| abstract | - End of Northern Highway The battered, pock-marked Northern Highway, littered with large and small impact craters is almost obliterated as it approaches the New Cybertronian Highway to the south. It comes close enough, though, for the remaining distance to be as drivable as the Northern Highway itself, which isn't saying much. On the west side of the freeway is a small, recently-abandoned collection of flimsy metal lean-tos, the former homes of empties who have vanished, either killed or migrated somewhere safer. Daylight isn't kind to this area of the highway. Every impact crater is harshly delineated in the contradictorily cheerful golden sunshine, and the pathetic remnants of a rickety group of shacks are illuminated for all to see. The endless stretches of the Northern Highway, the perfect place to clear one's head. Unless of course, that head is full of Insecticlone pods that are proving to be awfully rowdy today. As his altmode makes terrible work of flying straight, his curious scan of the ground below reveals.. Torque?? Immediately transforming and touching ground, the Seeker looks around nervously for her. "Torque, are you here? What are you doing here all alone??" he calls out, shining his flashlight about wildly. The F-16C Agile Falcon transforms with that ever-familiar sound to reveal.. BACKFIRE!! "So then I said 'how about I lend you a hand?' and I ripped off his hand and slapped him with it," Whirl says as he walks along with Torque, having just finished telling a no-doubt hilarious story. "Hahahaha...ahh, I guess you just had to be there." He stops dead in his tracks when Backfire shows up, waving a flashlight all over the place like some kind of epileptic usher. "Ohhh.. this is going to be interesting, I can tell." Whirl transforms into a crazy robot. Wreck and rule! "Ah.. Haha, yeah, I guess so." Torque tries her best to keep on the same level of conversation as Whirl, though it's a bit hard considering all the gory topics he continues to go on about. He isn't the best company, but she's glad to have /someone/ along while making her way back to Iacon, unfortunately forced to walk this portion of the road due to nasty craters and destruction to it. Terrible to drive across. But attention jerks away from Whirl, instead settling on Backfire when he drops from the sky not far down the road, the femme stiffening up in surprise and stopping in her tracks. "Ergh.. What the frag is he doing here?" She worriedly scans the skies, but... no sign of anyone else. He's alone? "What am I doing here? I should be asking you that." She intones while moving a bit closer, arms folding across her chest. Was he following them? "What am I doing here?" Backfire returns fire with the question, though in truce.. he's just repeating what she said, because he has a headache. "Well, you see Trypticon was getting awfully confining.. then I went to Darkmount, but Soundwave was torturing some wayward Cassetticons who had failed him.." he rambles, sauntering up to the pair with one hand massaging his temple.. the other flying around in wild gestures. "So I just had to like.. get some 'fresh air', I think they call it." the Seeker simpleton finishes, finally spotting Whirl next to her. "What is HE doing here?" If Backfire was literally any other Decepticon, Whirl would've started shooting a long time ago or at the very least have a weapon drawn but..well, it's Backfire. Does any more need to be said? He's content with just taking it easy and letting Backfire talk because hilarity always ensues whenever the orange and poop-brown seeker has free reign to ramble about whatever it is he chooses to ramble about. It's only when Backfire inquires about Whirl's presence in such a rude way does he finally interrupt. "What do you think I'm doing here?" He steps right up beside Torque and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling himself close against her. "I'm taking my main squeeze out on a hot date, duh! Hahaha... but seriously, do I really need a reason to take a walk with a pretty woman?" Torque's hip juts some as she puts weight on a leg and eyes Backfire when he walks up, taking note of the head rubbing. Stress? Ache? She'd ask, or even offer assistance but.. well, he's a Con, so unfortunately she can't do much of anything to help unless they were in some specific situation or something. At the question she opens her mouth to speak, but Whirl interjects as usual, even going so far as to pull her in against him, garnering a pointed glare and thin frown. "/Actually/..." She counters, digging an elbow against the Wrecker and nudging him off. "He's escorting me. We're on our way back to Iacon, sooo.." The femme sweeps hands in a little gesture in the direction they were heading, optics flicking between it and Backfire, trying to give him the hint that they need to get moving on. Though really, what