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Unexpected Detour (Razgriz x Wingshadow)

Marina woke up a little before noon the next day feeling quite refreshed although she was still quite tired and hungry. Her eyes drifted over to where Sam slept beside her, and to her shock she had actually wrapped him up in her tentacles without her noticing. Thankfully they were not very tight, as if she had instinctively done so to keep him from escaping... although it was practically impossible for him to do so anyway even if he wanted to. She slowly unwrapped herself from around him so as not to wake him, then stepped into the now-clear water to check on her egg cases.

Attached to the rock on one end and slowly swaying with the currents that wafted in and out of the cave (she made sure that there was enough circulation to keep them well oxygenated but not too much so as to sweep them out to sea when they hatched) where large white tube-like bags about two feet long and half a foot wide filled with small round eggs huddled next to each other. She had no idea how long it would take for them to hatch, but she could already faintly see the little creatures forming although they were not yet distinctly human-looking as of yet. She went to work laying her last egg case and attaching it next to the other two before heading back to see if Sam was awake yet.
 
Sam was asleep this whole time while Marina was birthing the last of the children he'd given her; well, potential children anyway. Survival would play a key aspect in 'thinning out the numbers' so to speak. But that was just how nature worked; he had no idea she was doing this, however. He hadn't even stirred when she unwrapped the tentacles from around, even though his body moved slightly.

He slowly awoke on the cold ground floor; so, last night wasn't a dream. He wouldn't exactly have called it a nightmare if it proved to have not been real, but it certainly wasn't something he would have been proud to be fantasizing about. He sat up, giving a loud yawn and a stretch of his toned body as he tried to work the exhaustion from out of his system. His groin was incredibly sore; not surprising given the fact that he'd let out more seed than a thousand normal men put together.

Yet, it wasn't a painful sore, more like the sore that lets you know to take it easy. He looked to his left to see Marina exiting the pool; she must have gone for a swim or something. "Morning, Marina." he said somewhat sleepily; he shivered before realizing he was still naked. He then stood up and made his way over to where Marina had put his clothes before getting dressed in the simple garment. His stomach rumbled loudly; he needed food, not only to sustain himself, but he would need his energy if Marina decided to get feisty on him again.
 
True enough, Marina realized that not all of their children would survive to grow into adults, hence the huge numbers in which they were born as well as Marina's significant sex drive. That being said, her species did not seem to be native to this planet and most likely lacked significant predators (especially once they reached a significant size). She would probably be mentally scarred if any of them were to die in front of her, however, as she had the motherly instinct of a human from having grown up around them.

"Good morning, Sam," she opened up another one of the boxes of meats that she had stolen from the goblins and started to sift through it, "Darn, I guess they don't have any shrimp. What would you want to eat? There's beef and chicken... some meat I can't identify... and some veggies."

Marina didn't seem to be in the mood to jump him right now, as her appetite was ravenous from all the energy her body had expended over the past two days. That, and Sam seemed somewhat stiff from their exercises the day before. Instead of waiting for his reply, she simply started to much down on them right out of the crate. Offering him via her tentacles whatever he asked for. She munched away in relative silence, then settled down beside him nestling her curved form comfortably by his side and wrapping her human arms around his neck as she cuddled with him.

"What would you like to do today, darling?" she asked with a sweet smile.
 
Sam looked on as Marina dug through another crate from her ship heist; he'd seen the goblins swimming, so he was sure they were alright. He felt kind of bad for them; they probably hated him. The goblins obviously made that particular journey thousands of times, and probably never had a run-in with the squid woman before he showed up. They'd likely think he was bad luck or something. When she commented on them not having shrimp, he gave a slight, amused smile. "I'll take some more of that beef, I don't know what they put on it, but it tastes really good." he then said; though he wondered if this was really beef like it was back on Earth. He didn't see any cows, but entertained the possibility that they had another animal here who's meet they called 'beef'. Or maybe there were cows and he just wasn't in the right area to see them.

He looked at Marina in surprise as she started to devour the food ravenously; laying those 'egg cases', as she called them, really must have put a drain on her body. Sam ate his own meal with her, unknowingly restocking his ability to loose enormous quantities of sperm. They also seemed to rejuvenate him slightly; as he ate the meat, his body felt a little less tired with each bite. By the time he was finished, he was still sore, but felt a lot better. When she cuddled into him, he flushed at her calling him 'darling'. "U....um....I don't know......What exactly is there to do?" he then asked; it wasn't like he was a tourist who knew the ins and outs of this planet.
 
