STRANGER THINGS, open

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]He nursed his cup of lemonade, trying not to wrinkle his nose at the sour, stale taste. Alas, it was a common dilemma, one that Argent had become all too familiar with. Even the meager rations he had been given in the prison ranked higher on the list of taste than the cuisine here, much less the luxuries he had enjoyed prior. But. he thought, I suppose I can't really complain. Trusting in the power of Thane's illusion, he'd removed his hood and enjoyed a respite here in Hoenn, away from the sun that beat down upon his back in Orre.

"Your wife's such a pretty girl, it's a shame she's mute," the woman who served them tsked, handing him his filled water flask. Argent quirked his eyebrows at the red-head sitting across from him, her (his, really) alien blue eyes sparkling with mirth. He wondered what appearance Thane had given him this time. "Er, that is, if she's your wife. I just assumed-- since you two didn't look like siblings, Mr..." she said, noticing the look.

"Fox. Elliot Fox. It happens a lot-- don't worry about it," he waved her unspoken inquiry off."Thalia takes after our dear mother, gods rest her soul, and our grandparents always said I'm the spitting image of our father," he smiled, and the innkeep visibly relaxed, and for good reason. The establishment was all but empty, save for a few old men playing cards at a table in the back. For all it's quaint charms, Littleroot was an exceptionally unimportant settlement.

"You know," the innkeeper said, refilling his empty glass. "You're the second stranger we've had come through in the past few days," at this Argent stiffened.

"Oh? Is that so?"

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

If you looked up the term 'backwater' you would probably find a picture of Littleroot in the examples. The small town was in the middle of Nowhere, lying in between Nothing and Desolation. At first glance it made the place a perfect hideout for somebody trying to avoid detection- far away from Orre where a certain pair of tribes were looking for her.
Hindsight and reality were not nearly as kind. Littleroot was the sort of town in which everybody knew each other by face, if not by name. It was basically a one shop town making it a nightmare to fit in, a large city would be much easier to go unnoticed in.
However, it would hardly hurt to inquire and find out if any stranger had passed through recently. Arthur would kill himself if it turned out later that he missed her due to oversight.

"Oh, you're not the only stranger we've had in the town." an old man answered jovially to Arthur's less than subtly questions. "Why, I saw a pair walk in myself."

Pulse racing, Arthur ran over to the small inn which the pair had reportedly decided to visit. Could his luck finally be pulling through?
Still running the teenager pulled out a Pokeball and called Sonic to join him, the Gabite easily falling into his master's pace.
He wouldn't hurt her, not unless she tried to kill him, but a bit of intimidation would hardly go amiss. This was his chance to get back to where he belonged and he wasn't going to miss on it now.

He burst into the small establishment, instantly causing all eyes to focus on him and his fierce looking Pokemon. Arthur, as usual, didn't care; his gaze focusing on the pair who had been talking to innkeeper.
She wasn't among the pair.
Anger and disappointment boiled up and the teenager's eyebrows came together in a harsh frown as he just stood there glaring at the pair.
"Fuck."

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]Argent turned, doing his best to feign a look of surprise-- he couldn't be sure of the appearance Thane had created over the two of them, so it was best to... act natural, in a sense. Different from his natural, anyway. "Well, hello to you too," he laughed, giving a sideways look to Thane, who regarded the stranger warily. A bounty hunter, perhaps?

His unique reaction certainly wasn't out of place for the usual specimen-- poor Alastair was likely confounded by the lack of quality actors among the hunters thirsty for his dear baby brother's blood.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched Thane's lips (the zoroark was improving; this latest disguise even had lipgloss on, of all things) curl instinctively in the beginnings of a growl, and he nudged him with his foot under the table, hoping the motion escaped the newcomer's notice-- an bestial growl certainly wouldn't.