are the chances of him picking up on it? Muttering "Main.. squeeze?" all wimpily like, Backfire stumbles forward and drops something from his hand. The object hits the ground with a *THUD*, round and round it rolls end over end until it finally comes to rest at Torque's feet. It's a giant snowglobe! Inside the contraption is a big figure of Trypticon stomping through a city, buildings erupting into fire under his heel. A silver plaque on the side reads: V-Day 2034 Roses are red, Violets are blue.. All my base are belong to you. Still at a complete loss for words, Backfire simply stands there.. simmering and staring at Torque. "Oh, so he's your ESCORT???" the Seeker pratically foams at the mouth, throwing himself at Whirl with fists held aloft. Combat: Backfire sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Backfire strikes Whirl with his Take THAT you Robot Male-Prostitute! (Grab) attack! Whirl oofs when Torque elbows him but he brushes it off. He's gotten quite used to her slapping or shoving him away but someday she'll reciprocate his affection. Someday.. "Heh, escort. Yeah, I guess you could say that. Except I offer my services completely free." He pauses for a moment. "Unless you're a guy, then I have to charge. A lot." The snowglobe rolling across the ground catches the Wrecker's attention and he has barely enough time to glance down at it before Backfire charges at him like some kind of rabid, jet-shaped animal. "Woah! What the crap dude!?" Whirl manages to shove the seeker off of him but not before receiving his share of fist-sized dents in his face. "You know.." he says, his voice low with barely restrained anger. "I was fine with letting you talk but now that you've gone and started throwing fists things have changed.." He gives Torque a nod. "You watching? I'm going to show you how I make those arm bouquets you like so much."
* INSERT SOUND EFFECT HERE* Whirl lunges towards the seeker, swinging his arm to clock him right across the face with the heavy bulk of his null-ray module. Combat: Whirl strikes Backfire with his slappo (Punch) attack! "No he's not trust m-- Eh?" Torque tries to correct him, not wanting him, or /anyone/, getting the wrong idea. Seriously, that's the last thing she needs is everyone thinking her and Whirl were an item. Ugh. She catches herself at the sound of the thud, looking down to spot the snowglobe resting against a foot. Curiously she bends down to pick it up and inspect it in the glow of the literal 'headlights' on her chassis. "Is this.. for me?" The medic questions with a lofting brow, unable to help a little smile forming on her lips. Kind of Decepticon-y, but sweet none-the-less. Aaaand then he punches Whirl. Torque blinks in surprise, optics widening as she swiftly ducks out of the way to avoid being hit, holding the globe close so it doesn't get broken. "Backfire, what the frag, stop!!" And now Whirl is returning the favor. Damnit, she was hoping this trip would actually be uneventfull. "Guys, knock it off!" "Ha, you act like you were LETTING me talk." Backfire spits out some energon, his face wrenched to the side halfway around after being clocked with the business-end of the Null-Ray Module. "You're lucky I was letting you LISTEN!" the Seeker shouts, trying to kick the Wrecker in the face -while- activating anti-gravs to take him into the air. If it connects, the kick will feel like a love-tap compared to the erupting geyser of boot thrusters that washes over Whirl's singular optic. "Oh, did I RUIN your clever ruse you had going? I bet you'd LOVE for me to stop right now, wouldn't you??" Backfire shouts, a hand slaps to his head accompanied by a groan of pain. "Does he know you have large HANDS? Does he know you transform into a TOW-TRUCK?? Does he know you have a robot-cat that looks JUST LIKE ME???" Combat: Backfire strikes Whirl with his Thruster'd Boot meet Face! (Laser) attack! "Ha! You're lucky I was letting you let me listen!" is Whirl's clever retort. He prepares for another strike, reeling what passes as his fist back to let it fly towards Backfire's face again but he's finds himself taking a boot to the face followed by an intense, searing pain that engulfs his entire face. Immediately the helicopter recoils, the blue paint around his face bubbling and sloughing off from the heat of the anti-grav that washed over it. Anything Torque says is lost on Whirl, the Wrecker too focused on putting Backfire in his place to listen to anything she says, no matter how sensible it may be. "Of course I know she has big hands! I'm not blind you know!" Torque's impressive hands are one of the (many) reasons Whirl admires her. He wishes he had hands as glorious as hers. "Oh yeah! And that cat that looks like you?" His arm snaps out, pinchers flexing to close around the seeker's neck and give it one hell of a squeeze. "She hates it! Says it's the stupidest shit she's ever seen! In fact, she asked me to put it down!" Combat: Whirl strikes Backfire with his pinch (Punch) attack! Torque figured just as much that they wouldn't be listening to her at this point, the femme pinching nasal bridge in frustration. "Ehn.. