[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice shrugged, "I dunno, spoilers might take the pressure off, even if it's just taking away the pressure from your mom for you to mate. It'd be nice to know whether you'll always make rent or if you're going to fail that test or get that job." She ruminated further for a moment. "You're right though, I wouldn't want to know everything. Can you imagine never being surprised again, even if it's a nice surprise? Like a party or something. That would suck." She stuck her tongue out at Ashley's underwear over tights joke. "My underwear is really not that interesting, but yeah. Hopefully anyway… We'll fight bad guys, save lives, make things better. That sort of thing…" Code name she could do though. "I've already got a hero name! It's going to be so cool. And a friend is helping me design a costume as well!" Alice was tempted momentarily to show Ashley the warehouse, but despite what Will might have already told his sister everything else was not hers to share. It was sort of their group gathering point, their batcave, not just hers. It wouldn't have felt right to just invite someone new into that private area, at least not without the permission of the rest of the group. That and although she really liked Ashley, she still didn't know her all that well, having only met her a few hours ago after all. "Maybe I can show you some other time, I'm not really sure if there's somewhere around here that we could go. Not in the middle of the day anyway. Unless you know somewhere?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

“Huh. That’s true.”

From the way Alice had said it, Ashley guessed that she had a lot more worries about making rent than Ashley did. She was by no means loaded herself, but she did make a comfortable living and earnt considerably more than a lot of the working peers that she knew. In fact, Ashley never had to worry about making rent. Even if she did suddenly find herself without income in the future, her parents would step in to support her until she could find an alternative source. Maybe Alice didn’t have that particular safety net in place. Or, maybe she was just ferociously independent. She did live alone at 18 after all.

“I like surprises!” Ashley exclaimed, horrified at the thought of losing out. “Yeah, imagine never having another surprise party… Well, I mean, that’s a definite first world problem,” she giggled, “But I think it’d probably be quite a boring life. There’d never be another movie plot twist either. So not worth it.”

She laughed, imagining Alice in full hero garb, but was also pretty impressed. It sounded like Alice was genuinely going to be starting on this new exciting life, bad guys and superheroes galore.

“Well maybe you should get some interesting underwear, it might distract the bad guys,” she suggested mischievously. “Aren’t you like, scared at all? It sounds fun and rewarding and all but... hella dangerous too.”

Ashley didn’t fancy her chances as a superhero. She just didn’t have that selfless drive in the way she imagined was necessary of anybody in that line of work. It was that, plus witnessing WIll’s own pressures whilst working on the force, which had steered her away from an interest in following in her big brother’s policeman footsteps. She didn’t want to put her own life in danger to save strangers. Loved ones, sure, but it just didn’t feel like her vocation in life was to do the kinds of things that Alice was suggesting.

“Ooh, what’s your hero name then?”

She was fully prepared to judge it if it was terrible. Names were important and she didn’t want Alice leaping into her new life with a name like “Princess Punch-and-stuff”. Not that she imagined she would, of course. She didn’t seem the princessy type.

“Having a costume sounds so cool… You’re definitely the real deal when you’ve got a costume and secret identity.”

Ashley frowned and pulled out the list on her phone once more. “Um… I didn’t really put any ideas down for superpower demonstrations on here… There’s just like, mini golf.” She looked genuinely disappointed. “Seems a kinda lame activity after, y’know.” She gestured vaguely towards Alice.

“Not that I want to put you at risk by showing off your powers in public,” Ashley added hurriedly. “But I can’t really think of anywhere to do it safely. Unless you can think of a way to incorporate into mini golf?”

She laughed, mood not staying dampened for long. She was still really enjoying her day out with Alice and if she had to miss out on a power display, that was a pretty small price to pay for it. Definitely good value for money, 10/10 Yelp review.

