Blond hair blowing in the light breeze that accompanied the opening door, framing a face that no doubt graced television or movies or at least magazine covers…handsome would be an understatement in her mind. If people were crafted in God’s image, the man must have been crafted after a Greek God given his chiseled good looks and body to die for. A hand drifted slowly over the other arm and pinched lightly. Satisfied it wasn’t a dream, Gloria took a deep breath. In her stupor over the new arrival she hardly even wavered at the sight of only four fingers upon each of his hands.
“Hi, welcome to the city morgue…can I…can I help you?” Just pushing the simple words out seemed to be impossible for her to accomplish.
“Yes, yes you can. In fact I think you’re the perfect person to help me.” As he reached the desk, the smile sealed the deal. Her attention was now completely focused and not even the end of the world could pull it away.
The door opened as two other figures slid in and pushed through the doors to the back area. Leading the way, Sean put his hand out to stall his companion for a second. Listening for a moment, he put his hand down and nodded to continue on seemingly satisfied with the lack of sounds.
“You know it sort of creeps me out when he does that whole charm thing,” Kitty spoke softly as she followed the older man.
“Aye, me too, but it’s necessary.”
Shrugging, the brunette young woman pointed at a far door. “That looks like the room we want.”
The two X-Men slipped into the room and began searching for what they had come seeking. Opening the file cabinet, Sean began digging through the files. Kitty moved towards the table in the middle of the room where a blanket draped body lay. “You know we probably could have just asked to see the Coroner’s report. We are celebrities here now.”
“Perhaps ye could be right, but we can’t afford t’ wait for bureaucracy, especially when mutants are possibly involved.”
“I guess you’re right… oh wait, here we go. Found it.” As the Irishman made his way over to her side, she casually flipped through pages. “Let’s see here…body was clearly decayed, yada yada yada. Possible mutant involvement. Hmm that’s odd.”
Sean leaned over her shoulder to read as well, a raise of the eyebrows the only show of shock on his part. “More than weird lass, a clue.”
“How is the fact that the dude’s eyes were removed before he died a clue?”
Stepping back, Sean crossed his arms with an air of authority. “If we can figure that one out, than yeh can bet we’ll solve the case.”
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#4
JUL 10 |
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“Life Isn’t Like CSI”
Ronnie Bridge had lived a pretty unremarkable life for over twenty five years. Hopping from foster home to foster home, he eventually did the same when it came to jobs in adulthood. There wasn’t a job he could seemingly keep without getting a pink slip or grabbing onto a supposed sure thing while ditching the last job. His home was pretty much a hovel, which was a nice way to describe it. Sure it was located in an up and coming neighborhood but it sure wasn’t part of that up and coming image. No doubt in months or years time it would be bought and bulldozed for more up and coming homes. It was the way of things.
The only thing remotely remarkable about Ronnie was something far from visible on his person or in his life previously. Ronnie was a mutant, gifted at birth with an X-gene that allowed him to talk to machines of any kind just by looking at them. Sure he could have used his power to get by in life or get the fancy things, but he was such an underachiever not even that dawned on him. It was a sad fact.
With a turn of the key and a click, the door to the tiny apartment squeaked open. Moving inside, there was a tired sigh as his coat flew across the room to land upon the edge of the table. The fridge opened and closed as a hand gripped the neck of a cold beer bottle tightly. With a flick, the lid was sent onto the counter as the cool contents were poured down a more than willing throat. Moments later the bottle clinked as it fell into a bag of similarly used bottles.
A hard day at the construction site led to weariness and a desire for the soft confines of a ratty armchair and crappy reality television. The perfect night. Too bad it wasn’t to be.
Eyes fell upon the chair and a strange occupant as Ronnie emerged into the living space. No one was supposed to be there. Hell, the guy was wearing a full black body suit with what looked to be a diver’s helmet upon his head. Two similarly dressed men stood behind, large guns with knives and other sharp implements.
“Who the fuck are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house?”
The seated man made a gesture that sent the others moving forward, weapons leveled. The metallic barrels of the guns gleamed in the dim light from the overhead lamps. The rejects from a B Sci-Fi movie surged forward intent on their target. Smoke curled from the side of the Ronnie’s face. In a flash, fire raged from his eyes and slammed into one of the space-suited men. The man screamed as he boiled within the suit.