Smiling cheerfully under the exceptionally strong glare the teen was giving him, he held out his hand, unfazed. "Elliot Fox-- You'll have to excuse my sister Thalia; she's mute and doesn't feel right without her children and husband around, just as I'm worried about my wife and our own," the lies rolled easily off his tongue, and Argent watched his face carefully, searching for traces of doubt or hostility. "Such a coincidence, isn't it? You and us meeting in such a small town. I'm a little curious as to what brings you here, if you don't mind me asking, of course."

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

"Hng." was Arthur's eloquent monosyllabic reply to the man's cheerful greeting. He really wasn't in the mood for talking or interacting with anybody at the moment.
The teenager broke off his glare and instead took a seat at one of the tables that were spread out for customers. With this action the innkeeper breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that there was to be no violent confrontation between the strangers in town.

"I'll have whatever's ready to go." Arthur told her, only to receive a curt nod. She was probably put off by his display of rudeness, but he couldn't really bring himself to care.
When the innkeeper left to get whatever was hot off the stove Arthur left his attention wander- finally settling at the two strangers who he had burst upon.
The man introduced himself as Elliot Fox and the mute woman as his sister Thalia. Definitely not the person he had been looking for- Littleroot had turned out to be a massive waste of time after all. Pathetic.

"Arthur." the teenager replied, not bothering to elaborate and give his last name.

Sonic was still studying the pair though, or rather, he was studying the mute sister. Had he noticed something that his master had missed? The height and skin tone didn't really match up, but it had been a while since he had seen her...perhaps there was something more to Mr. Fox and his sister than he had initially thought. A deeper inspection might be for the best...

That was why, when Elliot asked what drew the ex-bandit here, Arthur replied without much hesitation. "Oh I came all the way from Orre looking for someone. A family sent me to drag one of their more disobedient members back."

He trusted Sonic and the Gabite's battle-honed reflexes and extreme speed to watch his back, while he studied 'Thalia's' face for any reaction to his statement. He was just grasping at straws now, wasn't he?
Was he?

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]So he was looking for someone. Surely it was too much of a coincidence for it to not be him. Forcing himself to not tense up, Argent tilted his head in a careful construction of sympathy, reaching over the gently set his hand over Thane's "hand", careful to not accidentally slip through the illusion to the paw underneath. "Our condolences, Arthur. We have been displaced more than once by...conflict. We've longed to return to our childhood home, but all the fighting has made it too dangerous for our families," Argent's expression remained grim for a few momens, before his features brightened.

"Do you have a name or description? Thalia and I have both traveled quite a bit, so we've encountered a good deal of people," he nodded at his pseudo-sibling, who kept her unnaturally blue eyes fixated on the man and his pokemon. Inwardly Argent cursed. Intelligent as he was, Thane lacked the more human qualities of deceit. This charade wouldn't last much longer at this rate.

He took stock of his options. He could cordially chat it out with this potential threat and then make his exit from the inn (and subsequently Littleroot), or he could launch a preemptive attack-- Arthur (or whatever his real name was), probably wasn't expecting a girl to really be a pokemon, after all. But in such a small town, an action like that would cause a much larger ripple than Argent was comfortable with. He had no doubt that Alastair would have his men crawling all over Hoenn in hours.

Turning his gaze back to Arthur, he waited for the man to return serve.

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

Arthur didn't really buy Fox's sympathy and offer of help. It was a bit too nice; helping out a complete stranger who looked more than a bit hostile and was quite rude- life didn't work that way.
As the old adage went; if it was too good to be true then it probably was. Elliot Fox wanted something from him and Arthur really didn't care for this slippery game of dancing around words and trying to manipulate the other into revealing information.

Briefly the teenager toyed with the idea of bringing out Ironhide, there was something about having an iron plated juggernaut on his side that tended to swing conversation his way, but in the end he decided to see where the conversation would take him. It didn't stop his hand from drifting to rest on his Pokeball though.

"Why don't you cut out the bullshit and just come out with what you want?" Arthur asked him bluntly,

And then there was his 'sister' Thalia. There was definitely something unsettling about her and her too keen, unblinking stare. He could almost feel what had drawn Sonic's attention... it was almost as if there was something not quite human about her. His subconscious was screaming something at him but he just couldn't pin down what was off...

