• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

[The Gentle Breeze] Chapter 4 - Unlimited MacGuffin Works!

Sageshooter

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Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )


The Caelumar certainly noticed the lack of power behind her strikes. She was used to watching the undead and unholy explode, especially such lower tiered creatures like mere skeletons, but theses... It was like there was barely anything there. She slowed her stride for a moment before she shook her head and trudged on. Wings simply disappated into a fine mist again before she reached to scoop up Viz as she neared the vent and force the girl ahead of her. The tank of a woman continued in after the girl, silently helping Sif though the confusion and concern on her face was evident. She didn't like this sensation, it felt out of place and weird, and the woman was already ready to be out of there. She may have been a little rough with Viz as she dragged her toward the vent with her and hoped the two of them could fit inside together to make it easier on the pathetic priestess.
 

Cora

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iāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )


She surveyed the world around her through the analytical data her suit provided, as well as the information that Sakamoto gave her. She knew elevators were a no go, since they'd more then likely be inoperable in a crisis like the current situation, and the noises her ears were picking ip weren't things she personally liked. and the information isn't telling her if that person sitting was alive or not, so the cat got defensive.

"Sakamoto, I'm in a situation, I have an idea which route I'm going to use, but I'm going to wait for your crew to back me up. I don't think my skills alone will carry me through this current situation."
 

CadetNewb

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"Oh, that's a great idea," Sakamoto offhandeldy began in Xiao's ear. "Having the others help to subdue this Dog Form would be ideal, it'd be a shame if you had to kill her," the Rooster pointed out. As she said this however, the bodysuit clad figure in the cafeteria began to rise from its seat and take its first steps forward. One foot at a time, it slowly began to unsteadily close with the Tigress. "Also, I know you want to bring honor to the family by finding success despite being blind, but you can do more than using your 'skills' alone," Sakamoto reminded her. "Now is not a good time to be blind and flex on everyone else with how sharp your senses are. At least try out the sonar if you don't want to use your suit's cameras," the feathered woman pointed out. As she said this though, the other figure stepped closer. Though shorter than Xiao by half a foot, the Dog Form was better built, being thicker with muscle and brawn, something that could give her plenty of trouble dealing with.

Back on the roof however, Viz screamed.

"I don't wannaaaaaaa!" the useless priestess cried, kicking and rolling about on the roof. Though Rikka was making progress dragging her to the vent, her struggling made it difficult to simply manhandle her in.

"Together," Sif suggested, lifting and restraining Viz by another limb. "But make sure to keep poking her from behind with the sword too, so she keeps going forward."

"TraitorTraitorTraito - " Cut off mid-sentence, the priestess was YEETed into the vents after Xiao, and after leaping in after her, they came crashing down into what looked like a cafeteria. First came Viz, who collapsed into a pile, then the bone crushing weight of Rikka, who found herself resting comfortably atop the living cushion that was the finally useful priestess, and then Sif, who quickly swung herself off to the side and landed on her feet. Having made it through, the plasma-throwers inside the vents primed themselves again as the grates closed.

Right as the mysterious figure stumbled closer to Xiao and launched a sudden, lighting fast punch at her head!
 

Cora

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Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )


Xiao's attention was drawn from the seated Dog Form as the others fell through the vent causing a massive noise. Her left hand balled into a fist and held tightly to her side as she turns to gaze blankly at the pile of bodies. At that time the Dog Form had gotten up and lurched over to preform their sneak attack.

Xiao, being one who understands one's presence in a situation, leaned forward. The lunging punch just grazing her helmet as left ankle pivoted on the spot and the Tiger Form spun around, her waist twisting sharply as her own fist soared through the air at a breakneck speed to return the favor to the attacking Daiqinese.
 

Sageshooter

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Rikka felt her stomach drop out from under her as she slid down the vent, and thankfully for the girl she landed on, she had already started to twist so her full weight never hit. That wasn't to say the massive angel wasn't heavy to begin with... But at least it wasn't the full brunt of her weight. The impact, though cushioned by Viz, still sent a shock up her body as she grunted and stood, already hands moved to draw her weaponry to be of use. the Caelumar surveyed the room she had landed in with an a scan and spotted their newest squad member, and the Dog form that seemed to square off before Xiao struck at them. She rolled her eyes for a moment and let out a huff before she went back to her scan of the room to see if there were any other people in the room.
 

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"Stand down soldier! That's an order!" Sif yelled at the Dog Form. Prodding at Viz, she ordered the priestess about. "Get up, right now!" the squad leader hissed.