"Well, back where I came from I would often work as a part-timer at a refreshments stand on the beach," Marina replied, "When I wasn't doing that I spent most of my time just enjoying life. We would take hikes through the forests, learn about human lifestyles and culture, play video games in the afternoons, clean the beach of trash (and jellyfish on occasion), and build giant sandcastles on the beach. One of my sandcastles even moved!"

She let out a happy sigh, "Yes, I was quite carefree back then... I remember when I was young I would spend most of my time trying to find food and avoid being eaten by whales, but as soon as I met the humans on the beach I didn't have to worry too much about that. Did you know that humans have giant boats that can fish up thousands of shrimp at the same time? Amazing, isn't it?"

Marina blinked, wiping a bit of drool off her cheek since she had been fantasizing about her favorite food again, "Oh, right, I've gotten distracted... As I was saying, I grew accostomed to the art of finding things to amuse myself. To that end, since I am also new to this planet we should both go out and explore for strange and interesting sights!"

She grasped his hand and led him over to the opening to her cave, her tentacles quickly wrapping around him before she stepped into the water, "It will just take a moment to get to the surface, but hold your breath anyway."

Sure enough, as soon as they were fully submerged she shot through the water like a rocket and slid up onto the beach, letting him go as her eyes turned toward the midday sun. She flopped herself down on the sand and spread out her arms and legs, bathing in the warmth of the sun while motioning for him to join her.

"We can gather some shellfish from the beach for dinner then go exploring the forest," she suggested, unaware that almost all of the life on the planet were monsters.
 
Sam listened as Marina explained her history; he chuckled when she started to drool as she explained the situation about the shrimp and it amused him further when she asked him if he knew about them. "That sounds nice, Marina. This planet certainly is different than others I've visited." he said, seeing a potential opportunity; though she was probably fast enough with those tentacles of hers that even if he ran, she'd catch him.

When she led him to the cave entrance and told him to take a breath, he nodded and did so; her tentacles seemed to subconsciously create a constant-pressure environment somehow as they rapidly ascended, because he didn't get the bends when they finally surfaced, which he was thankful for. A colleague of his suffered that little inconvenience, and ended up having to spend two weeks in a hyperbaric chamber to get the nitrogen under control.

He sat down next to Marina as she splayed out on the beach; she really was a care-free spirit. "Sure, I'll bet all that talk of shrimp gave you a real hankering for shellfish. But, you know, if you dig in the right spots on a beach, you can find shrimp nestled beneath the sands. Usually they're found in tide pools or if the water is in low tide, they can be found right in the shoreline."
 
"Really?" Marina almost instantly drooling in response as she jumped up and started looking around, poking into the sand with her tentacles, "If we can get a fire going we can even boil them before eating them... I haven't been able to stomach raw food for a while now."

"Don't worry, I will let you eat some too," she reassured him with a simile. What she didn't know is that there was a rather large shellfish hiding just below the surface of the sand, watching Marina's every move, waiting for a moment in which she strayed a bit too far away from the human male.
 
Sam had to laugh at Marina's reaction; he then poked fun, saying in a teasingly sarcastic tone, "Wow, you must REALLY hate shrimp!" He then decided to join her in searching for shrimp; for some reason, he felt safer near her than he would if he strayed too far away. Which, unbeknown to him, was a very wise move. After a few minutes (and some near misses where Sam unknowingly almost stepped on the creature lurking beneath the sands) he had a nicely sized pile of fat, obviously very-well fed shrimp laying beside. "How's things on your end, Marina?" he then asked, wondering if she'd managed to find any.
 
"What the heck are you talking about? I love shrimp!" she declared, playing along with him while she searched. The two of them worked, searching the beach for the treasures hidden there...

"Um, I tried?" Marina show him her hands which were empty, "I haven't really had much luck catching food for myself lately, which is why I was stealing from those goblins. I sorta feel bad for them now though, since I realize how difficult it is to get food."

