Attropolis XXII

WHY IS IT THAT I GOT THIS NEWS JUST NOW? WHY DID IT GET US WEEK TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS? WHOSE JOB WAS IT TO KEEP IN TOUCH AND KEEP AN EYE OVER THOSE DAMN GREEKS? Augustus screamed and asked in his frustration. The room was silent. I ASKED YOU ALL A QUESTION!!! ANSWER ME! None of them had the courage to say anything or even look him in the eye. As Olanus was late, he had asked the Caesar to calm down and explain the situation again. Dear friend, maybe you can answer me this. Looking at Olanus with a need for a satisfactory answer. It looks like, the Greeks rebelled against us, killing our troops and our emissary there. Then they had the guts, to masquerade as them… THAT WAS WEEKS AGO. Augustus shouted again at his generals. Now, if you can tell me who was responsible for watching over the Greeks and why we only got news of what happened now, that’s be lovely.

The room was quite quiet, tension in the air, only Olanus’s footsteps echoing through the room as he was pacing thinking for an answer. The Caesar sitting down, head in his hands, waiting for his answer. But Olanus knew the dangers of answering stupidly to Augustus, so he was taking his sweet time. And Augustus trusted in Olanus, he was one of the few people that got his patience. ENOUGH! This sparked his neurons, giving him the perfect answer. I think I know what happened. Everyone was now listening carefully to Olanus, waiting for his answer. I was supposed to oversee the Greeks after the glorious battle of Actium, but you chose to keep me by your side instead, thus betraying my no good brother. And if I am not mistaken you put your old friend Bigus Dicus in charge. The room almost burst out into laughter, but Augustus wasn’t pleased. Furious at their reaction, Augustus raises out of his chair, and goes around to his generals. Do you think this is funny? To make mockery of my dear friend, Bigus Dicus. You… Do you still find the need to giggle when I mention my friend Bigus Dicus? Cheeks were puffed and red all over the room, tears rolling down their faces as they forced themselves not to laugh, since they all found it risible.

Olanus calms the Caesar down after a while, with Augustus now collected the meeting continued. Right, you are right. I will personally look to executing that fool. He made a mockery of Rome and I won’t stand for it. We need to send troops there now! And send orders to the rest of our legions in Greece and Macedon to stay on guard for any other potential uprisings from the plebs. Because this means war against all of Greece and Bigus Dicus! Proud he left the room and everyone started laughing uncontrollably.

And in Greece

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Attropolis XXI

As Greeks sneaked into Creetus, making it the base of the resistance against the Roman Empire, the town slowly grew. Big, small, woman, child, man, they welcomed them all. They needed women to make children, they needed men to fight, and they needed children to do the things the men were too big to do. People rebuilt and started occupying the empty houses from before that horrible thunderstorm of a nightmare. Though from different parts, the community got along quite well, in fact the need pushed them and tied them together. Which turned into prosperity, as nothing bring prosperity more than desperation and a threat to your own existence. Even though they were a community, they didn’t have a leader or someone to follow, each of them were contributing whatever they knew and could to help others.

Slowly they started specializing, finding a precise field to focus on, whether in the army as soldiers or as civilians. Now fear turned into determination and hard work, their output of weapons grew, their abilities as soldiers too. Since most of them had never touched a sword in their lives. Going from wimps to quite the competent soldier isn’t an easy feat in a few weeks, which is why they all worked themselves dry to the bone. Under the command on the Giant and Hippos they turned out to be quite the band of merry potent soldiers. Adpetentia was always somewhere on the side, watching, swooning over him, proud that at her age, she had found someone better than her father would ever be. At the same time she knew that if he were to become the genius he is, people would probably hate him, most already do out of envy. And if he were to get on that battlefield, who knew when or if he’d ever come back. So, with every passing day and training Hippos was going through, she wished to the gods that he’d get so good that no enemy would get to touch him.

