• Published 7th Jun 2014
  • 3,238 Views, 118 Comments

The Worlds End - Alcatraz



Did you ever wonder where magic comes from?

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XV.

Author's Note:

This is self-edited. Let me know if anything is out of place.

Before we left the room, I took some rope out of my bag and tied it to the pedestal with the orb on it, running it through the portal-wall and tying it to a tree with my neon-orange bandanna at the end. You couldn't see the portal itself unless you’re looking directly at it to a degree, and I did that to make sure I could find my way back to the portal room. I decided to call it that for ease of naming purposes.

We wandered up the cobblestone path and it didn't take long for us to be accosted and attacked by various kinds of biting insects. I was slapping at them left and right when they tried taking a mouthful of me, but I wasn't having it. I pulled out an insect repellent bracelet I kept in an airtight container—rather there's a half dozen of them all in their original packaging to preserve them, I just keep them in the container for the extra freshness—and slipped it around my wrist.

They didn't seem to bother Luna all that much, she just used her tail and swatted at them like a normal horse would do on Earth and kept grinning at my misfortune.

"They seem to find you delicious," she smirked.

"What can I say, bitches love me," I replied indignantly. The majority of the insects were kept at bay by the scent of the bracelet but others seemed immune. It warded off the mozzies and sand flies, but I had started becoming increasingly worried about the ones that I wasn't familiar with. They could carry some sort of disease!

That actually made me wonder; am I susceptible to diseases on this planet? Granted humans had lived here previously, but I didn't know whether or not the diseases they may or may not have brought with them or had at the time evolved to different carriers or simply died out. I did take precautions though, but it didn't stop the latent fear of catching something that couldn't be cured with the medicine and magic.

I kept walking in front of Luna, but at some point I only heard myself walking, and not the clip-clop of her hooves on the stone pathway. I turned to look back at her. "Luna, something wrong?"

"Don't... Move..." She stood stock still, only her flowing astral mane making any kind of movements.

"What's the matter?"

"Stand still!" she ordered through gritted teeth.

I stood facing her, and kept a low voice. "What's the matter, you're scaring me!"

"Slowly, very slowly, turn around."

I didn't move my head, arms, body or anything else. I shifted my right foot ninety degrees, followed by my left foot. Another ninety degrees and I'm facing the opposite direction I once was.

"What am I looking at?"

"The end of the path just ends some ways ahead, then look left and right of the vines covering the rest of it."

I must've been too busy worrying about the insects biting me to have seen that the dilapidated path before me indeed come to and end; swallowed by a waterfall of vines, leaves, and bushes. I looked where Luna told me to, and I saw several somethings contrasting against the jungle and its foliage. I slowly bent over to my right leg to undo the velcro strap that held the Kukri in its sheath, then all of a sudden a wooden shaft tipped with a stone head shot out of fucking nowhere and buried itself inches away from my side.

"Bad idea. Don't move!" she echoed.

"Who's there?" I said aloud. "Come out so I can see you."

I heard rustling of the bushes everywhere from around me, and several humans all wearing garments spun from leaves, tanned hide, wielding spears with god-knows-what plastered on their faces. Looked like some kind of war paint or camouflage paint.

They inched their way towards me, keeping me at length with their spears.

"Friends of yours?" Luna smirked.

"Yeah, totally. Relatives from sodding 1592!"

"You speak our language," bellowed a voice from somewhere. Just as whoever said that, a figure jumped down in front of us from atop the end of the path. I had no idea where he came from: he jumped out of nowhere. Possible hiding in the branches of the canopy

This individual had seen better days; covered in dirt and scrapes, scratches, even a few scars here and there. He seemed to be more... modern? I suppose. He wore... Oh sweet mother of Celestia he wore fucking PANTS!

"Who the hell are you, and why are you wearing pants?"

"What, can one not cover up their jewels?"

Oh great, he's sarcastic too. "What I meant to say is, who are you, how did you get pants, why are you here, and how did you get here?"

"I am from Great Britain, it is the year of 1942."

"How long have you been here?"

"Too long. Come, you must meet the Grand Master."

"Who?"

"The Grand Master. He's the one in charge here. The rest of these people you see have been here far longer than me, I just lead them, but everything gets run by Grandfather."

