# Skyfall Chapter 22

Author: Abyssa
Tags: Anthro, Fantasy, Gay, Human, Magic, Male, Phoenix, Relationships, SkyFall, Werewolf

22
  I
felt myself sink back into the prison of my body. I could feel Misha lying on
top of me. Carefully, I opened my eyes, and saw that he had fallen asleep.
  I remained numb to the current
circumstance as my body squirmed beneath his dead weight. As I slowly became
more conscious, I tried to assure myself that everything was fine, but it was
hard to fight the feeling of panic.
  My movements caused Misha to
stir. He propped himself up over me with his arms. The moment was blurred, as
if I were recalling some kind of nightmare. I looked up to his face but I
didn't see him, all I could see was the image of his younger, innocent self. It
was difficult to imagine them as the same person. I still felt dizzy and
distant from reality. Shaking my head, I blinked several times to try and clear
my thoughts. 
  "It's late. I should get to
dinner." Misha said as he pet my face. His blurred face shifted into focus as
he asked me, "Are you hungry?"
  "It's all a game, two-fifty-seven." Hale's voice echoed in my
tormented mind as Misha's face became clear. "Give and take."
  It was all a game. I just needed
to start playing. 
  "Decipher?" Misha asked. 
  He didn't deserve to say my
name. I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah, Misha." I lied, "I am hungry." 
  He nodded as he got off of me,
sliding his hand down my torso one last time. He retrieved his clothing, and I
watched his fragile figure move as he slipped his coat back on. It would be so easy to snap him in half...
My mind became hopeful at the thought as I slipped on my own black shorts. I
didn't bother with a shirt.
  "By the way, thanks for that,
Decipher." He said, avoiding my eyes.
   His
words tormented me only for a moment. I pulled my lips back and bore my teeth.
He wasn't expressing gratitude. He knew what he was doing. He was playing the
game far better than I was. I decided not to dwell on the thought. In the end,
I would figure out a way to win, and that was all that mattered.  
  "Shall we go?" He asked, turning
to face me again.
  "Sure." I said, shoving past him
on my way out the door.
  We
arrived in the dining hall just in time for the late session of dinner. I
picked up a chunk of meat from one of the trays and tossed it on to a plate. I
wasn't paying attention to what Misha was doing. I decided to treat him like a
stray animal that was following me around; he was certainly acting like one. I
noticed Caliber across the room and wandered over towards him.
  He was carrying his guard
helmet, and his armor was covered in dust and mud. I assumed he had just come
back from the field. He looked exhausted.
  I made my way over to him as he
sank down at an isolated table in the corner of the room. I was dying to talk
to him. I knew it wouldn't be possible to have an in-depth discussion right
now, but I wanted to at least say hi.
  "Decipher!" He said, smiling
weakly as he looked up at me. "It's good to see you up."
  I glanced behind me to see Misha
still picking out food, and then turned back to Caliber. "I need to talk to
you. I have so many questions." I whispered quickly. "When are you free?"
  "I don't think I have the
answers, Decipher." He said, leaning back against the wall as he glanced at
Misha with a sigh. "You know better than I do."
  I sighed. He wasn't going to
tell me much. "Were you there the entire time?" I asked as Misha approached us.
  Caliber shook his head. "I was
there when I needed to be, but that's pretty much it. I'm sorry I couldn't do
more." 
  Misha took a seat next to me. I
turned my focus onto my food and tried to ignore him. I took a few bites as
Misha and Caliber exchanged forced greetings. It was apparent that Caliber was
uncomfortable. 
   "It's not your fault." I mumbled to
Caliber after a few moments. He didn't reply.
  After a few moments, Caliber
dismissed himself and went to get food, and I was left alone at the table with
Misha. I inhaled deeply as I leaned back and stared at Misha. 
  "Misha." I began. 
  He seemed to be startled as I
spoke to him, and set his fork down to listen to me. This is good. I thought. He
won't be expecting this...
  "Do I need to speak with Hale?"
  "Hale's gone for a bit." Misha
said with a shrug as he continued to eat. He seemed to be relieved. "I think he
gets back tomorrow. I'm sure he'll summon you to his office eventually, but
don't worry about it for now." He said. I continued to stare at him, and my lip
pulled up in a strange smile. 
