//------------------------------// // sixteen. she. chromosome. // Story: he. she. we. // by Shinzakura //------------------------------// I get off the horn (ha!) with North and my heart breaks. I trust him completely, but I should be the one there kissing him, not some brokenhearted girl (not that I blame her, mind; if what North tells me is true, her soon-to-be ex-fiancé is a philandering jackass.) Still, I should’ve been there to wake up with him. I mean, not that she did, but…. Sigh…. Maybe I get a little bit jealous. I get out of bed, where I’ve slept in my human form as a precaution. Not that I think I should be concerned about anything, but a lady can’t be too careful. Plus, if push comes to shove I have to admit that it makes me feel closer to him, and right now, with such a wide distance between us is when I want him to be as close as possible. There’s a knock at my door. “Hey, Moon, you decent?” It’s Arturia. I open the lock via magic and call for her to come in and get out of bed. As I do, she walks in with McDonalds and a couple of coffees. “I just took Taylor to the set, since she had to film some sunrise scenes, then stopped and got us some breakfast. Hope you don’t mind.” “Naah, I actually love Mickey D’s.” I sit down by the table, still in my bra and panties. I don’t care what Arturia thinks about that, as she’s made enough sexual jokes that she’s going to have to live with them. “Guessing you’re not an herbivore in human form?” Arturia asks as I pull out the steak, egg and cheese bagel and hashbrowns. “Not really. Besides, a girl has to eat right, am I right?” I tell her and she says nothing. We eat in silence for a few before I notice the awkward silence. “Something the matter?” “Yeah,” she says glumly, not offering any further information. I sigh; out of all my friends, apparently she’s going to be the one that doesn’t open up, I can tell. “Was it something I did?” “No, it was something I did.” She sets down her sandwich and looks at me. “I’m not supposed to show you my weak side, Moon. I’m your bodyguard and girl Friday—” “I’d prefer it if we were friends, too.” “I’d like that, but I can’t afford that, Princess. Your life is too important and—” I put down my sandwich. “Arturia, I found out that it’s more important to have loved ones than to be an impenetrable individual focused on the job. Trust me, nothing good comes when you live that way.” I walk over to her and put my arms around her; she bristles, but I don’t care. “You weren’t afraid to show me who you really were last night, and now I know. And you know what? I liked that Arturia. That Arturia I know I can trust and befriend.” “I told you that you can trust me,” she growled. “Yes, you did,” I said, walking back to my seat. “But as someone who was police trained, you should know there’s a difference between apparent and confirmed, right? My bodyguard Arturia doesn’t intend to let me down. My friend Arturia wouldn’t even if she screwed up, because she knows I trust her.” I think I finally got through to her as she gives me a smile. “Okay, but if you ever insist on making Fate comments, I will kill you.” I laugh. We arrive at the shooting site just in time to see an all-too-familiar sight: an ambulance already there. The guard at the location knows who we are, so he quickly waves us through. Just in time, too, as we see several people in suits talking to several members of the crew. “How quickly can you prepare a spell that can help us?” Arturia asks me. “Might help if I know what kind of spell I’m using,” I tell her, “but otherwise I can create anything within fractions of a second, why?” “I don’t know yet,” she tells me as she brings the car to a stop. “But I think we might have some issues.” We get out of the car and a man is already striding towards us, wearing a badge. Even though he’s still a good twenty feet away, I can already read his badge: NML. I start preparing a bevy of spells, just in case. “And who are you two?” he asks angrily. Arturia begins her spiel, bringing out her badge. “Agent Arturia Moynihan, US CDC. We were asked to consult—” “Bullshit!” the man shouts at us angrily. “I’m the head of the Guelph office and I’ve never heard of either of you! Now who the fuck are you really?” “Look, you can call Aaron Harrison over at the office and he’ll vouch for us.” “Well, that’s all well and good – but I’m Aaron Harrison!” I look at his badge and sure enough, that’s his name. “Moon, now would be a good time to…you know….” Arturia tells me, though she doesn’t tell me what she wants. I sigh; have I mentioned how much I hate this part? I snap my fingers and our good Mr. Harrison freezes up like a light. “Care to do this part?” “I can’t. I don’t have the mind-scrambling abilities,” Arturia tells me and shrugs in apology. Yup, really hate this part. I look around and fortunately, no one sees us. “Change into him and pop into the office and let them know that we’ll be handling this investigation,” I