He turned and walked further along the path towards the end of it. "Woah woah woah, Which is it; Grandfather or Grand Master?"

"All will be explained in good time. You must be hungry and tired. Come with me and you'll be taken care of."

I relaxed my position, letting out a long held breath I didn't even know I was holding, and began to walk towards the end of the path. The human that spoke with me reached into the wall of vines, buried his hand within the wall of vines and gave a sharp tug on something. The sound of stone grinding on stone echoed as the doors slowly began to open. The rest of the people behind us relaxed also, using their spears as staffs and followed us inside the gate.

What I saw made my jaw hit the ground.

Ancient, old, crumbling ruins of a temple. This place had seen better days for sure, but for the condition it's in right now, it seemed remarkably well-kept. Luna and i followed the guy down a long corridor lit by several stone columns that held bowls of fire. The walls had creeper vines all over them, just as you'd expect to see from a temple in the middle of a jungle from a movie.

We came to a door at the end and the leader pushed it open with quite bit of muscle. We entered, and two more people clad in grass and hide clothes pushed it shut behind us, standing with their back to it.

The corridor is very long, it has a few doors dotted along the walls. The first door we walked by is on our left, and it had what looked like clay ovens built into the walls of the far room, with several tables all loaded with food.

"Our kitchen," he declared.

"Do you have fridges or even a freezer?" I asked. Seemed a bit ridiculous to ask, but not entirely.

"Not as such, no." We stopped and he took us inside, to the far right hand side of the room as you walk into the door and pointed at another door. "That's our cool room. It functions in the same manner as a fridge. Stairs lead down to an underground river that runs through a cave. The river's cold enough to keep most food chilled for up to five days."

’Clever’, I thought. We went back out and continued walking up the hall. The next door we passed is on our left, and I took a moment to glance inside. This room has two rather long tables with maybe half a dozen people sitting up and down them, doing I don't know what.

"Eating hall," was all that got said before we started moving again.

We walked for another twenty metres towards the final door before the end of the corridor, which branches off to the left and right. Inside the door is just bunk beds, hammocks, cots and other sleeping arrangements. I didn't think this one needed any explanation, so we moved on, around the corner to the right.

"We hope to have metal forges up and running at some point. We only have one forge right now though, but we're working on it."

"Where did you plan on getting your metal, and for what purposes are you wanting to use whatever you make?" Luna asked with a hint of trepidation and scepticism..

"Better quality tools, mostly. Knives, axes and so on. As for the metal, we found a rather large deposit of ore some ways away of here."

"Can we just stop for a second, please?" We stopped, and all eyes turned to me. "Firstly, you do know that this island is floating, right?"

"Our scouts have reported that they found the edge of the world, but I already know that there's other islands out there. So, in a sense."

"So," I continued, "Don't you think that digging up the metal might upset the literal balance of the island?"

"That does raise an interesting point, but the deposit is huge. I doubt that we would use enough to upset the balance."

"You said you're from 1942, right?"

"That's the current year."

"I... What?"

"It is currently 1942, last time I checked."

"Buddy, when I came here it was November of 2013." His eyes widened like saucers, and he suddenly became more tense.

"How is that possible? I've been here nearly twenty-five years!"

I continued. “I think it better we go meet with the Grand Master, or Grandfather. Whatever you want to call him. Then we'll continue talking."

"Fine," he seethed. He gruffly turned tail and began to walk forward with the same pace as before. As we did, I noticed that the people that were staring at me looked away from me one by one, almost as in disbelief. I knew they could understand me, They just hadn't bothered to say anything just yet.

This corridor is substantially longer than the entrance hall, but with only one door that I could see. It took nearly two minutes of walking down the straight corridor to get to it. When we did, whatever his name is stopped and turned to face us.

"This is our training room, if you want to call it that. We spend a good portion of our time in here for a variety of reasons. Sparring with staffs and what weapons we have managed to craft. It's also good to help stay in shape, stave off cabin fever, and hone skills."

All of a sudden, a massively loud DONG rung out. "What in gods name was that!?"

"The bell. Used to indicate morning and breakfast, noon and lunch, night time and dinner. Plus emergencies if we need to."

"What time is it now?" Luna asked.

I looked at my watch, and he did too. "That's a fancy little time piece. But to answer your question, Miss, dinner is almost ready. That's what everyone would have been doing in the kitchen we just passed."