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that, Backfire.." Especially the cat, since it isn't hard to hear the thing meowing on about the Empire's GLORY from inside her room. Which has led to plenty of questioning already. Wait.. Did Whirl just seriously say that? Head snaps back up to watch the two duke it out, optics narrowing harshly at the Wrecker and a deep scowl forming, "I never said that, what the hell!" He's weird, he's extremely stupid, but.. well, he was hers damnit, and she's looking ready to defend whatever sort of honor a head-swapped cat can have and jump in to stop them. "Yeah, well you're lucky I was letting you let me let you listen to what I was sayi..GAH!" Backfire replies in kind, before his neck is clamped down on in Whirl's vise-like squeeze. Struggling against the Wrecker, not being the epitomy of strength, the Seeker simpleton has no other option -but- to pull the Powerglide's pistol from its holster.. trying to hold the weapon against Whirl's lone optic. Pulling the trigger, Backfire kicks off against the Wrecker and collapses down to the ground beneath him. "I sincerely doubt it, you ninny! I want -nothing- more than to see that insepid recreation BURN for daring to copy my visage!!" he smiles, looking over to Torque. "See, even now she SPURNS your advances.. choosing what REMINDS her of me, rather than you YOURSELF!!!" Combat: Backfire strikes Whirl with his Powerglide's Pistol (Pistol) attack! Whirl tightens his grip, the servos in his wrist squealing from the pressure he's putting them under. "Stop talking you damn idiot! Primus, you can be so annoying sometimes!" He tries to crush Backfire's throat into a crumpled mess but he's thwarted when the seeker presses some dinky gun against his eye and pulls the trigger. His optic was already in bad shape from the anti-grav treatment he got earlier but the shot from the pistol is what finally does it in. The red glass of his optic shatters into a million little pieces, leaving behind a gaping hole and allowing all to see the sparking wires deep inside. Effectively blind at this point, Whirl is forced to rely on his internal visuals to show him the world; Torque and Backfire appearing as waves of energy that appear on his scanners. "Whatever, man! She just doesn't want to make you feel bad because she's nice like that but she's totally into me. If you weren't here, she'd be kissing all over my face!" The Wrecker swings at what he guesses is Backfire. Combat: Whirl strikes Backfire with his Blind Flailing (Punch) attack! "Wait..." Torque pauses at what Backfire says after freeing himself from Whirl's grasp. "You.. want to kill him? Why?? You made him!" She frowns, looking kind of hurt by the fact that he's been wanting to get rid of the gift he gave her. I mean, yes, she'd have the other, normal cat, but still! Now punching and choking out are one thing, but actual laserfire and something actually breaking? Yeah no, she has to step in now, planning to deal with Backfire's comment later. "That's enough!" Torque yells from the sidelines, shoving the globe into subspace and finally leaping into the fray. She's no stranger to CQC so Torque easily slips in between Whirl's semi-blind swings, jaw clenching and both hands striking out to try and shove them both hard and away from one another. Combat: Torque sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Torque strikes Backfire with her Back off (Ruckus) Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Torque misses Whirl with her Back off (Ruckus) Area attack! [Pulled -2] Standing to his feet, Backfire takes a moment to wipe dust from his aft section and apply some pressure to his back, the ACHE! "Hehehehe.. never seen a BLIND Transformer before." he giggles a bit before regaining his composure. "I guess Focus better watch out, someone.." he pauses, pointing an exaggerated finger over at Whirl, "Is gunning for his job. Hahaha." Backfire chuckles aloud, walking closer to what he percieves as no threat. "Wait, so this blind robot walks into a bar and says.. 