Alice Morrow

560 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Rolling her eyes didn't seem quite enough, so Alice rolled them again for good measure. "Somehow I don't think that would strike fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere. More like they'd show up just to get a good look. Although I suppose that would make it easier to track them down…" She pursed her lips as though seriously considering the thought, although she never would. She was really not good looking enough to be any sort of confident in a get up like that. They hadn't finalised anything yet, but she'd vetoed any costume design from Stephen that had shown too much skin, that is to say almost any skin at all. "I am scared, so f*$king scared. I mean, this could be dangerous but… I've got powers, I could really help people… What kind of person would I be if I just sat in my apartment and got on with my normal life?" The name had been difficult. She'd been racking her brains for something that really fit her for days, and then with Stephen for almost an entire day. It had been that day spent with Stephen where things had clicked. It had surprised her that she'd not been able to think of it by herself. It was something she played as a lot in D&D, but it made sense. She believed in right and wrong, in justice, in looking out for people. Now she had that chance, maybe she should take the title of those characters she had always used to live out those fantasies. "It's Paladin, you know, like a Knight?" Ah mini golf. Alice had many memories of mini golf. It was cheap, and unobjectionable fun, almost everyone could have a good time doing it. That made it very easy in high school when people wanted to do something more than just hang out. In truth Alice hadn't played it in years, it was something that fell out of fashion as her and her school friends had gotten older. There had been other things that occupied more of their attention, like the opposite sex. "I don't mind mini-golf, I used to love it when I was still in school. I warn you though, I'm a badass with a putter." She looked around as though she were worried that someone might be listening to them. "If there's somewhere out of sight there then we could try something out. One of the first proper tests we tried was Mason hitting me with something. Pretty sure a mini golfputter would work for that too."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

How dare she roll her eyes at Ashley’s perfectly viable suggestion of using underwear to aid in her fight against crime. It worked for Superman, right?

But, no, seriously.

“They might just do a low-risk panty-check through a telescope or something, I probably wouldn’t base a tracking system on that,” Ashley chuckled. “Hey, I wonder if the military ever thought to try something like that…”

The mental image of super serious army dudes in bright lacy underwear was a little too amusing. Ashley had to rush a hand to her mouth to stop herself from spitting the small mouthful of food she was currently chewing.

“Woah,” Ashley said, looking at Alice through new eyes. She was so… righteous. “That’s so selfless of you, Alice. You’re just an ordinary girl who suddenly gets powers and your first instinct is to help others.” She smiled and then shrugged, trying not to embarrass her. “I guess you’re right though, I’d probably feel awful knowing I could definitely help loads of people but chose not to do anything about it.

“Plus, this way you get to actually use your powers instead of hiding them.”

Unlike the majority of people with powers, according to Will. What an upsettingly fearful existence. Always keeping your true self hidden from the world.

The word “Paladin” vaguely rang a bell, but Ashley was grateful for Alice’s clarification.

“Ooh, sounds very majestic. Makes sense for somebody who can do the modern day equivalent of rescuing princesses from dragons.”

She beamed.

“I like it. It’s powerful.”

Ashley was pleasantly surprised by Alice’s agreement to follow her mini golf plans. It was harmless, competitive fun. Alice was almost definitely going to win if her boasts were even a little genuine, but that wasn’t really the point. There was something delightful about following the quaint little courses with all their weird miniature obstacles. Ashley was still convinced that getting the ball through a windmill was solely an act of luck.

Then Alice surprised her further with talks of testing her power.

“You… want me to hit you with a putter?”

She guessed it was one way to break the ice. Maybe some bones too...

Alice Morrow

377 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice looked less than impressed, "I think we should drop this idea of underwear, I'm beginning to think you have a bit of an obsession that I should be worried about…" She shrugged, blushing a little at Ashley's praise, "It's not all selfless, I grew up a nerd, comic books, cartoons, all that kind of shit. I love all the super hero movies, I've always loved that kind of thing. It's every nerds dream to become a super hero. There was no way I could turn it down…" She smiled at the thought that she might be the knight in shining armour rescuing a princess, she'd never quite thought of it like that. Who knew? Maybe one day she'd get lucky and rescue a prince of her own. "Thanks. It makes me feel powerful, and like I'm doing the right thing. That's all I really want to do. I want to do the right thing. Wouldn't anyone?" There were always a couple of mini-golf courses nearby in San Francisco, and even if they had to go a bit further afield she had a bus pass so that was no problem. "Yeah, you can start off easy if you like, but I promise it won't do any damage." After all, Mason had already tried hitting her with a metal bar, and that hadn't even scratched her. She hadn't felt anything other than the lightest pat and a sudden heady rush of energy. She loved that energy, that strange bouncing feeling that poured into her skin, making her bones vibrate with excitement. She stood, "Come on it'll be fun!"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

“HEY, it’s not my fault you didn’t get the memo about compulsory superhero attire,” Ashley said loudly, folding her arms. “I’m just trying to keep the traditions of this ancient and noble profession alive…”

Ashley’s knowledge of superheroes was definitely limited. She’d have to scrub up on her movies if she was going to try and keep up with Will and Alice’s experiences, maybe even read some comics. They must have originally had some basis in truth, right? Wasn’t that part of Will’s investigation? It was weird to think they’d been walking among powered humans all this time and how much of the world she knew had been influenced by their presence. Nothing was the same now.