tell her. “It’ll give me enough time to think of what I’m going to implant in his mind.” “I hate changing into guys, you know that? Feels weird.” I give her an apologetic look and she sighs, then does it. “I look horrible with a bald spot, you know that?” she says in his voice and I almost laugh. “Okay, be right back,” she says, leaving me with him. I twist the spell slightly. “What do you know about what’s going on here?” I ask him. “i don’t know anything,” he tells me in a faraway voice. “i just came down here after i got reports of american cdc agents investigating. none of my men know anything about it, so i decided to come down myself.” “And what did you find?” “nothing. there’s no indicator that anything we can explain is here. when i get back i’m going to ask hq to send me some backup.” “No you’re not,” I tell him. “You’re going to head back to your office, write a memo about how it was just food poisoning and close the books.” I twist the spell again and add, “Now tell me what you’re going to do?” “I’m going to head back to my office and tell the folks it was just food poisoning, because that was all it was,” he repeats. “And you’re going to apologize to the CDC agents for wasting their time.” That wasn’t me, but instead Arturia as she came back in her normal form. Behind her was Taylor, who has a worried look on her face. “and i owe the americans that showed up an apology for wasting their time,” he parrots. I look at my friend and she nods, and I snap my fingers. He blinks and turns to see Arturia. “So, Agent Moynihan, I was just telling your partner that HQ dragged you guys out here for nothing,” he says. “We did some tests on some of the food and it turns out the whole thing was due to some bad bread.” “Bad bread?” both Arturia and I ask. She looks at me with a did you put this in his head? And I give her a look that tells her no. “Yeah. Turns out the flour they used in a lot of the catering products was tainted with ergot and so some folks came down with mild cases of ergotism. Not surprised the doctors didn’t catch it; it’s nowhere near as common nowadays with modern food preparation. But it looks like I’m going to have to refer this case to the CFIA.” “I see,” I tell him and I’m guessing both of us are going to going to look up whatever ergot is afterwards. “Well, I’d best be getting back to my office,” Harrison tells both of us. “I’ve got to write up this report. I’ll be sure to send along a copy to your offices in Atlanta.” “Thanks, we’ll be waiting,” Arturia says. Harrison gives us a friendly goodbye wave and then heads towards his car. Once he’s safely out of earshot, she asks, “Do I want to know?” Taylor looks up from her phone. “Apparently ergotism is a fungus in bread that causes mild psychotic episodes and delusions, while in heavy exposure is just bad. Well, if there’s a good way to explain it, I’ll take it…for however long my job lasts.” She sighs and looks at me. “Morning, Moon.” “You don’t sound so happy, Taylor. Everything okay?” “No. They just took Maxwell, the second unit director, to the hospital. Lotothosis.” She shuddered. “Is it bad that I know what that is now and that I never want to again?” Arturia, as expected, puts her arm around her sister. “Hey, it’s going to be all right, sis. Moon and I are trying to solve this.” “I hope so, or else….” Apparently or else is about to come a lot sooner, as I see Larissa Vandervort come out of the office trailer, with a megaphone. “Can I have your attention, please?” We all turn to listen to her. “Today’s the last of the shooting, and we have a do-or-die schedule today. So if I….” She seems to pause, as if she’s tired, blinks then starts again. “Sorry about that. Anyway, today’s the last on-location scenes we’ll have to do. Anything else we can move back to the studio in sound stages, so make sure that we have everything perfect! We’re working against a deadline, so I expect you all to give your best work!” “I guess the studio put their foot down,” Taylor sighs. “We either prove we can do the job or they’ll pull the funding. That’s going to be hell on my career, not to mention Larry and Larrisa’s.” “Oh?” I ask her. “Yeah. Lower-tier actors can survive this sort of thing, but when you’re a big star like they are or – and I don’t want to sound snobbish – me….” Arturia hugs her sister closer. “You don’t, sis,” she tells her. “Thanks. Anyway, anyway, being a part of a cancelled film is in many ways worse than being in a bad one. In the case of a bad movie, there’s always the chance it can become a cult classic and bolster someone’s career – why do you think Macaulay Culkin still has a job? But in a never-released film, there’s little chance of it becoming public, plus the sense that it’s so bad the studio would commit suicide. That’s the reason why Jerry Lewis buried his movie The Day the Clown Cried, if I remember my college film courses.” “That sucks.” “Yeah, it does – means I’ll probably have