"My back, my back!" the priestess cried from the floor.

The moment Xiao pivoted away and counter-attacked, her fist sharply cracked across the Dog-woman's helmeted head, the sound of plastic screeching and squelching from stress a bloody cry across the room. Reeling back from the blow, the figure twisted away from the decisive strike across the jaw, only to rubber-band back, heavy-handedly lashing out at the Tigress. Just barely nicking Xiao helmet across the nose, she deftly dodged just in time as poly-glass squealed, the point of impact flittering with the faintest of static.

"W-ho's there?" The stout, muscular Dog began to clasp her hands together for a hammer strike. There was something horribly wrong here. They could all feel it. Rikka could feel it. But the presence in the cafeteria, fighting the new girl, Xiao, was practically small fry. There was something worse. Much worse, lingering outside around the corner, away from the stairs and elevator.

"Hehehehehehe!" A man's voice giggled in the distance.
 

Cora

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As the Dog Form clasped their hands to prepare for their hammer blow, Xiao was standing in a ready stance, her left arm extended in front and angled dowd 45 degrees with a closed fist as her right arm was kept close to her torso, her hand turned upwards and also clenched, with both legs shoulder width apart and her left leg leading.

When the Dog form swung upwards, the tiger form took a step back to let the swing go wide as she then advanced into the strike zone with a heavy stomping right step, and an equally heavy straight punch from her right fist to the dog form's open torso, as her left hand pulls back to her side as she does not let this moment go as she then taking a similarly heavy left step and, while pulling her right fist back, fires off a open palm strike from her left side.

All the while her ear is twitching having heard the eerie chuckle from the distance.
 

CadetNewb

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Cafeteria

Xiao had sparred with other Daqinese both in VR and in the flesh, and here, she could already feel it. The sluggishness of her opponent was practically like thick, gooey molasses in comparison to her own lightning fast reflexes. Moving quick, the Tigress deftly dodged the blow and used her opponent's moment to step in close for a counter attack. Palm lashing out, the open handed strike landed with enough force to easily knock out any human being cold. Head thrown to the side, the Dog woman reeled from the blow, only to rubber band back swinging her fist Xiao.

"The suit. It's the suuuuit..." the opponent's voice died out as Xiao dodged. Despite this though, the Dog Soldier reached over and grasped a bench, wielding it like a cudgel. Swinging it wide, it came speeding in from the martial artist's left!

"Xiao! Subdue her now!" Sif ordered her. Concentrating, time seemed to slow to a crawl for the other tigress as her clock speed increased. Something wasn't right, and she desperately needed the extra time to think. Despite Xiao's opponent being far stronger, she was also slower, making this all too easy for the Tigress. Sif didn't need to worry about her. No, there was something else watching her.

"Ehehe! Dohohoho! Ahahahaha!" the laughter came to Sif in slow, drawn out fashion. Locking onto the sound, her suit speakers triangulated the rough source as a red circle appeared in her vision. Just as the Dog Soldier swung, Sif brought her Type 3 Assault Rifle up and let out a burst at the marker. "AHFUCKINGBITCHI'LLCUTYOU!" Letting loose another burst as her sensors tried to track the target, Sif paused hoping to catch another sound, but the contact had gone silent.

"Uuuuuuuugh, someone haaaaaalp!" Viz cried from the floor.
 

Sageshooter

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Cafeteria


The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard the laughter, glowing blue eyes seemed to grow a little wider, and her grip tightened around the handle of her blade. Something felt wrong, that much was for sure, and it screamed of the same kind of danger she felt when she had fought the legions of hell. She took a few steadying breaths and reached down to Viz, who she helped to her feet and laid a small healing spell into. Enough to get her back up and on her feet, but not so much that it would deplete her already weakened feeling reserves of magic. For once it seemed the Caelumar wasn't angry or yelling at the girl at her side, there was just a quiet command in her voice.

"Viz... Get back now." It was probably the most even her voice had been, she could recognize the dangerous feeling she felt and knew that there was something very... wrong beyond the darkness. A hand brought her shield to the front as she stepped up in front of Sif, never taking her eyes from the darkness where the woman had fired into. "I will be your shield. If you see it... Fire. Do not worry about me, just subdue it, am I understood?" Rikka explained to Sif as she took a few steps forward to set up just past the usually composed woman. She was ready for a fight as she crouched and placed her sword over the top of her shield to wait.
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )
Cafeteria


A new short, busty form in Daqin armor seemed to materialize out of thin air behind Viz. "Sorry, I'm late. I overslept. Sakamoto really put me through the wringer. It was fun." Brigid said, her voice nonchalant. She had been watching for a few minutes now and decided this would be a good time to reveal herself. They were on her homeworld after all, and she had some idea of what they were facing. She couldn't let them flail around like monkeys on a typewriter until they figured it out.