  I glanced at Caliber as he
returned and sat across from me. He didn't seem to want to, but I think he
wanted to support me. I turned and glared at Misha again, who was finishing his
last bite of food.
  "I have to get back to the lab..."
He said as he began to gather his dishes.
  "Before you do, I have another
question." I said before he could leave. He stopped and turned to look at me.
  "Sure, what's up?" 
  "What made you Hale's bitch?" I
asked in a surge of bravery. Caliber nearly choked on his drink, and slammed it
down to stare at me with wide eyes. I felt bad that Caliber was going to be
exposed to this, but I didn't have time to ask him to leave. I had to say what
I needed to say while I had the strength. 
  "What has he ever done for you?"
I continued as I ignored Caliber, who was shaking his head and pleading with me
to shut up, "Besides kill and destroy those you love, of course." 
  "What?" Misha snapped.  
  "Oh don't worry about me causing
trouble; he'll kill me soon, too." I said, holding up my hands with a grin,
"You love me, right? You think Hale's going to let you keep a pet, after all
the mistakes you've made? Haven't you learned your lesson by now?"
  "Shut up." Misha said, slamming
his hands down on the table. 
  My mouth twitched at his
command, but he must not have really meant it, because I was still able to spit
out a reply. "I can't wait to die, Misha." I leaned in closer towards him.
"I've got nothing left, thanks to you." 
  "I said shut up!" Misha growled.
  I jumped up and shoved him out
of his seat without thought. I pinned him up against the wall and snarled,
bringing my teeth close to him face, but not striking at him.
   "You owe it to me!" I growled. "You at least
owe me an explanation. Why the fuck do you follow Hale, after all he's done to
you?" 
  Misha's face looked twisted in
pain and shock as I pinned him up against the wall. "You don't know ANYTHING
about me!" He yelled.
  "I know enough!" I snarled. "At
the very least, I now understand why you choose me...You never thought I would
turn on you, huh? You thought I'd always be your submissive little bitch,
right?"
  "No!" Misha yelled. I was suddenly
reminded of the werewolf from his vision, and I roared as I slammed Misha's
head against the wall. 
  "You deserve everything that
happens to you." I growled. 
  "Fuck you." He coughed. 
  "No need. That's your job."
  Misha's face was a mixture of
anger and surprise. I was happy to have caught him off guard. I snarled again
and went to slam his head against the wall one last time when I felt someone
grip my shoulder and toss me off of Misha. I growled, and was about to attack
when I saw it was Caliber who had thrown me to the ground.
  "Don't move." Caliber commanded.
I cursed under my breath, knowing that Caliber had to do his duty before help
me. I knew Caliber couldn't risk being found out, and it was probably better
someone stopped me there before I could do any real damage.
  "Doctor Aras, are you alright?"
He said.
  Misha was shaking as he moved
off of the wall I had pinned him up against. His nose was bleeding, but other
than that he looked fine. I purposely didn't do much damage; I only wanted to
shake his emotions a bit. I was glad that I hadn't seemed to damage him enough
for him to need medical attention...I slowly began to regret my actions. I might
be in serious trouble.
  "Aras!"
   "Yes...Yes, Caliber, I'm fine." Misha said,
glaring down at me. 
  "Good. Then I won't document
this matter unless you want Hale to hear of it." Caliber said with a deadly
serious voice. "I'm the only guard on site right now." 
  "No. It was my fault." Misha
said. "I could've used the compulsion but I didn't. We don't need to bring this
up to anyone else." 
  "Understood." Caliber nodded.
"Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll escort Decipher to his room for the night,
unless you want him somewhere else?"
  Caliber grabbed my hands and
pinned them behind my back as he slipped some bonds over them. I allowed it,
knowing that if I fought Caliber I would likely just get into more trouble.
Besides that, I definitely did not want to hurt Caliber. 
  "No. That sounds fine." Misha
said, wiping some blood from his nose.
  Caliber shoved me towards the
exit and kept his hands gripped onto my bound wrists while Misha stormed off
towards his lab. Caliber was doing a good job at playing the role of the guard.
My arm was twisted at an uncomfortable angle behind me.
  "What the fuck was that,
Decipher?" Caliber asked once we were out of the dining hall, enraged, gripping
onto me tightly.
  "Sorry." I winced. "I just had
to say it."