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]The slight movement of Arthur resting his hand lightly on the pokeball did not go unnoticed by Argent's keen eyes. With the thinly veiled threat that followed, his eyes narrowed even as he continued to smile. "No need to be so...unpleasant, good sir," he said, nose wrinkling in distaste.

"I want a great many things, Arthur," Argent chuckled. At the top of the list was Alastair's head mounted on the wall of the family mansion. He'd have to look into finding a suitable professional to preserve his dearest brother's final look of terror. Perhaps he'd invite Mother and Father to look upon it.

The second was a good glass of wine.

Pausing, he observed Arthur for a small measure of time, eyes searching for something indiscernible. When he found it, his smile widened-- even though it didn't reach his eyes. "You are a young man, yes? You don't look a day over twenty. Now, Arthur, in my experience, young men such as yourself who are fresh from the throes of adolescence are impressionable, to say the least."

Leaning forward, Argent continued. "Whatever the reward is, it's not worth the risk. You have a life ahead of you--why gamble it on monetary reward? Bounty hunting, I hear, has a high mortality rate," at this his smile dropped.

Returning to an upright position, he watched the younger man through narrowed eyes. "What's stopping you from giving up on this runaway and returning home, I wonder? Do you Akirans not marry young? Think of your poor wife."

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

He was going to snap. Forget the thought of using his Pokemon, any minute now he was going to just drive his fist straight into Fox's face and see how well he could keep that damn smirk then.
Unpleasant!? Oh he would know when Arthur was being unpleasant when a ton of metal-plated Lairon slammed into his face! Impressionable!? The only impression that was going to be left was going to be of his boot when he kicked his ass!
Steadily Arthur's temper began to boil over.

The last straw came when Elliot mentioned -in a not so subtle threat- of the dangers of bounty hunting. He had been participating in raids and risking his life before he had hit puberty. For what reason was he going to lose his nuts now and start running to mommy?
That was it; forget finding the runaway bride, he was going to do a number on one Mr. Elliot Fox.

Before he could begin on his roaring rampage though, his ears caught up with his mind and they both had an emergency conference with his body.
And Arthur couldn't help laughing. Loudly. And in Elliot's face, even if the poor guy seemed to be dead serious about what he was spewing out.
Bounty hunting? Reward? And going home to his wife, oh his wife, the reason why he was in this mess in the first place.

How silly was the situation after all? Arthur had known how slim his chances was of just encountering her on the road, out of the blue yet he had still fallen for it- hook, line and sinker. He might still want to pound the guy, but not enough to start a full blown battle in the middle of a village. Fellow was probably just as mistaken as he was.
Perhaps he needed to take a break from his hunt- he was obviously loosing the few marbles he had left.

"Sorry to disappoint you pal; but I'm not a bounty hunter." Arthur told Elliot, hostility gone from his voice "Funny thing is; the one I'm tryin' to find is my wife- and what a mess that is."

Calming down, he returned Sonic to his Pokeball- no point in keeping him out for now. Having done so, he turned back towards Fox with a slightly predatory grin.
"But pray do tell; why would bounty hunters be after you and your sis?"

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]He watched with keen eyes the slight movements, the clenching and unclenching of his muscles as Arthur mulled over his words. Boys and their pride-- though perhaps he wasn't one to talk. Cunning as he was, Argent was not a wise man. A wise man would have disappeared from Alastair's sight at the first chance.

There was a sudden change in the tone of voice which reached his ears. Argent regarded him owlishly with an odd mix of curiosity and confusion, before quickly adapting to the twist.

He threw his head back and laughed. "Oh? How quaint! Tell me, was it humiliating to be sent off to drag your own woman back home? No, never mind that-- I can simply draw my own conclusions."

Sighing at the end of his near-tirade, he looked off to the side, staring intently at Thane, who's lips were quirked into a faint, nervous smile. There'd always been something of a madmen in Argent-- Micah Murdoc had been eccentric, but Argent was a thrill-seeker, stirring hibernating bears asleep in their dens.