She could empathise with the nerdy dreams of heroism a little – having pretty lofty dreams of her own. A-list, trophy-adorned musicians seemed to be on a whole other level from Ash and had seemed especially so when she was only just starting out. In a way, it was like Alice had gotten into a car crash and woken up with a number one song, suddenly catapulted into stardom.

…Kinda. Except it was a lot easier to believe in Johnny Cash than the Flash.

“Well I think it’s lucky that you ended up with powers, wanting to do the right thing. I’m sure there’s people who’d use them to do the wrong thing if they could, but fortunately it sounds like the Doctor’s work was blessed with you six.”

She didn’t think the Doctor was an angel any more, but Ashley couldn’t shake the feeling that some divine influence must be at work. She had been praying a lot about the subject ever since Will had first told her about it, even without knowing that he too was to develop powers. She hoped that powers continued to stay in the hands of responsible, honest people like Alice.

Ashley nodded slowly, still unsure about whacking her new friend with a golf club.

“We’d have to catch a couple of buses but there’s a pretty cool indoor place in the Mission. It can get busy but the vibe is cool and the miniatures are nice. Plus I have played there before so I might be a little less handicapped… unless you know it too, of course!”

She jumped to her feet as well, enjoying Alice’s excitement. “Loser has to wear their underwear over their tights during a performance at our Lion King sing-a-long slumber party?” she joked – half-tempted by the wager herself.

Alice Morrow

416 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"Well I'll let you sign off on my costume before I wear it out in public, got to make sure that it follows all of the regulations." Alice stood up, starting back towards the stairs. At least they would be easier to take on the way down. They'd eaten most of the food, and it was easy enough to pack the rest of it into the paper bag and cram it into her satchel. They could continue to snack on it on the way, and she certainly wouldn't be complaining if there was some left over at the end of the day. It would help her recoup at least some of her investment in the day. She shrugged on her way down the stairs, looking out over the city. "I guess it is, we still don't know why she chose use though. Maybe she chose us cause she thought we'd do good. We were the best ones for these powers. Maybe there were other reasons. I mean, we weren't the only people that were injured. People died in that accident. Why did she save us and not them? What made us different?" The blue haired teenager nodded her head, she knew the Mission district, but didn't remember a mini-golf course there. "I don't think I know it, but that's ok, it'll be fun to try somewhere new. I promise I'll go easy on you, unless you turn out to be secretly amazing. In which case I'll break out the big guns…" She weighed the chances of her losing and the embarrassment of having to wear underwear on top of the rest of her clothes. It would certainly add to the fun of a 'Lion King sing-a-long slumber party'. Although it already sounded like it would be pretty fun. She stuck her hand out challengingly. "Deal."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Grabbing Alice’s shoulder, Ashley fixed her with a stern look. “You better. I can’t imagine Will wanting to play dress-up so you’re my only chance for an exclusive sneak-peek at a real life supersuit!”

The word “supersuit” gave Ashley amusing flashbacks to ‘The Incredibles’. How weird to think that those characters could be a genuine, real life family. Maybe they were! Maybe they super-sued in super-court for the use of their super-identities. Or… maybe Ashley’s imagination was getting super out of hand.

“Maybe she’s part of a greater plan, just like you guys. Do you believe in destiny? It could be that those people were ready to go to heaven but you six needed to stick around a little while longer. You gotta admit, the way it’s going, you’re going to change the world.”

Ashley looked out across the city, feeling very small.

“Or maybe you were the first six she came across, and the only six she had time to help. Maybe all this is just-” Ashley shrugged, not entirely convinced by her own point “-serendipity?”

There didn’t have to be a reason that her brother and his new friends had been chosen, she supposed. Maybe they were no more special than the rest of the crash victims.

The notion didn’t sit right with Ashley, but she didn’t have any proof to suggest otherwise. Maybe this was something she needed to discuss further with Will – hopefully he had a clearer idea of the doctor’s aims and motives by now.

Snapping out of her mini-reverie, Ashley turned her attentions to mini golf.

“Ooh you’ll love it, I promise. But hey!” She stuck her tongue out. “Don’t go easy on me! Even if I suuuck, you have to do your best. If I can’t win then I want to at least be impressed. Although, obviously, I’m totally gonna win,” she said with a wink. “So better start thinking of your least embarrassing pair of underwear.”

She shook Alice’s proffered hand, a competitive gleam in her eyes.