"Heh, the time specifically is just gone six in the evening. How do you keep time here?"

"Sun dial on the roof for the clear days. Shall we keep moving?"

"Yes, lets." And so we kept moving.

"Some of us," he began, "Managed to channel a latent energy from a nearby island up the north-west. I don't know how to channel it, but some of the people that were here before me learned how to. That's how they ring the bell; shooting compressed air blasts from their hands."

"Wait... What? How do you shoot compressed air from hands?"

"Magic!" Luna chimed in, much to everyone's bemusement.

He snickered. "Ma'am, I don't know about you, but I don't believe in magic."

"You've been here twenty-five years, how could you not believe in such things? Surely you'd've witnessed inexplicable feats that not even you could explain. I've been here for, what? Not even a year and I take the notion of magic with a grain of salt until such time is I know otherwise what I'm dealing with, as I do everything."

He reached out with a stern finger pointed at me. "Listen here you insolent little—"

"Grandfather told you not to harm them. You shall do as he asks," one of the people behind me spoke up, apparently to stop this guy from trying something. I could see him glance behind me to whomever spoke up. He just grumbled under his breath and turned on the spot.

He didn't say another word as we reached the end of the corridor, taking a left, continuing on down another corridor until we came to an intersection, taking another left. Before us stood two doors not unlike the one we passed through initially. There stood before them two people wielding spears, dressed in more ornate items. Higher class guards, I'm assuming. They exchanged nods with the man leading us and he turned and nodded to the people behind Luna and I. They scattered, going down different corridors, presumably to do their own thing.

The two guards pulled the door open and motioned to Luna and myself to go in. Whoever that man is, stayed outside either of his own volition or because he's not allowed in. Once we were in and the doors shut behind up, my attention turned to the rear of the room.

My jaw dropped. Again. Looks like I'm going to have to duct tape my mandible to my skull before it falls off one of these days...

"Welcome..." same a voice, "To the Inner Sanctum of this temple. I am known as Grandfather, but others call me the Grand Master."

This was unlike anything I had ever seen. Right out of the stone itself grew a tree, radiating an ambient glowing blue-ish colour. In the middle of this cluster of vines and branches sat a man. I took careful steps closer, glancing back to Luna whom seemed to choose to stay back and let me talk to him instead.

When I got closer, this man looked as though vines and branches were growing either from him, or into him. He sat cross-legged, frozen in place. He glowed too, but much much more faintly than the tree that he sat in.

He looked like a Spanish Conquistador. The helmet, plated chest armour… all of it riddled with scratches and holes, and even he is missing a gauntlet and the boots, everything else seems to be period correct for something of the 16th century. Some of the branches grew into the metal it by the looks of it, some through the clothes, and directly into his skin. Luckily none went into any orifices, that would be a whole other can of worms, and make this encounter all the more uncomfortable on my end. I shuddered. Too much internet back on Earth...

The person under the helmet looks like a bag of bones, like an anorexic supermodel from what I could see. It didn't look like he had any muscles, and the skin on his legs and face, and hand—the parts exposed—looks like a very tight, stretched fit. Like, take a plastic skull and stretch skin-coloured gladwrap over it and that's about as close as you'd get to this guy.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is all but forgotten to time. I have been here many centuries."

"How did you get here?"

"I was leading a group on a search for the City of Gold. One day, I went to sleep and woke up in an unfamiliar place, such is this."

"Hate to break it to you dude, but you were a few planets off." I pointed upwards.

He didn't say anything.

"I found my own way here, with magic, as your subordinate denys exists."

"Yes, Rupert is too caught up in his faith. I was a Christian myself. I held a deep-seated belief in God, and would preach to the various tribes we encountered on our voyages. I have since lost that faith, stuck in this prison for hundreds if not thousands of years. But these people depend on me for guidance. Some view me as a God in my own right, but all I am is a person trapped within a tree, unable to move anything."

"Then how do you speak?"

"The energy that comes from this tree sustains me, and allows me to communicate through telepathy, as some might call it."

"Where does this energy come from?"

"You have many questions. I will not be able to answer them all, but I will be able to provide you with that which you seek."

I shot a hopeful glance back to Luna. "How do you know what I seek?"