  "Why?" He demanded. "It's not
like it's going to help you! Don't piss him off, especially not while he has
control over you!"
  "He's going to torment me either
way, Caliber." I sighed. "He didn't ask me to stop, either."
  "You seem different, Decipher. I
mean, the guy deserves to be told off, but seriously...what came over you?"
Caliber asked, releasing his grip on my wrists and relaxing a bit. We walked up
the stairs and past the information desk. 
  "People change." 
  "I just didn't expect something
like that from you."
  "After a while you stop caring
about what could happen to you." I sighed. "Especially when your worst fears
are already happening to you."
  Caliber leaned closer to me.
"What about Kato?" He asked. "Aren't you afraid they'll hurt him?"
  "I can't afford to live in fear
anymore." I said, meeting Caliber's eyes for a brief moment. "Kato and I are
running out of time. Look, Caliber...I just had to get it out!" 
  We stopped at my door. I sighed
as Caliber unlocked the bonds. "I'm sorry you had to be involved." I said,
feeling guilty. 
  "Don't worry about it." He said
while avoiding my eyes. "It's better I was the one, anyways."
  "Thank you." I said. I thought
for a moment on how I should phrase my next statement. "Come with us." I
whispered. "Please!"
  "I have to stay here. You know
this. There will be others who need my help." He said. "Which reminds me... I
will have to try and stop you when you and Kato try and escape. Don't be afraid
to hurt me when the day comes, Decipher. You can't do any real damage to me. I
have the Goddess on my side, so make sure you remember that when I'm shooting
at you."
  My ears fell. "Wait, what?" I
asked, panicked. "No, Caliber. I can't hurt you!"
  "That's right." He said with a
small smile. "You can't. Now get some rest. Kato will come find you tomorrow
morning if Misha doesn't need you."
  He turned and began to walk away
as I stood frozen in the hallway. Even if I couldn't actually hurt him, I
wasn't sure I would be able to even defend myself from him. He would have to
hurt me, though...and I wondered if he had a clear shot, if he would take it.
Surely his mission from the Goddess was more important than I was, but still I
wondered how much he actually cared about my well-being.
  I missed him already. Caliber
was different. Everyone was different. I missed the days when Caliber was just
a strange, goofy man who had invaded my shower, and Misha was just a confusing
doctor that was always busy in his lab...and Kato. Kato was just a good friend
who I could always count on.
  Kato was the only one that had
remained unchanged enough that I could grasp onto the feelings from the past. I
closed my eyes as I opened my door and stepped inside. 
  The air in my room felt cold and
I shivered as I stepped inside. An overwhelming feeling of loneliness chilled
me. I would be lucky to escape here with Kato...but I wished that I could take
every innocent soul from here...even if they had sinned. Fleur, the innocent
werewolf girl, both of them had died by my hands. Did they deserve it? I do not
think they deserved it. What about Sheila? What had she really done, besides try and avenge her lover? I had only disliked
Wes and Sheila because they posed a threat towards Misha. Why the hell did I
ever feel compelled to protect Misha?! My thoughts drove me crazy as I wandered
into my room.
  It was dark inside, and the
world outside my large windows was shrouded in snow and fog. I wondered what
the world would look like by tomorrow morning. Earlier today, I had sat with
Kato on the plateau overlooking the valley. I could hardly believe what had
happened since then.
  I slowly wandered over to my bed
in the dark room and collapsed onto it. My head was spinning with all the
events of the day. It seemed impossible that so much had happened in such a
short period of time. Even though I was free from the basement, my mind was
still adjusting. Between happy moments with Kato and disturbing trips into
Misha's memory...time still made no sense to me.
  I clutched the blanket and
wrapped myself into it with a shiver. The air felt so cold as I began to fall
asleep, feeling more alone than I had in a very long time. 
 
Dreams.
  A concept I had become quite
familiar with ever since crashing onto this fantastical planet, a planet I
didn't even know the name of...a planet I understood very little of.
  Dreams back at home weren't full
of life like the ones found here. At home I used to dream of an idea, rather
than a place or image. I used to dream that one day everyone would wake up and
see that their current system was flawed, and that they were slowly leading
themselves to the death of all. I dreamt they would wake up and revolt against
their oppressing leaders. 