As the cries of the other man spurred him on, the second approaching figure fingered the trigger which sent a multitude of silvery miniature scalpels through the air. Ronnie screamed as the blades dug into his flesh and caused his powers to fizzle out. As the screaming mutant and burning human fell to the ground simultaneously, the seated man rose. The respirator mask upon his face hissed with each breath as he knelt down beside the grimacing Ronnie.
“You are an abomination not fit to inhabit this planet. We are your betters. Your gifts are not yours to hold, therefore we must take them from you. This is not done out of malice, you must understand. It is for the greater good.” As the scalpel descended and cut into the flesh around Ronnie’s eyes, the young man’s screams echoed through the large apartment complex.
A four fingered hand slid off the door knob quickly, as eyes glanced around the hall. There was no one around to witness his trance like state as he had delved into the past of the last person to touch the knob. Not satisfied with the findings of the body before, Sean had sent Longshot back to work his ‘mojo’, not a word he was keen to hear in any sense, as Kitty had called it upon the apartment itself. The door knob had been the jackpot.
“Interesting.” The door closed as the blond man moved down the hall, ready to deliver his findings. Time was of the essence.
“So which part of the detective job is this…where we sit at a coffee house sipping on tea?”
“The part where we wait ta’ see what other information we can gather.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot…that is sooo the best part of mystery movies.”
Ignoring the sarcasm, Sean sipped the hot Earl Gray tea slowly, his eyes scanning the entire room slowly. It was an old habit from the days as a cop; one could never be too certain about their surroundings after all. The case they were on could just be a random hate crime or domestic squabble gone wrong, or even ten times worse as an organized group murdering and butchering mutants. Therefore one had to assume that any involved were watching and on their trail as well. It was the only smart thing to do for them.
The door of the shop jingled as a smiling blond moved through the doors, a four fingered hand landing gently upon the clerk’s. A soft word was whispered into the ear as a light giggle was visible but not heard from the woman. It was clear what had occurred. Kitty looked on in disgust, while Sean awaited their teammate.
“Isn’t he married?”
“Focus lassie.”
Before a response could be elicited from the brunette, Longshot was at the table and quickly backwards straddling his seat. “Good morning, my friends.”
“Mornin. Ah hope ta’ getting some information from you.”
“Of course, Sean. I wasn’t able to glean much more from the rest of the apartment than off the body, except for the door knob. There were three individuals in Mr. Bridge’s apartment, men in full black body suits and containment helmets. They carried large weapons with blades of many designs and lengths. They spoke of mutants as abominations, and taking their gifts for those that deserved them more. They cut his eyes out with a small surgical knife.”
Kitty winced as she heard the details. The young woman had seen many things over the years, but it didn’t make her any less squeamish. “So there are some Repo rejects walking around stealing body parts from mutants?”
The two men stared at her, the pop culture reference lost on them. Sean turned back to Longshot as he sipped once more at his tea. Blowing on it for a moment, he paused to speak. “Aye, lassie. It seems to be what is befalling the poor mutants in this area.”
Longshot slid his hand under the table and into his pocket to slide a small rectangle of white paper towards Sean. “I also found this upon his refrigerator. Perhaps it is a clue?”
The card was overturned to reveal a logo of a beating heart and the words ‘U-Men’ surrounding it. In smaller print were the words ‘For A Better Tomorrow, Today’. At the bottom was the name ‘John Sublime’ with the title ‘Founder and CEO’ with the company name ‘Nex Gen’ right below that.
“Hmm…ye may be on to something laddie.”
The massive desk that populated the large office of John Sublime was in meticulous condition. There wasn’t a paper or writing instrument out of place. The in and out baskets were both evenly set together, neither one touching more in one spot over another or closer to the edge than the other. Even the pictures upon the walls were hung with care. Everything about Sublime’s office was perfection. John Sublime was not a man to be trifled with trivial matters like disarray; there were too many important things to deal with in the world. A rightful place to be secured, for one.