'Ouch'." The flailing catches him right in the face, completely tearing away a section of his helm to reveal some inner circuitry. Wires sizzle with the exposure to energon and breaks, the noxious green goop flowing down his head like a small waterfall.. of robot blood. Reflexively, his hand flies up to the side of his head.. the Insecitclone pods inside growing restless and chiding a loud frequency. "Oh.. you've done it.. now." he half smiles, half looks frightened. Suddenly Torque is inbetween them, trying to make some space in the middle of the argument/fight. "You wouldn't know this from.. looking, but I'm a parent to the NEXT generation of the Insecticon clone army." he barks, the right side of his head starting to twitch a little bit. Shaking his head a couple times, the Seeker painfully continues. "Worst thing about bugs? They're -always- hungry." What happens next is mostly a blur, to any but the most discerning pair of optics. The right side of Backfire's head expands a tad-bit, then sinks into his head to give way to an explosion of tiny Insecticlones errupting from his noggin. They are a myriad of shades, mostly the usual black, purple, or yellow variety.. but among them a couple of other colors could be pointed out. They instantly envelop the two Autobots, attempting to feed as best they can.. afterall, Backfire didn't have much in the way of brains to snack on. Meanwhile, Backfire slumps back against the ground.. his hand picking at the crust around the wound. "Far out.." he mumbles. Combat: Backfire strikes Torque with his Insecticlone Swarm! Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Torque's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Backfire strikes Whirl with his Insecticlone Swarm! Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Whirl's Agility. (Crippled) Whirl has no interest in whatever it is Backfire is saying. Yeah, yeah Insecticon this, Insecticon that. Like Whirl gives a rat's ass. He flails his arms around, trying to get a feel for his surroundings, and ends up groping the femme who steps inbetween them. It was purely accidental, of course. Or was it? Knowing Whirl it probably wasn't. Fortunately for him, Whirl is unable to see the gore gooping out of Backfire's head and the squirming pods inside. Although the Wrecker is far from squeamish, the sight definitely would've been a little disturbing to him. The only way he knows that what spewed out of the seeker's head were Insecticons is the stinging pain of their bites as hundreds upon hundreds of them descend upon him, wings buzzing, jaws gnashing, eager to feed upon his delicious Autobot roboflesh. "What the hell!?" A few of the Insecticlones squeese their was into his open eye socket, crawling around inside his head and chewing on anything they come across. "Aaaargh! THEY'RE EATING MY BRAINS!" Whirl begins clawing at his head, using his pinchers to grab and tear the blue armor that protects it in a self-destructive attempt to rid himself of the infestation brewing inside of him. Torque at least back more room on Backfire's side, and that's good enough for her. Snorting, she stands back upright, grimacing unhappily at the two of them, but moreso at the wounds they've inflicted on each other. Welp, looks like Backfire's going to be getting that assistance afterall. "Ugh, now I'm gonna have to patch you two back up, hold on. ...Insecticlones?" She stops, raising a brow and looking up back to Backfire. "What are you talking about... Oh.. Oh dear Primus.." Yep. She sees the spot on his cranium where it bulges befores caving in and unleashing the miniature swarm. Now Torque is strong in mind and willpower with the perk of being a medic. She's seen plenty of terrible things that'd make the average mech purge in an instant. But.. but this? No. Now it's her turn, already feeling her tank flip like she just had some tainted energon, the poor femme immediatly doubling over at the sight and completely losing her previous ration all over the highway. Unfortunately the horror doesn't stop there, oh no. The little parasites actually attack and start crawling all over her while several are already upon her last meal. Any thought of being tough flies completely out the window once they descend upon the two Bots, Torque actually screaming and wheeling back, hands futily swiping to try and get them off. "AGH! FRAG GET THEM OFF!!" She can't even help Whirl, who's getting the worst of it, Torque just screaming and eventually tripping to barrel down the bank at the side of the highway, rolling down off into a ditch. One or two of the Insecticlones stick around Backfire's cranium, nibbling on the outermost edges of his gaping head wound out of boredom mostly. It seems they no longer have the taste for Seeker. Or perhaps it's because Wrecker and Medic are on the menu tonight? Who knows, for sure. Either way, the Seeker is slumped over with some bugs crawling around his head. The other two groups of Insecticlones are still busy trying to get some lunch out of the Autobots. Inside of Whirl's head, they attempt to sever as many fuel line connections as possible and take in the sweet energon goodness that feeds the Transformer. Circuits, wiring, chips, and whatever else can be found inside make good for the second course. Over by Torque, the Insecticlones are enveloped all over her.. but mainly fixate on the large hands. The fuel lines for those massive things must be