Brigid eyed the darkness. "I don't fear you, love." She called out, drawing out her rifle. "These things are from the dark places. That armor is being possessed, you're not likely to get anywhere fighting it. It's probably a shadow familiar. The other thing might be some kind of disgusting creature that feeds on fear."

She glanced at Rikka. "I've seen your kind cast the shadows out with their light." She reached out to the local mana and felt the familiar flow. Reluctantly she placed a hand on Rikka's shoulder and envisioned a portion of mana flowing from herself into Rikka. "As much as I hate to rely on a choir girl, your light is the only chance to recover that soldier."
 
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CadetNewb

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Cafeteria


"UUuuuuuUUU," Viz sobbed. Lifted back onto her feet, the priestess tried to rub her face, only for her hands to bump up against the invisible barrier that was her helmet, the social-friendly hologram of her face flickering ever so slightly. In the background, air swirled as a cafeteria bench sped through the air. Xiao deftly ducked as it passed overhead, however, the opposing dog-soldier didn't stop there. Even with this fight going on though, it wasn't what concerned Sif the most.

"Posessed armor? And a fear eating thing?" Sif questioned Brigid. Eyes fixed on the wall, she realized something horrible. "It didn't say or do anything serious until I started shooting at it," she realized. Or more accurately, it didn't start becoming more active until she was worried enough to let rip several bullets. This unpleasant revelation aside, the magic that the Infernumar offered to the Caelumar was a workable proposition, but even so, Rikka needed to have that dog soldier hold still for her to properly purge that unclean presence with the low magic available! And that wasn't to mention that Presence.

"Oh? Not scared?" A single yellow, bloodshot eye moved to look at them through the cafeteria wall, but this time, Sif held her fire. "I'll show you. Show you a real show, hehehehe!" Just as their spines tingled however, the Presence faded, the bloodshot eye moving out of sight. Was it a trick? Was it really gone? Sif had no clue, but Xiao was still fighting that soldier in the possessed armor alone.

"Can you make sure it doesn't come back?" Sif asked Rikka, her targeting still set on the bullet-ridden wall. "I help Xiao end the fight quickly if you do," she offered.
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )
Cafeteria


Brigid's helmet seemed to disappear from view and her face appeared. She watched the yellow eye disappear with an apathetic look. After being so thoroughly satiated on the trip over, she appeared stronger and more sure of herself. She was curious about what this being wanted to show her. Reaching within herself mentally for the bits of mana she had left, she was surprised to realize that she felt more mana in her reserves than she had expected after giving so much to Rikka. Her reserves were replenishing faster.

She willed her eyes to adapt to the darkness. Her blue eyes took on a more cat-like appearance, slitted down the middle. "I'll check and see if fear boy is gone. Better keep the priestess away, she would be a four-course meal for him." Brigid said. She wasn't so sure the thing didn't have a physical body. It could be some kind of illusion, something entities that fed on fear were better at than she had ever been.

"Feathers, I'm going to trust you to watch my back," She said, looking to Rikka. "We might be the only two who aren't actually scared of that thing."

She held her rifle at the ready and started towards the corner the Presence disappeared around, pausing to glance back and wait for Rikka. This wasn't something she wanted to face alone.
 

Cora

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Cafeteria


Xiao ducked under the swung bench and straightened, snapping off a right hand palm strike to the Dog Form's helmeted face plate, before pivoting her body backwards while raising her right leg up into the air for a spinning heel kick to the side or rear of the same helmet. Righting herself from the kick, she then shot another palm strike, from her left at the Dog Form's arm, aiming to disable her elbow or break a bone to force them to drop the bench.

Taking a second after the third strike to address the assembled crew cowering in the back of the cafeteria

"I'm blind, not deaf, I can hear all four of you." she growled. "One of you lot get over here and help me damnit!"
 

Sageshooter

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Cafeteria


The arm on her shoulder from the Infernumar made the woman shiver a little, the sick twisted feel of magic to the aspect of Justice, it felt wrong, but Rikka understood the importance of purging the evil from the being before her. Blue eyes narrowed first at Brigid but she let out a huff and focused forward instead. "I need the soldier restrained. I need him stopped, and I can purge the possession." She explained. With what limited amount of magic she could pull from this area, she needed to concentrate and focus on shaping the magic, much less getting the spell to actually hit. It was different from the first real mission she had been on, in an area with abundant magic to where she could just send out a shock wave to destroy everything around her. This was focused, singular, and she had enough magic for that and maybe a bit more.