The log book upon his desk had a carefully marked appointment for noon with one Sean Cassidy, a possible patron interested in the program, from Scotland no less. International expansion was quite a goal to be sure. The small audio box upon the desk buzzed with an incoming message from his secretary. The selection process for such a person had taken weeks, as all had some imperfection that just would not do in his eyes. Then Darcy had been found and everything seemed perfect. Though there was a slight imperfection with her left ear lobe being a tad longer than her right, it was over looked mostly for the sanity of his workers who were exasperated by the search.
“Yes, Darcy?”
“Your Noon appointment is here, sir.”
“Send him in.”
The door opened as Darcy smiled at the man arriving and gestured for him to enter. Sean offered her a smile as he moved past. The smitten secretary moved out quickly and shut the door, knowing of her employer’s rule about keeping the door closed and only opening it for the shortest possible time.
“Ah, Mr. Cassidy, I presume.” Rising the CEO extended his hand in greeting. “John Sublime, CEO and founder of the Nex Gen Corporation. It is truly an honor to have overseas investors interested in our company.”
Accepting the hand, Sean nodded and offered a somewhat dimmer smile. “Pleasure ta meet you.” As Sublime gestured towards the seat, Sean nodded and took it. “And please call me Sean.”
“I must ask, Sean, what it is that brought this fine corporation to your attention. That is if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Aye, I don’t mind at all. A friend of mine told me of this opportunity and the things you do for people. I was quite intrigued.”
“Ah, well, I can tell you that we have many grand things building for the future. Is there a particular area of our company that has caught your eyes?”
“Aye, now that ya mention it. Could ye tell me about the U-Men?”
Sublime paused, the smile dimming from the face. Within moments the man went from relaxed open CEO, to stiff like a man with a secret or annoyance at said question. Sean was on guard. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cassidy, I don’t believe I caught the name of your friend.”
The switch to formal name didn’t go unnoticed. “Oh, I’m sorry, how rude o’ me. Ronnie. Ronnie Bridge.”
Sean was already on edge so the door bursting open was really no surprise. Ten men in black suits with heavy weapons, just as Longshot had described, came surging in. Sublime’s hand slid from under the desk where no doubt there was a panic button located. “I believe I’m quite familiar with your friend indeed. You’ve made quite a mistake I’m afraid, Mr. Cassidy. The sensors gave away your mutant nature upon entry. I was hoping to do this the easy way though. Pity.” Moving out from the desk, Sublime paused. “You wouldn’t be willing to tell us your mutant ability now would you? Saves on the dissection, you understand.”
Arms crossed as Sean sat back in the chair silently. Sublime sighed. “Oh well, dissection are inherently more fun for the men anyways.”
The signal was given. Scalpels shot from the guns only to meet the wood and cushion of the chair. Sean kicked the chair at the men as he dived to the side. A window shattered close by as Longshot landed and rolled forward. Three knives flew from the four fingered hand to slam into one of the men’s chest. With a hiss, the suit’s seal was broken and the body fell back, flailing. As another rose his weapon to fire, a hand rose through the ground to grasp his ankle and pulled down. Crashing hard, the gun in hand went skidding across the room.
“Sorry we’re late to the party, Chief. Cassanova over there got caught up with the receptionist in the lobby.”
“She was trying to help direct us to…”
“Save it ye two.” Hefting the large weapon in hand, Sean moved to a knee and began to fire. The sharp projectiles sliced through the air and through two of the men’s suits and arms, driving them back. All shots were to wound, never to kill. A well placed sonic scream shot out and caused the rest of the windows to shatter. The two men that were shot and two others went flying through the door out into the hall.
With a scream, the secretary began to run. Six were down, four to go. Kitty slid across the ground and through two of the men’s legs. Coming up on the other side, she surged up and slammed their heads together. At the same time, Longshot brought the other man down with a swift punch to the face while moving slightly to miss a barrage of knives. Luck was always on his side.
As the chaos settled, Sublime sat upon the desk as a sharp crack of his slow applause rose up. “Bravo, Mr. Cassidy, and your friends as well. Truly your mutant genes are worthy of joining the ranks of the U-Men.”
Sean dropped the weapon and moved before the man. “I hope ye know we will bring you down.”
“Oh Mr. Cassidy. I’m not some super villain that you can just topple with punches and turn over to the cops.” Arms gestured at the room around them. “I own this all. I own enough officials to get anything I want. If you take me in I’ll be out ten minutes later with not even a slap on the wrist. You cannot defeat me.”
