She'd be pretty pissed were she in his position and she saw a grave with Yoh's name on it, or even Ganta's or Chaplin's. It was like they were taunting them, almost daring them to want to go home; she can almost hear the COMPASS spooks jeering from the shadows, what's the point of returning? your friend's since gone to a better place.
But even Eren was better than to fall for that, wasn't he? He had a world he dreamed of exploring and Titans to eradicate. Whoever 'Armin' was, if he really were dead, he'd just come right back.
Right? Right. Even so, Minatsuki debates bringing flowers, just out of respect. The dead deserved to rest, as Jean had told her.
Most of the time, anyhow. She decides against it, because she feels like it'd just insult Eren, and besides---
----His friend couldn't possibly be dead. So she arrives, shovel slung over her shoulder, eyeing the numerous plots with disdain.
This was just demented, even for her.]
Tch. Real fucking cute of these fuckfaces to even provide us with this bullshit. Time to see through their little magic trick, Eren.
[ Eren doesn't bother responding. Minatsuki was volatile, but she'd proven to be a fairly reliable figure in his life— if she'd show up to fight a Titan with him, she'd probably bring a shovel. His mind's far too occupied with the grave anyway, considering she's right. He couldn't be dead.
Couldn't.
He's got bandages and dirt smeared up to his elbows, sweat and grime caught in straggling lines across his face when he looks up at Mina's approach. ]
Damn right. [ He tosses aside a handful of dirt and pushes himself onto his feet with a scowl, reaching out to take the shovel. ] Thanks, by the way— I'd be stuck here all night at the rate I'm going.
[Minatsuki does as obliged, crouching next to him. A pang of guilt hits as she sees the bandages---he'd taken more damage than her during that whole ordeal. However, she voices none of that. It wasn't worth it; she knows him well enough that it didn't matter to him so long as those he deemed important were alright, and Mikasa was alive at the end of it all.
She waves away his thanks. ]
Pfft, as if you'd wanna break your back for these assholes, especially when they pull sick shit like this.
[She looks over at the tombstone, which bears the name 'ARMIN ARLERT.' Raises an eyebrow.]
[ Whatever injuries he has are self-induced, anyway— the cost of trying to shift and failing. She'd probably understand that given her own abilities, but there's more urgent matters to attend to. Maybe they could bond over bloody abilities later. ]
Four days. Nearly five.
[ Armin had mostly stuck to himself in Zelien, but Eren had made a point to bug him when he could. And his absence was stark and frustrating— he doesn't waste a second, grabbing the shovel and heaving dirt out of the grave. ]
It's not like him to just... ditch us. He's the responsible one.
And he was okay at the time? You know how this place fucks with us.
[There's no knowing what could've happened to the kid during that gap; between the spaceship, the rifts, and the power-swapping, anything was possible, even if he was otherwise the voice of reason.
In fact, if her own experiences were anything to go by, Zelien---hell, being under COMPASS' captivity---could change you in a lot of ways.
It was a wonder no one's gone and snapped completely yet, all things considered. Minatsuki keepsa close eye on the gravesite, to see if anything weird sticks out.]
You try getting in contact with him through the watch since?
He's stronger than that. [ His tone goes sharp with conviction, even if he doesn't look up from his work. ] He just— [ Eren pauses to heft out some more dirt, brows drawing together from exertion. ] —stopped checking in all the sudden. With me, and our officers.
[ He speaks, but it's distracted, words thrown out as he focuses on shoveling. There's far too much earth to move and not enough daylight to do it; he didn't want to consider that this place could've driven any of them mad. Least of all Armin, who really wouldn't be so stupid as to run off by himself short of completely going crazy.
He's made a sizable crater when he pauses to continue, eyes still trailing on the ground. ] We've looked everywhere. Docks, campus, city— forest.
[Minatsuki narrows her eyes and remains silent, fiddling with her earring as she tries to think. She's not sure what to make of any of this. There is a grave here, with the kid's name on it, yet absolutely nothing in the way of clues as to how this grave could even appear to begin with, besides a sudden disappearance.