This all changed when a band of Romans suddenly visited Creetus and found out what happened. They quickly took fight and sent a couple of them on the road to Rome. As the people of Creetus took to arms to defend themselves once again against the Romans. A few men got on horses and ran after those two soldiers, trying to catch them before word got out of their independence to Rome. With the advantage in numbers the Cretins push the Romans back into one of the most dangerous places of the city. The point of entry into the forest that leads into the mountains. There most of the Romans fell into the traps put up by people every evening. Thus slaughtering them and using their bodies as bait for the traps, to catch those pesky animals roaming the forest. One of the two soldiers that was supposed to be on his way to Rome also got caught into a trap, he too was killed and used as a bait, though sadly one of them escaped successfully to Rome…

And then in Rome…

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Pilot Program - The Spiteful Playwright

“Stories, we all have them. As humans, we’re all social creatures, no matter how much we don’t like to admit it. That’s why we sometimes act out, that’s why being rejected hurts us and why being lonely is depressing and frustrating. And stories, are the one thing that we all like. We all tell each other stories, whether we think them, tell them or write them, we always tell stories. Big, small, happy, tragic, stories are what bind us, helps us understand each other.”

The phone rang, it was her again, I picked up more out of a sense of shame for denying them once too many times. Hello? She didn’t wait for me to finish the greeting as she went on her tirade. Hey, you finally picked up, look… Here’s the deal, I’m with a theater troupe at a coffee right now. I know one of the actresses here and the guy that runs this whole deal. So, as the conversation progressed, I asked them what they were performing and doing in town and stuff like that, right? Yeah, so listen here, they told me that they want to try something new, something different, right? So guess who I thought about? Yeah, Mr. Author, it’s you. I thought about you and your books. I remember that you once told me that you’d want your books turned into a theater piece and that you’d want it as an audio book but you’d need a theater group. So guess what? I told them about your books, what you’d like to do and what you’re about and how you approach things and what your outlook on the world is and they’d want to talk to you about it. What do you say? Isn’t that amazing? You’ll have to treat me to something, of course I’ll bring my mon cher with me and you, your girl. She sometimes talks like a Shinkansen and you feel like that train hit you and shattered your brains to pieces. This is the motherly awesome Kris, she awesome, but erratic. Anyway, here’s the guy I was telling you about that runs this whole troupe, his name is Andrew by the way. Here… Hey, guy. I’m Andrew, I heard a lot about you from Kris. So you wrote a book? Usually when people ask me that, they either want to clarify things or they’re curious how I’ll respond. Hey, nice to meet you, I wrote like four that are in that style and could be easily turned into plays. I am really curious what he has in mind. Look, we can’t pay you much, but if you want we can give you like a 10% if you’re interested, just so we get this out of the way. And you can even direct it yourself, if you feel like it. That was really odd. So, you don’t want to read them or anything like that? He started laughing. Kris here convinced me, so if you want, we can meet tomorrow if you’re free and discuss the details and what you’d like and what we can offer. Well, they can’t pay me, cause of course they can’t, no one really gives a shit about this, unless you’re a big shot. Fuck it, why not. Yeah, tomorrow sounds great. See you at the statue downtown, next to the bell then. He responded with a sure and that ended the phone call. Well, that’s not how I imagined this would go today. But I’m going to have some fun with this.

This is the fifth of the short stories for the Pilot Program. How does it work? You read the short stories within the pilot program, you re-read them, share them, like them, comment if you like them, force your friends to read them and then maybe this will become the short story series for 2020.

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Attropolis XX

In Rome, neither Olanus nor Alicaria have really gotten over the tragedy, nor were they satisfied with the outcome. But spring has sprung and nice weather still helped lifting their spirits. Wonderful weather also meant more vigor, and war. There was much to conquer on the Northern, Western and Eastern fronts. After a calm winter, Augustus was getting restless as he didn’t trust the peace that had set, as he knew that no conquered nation would just accept it. That and the fact that he had yet to best those that had come before him. His targets were the Hispenic peninsula to the west, to the North and North-West the Gauls, and to the East the Dacians. Since they knew war all too well, being at peace for this long, turned into more than just bloodlust, it felt like proper lust, longing for those thrills, like lusting over the thrills of a past lover.