Alice Morrow

335 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"Well I promise when I get a proper supersuit you can be the first one to see it!" It didn't take long to get to the Mission, two short bus rides and about five minutes' walk had them outside the mini golf. It was an indoor course, which would be a blessed relief from the wet heat the day had become. The air conditioned indoor golf course would at least offer some shelter from the blazing sun and the humidity trapped between the buildings of the city. It had been strange on the journey, the talk of the Doctor had been weighing on her mind as they sat on the bus. Who knew why she had been saved and others hadn't? Surely the Doctor had the power to save other people? So why had she saved Alice? What made her more important? She felt guilty for surviving. For being the one that had been chosen to live… To get these powers… Maybe things would be better if she knew the Doctor. She could ask why. Although maybe she wouldn't have liked the answer. They collected their putters and balls from the office at the front and headed into the cool interior of the mini-golf course. Alice dropped her ball onto the green fabric, stopping it from rolling away with her little putter. She turned to Ashley, squaring up to her. "Come on then. Show me what you've got!"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

It wasn’t as busy as she’d been expecting as they entered the vibrant indoor miniature golf centre. There were plenty of people heading upstairs to the restaurant level but the course itself was, thankfully, clear enough that they should be able to enjoy their game at a leisurely pace. Collecting the putters was always fun – measuring themselves up against the colour-coordinated putter to find the right length for their height – and Ashley realised for the first time that she was actually fairly significantly shorter than Alice. The girl definitely had a good few inches on her. Damn, no trying on the supersuit then. Unless she could roll it up at the ankles, which wasn’t quite so majestic.

The first hole had a par of three, which Ashley just missed out on after misjudging what could have been her final putt and sending the ball zooming into the path of some innocent fellow golfers trying to pass by. They stumbled a little as they tried to avoid standing on the ball, but luckily there were no full-on tumbles. That would have been even more embarrassing than her modest score of four, and that was embarrassing enough as it was.

“Just trying to lull you into a false sense of security,” Ashley bluffed, standing back to watch Alice take a shot. “I’m sorry, am I distracting you?” She began to bob up and down, doing her best to catch Alice’s eye. “Aliiiiice, don’t get distracted!”

At that point she collapsed into giggles, unable to continue in her competitive quest to throw Alice off her game. It was fun to try, but Ashley really didn’t have it in her to be completely vindictive. It wasn’t like it mattered who won the game anyway. Besides, the skeeball hole was next, and that was pretty much the only hole that Ashley knew for certain she could get in one. It was all to play for yet…

Alice Morrow

321 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice mused for a moment over whether or not they would be able to test out her power in here. It was indoors after all, but then there were still people in here. It was fairly empty, with only a few families, friends and couples wandering around with their coloured putters. Nonetheless there were enough people that someone would be bound to see. Not that showing off her power was important, no, what was important was kicking Ashley's butt. Thankfully it seemed that her earlier confidence was not misplaced. Alice smirked mischievously at her companion as her ball bounced over the lip of the hole to inconvenience another group of golfers. She wagged her finger disapprovingly at her companion. "Now, now, you don't get to default out of this by being thrown out for rowdy behaviour. That counts as a loss." She grinned at Ashley's completely unveiled attempt to distract her as she lined up for her own attempt. "Shush…" A moment later she sank the ball one shot under par, sticking her tongue out victoriously at her opponent. "I'd start picking out that underwear right about now if I were you." She rested the club on her shoulder as she swaggered over to collect her ball, ensuring that she laid the swagger on thick. Alice was not a great swaggerer but she at least got the point across. Gesturing towards the next hole, she tossed her ball in the air and caught it. "You fancy yourself as a skeeball player?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ashley was hit with the sharp reminder that she would have to pick out a good pair of underpants. Her underwear drawer was pretty plain – mostly pastels, whites and the occasional frill. Maybe she could buy special Disney-themed pants just for the occasion.

No! That was loser talk! She could still win this war of miniature golf, even if there was already a two point gap after just one hole…

“Okay, okay… so you got a little lucky with your first couple of shots,” Ashley teased, twirling her putter before planting it firmly on the ground before the second hole. “Don’t go fantasising about me in my underwear just yet.”

She set up her shot, delicately dropping the golf ball into place and frowning for a moment in concentration as she assessed the situation. Ashley had been confident until she saw Alice’s skills, and now she was hurriedly trying to remember the magic combination of angle and power that she’d managed to lock down the last time she’d played.

“Real skee-ball? I’m a lot better at it than I am at golf…” Ashley admitted with a dejected laugh. She ran a hand back through her dark hair, pushing it out of her eyes in some attempt to focus on the task at hand.

“But hey.”

She swung the putter back and watched with satisfaction as it connected with a clack.

“Maybe today’s my lucky day..!”