Sounds of feet pounding down the hall gave notice of more approaching U-Men. Backing towards the broken window, Sean caught sight of his companions doing the same. “That’s where ye are quite wrong, Mr. Sublime. The X-Men always get their man.”
As the U-Men surged through the open door way, Sean dropped out of the window followed by Longshot and Kitty. The scream of a Banshee echoed out as the man flew through the air, companions in hand. Moments later they were gone.
Standing over the broken glass and staring at the city, Sublime waved the men away. Another figure moved through the doorway and stood beside him. Turning slightly, their gazes met. Smiling slightly, Sublime turned back towards the window. “I think, my friend, it’s time we paid a visit to the X-Men.”
“So that was it?”
Kitty’s words punctuated the air as the three landed within a park nearby from the building they had just escaped.
“That’s it.”
“Well, what good did that do, if I can ask, O Great Detective.”
“We know that Sublime is behind the U-Men.”
“Umm…we don’t have proof.” Her gaze met with Longshot’s, as the man just smiled and leaned against a pole. Clearly he wasn’t that worried about what had just occurred. “So now what?”
“Now, we find that proof. Anyways we can.”
Before the brunette could speak further, a bright light appeared before them and swept over the three. None could react before they were gone. All that was left was a slight burn mark upon the grass.
To Be Continued...
Previous Issue | Next Issue
The only thing remotely remarkable about Ronnie was something far from visible on his person or in his life previously. Ronnie was a mutant, gifted at birth with an X-gene that allowed him to talk to machines of any kind just by looking at them. Sure he could have used his power to get by in life or get the fancy things, but he was such an underachiever not even that dawned on him. It was a sad fact.
With a turn of the key and a click, the door to the tiny apartment squeaked open. Moving inside, there was a tired sigh as his coat flew across the room to land upon the edge of the table. The fridge opened and closed as a hand gripped the neck of a cold beer bottle tightly. With a flick, the lid was sent onto the counter as the cool contents were poured down a more than willing throat. Moments later the bottle clinked as it fell into a bag of similarly used bottles.
A hard day at the construction site led to weariness and a desire for the soft confines of a ratty armchair and crappy reality television. The perfect night. Too bad it wasn’t to be.
Eyes fell upon the chair and a strange occupant as Ronnie emerged into the living space. No one was supposed to be there. Hell, the guy was wearing a full black body suit with what looked to be a diver’s helmet upon his head. Two similarly dressed men stood behind, large guns with knives and other sharp implements.
“Who the fuck are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house?”
The seated man made a gesture that sent the others moving forward, weapons leveled. The metallic barrels of the guns gleamed in the dim light from the overhead lamps. The rejects from a B Sci-Fi movie surged forward intent on their target. Smoke curled from the side of the Ronnie’s face. In a flash, fire raged from his eyes and slammed into one of the space-suited men. The man screamed as he boiled within the suit.
As the cries of the other man spurred him on, the second approaching figure fingered the trigger which sent a multitude of silvery miniature scalpels through the air. Ronnie screamed as the blades dug into his flesh and caused his powers to fizzle out. As the screaming mutant and burning human fell to the ground simultaneously, the seated man rose. The respirator mask upon his face hissed with each breath as he knelt down beside the grimacing Ronnie.
“You are an abomination not fit to inhabit this planet. We are your betters. Your gifts are not yours to hold, therefore we must take them from you. This is not done out of malice, you must understand. It is for the greater good.” As the scalpel descended and cut into the flesh around Ronnie’s eyes, the young man’s screams echoed through the large apartment complex.
A four fingered hand slid off the door knob quickly, as eyes glanced around the hall. There was no one around to witness his trance like state as he had delved into the past of the last person to touch the knob. Not satisfied with the findings of the body before, Sean had sent Longshot back to work his ‘mojo’, not a word he was keen to hear in any sense, as Kitty had called it upon the apartment itself. The door knob had been the jackpot.
“Interesting.” The door closed as the blond man moved down the hall, ready to deliver his findings. Time was of the essence.
“So which part of the detective job is this…where we sit at a coffee house sipping on tea?”
“The part where we wait ta’ see what other information we can gather.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot…that is sooo the best part of mystery movies.”