It just makes no sense. There should have been a trail of some sort.
Either this had to be a hoax, or---]
Eren, wait.
[Through the crater he's created, and the dirt still piled up at the bottom, she catches a hint of an object. It's hard to make out fully in the shadows, but there is something.]
[ On her direction, he taps the ground— and there's a heavy thunk of metal against wood. He bends over, wiping away the fine layer of debris to... the smooth, black top of a coffin.
It's not a very deep grave.
He doesn't speak for a good, long while, digging until sweat rolls from his brow and piles of dirt settle up around them. Eventually he grips at the top cover, fingers shaking as they curl around the edge and he starts to pull, remnants of earth still sitting along the top. His breathing is shallow, and the weight is heavy— he tugs with a grunt, barely shifting it.
And so Minatsuki gets a glance as he swallows, willing himself not to be nervous. It'd be okay. It'd be empty, and she could make fun of how gross he looked and the dirt under his nails and they could leave. ]
[It's true. He does look like a twiggier Swamp Thing at the rate that he's going, but now's not the time or place----kind of tasteless, even for her. Minatsuki nods, moving to the bottom end of the coffin.
A cold feeling enters her gut as she looks at it. Just from his first attempt at lifting it alone, she's got a bad feeling.
If it were empty, he'd be able to get it to budge at least slightly, enough to shift the dirt around it.
Despite herself, she swallows as well---the unease is mutual. Unlike him, she can't think on a positive note or see the bright side of things, and for one reason.
Minatsuki looks at him somewhat worriedly, taking hold of her end.]
I got it. You ready? 1...2...
[Because when you did that, you always got let down.]
...3! Now lift...!
[With a loud grunt, she proceeds to raise the coffin alongside him.]
[ Things that would go straight over his head anyway: pop culture references. Wouldn't want her to waste her jokes or anything.
Plus, as much as he'd rather the situation lighten up enough for her to poke fun at him, Eren has decent instincts. Or at least a sense of realism. Whatever it may be, there is a cold, hard knot where his heart should be and a chill running down his back that he can't get away from.
Right on cue, he nods and hefts upwards, and it's hard to tell if his last thought is 'it'll be okay' or simply 'don't.'
The top of the coffin clatters up, pillowing itself onto some of the dirt with a sudden shift that leaves Eren righting his balance. But what's there is enough to leave him staggering, color draining from his face at the small corpse, rigid hands folded together neatly. His cloak is almost a vivid green compared to his skin, and Armin has always been pale but it's all very, very wrong and it feels like that knot has expanded, grown into his lungs and pushed all the air out— ]
A-Armin...?
[ What follows is little more than a horrified, strangled noise on his part as he immediately steps into the coffin, reaching for the body's lapels and shaking, knuckles white because he's pulling at dead weight— ] Armin!
[Uttering these words hoarsely, Minatsuki flinches at the sight of the corpse---and all she can do is stand there as Eren goes into a rising panic---which is sure to be followed by bristling rage. What can she do? She didn't know Armin. She didn't know Eren that well just yet.
Still---how the hell could this be? The kid was quite glaringly dead, but something doesn't add up. People who died here came back. How was a moot point, but they did.
So what exception was being made here? Minatsuki's mind races as she struggles to piece things together and as she watches Eren's emotions begin to reach a boiling point. What the fuck does she say? "It'll be alright?" No, because they weren't going to be. "He's in a better place?" That would just be insulting. "I'm sorry"? Apologies were worthless in situations like this.
Yet there's still that one inconsistency. As disturbing as this is, it's still too well-timed.
What if that's still not really Armin? What if the body is, in itself, a hoax, and the real Armin just found a way back home instead?
.....Perhaps she's the one being optimistic now, but...it would make a surprising amount of sense.]
Hey.
[Minatsuki kneels down next to Eren, lightly putting a hand on his shoulder. She'll keep that theory to herself for now---there was no use in throwing this poor guy into further turmoil, and spurring him to do something reckless. She's angry for him---this is a hell of a way to be dicked around---but she had to watch his back, too, not just cover it.