As she shaped the magic, focused it into her arm and readied it to rush down her sword at the intended target, the halo of light shifted to one of jagged metal to show the level of concentration, her wispy smoke wings began to lessen as she drew in what she could and she took a deep breath.

"I need them stopped. One thing at a time demon, we take care of the soldier, then we take care of that..." She had mentioned the other being that had made her hair stand on end though her sharp blue eyes stayed on the being that Xiao had been fighting up until now. She walked forward from her spot in the back, shield down at her side and sword pointed straight ahead at Xiao, like a judge condemning the damned. "Sif, can you and Xiao restrain them?" She asked as her hand began to glow a bright white as she readied her smite spell.
 

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Cafeteria


"I'll send you my energies too!" Viz cheered them on. Cowering behind the cafeteria counter, the priestess's head poked up and over to only reveal her eyes, the holographic projection all to realistic in concealing the presence of her helmet behind the illusion of her bare face. Even as they could fell the slow but steady rush from Viz, their instincts bristled at the sensation. Was it really their magic replenishing so quickly here? No, something was off, but that could wait. With Brigid advancing on that fear obsessed onlooker, Sif nodded at Rikka's prompting and moved as Xiao's flurry of blows landed. The Tigress's heel smashed into the side of the Dog's helmet, hardened poly-armor screeching and squealing against her own heel as the impact solidly landed. The figure twisted back from the blow as the neck twisted with a sickening crunch, the bench dropping from her grasp, but Xiao's follow up blow had a second breaking through the air as the arm suddenly twisted the wrong way to their horror. But just as quickly, the Dog's neck snapped back as the arm flicked around like a tentacle to grab at her like the injuries didn't matter in the slightest. But Sif's own kick landed square in the back of the knee as she got behind the Dog. The two quickly grappled their opponent, but the strength was unnatural - they couldn't hold it long!

"Hit it now!" Sif yelled.

For Brigid though, all this took a back seat as she pressed forward towards that presence. Walking towards the bullet ridden wall, the redhead could see glimpses of the darkened hall on the other side, her super-human vision plenty enough to clearly see the glimpses of the hall on the other side. A sign stated that a recreation area was up ahead. She just needed to round the corner and enter enter the hallway that snaked in between this cafeteria and there as a deliberate killzone. Normal people would have just had the cafeteria connect directly to the recreation area, but these were Daqin, and this was a trap. Always was. But, past this hallway, and then the recreation area? There was the emergency set of stairs in the back.

With Rikka deciding to pull back and focus on the more imminent threat that the possessed armor posed, did Brigid dare push forward?
 

Sageshooter

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Cafeteria


As she saw the group subdue the enemy, both Sif and Xiao holding them in place, Rikka acted. Like a terrible tv show she had watched with giant... robots, or mecha... as they were called, that fought in some kinda of league. One of the characters seemed overly concerned and focused on their hand, which leaned into their special move. As much as she didn't care for the campy show, what she did just then made her think of the show as the magic trailed back into her hand from her sword. She was worried that the magic would miss should she try to focus and fire it out, so instead she quickly closed the distance and placed her hand on the person's head before she let the spell go and forced it into the body of the possessed soldier.

It felt odd and out of place how weak she felt after such a simple spell, and it felt even worse knowing she had to take help from Brigid of all people. She still felt dirty with the way her magic crawled over her body, like a colony of snakes invading the soft closed spaces under her armor. She let out a small huff and fought to shake the thought as she readied her weapon if her spell had been to weak, or didn't work.
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )
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Cafeteria


Brigid saw that Rikka was going to deal with the possession first and hesitated. She could probably face the phobophage on her own. It would be a risk, but there were only a few things she actually feared. If the thing was able to figure them out it would be able to feed on her and grow stronger. Although if she had company the creature would have more fear to feed on. She decided that it was worth the risk.

"I'm going ahead." She called back. Steeling herself for the encounter, she let her thoughts fall away and focused on her surroundings. She advanced, looking down the sight of her rifle.
 

Cora

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Cafeteria


As Rikka dealt with the Dog Form, Brigid stated she was going to deal with whatever was in the conjoining room. This drew a blink from the blind Tiger Form.