"Now, why would you want to know something like that?" he asked, his voice a casual, cajoling lilt. "Curiosity, perhaps?"

"I would not be half so intriguing if I were to simply give away all my secrets, hm? So, therefore, Arthur, if you want to know, I must ask that you trade a secret of your own, should you have one to offer. I find them to be...invaluable," Argent tapped his fingers against the worn wood of the table, the very picture of aristocratic grace.

He certainly wasn't of the belief that this Arthur had anything of note to share; but Argent liked to know things. He had learned all too late the value of a tiny detail, here and there. There were a great many things tucked away in the back of his mind-- the river where little Jack was tossed and never found after a game gone wrong; how Jane saw a young man on the side.

"Well, what'll it be? Either way, I don't particularly care," he shrugged, watching Arthur carefully. Even if he accepted and went immediately to Alastair (if he could even reach Alastair), Argent had been on the run long enough to know a thousand and one ways to cover his tracks, to vanish and reappear and vanish again, though unlike most he could manage literally with Thane at his side.

Sometimes, he even fancied himself a vengeful ghost.

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

It took one sentence, all of one sentence, for Elliot Fox to reignite Arthur's desire to rearrange the man's face.
But really, a far more laid back man would have been incensed at the casual mockery of pointing out the humiliation of a runaway bride. For all his apparent attempts to have a pleasant conversation, Elliot seemed to take pride in encouraging Arthur to make his best Primeape imitation. Really the ex-bandit didn't even bother listening to whatever Fox had to say after that, so angry he was.
However, just as the conversation was about to take a turn for the violent -again- a timely intervention came in the form of the innkeeper. She just walked in, straight through where Arthur and Elliot were having their mano-a-mano and plunked down a plate full of food on the table.
It was enough to divert Arthur's attention momentarily. He cut the steak -a bit tough, but he'd had worse- into two halves and called out Sonic who promptly had one half thrown at him. That done he turned his attention back Elliot, slightly calmed down- the way that a stick of TNT was slightly more stable than one with a lite fuse.
"No, I don't think I have any secrets to tell you Mr. Fox- so piss off for now and leave me to my meal then will you?" Arthur, always blunt told the man. "But don't worry, Sonic here has a decent sense of smell and I'm a fairly good tracker. If I want to find you again I'll manage."

As threats went it wasn't the most subtle- not even close- but it wasn't Arthur's M.O. anyway. Talking done on his own part he turned to his food, digging in with the gusto born of several week's worth of rough travelling and poor food.
He had completely forgotten the niggling at the back of his mind which had initially raised uneasiness over Thalia.

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]An incredulous laugh bubbled from his throat. The nerve! All these years and the born and bred plutocrat in him had yet to get used to the sheet lack of reverence with which these rough Akirans treated with him. Much as he admired the nearly poetic independence that seemed inherent in every last man, woman, and child, Argent had been raised to think of himself as a lord, and therefore such a gutsy threat made his lip curl in disgust.

"Very well," he said, maintaining an aristocratic composure. "Have it your way," with that said he stood slowly, gesturing for Thalia to do the same.

Paying the innkeeper for their drinks, he resumed a polite, charming smile. "I'll not be requiring a room anymore, good woman," and she nodded eagerly, the relief palpable on her face. No doubt she was glad to have averted the property damage that'd come with a full-on brawl.

Gathering up his bag, he began to walk towards the door, turning to briefly look at Arthur. "I'm afraid, Arthur, that your Sonic's nose will be insufficient to track me down. My real enemies are more dangerous and resourceful by far," Argent's face began to morph as Thane shifted their disguises. Light seemed to flood into the roots of his hair, spreading outward as the illusion colored it a fathomless black. His eyes dulled to an icy gray, and Argent's skin took on a tanned tone.

In a matter of moments, a younger, smaller man stood before him, cheeks soft with the barest traces of baby fat still clinging to his adolescent features. Turning to look at Thane, he noticed that the pokemon had altered himself into a mirror image.