to agree to a sex scene in my next movie if this goes south and you know I don’t want to do that. Directors insist on full nudity nowadays.” I consider asking her if she can have a changeling come in and do the scene for her, but at that point a nude changeling imitating her is no different than if she bared it all, so I opt to say nothing. Hey, sometimes North rubs off on me. What can I say? “Well, I need to go get ready for my next scene. This is the big one where I face off against Michelle’s character. It’s going to be interesting, because at one point we have to fight each other – she’s taken some martial arts training, while I haven’t had any other than the choreography. I know she’s going to be careful, but if either of us really get injured that might put the kibosh on everything. Needless to say, we’re on pins and needles.” “Hey, I believe in you, sis,” Arturia says, hugging her again. See? I knew I liked this Arturia better. “Anyway, we’re going to look around a bit more and see what we can turn up. You just take care and we’ll check in on you later, I promise.” Taylor nods and walks away towards her next scene. “I think you should stay with your sister,” I told Arturia. “We don’t know who the queen could be, and if she drains Taylor we could have a real problem on our hands.” I look down at where she’s hiding her sidearm; while I know she said she didn’t bring one and I believe her, I also wouldn’t put it past HIVE personnel to smuggle her a piece the moment she landed. “But I’m—” She starts again. I don’t let her finish. “—supposed to look out for your kid sister, and you know it. Trust me, I can take care of myself – I used to push about 162 quintillion pounds of space rock around a planet on a regular basis. I can handle a rogue changeling.” “Without causing ecological disasters?” she tells me with a smirk. Yeah, I really prefer this Arturia. “Somehow, I managed,” I say with a shrug. She grins and then walks off to keep watch over her sister, while I stand here and look stupid. I guess I should earn my keep. Well, it’s not as though I can track when the rogue queen will use her po… I suddenly remember a time, long ago, when I laid a trap for Celestia; one that she barely managed to escape from, and even then it had gained me quite an advantage for some time to come in our war against each other. The recollection brings with it the remembrance of an old spell I could use. I look around and when I’m sure no one’s in the vicinity, I bend down and place a palm on the ground, concentrating on a particular work. This one had been developed during the war I had with Celestia, and it came in handy most of the time. Aquamarine radiance flows away from my palm, reaching outwards and writing magical runes as they flow outwards, circle after circle, demarcation after demarcation. If the spell works the way it should, it will detect any magic use within a mile. I hope. I have to admit, I haven’t tried it against changeling physiology, much less Earth changelings, who are far more efficient at their magic use than their Equestrian cousins ever would be. Still, there are other things I can do in the meanwhile. Maybe there’s not a pure hunger reason behind this. They are mostly human, after all, and with that comes human virtues…and human vices. There could easily be another motive, and we’re so focused on what we think of as standard changeling behavior, that we’ve been blindsided. I walk over to the Vandervorts’ trailer. If anyone would have any ideas as to what else could be going on behind the scenes, it would be them. As I get there, I knock on the door. “Who is it?” I hear a feminine voice say and before I can even speak, Larissa opens the door and looks at me – and she looks like a mile and a half of bad road. I remember the time a few weeks back when on one girls’ night out, we all went drinking. While I came back feeling fine (goddess for the win!), the others…well, they looked a lot like Larissa does now. “Are you okay?” I ask her. She gives me a nod. “Yeah, it’s just migraines,” she tells me. “I get them really bad. I take it you’re here to ask some questions?” “Yeah. Where’s your brother?” “Well, we’re twins, so if I get them bad, you can imagine how that works. He gets them worse than I do, so he’s back at the hotel, resting up. Tomorrow it’ll be my turn to do so, and he’ll be here. Believe me, we’ve done this dance more than enough times during filming.” She sits down at a table, pops some green tablets which I assume are Advil, and takes a swig from a water bottle. “I swear, this movie’s going to kill me,” she says in a wan tone, looking at me for support. “Well, I’m sure you’ll survive, Larissa.” I really don’t know what else I can say, as I barely know the woman. Yes, I’ve been working on my, er, “humanity”, but let’s not forget that I was an avatar of darkness relatively not too long ago. I’m still getting used to schmoozing and small talk. I have my circle