enormous! Combat: Backfire strikes Torque with his Insecticlone Swarm: Electric Boogaloo! Area attack! [Pulled -1] Combat: Backfire strikes Whirl with his Insecticlone Swarm: Electric Boogaloo! Area attack! [Pulled -1] Whirl loves pain, he thrives on it actually. But this? This was just torture, plain and simple. The Wrecker can only yell in anguish as the Insecticlones rampage through his head, hundreds of tiny jaws tearing holes in the fuel lines that run through his boxy head, energon seeping out at a steady pace and causing a mass hemmorage inside his cranial cavity. The rapidly spread out, engulfing a bigger area and wrecking even more damage on the Autobot. His circuit boards become shredded, the clones feasting heavily on them. The length of complex wiring strung throughout his body are also targeted, frayed edges sparking and threatening an electrical fire inside his own chassis. "TORQUE!" Whirl actually sounds panicked, probably the first time the medic has heard such a tone in his voice. "HELP ME! WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO-ZZZZZRTTTTTTT~" His words cut out, replaced by glitchy squeals and fuzzy static. His body twitches uncontrollably and he drops to his knees, clutching the ground tight in his pinchers before slamming his head as hard against it as he can. Over and over and over again, the energon splatter left in it's wake getting larger with every impact. Shit, now they're chewing away at her hands! She needs those! After much screaming and rolling around in the ditch Torque tries her damnedest to crawl back out, doing her best to muster some form of courage while periodly slamming her fists into the ground or swiping at herself, squishing whatever clones don't manage to already wedge themselves under the armor. "Whirl!! Hold on!" She calls, clawing her way back onto the highway, purging subspace to let her tools clatter everywhere across the road, swatting bugs from her face in paranoia as she scrambles through the pile, looking for something in particular. Aha, there it is! Amongst it all she scoops up what looks similar to a handheld blow torch, but this is far different. In fact, it's the /opposite/. Torque doesn't even care about the horrid, itchy pain literally in her hands at this point, grunitng and pushing herself to her feet, closing the distance between her and Whirl and dropping at his side, a hand reaching out to hold his head down and out to the side. "Hold still!" It's not like he has a choice as she brings the end of the thin nozzle up, shoving it into the open hole where his optic used to be, and pulling the trigger. Usually liquid nitrogen spray is used to freeze fuel lines shut for emergencies, but on this scale? In his head? She has no idea what effect would be on his brain, maybe just harmlessly knocking him out, but she has to do something to stop the bleeding, and freeze up those nasty clones in the process. As the two Autobots struggle against the Insecticlone swarm, seemingly at random.. they start to drop. The tiny insects, seemingly at random, surge with a twitch and fall from the air to fall helpless to the ground below. Or in Whirl's case, they're bashed out of his head through blunt force trauma. The ground is soon littered in hundreds of corpses, a literal mix of black/purple/yellow hues that give the uniquely drab crater-esque landscape.. some color. They manage to wriggle for life just seconds before going still, their tiny legs no longer scrambling to devour the Autobots here. However, a few remain resilient.. still stinging away at the pair of do-gooders. Backfire is still rested on the ground, a handful of Insecticlones still peering out of his head at the pair of them. His optics are dull, white, and void of much sentience at all. Helplessly his arms lie to his sides, fingers sporadically twitching as if out of impulse alone. "My.. my.. my.." his mouth mumbles, lips barely responding to the attempt at communication. Combat: Backfire strikes Torque with his Insecticlone Swarm: The End? Area attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: Backfire strikes Whirl with his Insecticlone Swarm: The End? Area attack! [Pulled -2] What resistance the few remaining Insecticlones were putting up, the Nitrogen bath quickly saps any life from them with a sudden rush. Those left on the two quickly fall to the ground, frozen and dead. The coolness of the nitrogen being pumped through his optic hole in an unpleasant, yet welcome feeling. As it surges through his body and stops the Insecticlones dead in their tracks, the itchy burning pain crawling ebbs, replaced with a freezing sensation. The urge to beat himself helpless against the ground dies and Whirl sprawls out flat on the ground, systems going into stasis in response to the high nitrogen levels inside his body. "Nnnng..." the Wrecker groans, seconds away from stasis lock. "Looks