By then, the creature was nearly fed up with the two of them nearly steppign on her and staying too close together for her to make a move without risk, so she popped out of her hiding place to the left of Sam, making her presence known. At first it appeared to be merely a giant white clam, the size of which left Marina speechless. Soon enough, however, the top peeled back, revealing a mound of soft flesh, in the center of which lay what appeared to be the head of a woman like a pearl in the center of a clam.

"I-Its so repulsive, de geso," Marina twitched.

"How rude!" the clam glared, firing a powerful stream of water at her and striking her directly in the chest, knocking her back, "How dare you be so inconsiderate of others. I'll be taking him from here-"

A thick arua of darkness hovered around Marina, forming a thick cloud of doom above her as she spoke, "Ho ho... Interesting... ITs been a while since someone's had the gall to do something like that to me."

A smile spread across her face, her tentacles hovering around her instantly, tips pointed like daggers. The clam fired another shot, striking her in the shoulder then slamming shut as her tentacles bounced off the hard surface of the shell.
 
Sam was about to comfort Marina for her lack of success when the giant clam suddenly appeared; he jumped out of his skin when it just burst out of the sand like that. Then when the shell actually opened, Sam was indeed quite repulsed. And when Marina voiced his thoughts for him, resulting in her getting shot with a powerful water jet, rushed to her side and glared at the clam woman. He was going to chew her out when Marina stood back up, clearly pissed off; man, she was scary when she was angry. He was glad that he'd tried to at least treat her with a modicum of respect. The way her tentacle tips seemed to harden into dagger-like weapons truly scared him.

He just stood there, unsure of what to do; while the augmentations he'd received as part of the 'Defense Package' his advisers told him to take so that he could adequately defend himself against most assailants, he knew that getting in Marina's way would not end well for him. And he certainly wasn't going to help the clam woman after she claimed that she would be taking him away from Marina. He could tell that she was just a rotten person, and Marina at least treated him with affection and seemed to even dote on him a few times over the course of the day and a half he'd stayed with her.

He then remembered his pistol; however, when he reached for it he found it wasn't there. That's right, he'd used it out of anger to try and get Ruby off of him. It laid discarded on the grassy plains somewhere, its energy cells depleted. He then noticed something else was gone.....his enviro-suit was missing too! He had nothing, not even the hypercube full of survival tools that he could have used. That meant he was relatively unprotected, save for the tentacle-haired woman fighting to keep this clam from taking him.
 
Marina kept up her barrage for a short while before letting up, waiting patiently for an opening for her to strike. She wasn't paying that much attention to what Sam was up to as all of her senses were concentrating on whatever movement the clam woman might make. The clam peaked out through the crack in the shell, aiming directly at her face before opening up and shooting a powerful blast directly at her. Marina tried to deflect it with a tentacle, but in the end it was not intended to actually hit her, merely blind her momentarily. The clam sprang toward her, the opening of the shell reaching around her head as she laughed.

"Stupid, now die," the clam pulled on the muscles attached to the shell, intending to use the sharp edges and her brute strength to decapitate Marina while she was stunned. Not a moment too soon, however, Marina countered by thrusting two tentacles forward and into the shell itself, finally landing two strikes on her head and pushing herself out just before the clam shells slammed shut, cutting off the tentacles in the process.

Marina didn't seem to be in pain, as it was probably subdued by the adenaline rushing through her as she glared at the clam, tentacles instantly wrapping around it, coils and coils binding it shut.

"W-wait, what are you doing?!" the clam cried out in a panic as Marina started to tighten around her.

"Stupid, die!" she growled in return, the strength of her tentacles already threatening to crush her inside her own shell, then suddenly Marina pulled her body to the right, yanking the clam along with her tentacles, whipping her through the air and clear onto the rocky shoals in the distance. The clam slammed against them, an audible crack resounding on impact. She would probably be knocked unconscious for a few hours at least, if not worse.

Marina slumped down in the sand, breathing heavily and holding her neck in her human hands as if making sure that her head was still firmly attached, "That was a close one, de geso... Are you alright, Sam?"
 
(Very nicely done on the female combat!)


Sam wanted to help Marina, he really did; he just didn't know how. He then started to run when the clam blinded Marina and tried crushing her with its mandibles; however, he stopped when when she pushed out, but gasped in horror when two of her tentacles were severed. When she finally ended the battle by throwing the would-be rapist clam into a large jetty of rocks, he cringed slightly at the sickening crack that resonated throughout the air. That bitch deserved it; she'd hurt Marina badly and tried to take him from her. The clam would most likely die; their interiors needed to stay moist consistently. If they dried out, the inside of the clam would perish.