As the days were passing she stopped visiting the courts and the soldiers, giving up on whoring around. She started taking care of herself, cleaning up nicely now with a kept hair and clean clothing. Olanus kept trying to apologize to her about what he had done, she simply couldn’t, but she needed him and he needed her. They decided to trade favors. He teaching her to fight and defend herself and him to protect her and be by her side. And so, Alicaria had moved in with Olanus, each sleeping in their individual beds in the same room. She cooked for him when he’d go to the courts and he had a small sword made for a lady her stature with which she could defend herself if ever needed. She’d clean his armor, he’d teach her how to punch and kick, she’d clean the house, he’d teach her where to stab in order to kill or subdue an enemy.

Days passing, she was quick to learn and what a fighter she turned out to be. In a matter of a few days she mastered the dagger and throwing knives. Olanus was impressed to see a woman do all these things, yet he knew very well what she was capable of. There was one type of combat she was lacking in, no matter what. Every single time he grasped her arms, she just fell to her knees. Every time she was on her knees, his body just couldn’t her itself and get erect. And from pure instinct she always opened her taking his rod in her mouth. Every time he tried to grasp her by the waste, she’d wrap her legs around him, she’d always get wet and the wrestling lessons would turn into dirty, hot and passionate lovemaking.

After a few weeks, on a dark early morning, Olanus got woken up by some soldiers telling him about the fact that he’d been called to the court in an emergency meeting set up by Augustus himself, after he got news about what happened in Greece.

Previously in Creetus…

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Attropolis XIX

Woken up gently by the giant, Hippos still couldn’t believe the day he had. The great gave him some breakfast, smiling and still disturbing the poor child with his kindness. As he ate, the man started explaining to him what his future will be. Listen, I am saddened by the tragedy that struck you, but I can see that you are powerful. Your eyes are sparking with something and I want to train you focus whatever is inside you. So, I will get you a tutor to teach you everything they teach at school and after that you’ll train with me. I’ll teach you everything I know. This visibly upset Hippos, as he wanted to meet his love on a daily basis, having a private tutor meant the opposite. Seeing his reaction the man came up with an idea. Now, don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be seeing her. If anything, you’ll be able to see her every evening from now on, if you’ll listen to me. Okay? The boy nodded in agreement, as he smiled for the first time being with the giant.

Sword, shield, spear, poetry, philosophy, astrology, daggers, poisons, foods, plants, animals and human anatomy, these all were Hippos’s subjects. He wanted to make the boy into the best of the best, creating the most sophisticated and cultured soldier. Yet he was bruised, hungry all the time, body aching all the time, but all of that didn’t matter, as every evening the giant kept his promise and he did get to see the love of his life. Adpetentia was her name, daughter born of a strong woman, mother working at the court in Creetus and a wimp of a father that was cleaner people hired to do the dirty work. She was a very smart girl, her keen eye caught onto things quite quickly. As she understood her own family dynamic, she grew frustrated as nothing helped the man that somehow was her father. She couldn’t grasp how her mother got to be with someone like him. Yet her mother loved him, because he could do whatever she wanted to do with him. For once she had control over a man, and that just turned her on. But this clearly had the opposite effect on the daughter.

Every forth day was a break day for Hippos in which he’d be free to do whatever he’d like. The giant trusted that he wouldn’t do something absolutely horrid or disgraceful. The child did nothing but behave, no matter how hard the training was, or how tough the subject, he’d always come on top due to some ingenious scheme he’d hatch on the spot. Day after day after day, the child was growing, developing and working hard. His vision became their vision, the chemistry and understanding between the two developed as the days passed and their bond grew. Hippos now was taller than all the boys at his former school and the most athletic of them all. The soldiers were impressed with him and couldn’t wait for him to grow more and join them.

And so, in Rome….

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Attropolis XVIII

Olanus grew tired as the night went on, Alicaria was still hurting, yet they didn’t give up. At his wits end, he reached out to someone he knew had experience in the domain, a friend of his that was a little on the sociopathic side due to his intelligence, Homes. He entered limping a bit, not even waiting for them to ask what happened to him, he told them how he was trying an experiment, so he’d jumped from the roof of a house to see if it would really kill someone. With one look he had Alicaria all figured out, with one listen to the story they had told him, he already knew who the culprit was. He was never wrong, which is why no one doubted him and his skills.