"You intend to go alone?" She asked as Xiao looked at her. "Hot wings and the crybaby can finish up with this character," she said, waving the dog form's hand at Brigid, "I'm coming with you."
 

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Cafeteria


Limbs interlocked like a puzzle, Xiao and Sif tangled themselves with the Dog Soldier, her body twitching and squirming against them as she struggled to get free. Pressed tight against her however, the duo could begin to feel the true nature of their foe. Limp like a ragdoll, the toned muscles of the user inside the bodysuit had gone soft, but the suit itself flexed and tensed like a layer of muscle with a mind of its own. But not for long - Rikka's shining fingers came in to close around the helmet. Shining bright, the darkness was cast out with an inhuman screech, shadow and shade splattered out across the floor in a cone like paint flecked across a canvas. With the darkness driven out, the Dog Form tangled in their arms and legs finally stopped stopped fighting, her breath ragged and thin, but as her suit rebooted, it was clear that she was still stable despite all the abuse. Daqinren were tougher than humans by far it seemed.

"What? Where are you two going? That's the wrong way!" Sif called out to Xiao. The sensation of horror crept down her spine as she realized that they were already spoiling for another fight.

"I'm not a crybaby!" Viz popped her head up from the counter. "Watch!" Waving her hands, the Dog form in Sif's arms glowed briefly, only to suddenly gasp for breath as she tensed, arms grasping about as she started to come to. "See? But look, you didn't finish the job feather-butt!" Pointing to the globs of darkness on the floor, it was clear that it was starting to come back together like mercury flowing into one larger puddle. Viz hopped over the counter, and taking the lead, made to 'roll up her sleeves' despite not having any, her hand glowing with cleansing light. "Darkness!" she loudly declared, the blob of shade seeming to turn at her. "I cast you out!" A bolt of light streaked out from the priestess's hand, but the shadow flowed around it with plenty of warning, the light fading as soon as it hit the floor. "I-I missed?" Realizing what had happened, Viz screamed, tossing her hands up as she ran out the way opposite Xiao and Brigid, the shadow quickly following after. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

As part of the squad went one way, and one certain member went another, Rikka could feel the unclean in either direction. But which would she choose to go and purge?

Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )
Recreation Area


Past the winding hall, the room ahead was what the Daqinren called a recreation area. A place for them to relax and enjoy themselves. However, given how often they referred to the 'Virtual Realm' and the way they inhabited that instead, this room was more a formality than anything else. Something for the curious or the occasional guest-inferior. That meant they rarely bothered it at all, a phenomena that both Xiao and Brigid were well aware of. As it was, the multi-purpose room was configured as a lounge for VIPs, complete with multiple booths, cushy seats, a stocked bar and even a dance floor. However, the lights were not on, and their helmets automatically switched to black and white night vision to compensate. Sensing that they were searching for something, their suits activated additional sensor modes. They didn't feel it themselves given their suits, but the thermometer quickly dropped as the two entered.

The clank of a martini-shaker falling to the floor sounded like an explosion to the eerie silence. Rolling away from the bar, the silver container top came to a rest in the middle of the floor. The bar itself however, had what looked like a pair of martini's sitting atop its counter.

"Care for a drink?" the sleezy, slimy voice from before asked.

"Get out of there, right now! Stop feeding that thing and help crfiksvikgaru - " their radios crackled, cutting off Sif's voice. Immediately, their integrated EMF readers were giving a 3 out of 5, the interference cutting their comms off from the rest of the squad while the door slid closed behind them both.
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )
Recreation Area


Brigid ignored the voice and walked behind the bar. "Really? Is that supposed to scare me, Lloyd?" She said sarcastically, browsing the bar's stock of ingredients. "I think I'll make myself a Screaming Orgasm. You want one, Xiao?" Brigid asked.

"Come on out and I can make you one too, Lloyd." She said. "Or do you only get off on fear?"

She procured bottles of Vodka, Coffee Liqueur, Irish Cream, and Amaretto Liqueur, and cartons of milk and half-and-half. Then she set out three glasses and started mixing a Screaming Orgasm. She glanced at the contents of the martini glass as she poured the drinks, putting the various liquids back where she found them.

"Okay. Let's just skip all the boring stuff where you try and scare us with silly parlor tricks." She said, lowering her helmet to take a drink. A little bit of the creamy alcohol dripped from the corner of her mouth and she licked it off. "I get the whole fear thing, it's just really boring. Maybe you can just tell us what's going on and we'll be able to work something out, get you off this planet maybe. Find you somewhere you can get all the fear you can eat."
 
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