However that was of little concern to him after the battle was over He ran to Marina's side after she sat down; when she asked if he was alright, Sam shook his head, "I didn't get touched. But look at you! Your tentacles......" If he'd had his hypercube, there was a canister of self-sealing biofoam and some gauze he could have used to treat her wounds. While he was no expert field medic like some of his army friends, he knew enough to at least staunch bleeding and help stabilize a victim. He worried that the wounds would get infected or something, so he asked ina genuinely caring tone, "Marina......Is there anything I can do? You're hurt."
 
(^_^ thanks. I'm usually pretty bad at action sequences, but I'm glad you enjoyed that one)

"D-don't worry about it," Marina reassured him, showing him the wounded tentacles. They had been cut cleanly to about one third their normal length, but since they were made up of typical squid tissue they were not bleeding. It still looked a bit painful though and she wasn't moving them around like the others.

"I once had all of my tentacles cut off by a human that attacked me because I was trying to take everyone at her workplace hostage... She was freakin scary, but spared my life when I apologized," she continued, shivering a bit in fear upon remembering the apparently traumatizing event.

"They should grow back in a few days and be as good as new," Marina pulled Sam into a warm embrace her feminine curves nestled against his body while fidgeting slightly as if she had an itch somewhere, "So, um... Could I have a reward?"
 
(I always enjoy a well-written combat scene. BTW, I found the anime reference for Marina. I didn't realize there even WAS a show about her until I searched 'Squid Girl' on Google.)

Sam was relieved that Marina would be alright; though his eyes widened in surprise when she told him about an experience when she had ALL her tentacles cut off. He was about to ask why she had taken people at the workplace hostage when he remembered that she was trying to get people to stop polluting the oceans. And besides that was in the past. "That's good. I hate to see you in pain, my lovely Marina." Wait, did he really just say that? It's not like he wanted to marry this woman or anything! She kidnapped him, held him against his will! And besides, he was already taken by another!

However, all of this seemed to be thrown straight to the wind as Marina hugged him, an embrace which he unflinchingly returned; he enjoyed the feel of her soft body against his own. When she asked if she could have a reward, Sam nodded and said, "Of course, Marina? What would you like as your reward?" He had an idea about what it could be, her fidgeting - however slight - led to think down a certain, naughty path.
 
(XD Yeah, I have made a few references to the show in various parts)

"Boiled shrimp of course, what were you thinking about?" Marina blinked, although she had a little glint in her eye that told him she was trying to tease him. She let him go and started to gather up pieces of driftwood to make a fire, not realizing that wet wood wouldn't help much at all. She seemed to appreciate his concern, but she did not want to dwell on it and hence spoil the warm mood they had rebuilt between them. Enjoying life and exploring the world around her were still her primary interests even though she had grown significantly from the young squid she once was.
 
Sam smiled inwardly; so that was her game. Well, alright, he'd play along for now. When she started gathering the wet driftwood, Sam chuckled and said, "Marina, that's not going to help. If you want to cook something here, we need dry wood." He looked around until he saw a couple of trees a little further down a ways; he then turned to her and said, "Wait here and relax, I'll take care of everything". Within moments, he returned with some fairly large branches, numerous other smaller ones and what looked like loose dry grass. He quickly dug a pit in the sand, keeping a wary eye out for any more 'surprise visitors'. Then, he gathered and arranged a bunch of stones in the pit itself, before placing the dry grass in the bottom of the pit and arranging the larger branches into a tent-shape; this would serve as the starting point of the fire.

He then grabbed two other stones, saying "You might want to cover your ears" before starting to bang them together; this would be so much easier with flint and steel, but that was in the hypercube which he no longer possessed. God, having that would make this so much easier. It was about twenty minutes before enough sparks landed on the grass that it started to smoke; Sam then leaned down and started to blow on it. Before long, the smoldering ember became a raging inferno by comparison; he grinned and muttered "Just like fixing a time circuit." Once the fire was good and hot, he placed some of the smaller sticks into the pit to add more fuel while he prepared the skewers. Digging another large pit, he let it fill with seawater before placing some sticks into it for them to soak. When that was done, he took them back out and started threading the shrimp onto the skewers; it wasn't long before five skewers with six shrimp each sat ready to be cooked.