Just as he'd done for her.]
These fuckheads won't get away with this.
[She shakes her head.]
They'll be the ones filling this fucking graveyard. If you're up for that, I got your back, Eren.
[ He's really not in the right state of mind to be thinking of the bigger picture, that maybe this was a ploy and not reality or whatever else. The inside of Eren's brain is actually tremendously blank of thoughts and almost entirely just emotion.
He doesn't react to the touch, hardly notices it at all— he's too busy reaching for his friend's face, senselessly feeling for a pulse and brushing his thumb against an eyelid (they're sunken). He's mortified, but he refuses to avert his gaze, and his breathing is panicked until she speaks.
Minatsuki is calmer. Why wouldn't she be? If this were a consolable situation, maybe that would rub off on him, too— but it's not. He listens without looking at her, shoulder shaking under her hand. It takes too long to find a response, but her words are almost warm in that strange, mutual violence they share sometimes.
He had her support. And it was a distant comfort when his legs feel so heavy, but— ]
Y... —Yeah.
[ There are tears swelling at his eyes. He doesn't bother pushing them away, and as usual his fury is wild (and totally predictable), but this time his voice is unsteady with equal parts anger and anguish. ]
This place... [ he chokes up, moves on— ] won't be enough to hold their corpses.
[This is the first time she's ever seen him cry. Now, she knows he wears his emotions on his sleeve, but never did she think he would openly shed tears.
Minatsuki isn't sure how she feels about bearing witness to such a display of emotion. A part of her understands---it's always hard to lose someone you care about---but another part of her just wants him to stop.
Because it hits her a little too close to home. Strikes too many chords she outright forgot she had.
Once again, she's at a loss. How could she handle someone else's emotions when she barely had a grasp on her own? That said, the best she can manage in terms of actual comfort is an awkward pat on his shoulder before letting it go and looking down while rubbing the back of her neck, sounding vaguely bashful.]
Yeah---I mean, you said he's your best friend, right? [Her eyes briefly flick toward the corpse.] He'd want you to keep on keeping on, you know? Because...that's what friends do or whatever, right---
[And that's when she finally takes notice of the injuries on his arms. She frowns.]
[ Ah, man. She was bad at this. But there's no right thing to say; what's appreciated is the effort. The fact that she hasn't just left him to the wolves yet. For a girl like her these sorts of emotions were probably awkward, and while he can't bring himself to stop because of it, there's a distant awareness that she's sitting through it anyway.
So, he's still furious. Will keep being furious. For the moment, though, he reaches for Armin's hands, a chill running down his spine at the texture of his skin, the frigidness of it, gripping them tight all the same. ] Don't force yourself, Mina. [ Neither of them needed the senseless condolences that came with these things. There's something sharp and pained to his grated tone and he's still crying, but the will behind it is steeled over. ] You'll help me kill who did this. That's what's important.
[ Because that's what friends like them did, right? It takes him several more beats to recover enough to speak again, but he finally reaches up with his other hand to swipe angrily at the tears, mind swirling around her question. He's not great at shifting and the benefits that came with it— even if his body would kick in automatically when it needed to, it's still hard to heal up any injuries at will. Especially not after his powers were yanked away for a week. His eyes barely shift from Armin's face to the unraveling bandages on his arms, bitemarks peeking through them. They hardly seemed important, but, ] They're... [ Hm. He brings his palm to his mouth, bringing his teeth down hard enough to show an indent to illustrate his point. ] mine. Kinda like your earrings. Nothin' big.
[ Which is easy enough to say when you're sitting over your friend's corpse. ]
[Minatsuki grunts, looking away partially out of continued embarrassment, but also because seeing him grip Armin's hands reminds her too much of when she was younger, trying to shake her mother back to life after inadvertently slicing her apart. It's like he's trying to will the kid into resurrecting in much the same way, despite knowing it was impossible, and there was no turning back.