of friends and my loving boyfriend to thank for that, but it’s not a lifetime of it – and Luna was never really the best of social butterflies when it came to ponies. “Thanks. I think,” she tells me and I take that as my cue to go. But before I do, I pause and add, “Look, we don’t really know one another, and I’m here with my friend for her sister’s sake. But from what I can tell, you’re trying to fight a battle to keep your craft going and these people employed. That’s a plus in my book.” She gives me a smile and with that, I walk out. As I leave the trailer, I walk back to my spell nexus. It should’ve picked up something. Actually, it should’ve picked up something and sent me a notification, but I have been a bit out of practice with that particular spell, so beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose. Still, given that I created it myself during the war, I should know it better than anypony else. As I get to the spot, I frown. It’s been tampered with, which means that I am dealing with a pro here – this queen is out for blood and knows I’m hunting her. At least it’s confirmation, which means that we’re going to be headed for a confrontation sooner than I expected. Unfortunately for you, bug, I’ve learned a few new tricks in the time since I’ve been out. I close my eyes, bend down to the location where the spell had been erased, and ignite a second one. Given that the Earth changelings are mostly human, that means they have human DNA, with a little bit extra. And given that I’ve had enough time to study Katie, that means I know a little bit about DNA and can adjust. Let’s see who you are, Ms. Queen – or should I say, Ms. Soon-to-Be-in-Big-Shit. My second spell is done less than an instant later and I have a DNA print, and I quickly follow it up with a third spell in order to search the area for our assailant. They can try to elude me, but not for long. I throw a defensive ward around me, because I need to concentrate on this and I don’t appreciate being attacked while focusing. …well, there’s one person who I don’t mind attacking me, but his attacks usually start with kisses at the back of my neck and end with me sweaty, exhausted and grinning from ear to ear. A second later, I have it. A match, but…it’s in two different locations. The first is the trailer where Larissa was keeping herself penned up. The other— Oh, fuck. How could I have been so blind? Dammit! I flare for a tele— —port and as I arrive, I waste no time changing. Standing in front of me is something that looks like Larissa, but with the spotted coloration that is indicative of an Earth changeling. A sickly green glow is enclosing the area and around everything, I see plants wither and die and animals perish from the strain of their lifeforce being ripped from them. As for the humans, several people are unconscious, and before her, Arturia’s on her knees, strain clear on her face and glaring at the queen defiantly and holding her sister for dear life. She has a gun out, but it’s clear that she can barely hold onto it, and between that and Taylor, no argument who she’ll prioritize. I’ll have to get on her case later about the gun. In the meanwhile, I have a show to put on. “STAND DOWN!” I roar in the Royal Canterlot Voice as I summon my Luna disguise around me. Even though we’re technically the same being, it feels…wrong…looking like her. I was her, but she’s not me, and I don’t like it, but one must do what one must do. And right now, “one must do”-ing involves kicking the ass of a changeling queen. “Larissa” turns, and sees me, and her eyes open wide with fear. “Y…you don’t exist!” she shouts, bewildered. “You can’t!” “Luna!” Arturia shouts, at her limit. “It’s Larry! He’s the changeling quee—” She finally reaches her end, and I watch with worry as my friend’s eyes roll in their sockets and she hits the ground. Then my worry turns to rage and I summon a blast that slams my foe into the tree on the other side of the dying glade. I probably broke one of its ribs doing so, but frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. I cast a second spell and start walking towards it, my starry hair fluttering in the breeze like the winds of wrath. Larry, still in his sister’s form, looks at me with horror. “You’re…you’re….” “Princess Luna,” I state, the name bitter on my tongue, but I have to do what I have to do. “And your treachery is at an end, changeling!” “NO!” I hear two shots ring out behind me and bullets ricochet off my defensive ward. Good thing I still had that up – I don’t think a bullet would do lasting harm to me, but then again, I would rather not find out and I definitely wouldn’t want North to freak out about it. Regardless, now that I know who the changeling queen is – and this one is one for the books, surely – I have a good idea who it is shooting at me. I reach out with my telekinesis and the first thing I wrench out of grasp is the gun. The second thing I grab is