Ignoring the sarcasm, Sean sipped the hot Earl Gray tea slowly, his eyes scanning the entire room slowly. It was an old habit from the days as a cop; one could never be too certain about their surroundings after all. The case they were on could just be a random hate crime or domestic squabble gone wrong, or even ten times worse as an organized group murdering and butchering mutants. Therefore one had to assume that any involved were watching and on their trail as well. It was the only smart thing to do for them.
The door of the shop jingled as a smiling blond moved through the doors, a four fingered hand landing gently upon the clerk’s. A soft word was whispered into the ear as a light giggle was visible but not heard from the woman. It was clear what had occurred. Kitty looked on in disgust, while Sean awaited their teammate.
“Isn’t he married?”
“Focus lassie.”
Before a response could be elicited from the brunette, Longshot was at the table and quickly backwards straddling his seat. “Good morning, my friends.”
“Mornin. Ah hope ta’ getting some information from you.”
“Of course, Sean. I wasn’t able to glean much more from the rest of the apartment than off the body, except for the door knob. There were three individuals in Mr. Bridge’s apartment, men in full black body suits and containment helmets. They carried large weapons with blades of many designs and lengths. They spoke of mutants as abominations, and taking their gifts for those that deserved them more. They cut his eyes out with a small surgical knife.”
Kitty winced as she heard the details. The young woman had seen many things over the years, but it didn’t make her any less squeamish. “So there are some Repo rejects walking around stealing body parts from mutants?”
The two men stared at her, the pop culture reference lost on them. Sean turned back to Longshot as he sipped once more at his tea. Blowing on it for a moment, he paused to speak. “Aye, lassie. It seems to be what is befalling the poor mutants in this area.”
Longshot slid his hand under the table and into his pocket to slide a small rectangle of white paper towards Sean. “I also found this upon his refrigerator. Perhaps it is a clue?”
The card was overturned to reveal a logo of a beating heart and the words ‘U-Men’ surrounding it. In smaller print were the words ‘For A Better Tomorrow, Today’. At the bottom was the name ‘John Sublime’ with the title ‘Founder and CEO’ with the company name ‘Nex Gen’ right below that.
“Hmm…ye may be on to something laddie.”
The massive desk that populated the large office of John Sublime was in meticulous condition. There wasn’t a paper or writing instrument out of place. The in and out baskets were both evenly set together, neither one touching more in one spot over another or closer to the edge than the other. Even the pictures upon the walls were hung with care. Everything about Sublime’s office was perfection. John Sublime was not a man to be trifled with trivial matters like disarray; there were too many important things to deal with in the world. A rightful place to be secured, for one.
The log book upon his desk had a carefully marked appointment for noon with one Sean Cassidy, a possible patron interested in the program, from Scotland no less. International expansion was quite a goal to be sure. The small audio box upon the desk buzzed with an incoming message from his secretary. The selection process for such a person had taken weeks, as all had some imperfection that just would not do in his eyes. Then Darcy had been found and everything seemed perfect. Though there was a slight imperfection with her left ear lobe being a tad longer than her right, it was over looked mostly for the sanity of his workers who were exasperated by the search.
“Yes, Darcy?”
“Your Noon appointment is here, sir.”
“Send him in.”
The door opened as Darcy smiled at the man arriving and gestured for him to enter. Sean offered her a smile as he moved past. The smitten secretary moved out quickly and shut the door, knowing of her employer’s rule about keeping the door closed and only opening it for the shortest possible time.
“Ah, Mr. Cassidy, I presume.” Rising the CEO extended his hand in greeting. “John Sublime, CEO and founder of the Nex Gen Corporation. It is truly an honor to have overseas investors interested in our company.”
Accepting the hand, Sean nodded and offered a somewhat dimmer smile. “Pleasure ta meet you.” As Sublime gestured towards the seat, Sean nodded and took it. “And please call me Sean.”
“I must ask, Sean, what it is that brought this fine corporation to your attention. That is if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Aye, I don’t mind at all. A friend of mine told me of this opportunity and the things you do for people. I was quite intrigued.”
“Ah, well, I can tell you that we have many grand things building for the future. Is there a particular area of our company that has caught your eyes?”