But Eren was like that, she'd come to notice. Stubborn and unrelenting, even in the face of impossible odds.
She's still unsure whether to be irritated by that or admire him for it. She throws her hand up.]
I'm not. [Actually, it was like pulling teeth.] And you don't even need to ask me to help, moron.
[A promise was a promise, after all.
Minatsuki looks from his demonstration down to his arms again, sees hints of scarring from the bitemarks. Looks at him straight in the eye not long thereafter. She doesn't look disturbed or even shocked; just...vaguely understanding.
It made sense now. What had happened last week. Why the cold didn't seem to affect him even earlier.
He was the very thing he wanted so desperately gone.]
So they're connected to your power. It's how you trigger it.
[She looks off to the side. But she'd rather hear him confirm it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w8 ; d3-ish
do you have a shovel or something i acn borrow
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do you need a big one or a little one and what for
[dammit, she forgot he saw her carrying those azaleas. she can't help but ask, though---this is rather random, even for him.]
1/2
ill take whatever yuo have tyough
[ there's a distinct lack of him making fun of her. and a considerable lag. ]
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She doesn't want to bring her up, but---]
shit, this isn't about mikasa, is it?
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shell be ok
the grave says armins name but that has to be bullshit
idont nkwo if you guys have met
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that name doesn't ring a bell though
i mean i'll lend you the shovel but if this person's dead wouldn't they....just come back like you did?
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from home
and hes not fuckngin dead
tihs has to be some sickjoke
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eren
we'll check this out so stay cool until we actually confirm this shit
where are you right now so we can meet up
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yeah
okay
i'm at the graveyard
text > action????
be there in a few
[Not that she blames him.
She'd be pretty pissed were she in his position and she saw a grave with Yoh's name on it, or even Ganta's or Chaplin's. It was like they were taunting them, almost daring them to want to go home; she can almost hear the COMPASS spooks jeering from the shadows, what's the point of returning? your friend's since gone to a better place.
But even Eren was better than to fall for that, wasn't he? He had a world he dreamed of exploring and Titans to eradicate. Whoever 'Armin' was, if he really were dead, he'd just come right back.
Right? Right. Even so, Minatsuki debates bringing flowers, just out of respect. The dead deserved to rest, as Jean had told her.
Most of the time, anyhow. She decides against it, because she feels like it'd just insult Eren, and besides---
----His friend couldn't possibly be dead. So she arrives, shovel slung over her shoulder, eyeing the numerous plots with disdain.
This was just demented, even for her.]
Tch. Real fucking cute of these fuckfaces to even provide us with this bullshit. Time to see through their little magic trick, Eren.
sorry about the delay ugh
Couldn't.
He's got bandages and dirt smeared up to his elbows, sweat and grime caught in straggling lines across his face when he looks up at Mina's approach. ]
Damn right. [ He tosses aside a handful of dirt and pushes himself onto his feet with a scowl, reaching out to take the shovel. ] Thanks, by the way— I'd be stuck here all night at the rate I'm going.
g u r l you know it's all good
She waves away his thanks. ]
Pfft, as if you'd wanna break your back for these assholes, especially when they pull sick shit like this.
[She looks over at the tombstone, which bears the name 'ARMIN ARLERT.' Raises an eyebrow.]
When's the last time you saw him?
drapes on......!!
Four days. Nearly five.
[ Armin had mostly stuck to himself in Zelien, but Eren had made a point to bug him when he could. And his absence was stark and frustrating— he doesn't waste a second, grabbing the shovel and heaving dirt out of the grave. ]
It's not like him to just... ditch us. He's the responsible one.
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[There's no knowing what could've happened to the kid during that gap; between the spaceship, the rifts, and the power-swapping, anything was possible, even if he was otherwise the voice of reason.
In fact, if her own experiences were anything to go by, Zelien---hell, being under COMPASS' captivity---could change you in a lot of ways.
It was a wonder no one's gone and snapped completely yet, all things considered. Minatsuki keepsa close eye on the gravesite, to see if anything weird sticks out.]