Larissa – the real Larissa, presumably – slamming her into her doppelganger. “You two have some explaining to do,” I told them gravely. Somewhat surprisingly, Larissa doesn’t seem affected by my presence…as an alicorn, that is. “Larry!” she screams at her lookalike. “What have you done? I told you to feed only on me, you idiot!” “It was wrong and you know it.” “I don’t care! You’re mine and you—” Okay, things just got really weird, the kind of weird that says a lot of unspoken things and makes my skin crawl. “Okay, kids, time for you to each go in the corner.” I separate the two, pinning them against trees, then wrapping them in energy fields. “Explain – and you have seconds to do so before I make my judgement.” “You don’t have the right to judge us, Changelingslayer!” Larry tells me. Kinda hard to take his threats in Larissa’s voice. “I have every right – I am here on my own volition and a request from the HIVE to deal with you two reprobates. So I want answers, before I pass judgement.” I look at them both. “Start talking. Now.” “I don’t have to tell you anyth—” “Larry! Just stop! Please!” The look on Larissa’s face is worried, and not just like the sisterly type too, which confirms my suspicions. Note: remind myself to go find a way to get drunk then vomit later. Gonna need it. Still, I have to deal with this, so I turn to Larissa. “Look, unless you don’t want your boyfriend there to turn into a bloodstain on the trunk….” “He’s not my boyfriend,” she tells me. “Do me a favor and don’t lie, okay? I’m already sick of you two as is. I want the truth. Starting with: is he for real?” She looks at me, then back at Larry, then back to me. “Yes,” she says in a defeated tone, and that’s what I need to hear. “Do you know what a chimera is, your highness?” “Yes, I’ve had to kill a few in my lifetime.” Nasty freaks of nature, those things are – and this is coming from a freak of nature myself. I’ve had to deal with them both as Luna and as myself. “But I’m surprised to hear that they exist on Earth; near as I could tell, they were mythological here.” “It’s a biological term. The short of it was that when we were in the womb, somehow he got my changeling genes, as well as his own. The end result is that I’m completely human…and Larry is nearly entirely changeling…a throwback, no less.” I blink. “Are you saying he’s a hermaphrodite?” “No. Well, sorta. When he can’t control his hunger anymore, his genes change him into a changeling queen. Or what he would have been born as, thanks to my genes: my twin sister.” She looked down at the ground as she adds, “So I took it upon myself to…sate…his…her needs.” Yeah, gonna drink a gallon of Jack Daniels’ first chance I get. “Then why…?” “Because he became a queen! Because queens must ensure the survival of our species! Because—” “You make me sick.” I hear Arturia get up; she recovered fast and for that I’m thankful. “Luna here says my sister has the same abilities as your brother, and that she has a friend where she lives who is also a queen. And you know what? They’re perfectly normal! You blamed your sick shit on your own chromosomes, yet we all share the same ones – all us changelings! Face it – you did this entirely on your own, for your own volition and your own desires. And that makes me want to puke.” I can’t help but smile. “I’d clap right now, Arturia, but….” I shrug. “I get the point. What are we going to do about them?” she asks me. I cast a spell and a second later, both are knocked out. “Get a hold of the local HIVE and take them into custody, of course.” I briefly look at both of them. “Preferably in separate cells.” About an hour later, we’re meeting with Kerala Tharoor, the local HIVE representative. Again, I’m surprised how far and wide the changelings have spread beyond Ireland, because she looks as Hindi as can be. She laughs at my apparent thoughts and says, “I’ve probably got some Irish blood in me somewhere. But one of my ancestors moved to Trivandum and started to be fruitful and multiply and as a result, there’s a few million of us in India. As for me, my parents were HIVE employees like I am, and lead perfectly normal lives.” “Normal?” I ask her. “I’m not having sex with my brother,” she points out and though that wasn’t in my line of thought, clearly she’s just as disturbed as they are. “So what happens to them now?” Taylor asks, and given that it could cost her job, it’s a fair question. “We have two HIVE employees who are going to pretend to be the Vandervorts and freak out for a week before they fly to LA to tell the studio that they are sick of the production issues and will quit. We also have Bill Cooper, who I understand had been pushing to direct, who will volunteer to step in and take over production.” “Bill Cooper’s interested?” Taylor asked. “I’ve wanted to work with him before. I didn’t know he was a changeling.” “He’s not, but his wife is, so he’s sympathetic, so I’m told,” Kerala explains. “As for the