“Aye, now that ya mention it. Could ye tell me about the U-Men?”
Sublime paused, the smile dimming from the face. Within moments the man went from relaxed open CEO, to stiff like a man with a secret or annoyance at said question. Sean was on guard. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cassidy, I don’t believe I caught the name of your friend.”
The switch to formal name didn’t go unnoticed. “Oh, I’m sorry, how rude o’ me. Ronnie. Ronnie Bridge.”
Sean was already on edge so the door bursting open was really no surprise. Ten men in black suits with heavy weapons, just as Longshot had described, came surging in. Sublime’s hand slid from under the desk where no doubt there was a panic button located. “I believe I’m quite familiar with your friend indeed. You’ve made quite a mistake I’m afraid, Mr. Cassidy. The sensors gave away your mutant nature upon entry. I was hoping to do this the easy way though. Pity.” Moving out from the desk, Sublime paused. “You wouldn’t be willing to tell us your mutant ability now would you? Saves on the dissection, you understand.”
Arms crossed as Sean sat back in the chair silently. Sublime sighed. “Oh well, dissection are inherently more fun for the men anyways.”
The signal was given. Scalpels shot from the guns only to meet the wood and cushion of the chair. Sean kicked the chair at the men as he dived to the side. A window shattered close by as Longshot landed and rolled forward. Three knives flew from the four fingered hand to slam into one of the men’s chest. With a hiss, the suit’s seal was broken and the body fell back, flailing. As another rose his weapon to fire, a hand rose through the ground to grasp his ankle and pulled down. Crashing hard, the gun in hand went skidding across the room.
“Sorry we’re late to the party, Chief. Cassanova over there got caught up with the receptionist in the lobby.”
“She was trying to help direct us to…”
“Save it ye two.” Hefting the large weapon in hand, Sean moved to a knee and began to fire. The sharp projectiles sliced through the air and through two of the men’s suits and arms, driving them back. All shots were to wound, never to kill. A well placed sonic scream shot out and caused the rest of the windows to shatter. The two men that were shot and two others went flying through the door out into the hall.
With a scream, the secretary began to run. Six were down, four to go. Kitty slid across the ground and through two of the men’s legs. Coming up on the other side, she surged up and slammed their heads together. At the same time, Longshot brought the other man down with a swift punch to the face while moving slightly to miss a barrage of knives. Luck was always on his side.
As the chaos settled, Sublime sat upon the desk as a sharp crack of his slow applause rose up. “Bravo, Mr. Cassidy, and your friends as well. Truly your mutant genes are worthy of joining the ranks of the U-Men.”
Sean dropped the weapon and moved before the man. “I hope ye know we will bring you down.”
“Oh Mr. Cassidy. I’m not some super villain that you can just topple with punches and turn over to the cops.” Arms gestured at the room around them. “I own this all. I own enough officials to get anything I want. If you take me in I’ll be out ten minutes later with not even a slap on the wrist. You cannot defeat me.”
Sounds of feet pounding down the hall gave notice of more approaching U-Men. Backing towards the broken window, Sean caught sight of his companions doing the same. “That’s where ye are quite wrong, Mr. Sublime. The X-Men always get their man.”
As the U-Men surged through the open door way, Sean dropped out of the window followed by Longshot and Kitty. The scream of a Banshee echoed out as the man flew through the air, companions in hand. Moments later they were gone.
Standing over the broken glass and staring at the city, Sublime waved the men away. Another figure moved through the doorway and stood beside him. Turning slightly, their gazes met. Smiling slightly, Sublime turned back towards the window. “I think, my friend, it’s time we paid a visit to the X-Men.”
“So that was it?”
Kitty’s words punctuated the air as the three landed within a park nearby from the building they had just escaped.
“That’s it.”
“Well, what good did that do, if I can ask, O Great Detective.”
“We know that Sublime is behind the U-Men.”
“Umm…we don’t have proof.” Her gaze met with Longshot’s, as the man just smiled and leaned against a pole. Clearly he wasn’t that worried about what had just occurred. “So now what?”
“Now, we find that proof. Anyways we can.”
Before the brunette could speak further, a bright light appeared before them and swept over the three. None could react before they were gone. All that was left was a slight burn mark upon the grass.
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To Be Continued...
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