From what you told me there were four men, right? But… here’s my question, why four? Why not more? That’s my question… I wonder, honestly. I mean, it’s clear that this isn’t the whole story, whoever did this… This isn’t their first time. And not the last that’s for sure. I know it, in fact. He stopped for a second, Olanus opened his mouth trying to speak, but… You know, I don’t know why you chose these four, but you might be a genius. Because I think, that the culprit is one of those four. Without any luck… Look, you’re a friend and you’ve helped me tons before, with stuff. He said looking at her, but with his arm on his shoulder.

Let me tell you why I think what I think and how I came to the conclusion I came to, okay? The first man, the oldest of them all, cute, serene but intelligent, which might be dangerous. Never underestimate the intelligence of a man or base yourself on the appearance of one. Trust me, I’m never wrong. Until now, let’s see… The second one is weird, I don’t like him for some reason, he creeps me out, even from this neighboring room. He is too clean for his own good, he might be hiding something behind all that, dangerous. The third one is innocent, no doubt about it. The fourth one is… The most dangerous of them all. She was shocked to hear that. But there is no doubt he has something to do with this.

Olanus frustrated, angry and tired screamed “ENOUGH” at Homes, telling him to get to the point. Flustered but not shaken, Homes continued. Okay, fine. Between the second guy and the fourth one, probably. The second one is hiding something, that’s for sure and you should look into him, because this might have been a mistake on his part. The fourth one is s simpleton with enough power to kill, especially a poor child, so he might have not meant it. If you want to know my take, it’s the fourth one. She jumped out and up of the chair saying that it can’t be true. Olanus intervened telling her to calm down and trust him, because he was never wrong. He continued telling her that they have to put forth an example in the memory of Julius, because he deserved justice. She started crying on the floor as she agreed to it.

Thus they entered the room with the four religious people were waiting. Angry Olanus with the sword pulled, knowing that the fourth one might actually put up a good fight, ran towards him sword up, hitting the neck of the fourth guy over and over and over again. As his thick neck and strong spinal cord weren’t giving in. Blood squirting everywhere as the guy was screaming and as Olanus was hitting his neck over and over and over again, until it slashed through his vertebrae taking his head clean off his neck. Ending the nightmare of the day they’ve been having.

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Attropolis XVII

Hippos with a baffled look on his face, in the arms of this giant with blue eyes, he almost forgot about the death of his parents. She didn’t even think to try and stop him or hold onto him, for once she was scared. He look at Hippos and asked what the deal with him was, someone told him about what just happened and why he was here, to which he smiled, look at him and said that he’s going to take the boy with him. She started panicking, so she pulled on the giant. With a stern look he looked down upon her, the little girl kept gesturing at him and at herself, but wasn’t able to speak properly. He didn’t know how to respond, so he turned to leave, and so she started crying and relieving herself. Seeing that, Hippos pushed him and jumped down from his arms, running to her, holding her in his arms and whispering something to her. Her crying stopped, he turned around and went back to the giant. She waved at him, he waved back at her and went on different paths.

The soldiers confused asked him why he took the kids, he with a laugh answered that he simply recognized something in the boy’s eyes, something he hasn’t seen in years, maybe reminding him of a younger version of someone he once knew. Hippos was listening carefully to what the men were talking, trying to pick up on clues and gain any advantage, but with no luck, he was under the care of a giant that always smiled when looking at Hippos. This scared him, it was unsettling, seeing someone with such a scar on his face smiling towards a child like he was. Nothing about him seemed gentle, the hands of the giant had calluses, blisters on his feet, mud everywhere on him, a bloody sword and a deep voice that could shatter the earth and his ears.