Vandervorts, they’re going to have a few public meltdowns after this and then their careers will be over.” “And what about the real Vandervorts?” I ask. “Larry will have to be confined; we’re shipping him off to a secure facility—” “A prison, you mean.” “I hate to call it that, but yes, that’s what it is. He’s dangerous, your highness, and the HIVE has personnel that are trained for this sort of thing. Now as to Larissa? We also have people trained for what she’s going through.” “Let me guess,” Arturia says, and I suspect I know what it is. Kerala nods. “We have a couple of trained specialists examining her, and it looks like she’s been enthralled by him since puberty. He’s been in control this entire time, using her as his thrall and…well, other things. We’re also going to talk to the parents; there’s a chance they might be enthralled as well. This just adds to our concerns, as you can understand, Princess.” “I see.” Not happy about it, but that’s not my call to make. The changelings have a law unto themselves as well as the local laws, and as long as the ends are tied up neatly, so be it. But it seems too…authoritarian, if you ask me. Too much like a Star Chamber for my tastes. “Your highness, may I have a word with you?” Kerala asks me, and I look at Arturia and Taylor, who nodded. She walks off and I follow her just out of earshot. Before she asks, I put a silence spell around us, because I get that feeling this is going to be private. “A silence spell. Smart,” she says, and I nod. “Yes, I have some training in magic; I can’t shapeshift, but I can use limited magic. I’m going to be serving as one of the caretakers for Ms. Vandervort.” “Caretakers?” “I don’t know how the reaction would be on your kind, your highness….” “Please, just call me Moon. It’s who I am as a human,” I tell her. She nods. “Anyway, Moon, on humans, it’s long-term psychological damage, some that might not ever be recoverable. For over twenty years, she’s been her brother’s thrall, her brother’s plaything, and he warped her mind to make her think it was her idea all along. Now that we’ve broken it, it will be a long road to recovery for her, if she ever does. Tonight we’ll move her to a facility we have in Switzerland that we have for former thralls. She’ll receive the best care, and if we have to see to her needs for the rest of her days, we can do that there.” “And her parents?” “Same with her parents, and if we find any others, them as well.” I hear her sigh in frustration. “We shouldn’t need these facilities, and yet we have them.” “Yes, this implies that the changeling problem on Earth is far larger than Molloy told me.” She laughed. “Between you and me, Moon? Paddy’s an asshole. He always has been, though thankfully he hasn’t been that much of an issue. And yes, it’s always been a problem, because as much as we’re changelings? We’re also human, both the good and the bad. Thankfully, for every bad egg out there, we have a dozen good.” “Why are you telling me this? Shouldn’t I be the last person you’re telling?” She shook her head. “I see Molloy pulled the wool over your eyes as well. Trust me, the Council is going to have a talk with him over that.” She reaches into her coat and pulls out a letter for me. “This is for you. You were supposed to have a copy delivered to you, but I suppose the Los Angeles office ‘lost’ it.” She hands it over and says, “Well, I need to do the appropriate paperwork, as well make sure that Brent and Ashley – the two changelings I have pretending to be the Vandervorts – have everything appropriately out of control until the studio can shut things down temporarily. Until later.” She then walks off, leaving me with my letter. I’ll read it later; I need to check on Arturia and Taylor. Finally, I’m back on the plane to LA, by myself – Arturia is going to spend a couple of weeks on vacation with her sister, and I suspect that also includes making up with her parents. That’s okay; she needs that more than anything. She also probably needs the time away from me after the asschewing I gave her about the gun. Ever defiant, she told me that she would do anything to keep me safe, not just because that’s her job, but because she’s my friend. We have progress, I suppose. But now I can get back to North, and my life and practicing some games, because Pacific War is coming up and those wins won’t come on their own. Besides, I like what I do. Hell, just before I left, I was approached by Renaissance Studios about some input for a new looter shooter they’re developing. Sounds like something interesting. And speaking of interesting, I nearly forgot that letter. I reach into my purse, and pull it out, admiring the expensive linen paper sealed with wax and ribbon; either they do this normally or they did it just for me. Well, I’m not really a princess, but the thought is touching regardless. I open the letter and look at the hand-calligraphed letter. Oh, this is going to make my life difficult.