You try getting in contact with him through the watch since?
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[ He speaks, but it's distracted, words thrown out as he focuses on shoveling. There's far too much earth to move and not enough daylight to do it; he didn't want to consider that this place could've driven any of them mad. Least of all Armin, who really wouldn't be so stupid as to run off by himself short of completely going crazy.
He's made a sizable crater when he pauses to continue, eyes still trailing on the ground. ] We've looked everywhere. Docks, campus, city— forest.
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It just makes no sense. There should have been a trail of some sort.
Either this had to be a hoax, or---]
Eren, wait.
[Through the crater he's created, and the dirt still piled up at the bottom, she catches a hint of an object. It's hard to make out fully in the shadows, but there is something.]
Something's in that hole. Try tapping around it.
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It's not a very deep grave.
He doesn't speak for a good, long while, digging until sweat rolls from his brow and piles of dirt settle up around them. Eventually he grips at the top cover, fingers shaking as they curl around the edge and he starts to pull, remnants of earth still sitting along the top. His breathing is shallow, and the weight is heavy— he tugs with a grunt, barely shifting it.
And so Minatsuki gets a glance as he swallows, willing himself not to be nervous. It'd be okay. It'd be empty, and she could make fun of how gross he looked and the dirt under his nails and they could leave. ]
Grab the other end?
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A cold feeling enters her gut as she looks at it. Just from his first attempt at lifting it alone, she's got a bad feeling.
If it were empty, he'd be able to get it to budge at least slightly, enough to shift the dirt around it.
Despite herself, she swallows as well---the unease is mutual. Unlike him, she can't think on a positive note or see the bright side of things, and for one reason.
Minatsuki looks at him somewhat worriedly, taking hold of her end.]
I got it. You ready? 1...2...
[Because when you did that, you always got let down.]
...3! Now lift...!
[With a loud grunt, she proceeds to raise the coffin alongside him.]
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Plus, as much as he'd rather the situation lighten up enough for her to poke fun at him, Eren has decent instincts. Or at least a sense of realism. Whatever it may be, there is a cold, hard knot where his heart should be and a chill running down his back that he can't get away from.
Right on cue, he nods and hefts upwards, and it's hard to tell if his last thought is 'it'll be okay' or simply 'don't.'
The top of the coffin clatters up, pillowing itself onto some of the dirt with a sudden shift that leaves Eren righting his balance. But what's there is enough to leave him staggering, color draining from his face at the small corpse, rigid hands folded together neatly. His cloak is almost a vivid green compared to his skin, and Armin has always been pale but it's all very, very wrong and it feels like that knot has expanded, grown into his lungs and pushed all the air out— ]
A-Armin...?
[ What follows is little more than a horrified, strangled noise on his part as he immediately steps into the coffin, reaching for the body's lapels and shaking, knuckles white because he's pulling at dead weight— ] Armin!
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[Uttering these words hoarsely, Minatsuki flinches at the sight of the corpse---and all she can do is stand there as Eren goes into a rising panic---which is sure to be followed by bristling rage. What can she do? She didn't know Armin. She didn't know Eren that well just yet.
Still---how the hell could this be? The kid was quite glaringly dead, but something doesn't add up. People who died here came back. How was a moot point, but they did.
So what exception was being made here? Minatsuki's mind races as she struggles to piece things together and as she watches Eren's emotions begin to reach a boiling point. What the fuck does she say? "It'll be alright?" No, because they weren't going to be. "He's in a better place?" That would just be insulting. "I'm sorry"? Apologies were worthless in situations like this.
Yet there's still that one inconsistency. As disturbing as this is, it's still too well-timed.
What if that's still not really Armin? What if the body is, in itself, a hoax, and the real Armin just found a way back home instead?
.....Perhaps she's the one being optimistic now, but...it would make a surprising amount of sense.]
Hey.