They each went their way, Hippos was now on the way to his new home, it was quieter now that it was just the two of them. He still didn’t understand why this giant would care for him or take him, now having doubts about what was next for him and his future. Parent-less, lover-less on his way to the unknown with a someone that looked like he fell out of the side of a mountain. This was the first night Hippos spent awake, the adrenaline started to wear off, he was getting sleepy. The man took Hippos in his arms, as the sun was coloring the skies orange, yellow and all shades of blue and purple, they arrived at his house. A modest little house at the edge of the city, on a bit of a hill from which you could see the roof of every house in Creetus and at the end, the sea. What a long day comes to an end with both of them falling asleep the moment they enter the house and sit on the bed. All muddy, dirty and still wet from the thunderstorm…

And in Rome

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Attropolis XVI

CAUTION: ATTROPOLIS CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE, SEXUAL CONTENT, DISTURBING IMAGES AND IMMORAL GROTESQUE BEHAVIOR. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Man 3: The third man finally stood up on his one good foot… Teeth and gums rotten just like his other leg. He smelled like the intestines of a cow, he looked worse than a half eaten cat. Yet, he too, was soft spoken. A man of few words, Olanus was already tired of having to deal with these religious men, yet he was calm, the devotion he had for justice was almost incomparable in the empire. So, he continued interrogating the man. Barely moving his right eye, he looked at him and answered his questions as well as he could, being deaf in one ear at his age was impeding him.

The door opened, Alicaria entered the room, to his surprise, went close to the four men, took a good look at them, then made her way towards a chair next to him. As she sat, Olanus moved onto the fourth man.

Man 4: A younger rounder man, black between the toes of his feet. A few black highlights spread over his head, thinking he might trick people into thinking that he has hair. He was fidgety, swearing like it was raining indoors, yet his speech was dragging and slow. Spitting left and right as he was trying to put thought to word through his fat cheeks and fatter lips. As the interrogation went on, the more and more Olanus had the urge to strangle him and rip his throat through his asshole. Having her there helped him get through it all…

He had the men held up in that room, as they went outside to discuss the situation and debrief her into the information he gathered from them. Yet there was no news about the fifth men, which only fueled his anger and frustration. Thus he started relying the information, saying: The first man seems a bit too old and scrawny in my opinion. Then there’s the fact that he said he taking care of his animals all day, feeding them, stalking up and getting ready for the congregation. Helping those that can’t feed themselves… He looked at her and asked if she knew him. She shook her head, signaling no. Thinking that he may not tell her about him, he moved on: The second one was odd, he looks like he is impervious to everything and anything. A bit too holy, a bit too suspicious. He said he went through there, but not your place specifically, as he had some errands to run and had talked to some folk on the streets. He again looked at her and asked if she knew him… She surprised like being woken from a dream, nods and tells him about seeing him two or thrice a day around, in the rare days she spends her time at home morning to evening.

The third man is disgusting, and looks like someone that could harm people. Said Olanus scratching his head, as he was walking frustrated around the room. She responded by saying that he rarely saw the man around, but he did see him. She also heard about his story, The man behind the legends, supposedly he was known to have fought the boar infestation twenty years prior, thus leading to the poor state he was in now. Olanus was shocked, as he too heard those stories about that man when he was but a boy.

Then there’s this forth man… Olanus said frustrated, exclaiming He is too stupid to have done anything. She couldn’t help herself but laugh at him and his outburst. I know him, she said. We’re roughly the same age, grew up together, he was always this way. He comes by once in a while to chat and to talk to me. Nothing more, he’s like a little brother. They were nowhere closer to solving the mystery of what happened to poor Juliusegos de la Capital… And so, his tragedy lives on…

In Creetus….

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Pilot Program - I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Dreams, the type of stuff that keeps you up all night. The thing that keeps your mind active even when you want to rest, cause your head feels like it’s about to explode due to it being overworked. What a fantastic way to get traumatized sometimes, you simply dream of the unexplainable and the unreasonable when you can’t move your body willingly, unless you wake up, of course. Like that one time…

