
Vee cleared her throat uncomfortably, and then addressed the rest of the Shifters present. "Anyways, Richard's right. We have to split. Other agents can't be far behind, and personally, I don't want to be here when they come looking for their missing friends. Quickest and most efficient way is to dump the bodies in the river, and then make a run for it. I don't think a bunch of animals roaming around together makes for a normal sight. Better to travel as humans, pretend we're tourists, or something." Vee glanced down at herself, then at Bithiah, Dex, and Kiacy, and made a face. "And we'll need new clothes too. Walking around with bloody clothes attracts just as much attention as traveling in our animal forms."
Vee walked over to the makeshift bush where she stashed her supplies and retrieved her backpack. She took out a wad of cash and tossed it to Kiacy. "There should be a store, sort of like a gift shop, a few miles east. If I remember correctly, they sell a variety of T-shirts, shorts, and sweatpants. I would go with you, but the locals around here recognize me."
She adjusted the fake bush, so that it looked natural, then shifted back into her animal form. Hazel eyes blinked at each person in the clearing, then glanced at one of the dead bodies, the first one she'd killed. Biting the man's shoulder none too gently, she started dragging it to the nearby river, which would erase most evidence that a fight had ever even happened.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 1:39 pm
Allen shifted uncomfortably as the others approached him. They'd all offered their names... meaning he would have to provide his own, as well. "I'm called Allen," he finally murmured. While he seemed almost sheepish, however, his large eyes remained focused and, for the most part, unblinking. "Although, I sssuppose, sssnake man would be fine, too." As his vocal cords relaxed and got back into the groove of speaking, a slight hissing lisp became apparent. He'd never made any attempt to correct it; he found it funny.
The other shifters, Vee and Bithiah in particular, pleasantly surprised him with their calm brutality in dealing with the downed agents. Allen hung back, seeing as how he was quite a bit smaller in either form than any of the agents. As he did so, he met eyes with Dex. He could tell that the two of them were in the same boat, so to speak; small, sneaky animal forms, as well as tiny human forms. He nodded at the other boy.
The snake almost made to protest when Vee handed off a sizable sum of money to Kiacy -- at least in his case, he'd be able to stay inconspicuous perfectly fine. He then, however, thought better of it; if they ever needed to mingle with ordinary humans... well, he was a little worse for the wear.
As the group prepared to move out, Allen spoke quickly:"Be sure to watch for me underfoot. I'll attempt to ssstay out of your way, but in case I'm crossing over." With that, the haze appeared once more, and a light grey serpent replaced the pale boy.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 1:48 pm
Bithiah Iseret Bubastis Bithiah gave her clothes a cursory glance as Vee mentioned how bloody clothing would stand out. She was completely clean of gore, but the girl was right about standing out. It wasn't as if she was attired in something common to the area. She didn't spend much time thinking about it and instead shifted back to her leopard form to help drag the corpses to the river.
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