"Everyone that we bring back here seeks to return home. Some choose to stay, others we never see again."

Ominous as fuck if you ask me. "How do you know where to find a way back to Earth?"

"Have you seen the cracks? The scars in that mysterious room?"

I didn't know how he could have possibly known about my being there, but I decided to humour him. "I have."

"In my time here, I have learnt that people get swallowed up by these cracks. Through them exist other planes of existence."

"So you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, then? What about the other planets that seem eerily similar to cities of myth and legend from Earth"

"More or less, and you shall find that out in due time. Meanwhile, I shall tell you how to get back to Earth. Every day at noon on Eden, the sun shines on a temple, opening a portal to other planes of existence. It is through this you will be able to get home. But it only opens for a few moments each day."

I turned back to Luna with an ecstatic smile forming on my lips.

"Until then, I bid you farewell."

I tried coaxing more answers out of him for several minutes, but he just evaded the questions and began to monologue about things from his experience both on the island, and in the tree. I still had loads of questions; how old he is, where he came from, what year it was when he got here, how he ended up in the tree, but after he stopped talking Rupert came back in to collect us.

"I've been instructed to feed and house you for the night. Come, we shall eat."

With my mind running a thousand miles an hour from what I wanted to ask him, I begrudgingly followed. We were nearly at the dining hall when a realisation hit me. "Bullseye!"

Rupert turned to look at me with a puzzled expression. "...What?"

"We have another companion whom we left behind, to... hold the door open, shall we say. I hate to be rude, but may we got some food to takeaway with us? We have accommodation, so no need to worry about that."

"Very well. Follow me."

Instead of the dining hall, Rupert lead Luna and I into the kitchen itself. He told one of the women there to: "Wrap up some food for the guests." She didn't bat an eye and went into the back of one of the room, emerging a few minutes later with two warm parcels wrapped up in what looked like banana leaves.

They don't have tupperware, can you blame them?

As she handed them to me, she said; "It's some fresh meat and vegetables."

A horrified look appeared on Luna's face. "Meat!?" Everyone in the kitchen looked at her.

I took the food from her with a gracious smile, putting my arm around Luna and gently lead her out the door. The looks subsided when we exited into the hall, the food tucked away in my bag.

"Luna, sweetie, sorry to have to break it to you but you do remember that humans are omnivorous?"

"Oh, yeah..."

"Back on Earth, people whom didn't want to eat meat, or related products, could find sufficient nutritional replacements in certain plants, vegetables, and vitamin supplements. That's all good and well for them, but I love a good steak. I know this isn't exactly something you wanted to hear, but in conditions like these, these people won't be able to get all of their nutrition and sustain themselves from plants and vegetables, strictly speaking, for very long."

"I... Understand... Even though I don't like it, I'm not going to come between what you like to eat."

We started walking down the corridor back to the entrance of the temple. "There's different kinds of vegetarians too; Lacto-ovo vegetarians, which means they don't eat flesh itself, but would eat products that come from animals such as milk, cheese, eggs, and so on. I'd put you ponies in that area."

"Is that all?"

"Not really, but it's trivial to get into at this point."

We rounded the bends and got to the door being guarded by the two people from before. I gave them a nod, and they heaved open the doors to the outside. It's beginning to get dark, so we made haste down the path in an attempt to find the bandanna tied to the rope. It wasn't too dark that we'd need to go by flashlight, but it's dark to the point where we could easily lose sight of the neon-orange cloth. I should have tied a glow stick to it too.

Yes, I bought some of those with me too. I came prepared, and it's served me well thus far, can you blame me? Number one rule of survival; Be prepared, because you never know what might happen. Unfortunately half the stuff in my bag won't be replaceable when it runs out, but maybe if I hand off a few of the items to scientists or whomever, and maybe they can make a few more?

Maybe that's something I can look into when I get back.

I need to stop getting off track so often.

We kept a sharp look out for the orange cloth, and eventually found it, and Bullseye, whom was half sticking out of the wall-portal.

"Hey guys!" he said, waving an eager hoof to indicate his position. Honestly, who wouldn't miss half an okapi waving at you next to a bandanna flailing in the breeze? "Over here! I saw it getting dark, so, I thought I'd wait to see if you walked by so you didn't miss the rag that Midnight tied up."

"Thanks, dude. I guess..."