  They never would, though. The
only important ones, the Elites and the Council, had the option of just
leaving...and the rest of us, the drones, would accept our fate in the wasteland
of their decisions. 
  For some reason, I didn't accept
my fate. Through some magical turn of events I had landed here in what might as
well have been a dream. 
  I knew I was dreaming as I
watched Kato fly around the snowy peaks of Skyfall. His blazing, orange
silhouette cast orange fire across the white canvas of the mountainside. I
wondered if I would ever see this image for real as I watched it. It felt only
vaguely real, like a myth or legend that had been passed down for generations.
The image was clear, but the feeling was distant, something you longed to be
real. 
  This dream filled me with
content. I had no desire to do anything but watch Kato twist and spin with
passion, with the desire to be alive.
  The image became hazy as I began
to wake up. I tried to cling to the sight of Kato flying through the mist and
fog, but I lost sight of him as my eyes slowly cracked open. 
  I shivered as I awoke to pale
light filtering through the foggy window. The room was silent and empty, and
cold described more than the temperature.
  I slowly stepped out of bed and
made my way over to the window. I rubbed the fog aside and gasped at the sight.

  The world outside was shrouded
in white. The snow had settled and left mounds of ice across the landscape, and
the mountains of Skyfall were completely white. My eyes adjusted to the white
and moved along the curves and edges of the trees and mountains.
  Skyfall mountains. The name felt
so haunting after seeing this. It was as if the sky truly had fallen, and each
star had dripped down from the heavens to glisten in cold light. I wondered why
the mountains had been given their name. Snow was not always present; there had
to be another reason. 
   I reflected on my dream as I traced the edges
of the massive mountains with my eyes. I imagined Kato's orange body flying
across the white surface. The sight was beautiful, even if it was eerie, and I
shivered again.
  A knock at the door shook me out
of my daze. I jumped and quickly slipped on a pair of pants and a warm jacket. 
  I opened the door with no
expectations of who was behind it, but was pleasantly surprised to see Kato's
face.
  "Good morning!" He said. He was
also dressed in thick clothing. I imagined he must be freezing. "Have you eaten
yet?" 
  I shook my head. "No. I just
woke up."
  "How are you feeling?" Kato
asked. "I heard from Caliber something happened last night, but he couldn't
risk talking about it."
  Kato looked upset, and I wanted
to ease his worries. "I'm fine." I said as convincingly as I could. "I just
sort of...told off Misha...and then slammed him into a wall."
  "Oh!" Kato said, shocked. "And
there weren't any negative repercussions?"
  "No. Caliber was the only guard
on site so he handled it pretty well." I sighed. I had forgotten about the
incident during my sleep, my mind had been too focused on the meaningless
dream. "It turned out okay. I might have to kiss Misha's ass in the coming
days, though...just so he continues to trust me."
  Kato nodded. "I'm sorry,
Decipher."
  "Don't be."
  "Well, come on, let's get some
food." He said as we began walking. "Are you up for some training? You could
fight a few werewolf entities to brush up on your skills, and it'd give us
something to do."
  "You mean an excuse to spend
some time together..." I mused. When I realized I had said it out loud, I wanted
to slap myself. Kato gave me a confused expression.
   "Well, I guess." He said, avoiding my eyes
as we walked down the stairs towards the dining hall. "Do you want to?"
  "Yes!" I said, "I'm sorry, I was
just a bit distracted. I have a lot to think about."
  I closed my eyes with more frustration
as I finished my statement. Kato was smart, and I knew he would figure out what
I meant. I had a lot to think about concerning my feelings for him, but that
wasn't what I had intended to say.
  We walked in silence for the
rest of the way. I felt a bit guilty for letting that topic slip into the open.
I cared about Kato more than anything else, yet I still couldn't call it love.
I wanted to be able to think of it as love, but I couldn't. We had very briefly
spoken about it, but still I felt the need to explain myself.
  We entered the dining hall and
got ourselves some food. I saw Misha sitting off at a far table. It looked like
we were in the middle of the morning, between the early and late shifts. I
swallowed hard as Misha ignored me and wondered if I had made a mistake the
night before. 
  I wasn't sure what Hale would do
to me if I was no longer important to Misha Aras. Hale took an interest in
Misha. I wasn't sure if it was because of personal reasons, or nothing more
than the fact that Misha was great at his job, and great at following orders. 
