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June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2024 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. It’s even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
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[ but deepground's, y'know, not the best smelling place on the planet at the best of times so maybe don't listen to nero. at the statement though the image flickers, all the chaos replaced with a steady image of the one person in the world he thinks is worth anything at all.
the memory isn't really anything special. or doesn't look it. the sky behind the man looks oddly... stagnant. the light almost florescent, making the grey haired man look washed out. then again, it might be the fact that he's wearing all white - and seems to lack the common sense to throw on a shirt in a battlefield. ]
... My brother is all that matters. [ his gaze lifts from the fire to the boy. ] And we shall soak the land with the blood of those who have wronged us. They do not matter.
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[His tastes in burning flesh skew very much towards a light char on a delicious steak, which is a more or less recent discovery but that was nothing at all like setting someone on fire.
He's done both of late, rather excessively.
From what little detail the fire provides, Nero and his brother don't look alike, and for a moment it stumps him. It takes a little for him to recall that normal people can and do form family bonds outside of blood relation, and that pointing out the differences would be rude.
But that fellow is obviously much bigger. Paler. .. More shirtless.]
It's good there's someone, then. Your brother. [Is.. is he supposed to say killing everyone was wrong, when half the people he knew said otherwise? His brow furrows, watching the fire instead of Nero. Maybe it was different when it was family. The twinge of jealousy is easily suppressed; having kin wasn't something he'd get to enjoy.] I ... think that's what you're supposed to do.
[This conclusion is slow; he's not sure.]
Get revenge for terrible things done to you. A lot of people do it, and it's always a good thing when they talk about it. Maybe it's not happening enough and that's why things are getting out of control. No accountability. No worries about being beheaded if you experiment on people. Is he here, or are you alone?
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nero's brows pinch together ever so slightly. he's been doing everything in his power to ignore that part of it. the alone part. it isn't as though they have never been separated before, but this is the first time they've gone so long without even a supervised visit. ]
He is not here. I imagine he will do his fair share of beheading as it is unlikely they are able to explain my absence...
[ and weiss will assume the worst, as nero himself would do. truthfully, that brief glimpse other's pale hair had him hopeful. if they were together then there was no need to try to return home. ]
What of you? Are you alone?
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[If there's one thing he can offer.. it's absolute certainty about that. He sounds so utterly sure of it too, as if it's established fact and not conjecture from some kid.]
The Fox showed you a copy being left behind, right? Well that's pretty much meaningless as time stops while we're here. Completely. Should you return, it will be as if you never left. I haven't .. yet determined if it's because our worlds are stopped, or if this one merely operates much, MUCH faster..
[Beheadings may not happen at least on incentive of Nero being missing! They may happen by virtue of Weiss being Weiss.
What a strange thought in turn, the idea of not being alone.]
Always have been. It's not bad. ..Well you might have to get used to it, but there's nobody to tell you what to do. Or what not to do.
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nero's gaze turns a shade more calculating. that... is actually more promising than anticipated. weiss would know a copy from the real thing, surely, but... if time has merely ground to a halt then that gives him an advantage.
he opens his mouth to reply and then the boy says that and - that doesn't sit right with him. without his brother, nero would have no reason to rebel against the circumstances of his birth. without weiss.... there would be no point to aspiring to be anything more than an experiment. a weapon. a monster mindlessly obeying commands.
(though weiss is 90 percent of the reason he obeys commands at all, he's the only thing they can leash him with)
his head cocks to one side. ]
... if you are alone, then there is no one telling you that you need not follow orders. No one to remind you that you are stronger.
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The fire, partly ignored, works on rebuilding itself. That earns a frown, he's going to have to come up with something to appease it with. Nero didn't seem the type to much care, and .. sooner or later this fire would find innocent spirits.]
Is that important to you? Do you need someone telling you you're stronger?
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I need only someone to give it purpose. Lest it go to waste, fighting lesser men's wars.