[Minatsuki kneels down next to Eren, lightly putting a hand on his shoulder. She'll keep that theory to herself for now---there was no use in throwing this poor guy into further turmoil, and spurring him to do something reckless. She's angry for him---this is a hell of a way to be dicked around---but she had to watch his back, too, not just cover it.
Just as he'd done for her.]
These fuckheads won't get away with this.
[She shakes her head.]
They'll be the ones filling this fucking graveyard. If you're up for that, I got your back, Eren.
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He doesn't react to the touch, hardly notices it at all— he's too busy reaching for his friend's face, senselessly feeling for a pulse and brushing his thumb against an eyelid (they're sunken). He's mortified, but he refuses to avert his gaze, and his breathing is panicked until she speaks.
Minatsuki is calmer. Why wouldn't she be? If this were a consolable situation, maybe that would rub off on him, too— but it's not. He listens without looking at her, shoulder shaking under her hand. It takes too long to find a response, but her words are almost warm in that strange, mutual violence they share sometimes.
He had her support. And it was a distant comfort when his legs feel so heavy, but— ]
Y... —Yeah.
[ There are tears swelling at his eyes. He doesn't bother pushing them away, and as usual his fury is wild (and totally predictable), but this time his voice is unsteady with equal parts anger and anguish. ]
This place... [ he chokes up, moves on— ] won't be enough to hold their corpses.
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Minatsuki isn't sure how she feels about bearing witness to such a display of emotion. A part of her understands---it's always hard to lose someone you care about---but another part of her just wants him to stop.
Because it hits her a little too close to home. Strikes too many chords she outright forgot she had.
Once again, she's at a loss. How could she handle someone else's emotions when she barely had a grasp on her own? That said, the best she can manage in terms of actual comfort is an awkward pat on his shoulder before letting it go and looking down while rubbing the back of her neck, sounding vaguely bashful.]
Yeah---I mean, you said he's your best friend, right? [Her eyes briefly flick toward the corpse.] He'd want you to keep on keeping on, you know? Because...that's what friends do or whatever, right---
[And that's when she finally takes notice of the injuries on his arms. She frowns.]
Eren...what the fuck happened to your arms?
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So, he's still furious. Will keep being furious. For the moment, though, he reaches for Armin's hands, a chill running down his spine at the texture of his skin, the frigidness of it, gripping them tight all the same. ] Don't force yourself, Mina. [ Neither of them needed the senseless condolences that came with these things. There's something sharp and pained to his grated tone and he's still crying, but the will behind it is steeled over. ] You'll help me kill who did this. That's what's important.
[ Because that's what friends like them did, right? It takes him several more beats to recover enough to speak again, but he finally reaches up with his other hand to swipe angrily at the tears, mind swirling around her question. He's not great at shifting and the benefits that came with it— even if his body would kick in automatically when it needed to, it's still hard to heal up any injuries at will. Especially not after his powers were yanked away for a week. His eyes barely shift from Armin's face to the unraveling bandages on his arms, bitemarks peeking through them. They hardly seemed important, but, ] They're... [ Hm. He brings his palm to his mouth, bringing his teeth down hard enough to show an indent to illustrate his point. ] mine. Kinda like your earrings. Nothin' big.
[ Which is easy enough to say when you're sitting over your friend's corpse. ]
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But Eren was like that, she'd come to notice. Stubborn and unrelenting, even in the face of impossible odds.
She's still unsure whether to be irritated by that or admire him for it. She throws her hand up.]
I'm not. [Actually, it was like pulling teeth.] And you don't even need to ask me to help, moron.
[A promise was a promise, after all.
Minatsuki looks from his demonstration down to his arms again, sees hints of scarring from the bitemarks. Looks at him straight in the eye not long thereafter. She doesn't look disturbed or even shocked; just...vaguely understanding.
It made sense now. What had happened last week. Why the cold didn't seem to affect him even earlier.
He was the very thing he wanted so desperately gone.]
So they're connected to your power. It's how you trigger it.
[She looks off to the side. But she'd rather hear him confirm it.]
What is your power, Eren?
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