The ball looped up and over, dropping cleanly into the 50-hole with immensely gratifying precision. It popped out the side of the machine, rolling smoothly round the tornado-esque spiral that paved the road to skee-victory, before making its way swiftly across the green carpet and wobbling only briefly on the rim of the hole before landing safely in its sweet, mini embrace.

Ashley jumped up and down, clapping excitedly. “I did it! I did it!”

She turned to Alice – not to gloat, but to share in her excitement.

“Go, go! I believe in you!”

Alice Morrow

329 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Ashley was right, Alice probably shouldn't be getting ahead of herself. After all it was only the first hole, and there were fourteen more of various degrees of complexity before she could claim the title of victor for herself. Even so, she had a two point lead already, that at least she could be confident about. She watched open mouthed as Ashley hit a hole in one on the next hole. "Ah man, that was such a good shot!" Maybe this bet would be a little more fun after all. She had to admit that the potential of losing did make this seem a lot more fun, although probably only because really they were such small stakes. It was also cool to have Ashley cheering her on. She felt momentarily guilty for not doing so herself and resolved to show just as much support for her opponent further along the course. Her first shot took the ball into the skeeball machine, dropping neatly through one of the holes, but not the 50. She grimaced as the ball was dropped out onto the green, not sinking it with one shot like Ashley had managed. Still, at least it was an easy shot. She tapped it into the hole, making par. She collected her ball and tossed Ashley's back to her. "That was so awesome, I can't believe you got that in one. You were just lulling me into a false sense of security on that first one weren't you?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Hugging her putter close as though it was the actual source of her hole-in-one, Ashley beamed at Alice’s praise.

“I, uh… have made that shot before,” she admitted, stepping back to watch Alice’s attempt. It was good, making sure Ashley didn’t profit too much from her one chance to shine. From here on out, Ashley was relying on good fortune, her best bet probably being a forfeit from her opponent on compassionate grounds rather than hoping for a sudden increase in her own skill level.

They made their way around the course, Ashley doing her best to keep up with Alice’s superior golfing talent. She hadn’t fallen too far behind thanks to a couple of lucky shots but at the mid-way point Ashley was definitely starting to wonder if the Disney store sold underwear or whether she’d have to go further afield for her lingerie needs.

It was fun though. They had their competitive jabs at each other every now and then but for the most part it felt kind of like they were on the same, mediocre mini golf team. (Ashley supplied the vast majority of the mediocrity but it wasn’t like Alice was a golf goddess herself). Ashley was really getting to feel like Alice was exactly her type of person. A little goofy, a little excitable, but also genuine with it. Alice was fun, and Ashley was definitely going to latch onto her in the future to bring their friendship to life.

She was one shot into the seventh hole (‘The Reef’) after narrowly missing out on victory in the very competitive two-player maze that was the previous hole. It had made a fun change from trying to put her putter to good use, at least. This current hole was a little hidden from the main room which was gently busy enough not to pay them any attention, sparking inspiration.

“So… you said your friend smacked you with a baseball bat and it did… nada, right?”

Ashley made a couple of exaggerated faux-swings, pulling the putter back and high so that it was in line with Alice’s face.

“If you promise it won’t hurt you, wanna see if I can "accidentally" smash you in the face with my fierce back-swing?”

She grinned, but didn’t pressure Alice further, no matter how desperate she was to see actual real-life powers in action. And she was pretty desperate.

Alice Morrow

398 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"Awwww, you're saying that wasn't just luck?" Alice winked at Ashley as they walked to the next hole. She was glad that they had chosen to play mini golf. It was something she remembered from high school, and it was proving to be every bit as fun as it had always been, maybe even more so. She felt that Ashley was really similar to herself, albeit a little older. She seemed light hearted and good natured, with a sense of humour and no fear of being silly in public. She nodded in response to Ashley's question, looking around for a moment to check that no one was watching them. "Yeah. Not even a scratch. It was like he hit me with a nerf bat." She eyed the swinging putter for a moment, before grinning and stepping forward into a spot that was probably just a little too close to be safe. "Sure. If anyone sees we're just stupid kids right?" She paused and stared at Ashley, "I've just realised I have the ultimate excuse for doing stupid stuff. How have I lived my life wondering whether I can get away with stuff or not? I mean… it's kinda limited now that I'm eighteen but dammit I can still be stupid!" She grinned, then started looking idly around, as if not paying enough attention to what was going on around her. Considering how close she was standing to Ashley this could be considered not particularly sensible. "Now take your shot before anyone tries to be responsible gaaawd…" She mimed popping a piece of gum as if she was some airhead high school cheerleader from TV.

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