  Kato and I sat at a table not
far from Misha. I knew I couldn't interact with him while Kato was around, or
else he would see right through me. Kato's rage towards Misha rubbed off on me,
and I wanted to be able to fool Misha.
  I picked at my food anxiously.
"So, werewolf entities?" I said in a pathetic attempt to make conversation.
  Kato nodded and sipped at a hot
beverage. "Yeah. You could use a refresher course..." his voice became hushed,
"especially with what's coming."
  "Alright." I said as I attempted
to eat my food. I felt as if I were slowly losing my calm, and had to focus to
remain composed. Kato and I finished our meals in silence.
  "Are you ready to go?" He asked.
  "I'm worried." I said. "I think
I need to speak with Misha." 
  "Alright, but be careful." Kato
said, letting his golden gaze rest on my eyes for a moment. "Meet me in the
arena. Don't do anything crazy." 
   "I won't." I mumbled as he walked away. I
wasn't sure what I was going to say to Misha, but I knew I had to say something
to soothe my nerves. I needed to know that Misha wasn't going to have Hale do
something terrible to me for what I had done...I needed to make sure Misha
thought part of me did care about him. Was there any chance he would believe
me? 
  I took a few steps towards his
table. He was glancing at some paperwork absent-mindedly, and didn't look like
he was really reading it.
   "Hey...Misha." I began with a shaky voice. 
  He tossed his paper aside and
glared up at me. "What?" 
  I wondered how I could fake it
without overdoing it. He would never believe me if I suddenly acted like I
loved him...
  "What do you want, Decipher?" He
demanded.
  "What I said about an
explanation..." I trailed off. "I really do want to know why. You betrayed me."
  His expression softened just a
bit as he glared into my eyes. The emotion in my expression wasn't hard to fake.
I truly did feel betrayed and terrified when I looked at him.
  "I had to." He said through grit
teeth as he rubbed his head with his hands. "I told you."
  My ears fell. He wasn't going to
confess anything to me, and I wasn't sure where to go from here. "That's not an
answer." I whispered. "Who forced you?"
  "Leave me alone!" He yelled,
causing a few people to glance over at us.
  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
cause you any harm." I said in a dark voice. "I just wanted you to understand
what you had done to me, and realize what was going to happen to me."
  I turned and walked away. I felt
his eyes watching me as I walked off, but I had no idea if my words meant
anything to him. 
  I
arrived in the arena to see that Kato had already set it up with large boulders
and fallen logs. I sighed as I approached him. Deciding that I wouldn't need
them, I slipped off my pants and jacket. I didn't want to tear the clothes when
I transformed into the werewolf. 
  "Well?" Kato asked. "Everything
okay?"
  I nodded. "Yeah. Give me
something to attack."
  Kato nodded, "Sure. I'll wait
off to the side. Try to use a lot of magic today." He said as he climbed up one
of the trees and sat in the branches. "Magic will be good for you. It'll help
you clear your head and focus your thoughts!" He called down to me.
  I allowed myself to close my
eyes and focus on the moment. My heart was thumping with anticipation. I had
lied. I did want to cause Misha harm, and I would. 
  When I opened my eyes, the glow
was fading from the werewolf entity. I focused my mind on the parts of my body
that shifted with my rage...the way my joints twisted in my knees and arms, the
way my slender fingers became heavy, thick paws that could barely grasp at
things...Paws meant for ripping. 
  The wolf was charging at me as
my body shifted. I allowed it to collide with me and drag me across the ground.
  When the dust settled, I was
gone. I climbed up onto a rock and sent a wave of pure energy that burst into a
flame at the werewolf. The energy exploded from my body with ease, and the wolf
wasn't able to get within twenty feet of me. It snarled in frustration as it
tried to get to me, and I became bored of using magic.
  I dove off the rock and smashed
into the wolf, which roared and flailed it's massive paws at me in attempt to
toss me off of its back. I snarled along with it, a wicked sound that was more
like the laughter of a monster. I dug my teeth into the strangely solid fur and
tore at it's neck. To my surprise, blood splattered from the entity, but it
disappeared as soon as it hit the ground.
  With a few more twists of my
powerful jaws, the beast was dead. It died before I even noticed it, and I continued
to tear at it with insane force.