Inside a big living room, everything seems shrouded in darkness except the life that the flickering fire was providing in the fireplace. The walls were red with gold wavy linings, it all looked expensive and exquisite. The brown hardwood floor had a shining polish, a big fluffy rug on the floor, upon it a small coffee table. Everything so clean, no speck of dust seemed to live anywhere around that room. Long burgundy drapes, flowing from along side the giant windows, it was a clear skies night outside. The big dark brown door opened. With fluffy black socks, skinny legs, in black panties with a white t-shirt on, she entered the room. Black straight hair a bit under her shoulder blades, long natural red nails, some black eyeliner, monolid eye shape and some gorgeous brown eyes, she smiled as she entered the room. I was on a brown leather couch, unable to get up. She seemed entertained by it all, giggling and looking like she just won the biggest jackpot. She signals me to get closer with a gesture of her hand and one finger. I feel pulled out from the couch by a mysterious force which I can’t control. I fly into her arms, she stars laughing as she grabs me in her arms and says: “Oh, I am so lucky to have you here, with me." I’m confused, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know her, I don’t know how I got there or how she is doing any of this. But here I am…

What can I do? What could I have done? As confused as I am, as good it feels to be held by her, a warm embrace filled with love. At peace, I give in, I hug her back. Yet something still doesn’t feel right, or at least that’s what I was thinking. A small push from her, I fly back onto the couch, on my back, I can’t move again. Slowly moving towards me, a big smile on her face she playfully winks at me. I start to get nervous, excited, I felt like I was shaking, though I couldn’t move. Once she got to me, she started touching my chest. I was wearing a white shirt, no tie and some black suit pants. She started kissing me passionately, I couldn’t stop her, nor did I want to at that point, somehow her spell wore off enough to the point where I could move my arms again…

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This is the forth of the Pilot Program short stories.n If you want to read more, like it, share it, read and re-read it and comment. And that way you’ll decide which of the short stories in the Pilot Program gets a 52 week run in 2020.

Attropolis XV

Caution: Attropolis contains strong language, sexual content, disturbing images and immoral grotesque behavior. You have been warned.

The wailing in the house had stopped, she finally stood up on her feet, slowly, gently she got up. Wiped the tears from here face, step by step, slowly moved towards the door. On her way she grabbed a small rusty pole she had in the house by the fire place. As she reached the door, she grabbed onto Olanus’s hand, pulling him to the side, so she could step beside him. The murmur of the crowd grew thinner, between her dirty locks her voice cracked like a whip towards the crowd. And with her voice she swung to the right, to the left, the echoes were like thunder to lightning. Accusing people of envying her, of wanting to hurt her, because she turned them down, because they thought she was an abnormality, with no redeeming qualities. A monster in the disguise of a woman with charms. They were pointing at her legs, her dress, one woman even pulling her by the hair. That was the point where Olanus intervened, slapping the woman’s hand away, and shushing the crowd. He had questioned the crowd about men of faith, specifically if there are some that usually visit this part of Rome. After a few minutes he had a list of a few good men of the faith, he gave the list to his soldiers, to gather them at the court. Olanus invited her back into the carriage, the people stopped making any fuss out of fear.

Once they arrived at the court, Olanus was briefed on the fact that they could find only four out of the five men, this only enraged him, sending a few of his men out the look for him. The rest were interrogated by Olanus on his own, as she was sent to be bathed and taken care of.

MAN 1: An old scrawny man, there wasn’t one spot on his skin that wasn’t wrinkly, yet despite all that he smelled like a field of freshly grown flowers. Serene blue eyes, a gentle smile, rotten splinters where there used to be teeth.

Whilst interrogating the man, he responded nicely, with a soft voice. Listening to it, you could easily fall asleep. The clarity in his eyes, had Olanus disheartened for a moment, thinking they might have brought such a sweet old man in for such a horrible deed. Yet the man, with a look, made him understand that it was okay, he understood that he was only doing his job. When asked about the woman and the child, he simply told him that he would only leave some food outside their window, since he felt pity for the poor things. This, melted his heart, so he moved on…

MAN 2: An older man, but not as old as the first one, with a long silver beard and hair to match. He had all his white teeth, like he had never used them, his breath like that of a minty piss. Bespoke like none of them there, dust seemed to want to run away from him and dirt feared him. When Olanus interrogated him, his voice when responding was like those of muses singing. His eyes shinning like a star, no speck of vein on the whites of his eyes either. All his answers to the questions were clear as pure water, no hesitation, nor did he break eye contact with Olanus.

But then…

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