"I don't know about boiled shrimp since we don't have a pan or pot, but we can roast them over the fire. Just turn them over every two minutes until they turn pink." he then said before handing a skewer to Marina. He was glad to have taken that outdoor survival course; well, for building the fire anyway. He was a mediocre cook at best, but for simply cooking things until they could be eaten, he was proficient enough at that. He stuck one of his own skewers over the fire and let it cook.
 
Marina laughed a bit sheepishly, realizing how silly she was for thinking she could make a fire with driftwood. She sat down on the sand and looked over the waves with a smile while waiting for Sam to return. She was still watching him on the corner of her eye just in case a dryad or something attacked him while he was away getting the wood, but thankfully nothing like that happened. IF there were any others watching them, they were keeping their distance for now... Her recent display of power probably discouraged them.

"Its so tasty," Marina was already eating her shrimp, a bit too impatient for her own good as she had started when they where just pink all the way from tip to tail, "I wish I could eat them all day long."

She munched away happily, but wasn't inconsiderate enough to try to eat Sam's as well. After all, delicious shrimp was best eaten with those one cares about! She chatted for a bit, talking more about when she was younger and her adventures with her friends as they got themselves into all sorts of foolishness. Marina most certainly liked to talk and perhaps brag a little too much about her talents, but that was what made her such an interesting person to be around.

"You know, we should probably be heading back soon," Marina looked out toward the horizon as the sun was just starting to fall toward it, "I don't want to leave our children unattended for too long... That incident with the clam has me worried..."

Her eyes grew a bit wider, grabbing her head in her hands, "...What if I'm already too late?! What have I been thinking?!"
 
Sam felt extremely happy to be here with Marina; in many ways, she was like Talbor. Strong, determined, yet pleasant to be around. His mind momentarily flashed to Talbor; he wondered if he'd given her a child as well, or several even. But then he came back as Marina started to talk about her past experiences. Talbor was considerably quieter than Marina, but then again, that was something that seemed to draw Sam to Marina. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

When she started to panic about the potential fate of her....well, their children....he immediately moved to comfort her, pulling her into a strong embrace without touching the stubs of tentacles so as to avoid causing pain. "Hey, hey, I'm sure they're fine. Let's go and I'm sure that they'll be alright. And besides, they'd have a death wish if they came near our little ones, right?" He spoke with such confidence so as to have her expect the best, not the worst.
 
"Y-yeah," Marina nodded, finally giving him a relieved smile, "You're right, we should head back then."

She helped him clean up the fire and whatever other disruption they had made to the beach. After all, she was still the self-declared defender of the sea, so she couldn't just ignore her duty even when she had a very important duty on her mind. She still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, even while wrapping him up in her tentacles (minus the two damaged ones) and diving down toward her cave. She carefully managed the pressure around Sam to keep him from suffering any adverse side effects from the dive while her eyes scanned for the cave in the dim light that penetrated the darkness below. She finally found it and stowed Sam inside before slipping into the entrance herself.

Marina quickly ran over to the small pool she had placed the egg cases in, and sure enough they seemed to be fine. Letting out a sign of relief she sat down beside them and closed her eyes, "Well, now I feel silly..."
 
Sam wasn't exactly comfortable with being wrapped up like this; however, he managed to stow his discomfort so as to help keep Marina at ease. It wasn't long before they finally descended back into the cave; he was placed gingerly inside but then he watched as she dove beneath the water to see if her eggs were intact. When she came back and sat beside, speaking of how it had been silly to have been so worried, he shook his head and replied, "Nonsense, Marina. It's always better to err on the side of caution."

He then pulled out the roasted shrimp that he hadn't finished; he'd grabbed it as a small something for her to munch on if she was still hungry, "If you want, I grabbed this last skewer. It's yours if you're still hungry."
 
Marina grabbed it quickly and popped it into her mouth, chewing happily, "I never get tired of this taste... Its so heavenly!"