We all went back in the room, and I had to figure out a way to turn off the holographic projection from the orb. All I had to do, as it turns out, was press the button and everything got sucked back inside the orb. I pocketed it, and bought out the two food parcels.

"What did you do get up to while we were gone?" asked Luna.

"I just read a bit, and maintained my things. What did you guys find, apart from hot food, which, by the way, smells delicious!"

We sat down just off centre from the middle of the room, and began to unwrap it, letting the delicious smell waft into the air.

"I'll be sure to convey your thanks to the people that made it."

He looked up from giving the vegetables a sniff. "Woah, you found more people?"

I removed all my gear from by body and set it off to the side, opening my bag and pulling out the swiss-army cutlery tool. It's got a knife, fork, spoon, awl, and corkscrew. Handy for camping! I popped out the fork and stabbed a piece of meat with i, and stuffed it into my mouth, then spoke with half a mouthful.

"We sure did, turns out there's this old as hell dude that's grown into the tree, and that magic keeps him alive. He’s called Grandfather or Grand Master, and finds people that have wandered here by accident and takes them into his temple, where he gives them a choice." I swallowed the mouthful and continued. "He lets them find their way back home by pointing them in the right direction, offers them hospitality, or just lets them do their own thing for the most part."

"Huh, that's interesting. Who knew there was a human colony living here all along, eh?"

"Not me, but if someone did and didn't tell me, I'm gonna be hella pissed."

I took another piece of the meat. I didn't know quite what it was, but the flavour seemed comparable to beef, and it was moderately tough, so I had a time and a half chewing it—truth be told.

"What is that you're eating? I recognise the vegetables, but not that stuff."

"Wanna try a piece?" I asked, offering him the bit on the end of my fork.

"Don't mind if I do." He leant forward to take it off the end of the fork.

"NO WAIT!" Luna screamed.

As Bullseye began to chew, she just sat there, unpleasantly awestruck as he chewed away. I just sat there and chuckled to myself.

"Whart?" He said with his mouthful. After a few moments of chewing, he swallowed and smacked his lips together. "Rather salty and chewy for my liking. What is it anyway?"

"Meat..." said Luna, a heavy breath escaping as she uttered that word.

I looked in Bullseye's general direction. He didn't flinch, bat an eye, he just returned Luna's dead-panned look and eventually gave a shrug.

"I'm no stranger to it, but I do tend to avoid it for the most part."

"And that, Luna, is what we call a flexitarian!"

We ate the rest of the food in silence. Bullseye and Luna shared the vegetables while I ate the meat side of things. Honestly, I didn't know what animal it was from, but it's meat, so I ain't complaining.

As time drew on in the evening, we decided to get some rest. I wrote my little note to Ratchet, whom replied with the update. "They've got the majority of the ship repaired," I read aloud, paraphrasing, "Now they're just working on the instruments repaired with what they can salvage, focusing on the more important parts."

In my notes, I've been deliberately neglecting the parts about finding the human remains and the colony today. I didn't want too many questions from too many people.

Finding a soft spot on a floor covered in vines and leaves is rather difficult, so I laid out the tarp from my bag and spread out a few clothes on it as a bit of cushioning against the rooty floor. It did its job, but I could still feel imperfections here and there. A pillow is another problem I've been having these last few days.

I didn't exactly have one, so I had been resorting to using the padded rear portion of my backpack, but that does a number on my neck in the mornings. I found myself cricking my neck like one would do with their knuckles to get it loosened up. Tonight I tried being sneaky and, while Luna rested, I laid my head on her stomach. She cracked an eye, as did I, we exchanged a wink of mutual understanding and comfort, then quietly drifted off to sleep with me cuddling up to my favourite pony in the entire world.

Comments ( 27 )

Update?

6310167 Thing is, the people whom were helping me edit the story just kinda fell through the cracks because of whatever it was they were doing. Since then, nobody has really paid much mind to the story, I basically never get notifications for it anymore, and if people ARE reading it, those are few and far between.

In short, if someone with adequate editing skills can read through an 80,000 word fic wanting to help me get more chapters out, then cool. If not, then I'm just gonna keep it on hiatus.

6533199 If someone that has sufficient editing skills is willing to go through and edit whatever is here as well as whatever I've got collecting dust, then I'll continue writing. So far nobody has expressed enough of an interest in this story.