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[For all that the words COULD be terribly mocking, somehow they're not; didn't he have similar problems? Being raised as a weapon wasn't much use without being pointed at something, though he chafed at being pointed at anything his creators wanted him to be rid of.
Maybe it was the same for this dark stranger.]
Which role did Thirteen select for you? Did she tell you?
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[ it would have bothered him were it not for the fact that the boy were so genuine. ]
As to purpose... my brother gives me reason to live beyond killing. That, in turn, provides a goal beyond mere slaughter. [ which is unusual enough for a deepgrounder. the fire flickers again, apparently taking this as a confession. a younger weiss, in what is undeniably a soldier uniform, illuminated by a very different sky. Real with flowing clouds. ]
no subject
[Uniforms change, over the years. He eschewed any such thing, but it was similar enough to what the P0s wear that it gives him pause. The crest, of course, he still wears when he had his uniform on.
He's never met anyone else in the active-type program. He'd been told they exist, of course -- and then there's always mixed up timelines.]
It will of course irritate your keepers. [He had them, why wouldn't the rest?] Assuming Research and Development treats you the way they've treated others, deviation from expectations will not be well tolerated. That's as good a reason as any to do something else.
no subject
his eyes narrow as he examines him closer. the silver hair, the green eyes, but much too... young to be the one nero associates him with. unless he is some sort of clone... yet that too gives him pause. 'research and development' is very different from 'deepground'. ]
To the contrary... we behave exactly as they had hoped. [ why else would they have introduced them? taught them what brotherhood was? used that love to cinch a leash around their necks? ] They do not yet realize they have lost control.
[ again the image changes, the flames dimming - a cacophony of screams, scientists scrambling as nero bursts into the room and makes quick work of each and every one. ]
What do they call you?
no subject
In the background of the fire, scientists die, and it's not something he finds disturbing; if that's what they're supposed to be doing then that was on the scientists, techs and aides to be better prepared for the results of their work.]
What project are you part of? You ... look about my age. A little older.
[Maybe five or six years, enough to be grown, enough to be part of a predecessor program, or maybe he really wasn't the first in his own after all. There might be others.
There might be others. Nero didn't look exactly like him, he didn't know what he should look like grown anyway, but nobody else on the planet has eyes like he does. Like they do.
It's a cruel thing to hope. He can't quite make out who those dying scientists are. Another project.]
My name is Sephiroth.
no subject
[ ... well, isn't this a delightful twist of fate. ]
I would be younger than you in our own world. [ had the good general not died. that doesn't feel like a relevant detail. ] And the project that made me is not recorded in any database you would have had access to... it occurred well beneath your feet.
They call me Nero the Sable.
/sneaks a tag hours after should be sleeping
I don't need database access, in that case. Names, dates and locations will do, along with a description of anyone you want to survive who might try to interfere with a friendly visit.
[Somehow it doesn't sound like idle musing, coming from the boy, but a dire threat to anything in his way when he chose to 'visit'. It's almost ridiculous, what could a kid do?
It seems there was more then one infestation he needs to burn out. So be it. A project running concurrent with his own. He won't be allowed to just drop in but even at his age he hasn't found much that'll actually stop him if he put effort into it.]
Nero. Is the title important?
no subject
he has no doubt that if anyone has the power to wrench open the doors, it would be sephiroth. imagine a timeline where the oldest of them, the most obedient, turned and bit the hand that fed long before that fateful day in nibelheim. ]
The location is DeepGround. A hell hidden beneath your feet, where your equals dwell and await an opportunity to escape and liberate all from Shinra's shackles.
[ his head rolls to one side curiously. ]
The color denotes strength above all else. Survival where all else perished. And its reward imprisonment for the rest of one's life.
no subject
Deepground isn't a name he knows. He's aware of the medical facility near Reactor 0, the one wounded enhanced SOLDIERs were brought as normal hospitals couldn't manage them-
Well. That's what it used to be. Things have changed, and there was no reason to inform a child.]
... My.. equals?