Satisfied with this display, he looked back towards the door, the smile fading off his face as he took in the sight. An all too familiar uniform filled his eyes--

--the Patrol.

Cursing, he looked around for a quick exit, but was not fast enough. "Oh! Wouldya look at that! There's actually people in this dump," the leader said, and his comrades laughed. Argent gritted his teeth; it hadn't been so long to forget the special task force that had come to him the fifth week, experienced and eager to test out new methods of...questioning.

"And where are you going, boy?" a heavy hand closed around his arm. An instinctive, animal fear filling him, he retaliated, wrenching his arm away and shrinking away, as if trying to disappear. "What the-"

Reaching inside the bag, he felt the familiar shape of Sol's pokeball. Backing away from the increasingly angry police, Argent warned in a low, shaking voice, "Get back! I'm warning you," as Thane began to growl uncontrollably, sensing Argent's distress.

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

Arthur just snorted at Elliot's statements. Really; good woman? His manner of speaking coupled with his air of arrogance screamed 'noble', but nobles just bribed their way out of trouble with the law- so Mr. Fox was more likely to be just a criminal full of hot air.
And then his whole spiel of more dangerous and resourceful enemies. Really who was he kidding himself to be- a super criminal of sorts? People who had bounties were just those who were stupid enough to be recognized while doing something they weren't supposed to be, and were usually all the more paranoid for it.

So Arthur, like the sophisticated person he was, just flipped Elliot the bird and continued with his meal. Well he was going to continue with his meal if Sonic's rumbling growl didn't alert him to the spectacle ongoing in front of him.
Arthur did a double take; Elliot and Thalia were changing form right in front of him, into two people distinctly different from before.
There was something in his food right, right? Either that or he had been arguing with the marvelous, talking Ditto Duo.
But, in all seriousness, Arthur hadn't at all considered Pokemon who would be able to provide illusory disguises. It not only explained some of Elliot's smugness, but also brought up troubling implications for his search.
He would need to find and capture a Pokemon with the ability to see through illusions before he continued with his search- just to be on the safe side.

However, it seemed that there was to be more to the day than a frustrating conversation and a kick in the nuts as to his search- somebody else decided to pop in. Namely; a Patrol. Arthur's face morphed into a feral grin at the prospect of working off some of his irritation.
In a smooth movement he called Ironhide out to play, while fingering the hilt of a sturdy steel dagger in his bag.
Beside him Elliot and Thalia seemed just as unhappy to see the 'law enforcers' with Elliot losing his calm and with Thalia...snarling. Definitely not human that one.

"Get lost- this is Akiro; you're not welcome here." Arthur told the Patrol bluntly. He, like pretty anybody else from Orre had short(er) patience for anybody who worked for the Citadel and Illyis in general.

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]"Are you threatening an officer of the law?" the lawman asked, a cruel sneer on his face--not so unlike that of a child who pulled the wings of a butterfly--even as his comrades scrambled for their pokemon. "You should learn how to speak to your betters, Akiran scum. Do you even have a license?" he warned Arthur. The lofty accent marked him as Citadel--likely the bastard son of a wealthy man, cast away with a meager position and seeking a target for his temper tantrum. A prime target for Alastair's manipulations. Where the familiar accent once this might have inspired a common loyalty, now it only gripped his throat with cold fingers of dread.

Every fiber of his being screamed at him to run-- if the young man was so confidant in his abilities, it'd be a convenient getaway. All he'd have to to was ask Thane to make them disappear, and then they could make a hasty exit. His limbs shook with the fear of a beaten dog, and even as his heart pounded painfully.

A moment of clarity came to him, as his keen mind broke through the stupor of fear. Alastair was just as conniving as him-- what if this was some construction of his? Swallowing, he thought, I could learn a lot from questioning them.

In a split second, he made his decision. He called for Thane, the pokemon shifting to take Sol's form. He stood as a resplendent ninetails, eyes blazing with a majestic sort of anger.