  "Alright, alright!" Kato
shouted. "Get ready for the next one!"
  The dead entity burst into light
as another one came crashing towards me from across the field. I stood my
ground, and dodged it easily once it reached me. I gripped onto it's back with
my own massive paw and pinned it to the ground. With my paws delivering a swift
twist to it's neck, this one also fell dead.
  The process repeated. I allowed
my rage to manifest itself and tear into these entities. I charged at the next
entity, ripping it's eyes out before it even knew where I was. It was dead
quicker than the last. This happened a few more times until the arena fell
silent. 
  I sat panting, waiting for my
next challenger. 
  "Decipher..." I heard Kato's voice
echo.
  "Another!" I shouted. "Come on,
I'm ready."
  "I don't think you need to rip
apart another entity..."
  "COME ON!" I roared, glaring at
Kato.
  "You're not even using magic.
Blind rage will get you nowhere, Decipher!"
  Kato hopped down from his tree
and began to walk towards me. He wasn't being cautious, and I was nervous. I
snarled and backed up in case the wolf in me decided he was a threat.
  "Calm down." Kato said softly.
Was he trying to get hurt? He was walking right towards me when I clearly the
werewolf wasn't ready to calm down. I let out a low growl, and he continued
walking towards me.
  "Stop, Kato." I rumbled, "I...I
need to let this out."
  "You're taking things too far!"
Kato snapped, causing my attention to lock onto him. "What happened with
Misha...who's next, Decipher? That was a stupid move you pulled yesterday."
  "I hate Misha!" I growled. "He
deserved it!"
  "Maybe, Decipher...but you're
still changing!" Kato shouted. I sensed his energy heating up...he was upset,
perhaps afraid. "Hate can only get you so far!" 
  The wolf in me snarled and
charged at him, it could smell his fear. Kato braced himself for impact but
stood his ground. I stopped myself just short of him.
  I leveled my eyes with him. Kato
looked calm on the surface, but he was hurt on the inside. He was trying to
protect me from myself; I could see the fear and concern hiding behind his
golden eyes. He had always been trying to protect me from myself.
  "Be careful of what you change
into." Kato whispered.
  My mind began to calm itself as
I leveled my eyes with his. His golden, knowing eyes poured into mine. I felt
myself shrink back down into my normal form, and took a few steps backwards.
  "You should be more careful..." I
mumbled, panting heavily from the adrenaline rush. "I don't want to hurt you.
I'm sorry."
  "Then don't." Kato said with a
warm smile. "You didn't, Decipher. There is no need to apologize for something
you didn't do."
  "How can you have so much faith
in me?" I asked quietly. I wondered how anyone had faith in me at this point.
  "I don't know." Kato said, still
wearing his smile. "Maybe it's because you give me hope. You're the first
person to tell me to chase my freedom...everyone else has told me to just be
happy with just being alive, or out of the basement...But not you, you're
different."
  "You deserve your freedom." I
said, still panting.
  Kato laughed, "You're the first
person to say that, too."
  His smile was infectious, and I
smiled back at him timidly. I still had no idea why I gave Kato the hope that I
did, but I wanted to live up to his expectations.
  "So, feeling less rage-induced
now?" Kato asked.
  I nodded. "Yeah, thank you for
stopping me." I sighed. "You're right. I do need to be careful of what I change
into."
  "Don't worry." Kato said. "We'll
be out soon enough. Just keep your head together until then."
  "Would you like to toss some
fire around?" I asked. "I still have a lot of energy that could use burning."
  Kato nodded. "That sounds
great." He said.
  I sent him the phoenix-shaped
flame once more, and we began to fly it back and forth. I focused on the
calming, warm energy of the bird as we silently meditated on the flames.
  My days were running out. I
needed to stay calm, and be strong. I had only begun to realize how difficult
it was to do both at the same time. Rage brought power, uncontrollable power.
Rage was a fire without purpose, a tightly knit ball of destruction, waiting
for someone to unravel it. I couldn't let this happen. I would never escape if
I relied on blind rage alone, Kato was right.
  I closed my eyes and felt the
warmth of the phoenix that danced between Kato and I, feeling our energies sync
up and twist together in a beautiful waltz. I allowed my mind to drift away
with the phoenix. 
  Become strong, remain calm.

Source: https://sofurry.com/view/586403

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