[There's a lot of education, intended or not, that has gone into Sephiroth learning to control his emotions, or at least any outward sign of them, but he's young, and cracks are everywhere. Flickers of anger, curiosity- Of course Hojo's made other lives hell. To hear his creator, to hear the stories of his future, he has no equal except for Cloud Strife, but the idea is enticing rather than intimidating. A lifetime of deliberate isolation has side effects, and allies in the mayhem he's already planning would be a blessing. For a moment he's tempted to argue not all of Shinra is bad, not yet, but.. now isn't the time.
It's shaken off, he can wonder later. Indulge in the piteous weakness that is unjustified hope on his own time.]
How many are alive then, to get titles? Your time or mine, but I'm not planning on delaying ten to fifteen years.
no subject
[ nero studies him for a moment. if the general is still a young teenager, then nero cannot imagine he himself would be any more than five or six. rosso and weiss would be older, but not by terribly much. ]
Three of us DeepGround born, present regardless of time. The rest... [ he shrugs. ] are of no matter. You will find those present all too eager to break the chains and liberate ourselves.
[ though that far back deepground would not be as bad as it was... well. it was always bad for those born there. for nero especially, whose life had been nothing but containment pods and restrictive, smothering suits that left mako burns on his skin. ]
no subject
[Years early. He's not ready to handle kids even if he doesn't think of himself as one, but now that he knows he's not going to be able to ignore it
This was going to take more planning than he intended originally.]
I don't think anything I do can ... change your past. It's already happened. But maybe I can make sure it doesn't happen again.
no subject
[ and not a one of them would have ever seen the sun. let alone fathomed that there is a world above their heads.
as to changing the past... ]
It is of no matter. A world changed is better than none.
no subject
They should have been in the field long before then. The fire is watched instead of Nero, it's easier to focus on. He'd have to think of something and put it out for good.]
You'll just have to change your own world in the meantime, then.
[Them's hero words, Nero. Changing them instead of burning it all. This place will make a proper legend out of him yet.]
... When you say second generation, is that literal or just .. torch-passing? Are you part monster too?
[The addition is very quiet, compared to the rest. Possibly even easy to miss.]
no subject
[ 'part monster'.
nero's eyes narrow faintly. it's not an... inaccurate description. there are a number of them that can accurately be called as such. now all of them have been infused with whatever the jenova project entailed.
nero extends a wing as if to show him. ]
I was born of the rot of the lifestream.
no subject
I'm sorry, I thought they were prosthetic, or Thirteen's doing.
[But monsters were not limited to what he could imagine up, and maybe the wings were, as skeletal as they looked, perfectly 'natural'.
The only thing he could match even the idea of lifestream rot to was Geostigma, and details were rather ... lacking. But too much mako did produce monsters, just not ones quite like him.]
The way you say that suggests it's not hyperbole. Is that what Geostigma is supposed to be?
no subject
[ but that... is a new term. one he'll know all too well in three short years, but one that now leaves his head cocking to one side like a curious dog. ]
Geostigma?
no subject
[But.. if Nero did have them before, that left him back at the start, as they obviously have a more mechanical nature. Maybe it was meant to go with the suit. And the ... rest.
He's pretty unsure about the rest, but how do you criticise someone's outfit when you just met them?]
It was described to me as an affliction borne of tainted Lifestream, and a body's efforts to reject it. I didn't ask for many details, I was ... not in a mindset for proper demanding answers of everything the future held.
no subject
[ now whether they were attached to him or they're of him is a more difficult question to answer. they are of him, they come and go at his will. he moves them more easily than he moves those of flesh and blood.
but he is scarlet's pet. they could have been something she implanted that eventually evolved and adapted to his needs... or they could be part of his inhuman nature. it will be years before he's able to explore that possibility. ]
Ah... Yes. [ nero inclines his head slightly to one side. ] There are similarities... but I was born of what the lifestream cannot absorb, not lifestorm bearing an afflication.
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