like you've saved my life again, Torque." Torque is a little too busy trying to keep Whirl's brain from turning into swiss cheese to really notice the insecticlones suddenly dieing and falling off her frame, the ones still wedged beneath her plating also going still and the painful itch sinking to a dull throb. But the liquid nitrogen does the trick, Torque actually smiling in relief at Whirl, sensing him slipping away into stasis, which is just fine. He'll be safe with her around. But as for Backfire... Head cranes to look at the zoned out seeker, brows knitting in a bit of worry and lips pressing thin. Damn, that headwound looks nasty but.. there's still a few alive clattering around in the open space. ..Yeah no, she's not gonna touch that. Instead, she does something stupid but fair in her opinion, getting on Cybertron's main frequency while collecting Whirl and wondering if she should try and at least seal the gap left in Backfire's head. Backfire collapses to the ground behind him, arms splayed outwards in haphazard directions. The few oddly colored Insecticlones fly out of his head from the fright of the impact. Energon seeps from the open wound, his mouth agape and the white-dull sheen to his optics is persistent. While not in -immediate- danger of succumbing to his wounds, it's pretty obvious that Backfire is out for the count.. at least for the time being. Whirl lays there like a lump on a log, a leg or arm twitching every now and then. He seems to be pretty useless right now, definitely unable to do anything on his own. If he were conscious he would request Torque to bring him back to base with him but he's not so he just kind of...stays there. So it seems Backfire has gotten himself into a predicament, and his aft needs to be hauled out of there. Apparently those Insecticlones had finally matured fully, and had burst out of his head. Triggerhappy chuckles at this situation as he flies down toward the seeker, shaking his head. Ha! Only Backfire wouldn't have expected this to happen. He's tempted to open fire on the Autobots--oh! Look, it's Whirl, the Targetmaster's favorite Autobot! Too bad he's in stasis lock. He kicks Backfire, attempting to jolt him awake. Maybe he can at least fly so that Triggerhappy doesn't have to carry him... And they're both out. Torque actually sighs in relief at this, glad to have no more fighting and no more friggin' BUGS. Disgusting. And with the few left alive fluttering off who knows where, she actually scoots over to do a quick little patch on Backfire's open skull, closing the wound so he doesn't bleed out all over the road. It's a fast fix, but it'll hold until help comes. Once Backfire is set Torque quickly shoves spilled tools back into subspace and scoops Whirl up, resting him over her shoulder with ease and slowly making her way off across the potholed highway. Back to Iacon for a heavy decontamination and some serious repairwork on Whirl's head. Backfire's body doesn't respond. Well, no.. that's a lie. It responds all right, by being pushed aside by the Targetmaster's foot. All around Triggerhappy, the corpses of hundreds of Insecticlones litter the ground. Some seemingly lifeless out of their own accord, others drowned in energon, some bashed to death, and a few frozen in liquid nitrogen. Triggerhappy grumbles when Backfire doesn't move. Guess he'll have to carry the glitch. He starts attaching tow cables but gives Torque an odd look when she patches Backfire's head up. Isn't she an Autobot? "What're you doing?" he can't help but ask. "Forget which side you're on, or something?" Backfire suddenly spasms back to life, leaning forward immediately and raking his hands along the ground. They are drug back to his body, collecting each a handful of dead Insecticlone corpses. "You haven't seen the last of.." he blurts out, then falls back unconcious again.. ready for towing. ========================================================= Group: Decepticon Title: Backfire's Condition
* Spinny, then no spinny!* The camera fixates on Trypticon's Medical Bay, Calibratron, the medic gumby on duty, is standing next to a slab with Backfire's body deposited on it. All sorts of tubes, vials, and machines are hooked up to the Seeker.. a gaping headwound is obviously haphazardly dressed. "Greetings Decepticons. As you can see, unit Backfire's condition is stable.. though I lack the current staff for the delicate process of repairing the wound on his right temple. Thanks to both him and Triggerhappy, the Insecticlone corpses have been collected and stored for inspection at their proper time, by approved staff of course." he waves to a couple of bins being moved into the Laboratory section of Trypticon. "Calibratron, out."
* Return of the spin!* ==============================================================================
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