Regaining his graceful composure and stilling the rising bile in his throat, Argent called, "Now, now, gentlemen! Three on one is hardly fair, is it? I'm afraid that I simply must even the odds," taking a shaky breath, he leaned against the wall, slipping into the comfortable shoes of the persona he had built over the years.

Argent sized up the competition with a critical, experienced eye. He'd never been so thankful for the extensive information on all things pokemon that'd been imprinted in his mind as a child. They (if he and Arthur could even be considered a single side to this battle) faced three pokemon, as far as he could tell; one for each member of the patrol. Perhaps it'd be simpler to scare them off--but Thane lacked the room to cast the illusion of a legendary or otherwise especially threatening creature. While the other two could easily be dealt with between them (a psychic-type like espeon was easy prey for Thane, and the mightyena wasn't particularly concerning, given the zoroark's range of moves and even less so if Arthur was a competent trainer).

But the lucario would be inconvenient. It regarded them with a smirk, it's stance confident and sure. Argent had always disliked fighting-types and the dominion they held over dark pokemon like Thane, and doubtless the lairon that Arthur had called forth.

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[ARTHUR FINCH]

H	EAR ME ROAR

Arthur wasn't fazed by the pricks who had probably never taken part in a Pokemon battle outside of their little training sessions and little spars. Fighting was a skill he had perfected along the best and against enemies who attacked first and talked never- in this confined area which suited both his Pokemon quite well; he wouldn't have hesitated taking on the three on one odds.

He give a short, high pitched whistle and Sonic and Ironhide both responded quickly- the latter taking defensive and Sonic moving for a semi-defensive stance. Fox had pulled out a Ninetales- if it wasn't another illusion that was, Arthur would rather not have to depend on his help.

"You want my license Mr. Citadel?" Arthur asked, sotto voce, "Sonic; give 'em the opening 1-2!"

Sonic growled in affirmation- it was their usual opening strategy. The Gabite then upped the volume of his roar- producing an orange-yellow globe of energy aiming for the Lucario and doggy on the side. The Espeon Arthur could deal with- he had done so before in the past- but the Lucario on the side he had no idea how to handle, nor the pooch on the side. Gabite's Dragon Rage was always a safe bet in such a case.

But Sonic wasn't finished with his opening rally. Before his previous attack could even impact he was on the move- living up to his name- and moving at lightning fast speeds to bring down a back-breaking Dual Chop towards the pooch.

LAIKA OF GS!

[ARGENT HALL]

[attr="class","ipoodle"]Raising an arm, he gestured at the Espeon, which had sidestepped the attack meant for its peers and now approached the mock Ninetales. "Show them their inferiority, Thane," Argent drawled, a smirk on his falsely youthful face as the Zoroark seemed to grow in size, far beyond the physical stature of a normal Ninetales.

Eyes glowing a light blue, Thane's front legs became surrounded by a faint crimson aura, which grew thicker. The Espeon skidded to a halt, a dawning realization on its vulpine features. It's handler, however, was not so wise. "What are you doing! Psyshock!" she snapped, before her eyes caught sight of Thane. "What...what is that?"

Momentarily distracted from his dual engagement with Arthur, the head of the group turned at her exclamation. "You idiot! That's-"

-but it was too late. Thane slammed his legs (arms, really) on the floor, a pitch black shockwave rushing at the Espeon. The pokemon attempted to dodge, but the attack was quicker, catching the small creature and sending it hurtling towards the wall, where it hit with a heavy thud, and struggled to it's feet.

Meanwhile, Argent let his gaze slide to see how his companion's fight was progressing. To the young man's credit, he was certainly well versed in the art of battle. The Lucario was agile, having moved past the initial blast and launching a counterattack of it's own. However, the Mightyena had been caught, and had been thoroughly battered.

An idea came to him. Taking advantage of the Lucario's preoccupation with Arthur's pokemon, he called to Thane, "Get me the leader! I want questions answered."

Argent was given a low, gravelly affirmation. Thane was always loathe to practice his human speech, finding the inhuman ring of his voice hard to manipulate. With a growl, he sprinted at the man, who scrambled backwards in panic as he called for his Lucario.

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