6533244 *poof* And this is where I will step in and offer my services for you if you wish. I may not do it fast, but I'll be thorough. No good story like this should get cancelled. And I'd be happy to help in my spare time.

6648619 While I really appreciate the offer, It's gotten to the point where I haven't written anything for the story since... January? Last December? Point being I'm so out of touch with this story I don't think I CAN continue to write it.

How far into the story have you read anyway?

6651726 I haven't started this one yet. The hard part is seeing the cancelled tag and knowing I won't get the closure on the story as a whole. IM most likely going to anyways and, if it stays cancelled just draw my own conclusion to how it ends.

6651729 I'll make you a deal.

I've got three unpublished chapters, totaling between 10,000 and 12,000 views (too lazy to do the math right now). If you do decide to read this, when you catch up, I'll give you the unpublished chapters to edit and we'll go from there. If you can provide a solid service for the story, and publishing the chapters rekindles reader interest with the story, I'll definitely consider continuing to write this. For what I had planned, there's about another 20,000 words (gross estimate) left to go. Maybe more? Alright, 30,000 tops until completion. I'd need to dig up my notes.

Ball is in your court, my friend :raritywink:

6651735 -taps chin thoughtfully- alright, I can dig that. I'll start reading tomorrow before and after work.

But just so you know, I don't want to make you feel somehow forced into this. As you can see I have a story of my own I haven't worked on, mostly because looking at it a couple things bug me and don't sit well with me, namely the first chapter. I just have no clue how to pick back up though I am slowly writing something for it. So I know the feeling. In other words if ultimately when I catch up, you don't want to, I don't want you to do it against your will... hmmm... that doesn't sound right like it did in me noggin. You get what I mean though... I hope?

6651743 What I understood is, after we catch up and finish editing the unpublished chapters, that if I don't want to continue writing this, that I shouldn't feel pressured by your eagerness to see it completed?

6651749 that, or anyone else's honestly. I'm eager and want to see it as such yes, because the first story was incredible. But sometimes an author just doesn't feel it anymore. And at that point one shouldn't pressure said author to do it. Me? I just want to help and make sure what you started doesn't go unfinished if you still "feel" the story after I read through, edit the chapters and people still want to see it finished. It all comes down to making sure YOU are comfortable finishing it. After all this IS your story.:twilightsmile:

Also sorry, I'm tired and about to nod off so I tend to say things that may sound.... strange? I suppose.

6660800 There's been more than one instance I'd care to admit where I was high off my arse while writing this story :rainbowlaugh:

6660854 hey like I said, what ever makes ya happy xD, also reached the most current chapter. And I must say I am really loving the lore you had put into it. It's incredibly interesting and fun to read. I do love a good adventure story. So my offer still stands to you Alcatraz. I'd be more than happy to help you out. If you chose to that is. And there are some errors lingering in all 15 chapters that, at a later point, I can address for you if you wish.

6660893 What kind of lingering errors are there for example?

I'll take you up on your offer to help me continue this since you soldiered through to this point.

6660918 minor spelling and grammar issues, and a few parts where it looked like you wanted to say type something one way, then two words later you say it another way. Nothing super noticeable but I figured it can be taken care of later. As for soldiering through, that's hardly the case. I enjoyed every minute of it. Even with my migrane I have right now urk. Send me a pm and we will discuss it more later today. I need to lay down and get some rest, got work later on.

6660926 I'll sit down and go through the next chapter with you on my next day off from work. I have to re-acquaint myself with the story and read through all the unpublished chapters to catch up haha.

6660854 why did u cancel this story please continue the story please

Why was this canceled?

7692967 Viewership dwindled, I couldn't find any editors for it, and after the fact, I lost interest in it.

There's still 11,000 unpublished words that I couldn't find an editor for.

7693467 I'd love to edit one my favorite stories if you'll take me aboard

7725495 But the story isn't in your favourites folder?

7693467 I... I offered to do it a year ago xD.

If the offer's still up (doubt it, it's been 3 years since the last comment) i'll edit...just beware, i'm a Grammar Nazi. ;p

Comment posted by sinewystatue382 deleted Jan 18th, 2021
Comment posted by sinewystatue382 deleted Jan 19th, 2021
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