She most certainly enjoyed the tasty little conclusion to her fears, but as she looked over at him she started to feel a bit hungry for something other than shellfish or shrimp for that matter. She quickly turned away, face slightly hinted with red, remembering that she had promised not to attack him again. He would have to offer himself before she made any moves in that direction, and it was probably for the better anyway so that she would be fully ready to defend herself, Sam, and their offspring should the need arise. Sam most certainly was not useless under normal circumstances, but the power of many of these creatures was way off the charts. Some would even be able to defeat Marina without breaking a sweat. Thankfully, however, the cave's depth and natural seclusion prevented many of these from even finding them, let alone attacking.

Marina fidgeted a bit, but managed to suppress her desire to jump him by starting up conversation once again, "So, um, do you know of any good names? They might be hatching in a little over a week and there will be quite a few of them so it would probably be a good idea to start thinking about it already. We should probably start saving up food for them as well, as they will be hungry... Do you think we could build a boat in a week? It might make fishing shrimp a lot easier."
 
Sam smiled as he saw Marina devour the shrimp; she seemed to be quite fun to watch. Though when her face turned red, he remembered the mischievous twinkle in her eye and strongly concluded that she was feeling aroused again; though thoughts in 'that' direction were quashed when she started asking about names. His eyes widened in surprise when she mentioned that they would be hatching in a week; unbeknownst to Sam, the planetary rotation meant that a week here was about over almost a full month back on Earth.

"W...hat? Seriously? That quickly?" Sam exclaimed, sounding truly surprised at the news; however, at the mention of saving food, he looked to the massive amounts of stolen goods she'd taken from the goblin ship. Though, if his assumption was correct, then that wouldn't last very long since squids birthed by the hundreds. Many wouldn't make it, but he wasn't sure of the exact predatory balance on this world. On earth, there were plenty of fish that ate squid eggs should they happen upon them. "Uh...uh....I'm not sure, I might be able to come up with a few...."

When she mentioned a boat, Sam paused again; a boat might work. But he was no experienced fisherman; the only reason he knew about the shrimp in the sand thing was because he went to a beach party with Rachel where they actually found various things to cook by searching around. "Well, it might help, but I honestly don't know, Marina."
 
"I can't say for sure how long it will take," Marina replied, blushing darkly, "I haven't ever mated before and I never met my parents so how CAN I know? I just want to be on the safe side."

She sighed, wondering if she could actually pull this off. Balancing food gathering, caring for Sam's needs, attending her own needs, and later taking care of the hundreds of children would be certainly her most difficult task yet. She was worried she might not be cut out for it, despite the fact that she had ten fully skilled tentacles to assist her. A boat would be nice, but unless they could get one from the goblins and perhaps coerce them into teaching them how to fish it seemed like an unlikely solution.
 
Sam noticed the increasingly dark flush; her next words surprised him even more. She'd never mated before? He didn't feel a barrier when they first had sex; though perhaps females of her species didn't have hymens. Regardless, hearing her sigh told him she was conflicted, causing Sam to embrace Marina lovingly. "Hey......don't worry, darling. Everything will be alright" he said; even though he knew he couldn't stay with her forever, he felt terrible at the thought of trying to run away the first chance he got. But, he did have someone who claimed his heart, and she was likely very worried now that he'd been missing for a while. But he said not a word about it, fearing it would upset Marina too much.
 
Marina nodded, comforted most of all since he referred to her as "darling." She placed a tender kiss on his cheek in thanks before wrapping her tentacles gently around them.

"I think I'll turn in early today, do you mind?" she asked permission to have him sleep beside her, as she was feeling particularly clingy. Either way, she wished to get some sleep to wash away some of her concerns and fears. She sent a tentacle around the egg cases as well, to detect any sudden movements in the water should a predator of some sort enter the cave. It seemed unlikely, (perhaps an angler fish, a barracuda, or one of their relatives might wander around the area in search of food). Perhaps she would have been even more so had she known what would drive the two of them apart the very next morning.

----

As the dim rays of light just started to penetrate the waters, Marina woke up refreshed and ready to take on the new day. She stretched her arms and legs, both to loosen herself up as well as provide a little service for Sam before she wrapped up a few pieces of meat to take with them to the surface.

"How about we have a picnic on the beach or something?" she suggested, "It seems like a lovely day, the way that the light is glinting through the water. That usually means its clear out, or that the water is particularly clean."
 
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