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Post by iamnobody on Jun 3, 2021 11:22:52 GMT -6
Old Man's Story
As the old man pedaled along on his bike, he was thinking back on how this all started. It all started when he was 50 years old and just found out how things in this world were really run, then over the years had progressed to the point that now at 60 years old, he was running for his life on a bicycle.
The old man had married his high school sweetheart when they were both 22 years old. They had graduated high school and both had gone to the same college for higher education to get their jobs before marrying. They had 2 children, a boy and a girl, shortly after marrying, with her only taking the minimum amount of time off work for each child.
They both had gotten good jobs after college. He had became a department manager for a factory after years of hard work. His wife, she seemed to climb the corporate ladder so easy, starting as a manager and swiftly moving up to now being a VP for her company she worked for. His son and daughter were now adults.
His wife was away 80+ hours a week and seemed to be away on a business trip every few weeks. By the time the old man was 50 years old, he was dissatisfied with the rat race of corporate life. He was making good money but was putting in 60-70 hours a week and no time to enjoy the things he bought with the money. There had to be more to life than working dawn to dusk for the company.
Then 1 day in his internet searches for a work related topic, he stumbled across an internet site called Post Apocalyptic Fiction.
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 4, 2021 7:38:17 GMT -6
He liked reading and decided to browse a few of the stories. There were stories by some fine story writers. The old man even read some stories by some guy that called himself Iamnobody. The old man was glad he wasn't a schmuck like that guy whose wife was unfaithful to him. The old man "just knew" that his wife would never do that to him. Sure the sex had been only been every 3 months for years now, but there was no way she would commit adultery on him.
They had stories about bad things happening. The topics covered led him to research those things which led to other ideas. The more he read, the more he researched, the more “ah ha” moments he had. How could he of been so blind all these years. He tried talking with his wife about some of the things he read about, but she just didn't want to hear about them. His children were adults and had started their own families so the old man tried talking with them. He wanted to see his children and grandchildren be safe. They just looked at him like he was already senile.
The old man had read about keeping a pantry to have food for 60 days just like the government websites suggested. To him that seemed like a good idea because he and his wife ate out every day. About all he could find in the cupboards was a box of Pop Tarts and a box of microwave popcorn. So the next day on the way home from work he stopped at the grocery store and bought $200 worth of canned and boxed convenience foods for in the pantry. After stocking the shelves, he stood back and looked with satisfaction at his attempt.
The next day at work he had a spring in his step and was whistling a tune. When he got home, his wife was already there sitting on the couch in the living room relaxing. The old man said hi and went to the kitchen to admire his previous day's work. He opened the pantry to discover it empty. With a worried look on his face he rushed to the living room and told his wife that someone had broke in and robbed them. That he had stocked some food in the pantry and today it was all gone. The wife just laughed and said that she had seen that and called a charity to come get all of it. That no one was going to clutter up HER house with such nonsense.
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 4, 2021 14:52:58 GMT -6
Maybe he should find out what's she's doing during those 3 months?
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jun 5, 2021 17:55:44 GMT -6
Wow, the couple sure do have a major disconnect in respect, communication and partnership.
Look forward to your additions to the story.
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 6, 2021 2:44:37 GMT -6
Maybe he should find out what's she's doing during those 3 months?
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 6, 2021 16:25:43 GMT -6
Maybe he should find out what's she's doing during those 3 months? He may not WANT to, but his survival may depend on it - the perpetrator in most homicides is someone close to the victim... |
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 7, 2021 14:44:33 GMT -6
The old man looked at his wife and said that he had paid ½ of every mortgage payment before it was paid off, and that he owned the house just as much as she did. She just smiled at him and went back to her social media on her phone.
The next day at work, he was listening to some guys talking when they should have been working. He was starting to tell them to get back to work when one of them said about his ex wife getting the house even though it was joint owned. He said that his ex wife had left him for another guy but yet the judge had given her the house. Other guys jumped in and agreed, that their own exes or someone he knew, the same thing had happened.
The rest of the day, the old man found it hard to concentrate on his work. What his wife had said, what the employees were talking about, it all kept going through his mind. He needed answers. He found several law firms listed and after reading reviews of them, he set up an appointment to speak with a lawyer for legal answers. He stopped after work, paid the $400 fee for an hour's consultation and ended up getting a real world education. His head was spinning when he was done. The State he lived in was very pro woman in divorces. The lawyer told him that basically he would lose everything to his wife and he would end up with the clothes on his back, pay alimony to her, even though she was making 3X the money he was and she would get that even if she was having sex with 20 guys. He had never ever had any thoughts that his wife was being unfaithful all the years of marriage. Sure, it wasn't as spicy as when they were first married, but he was sure she would never commit adultery.
That evening when he got home, his wife met him in the living room and she had no clothes on. She said she was sorry for her outburst, she didn't know what had come over her. She had made him a wonderful meal, some music playing after the meal and some slow dancing. Then off to the bedroom where it was sex for hours. She hadn't been that enthusiastic for years. The next day he barely made it to work from being so tired. His wife kept that up all week. The old man was wore out but had a smile on his face.
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 7, 2021 15:08:08 GMT -6
Being "lulled" into a false sense of security?
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Post by gipsy on Jun 7, 2021 17:34:44 GMT -6
YEP
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Post by NCWEBNUT on Jun 7, 2021 21:01:06 GMT -6
That's a guilt move I'd be investing in a PI for a couple weeks
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 8, 2021 12:58:59 GMT -6
Over the next 2 months it was pretty much sex every night. The old man had noticed that he had some tinges of gray starting in his hair, but now that was fading. He noticed the hair on his chest and back was thicker. He started working out so he could keep up with his wife. He felt good and was in better shape at 50's than his 40's. He even was bicycling.
The old man had keep up on his researching of PAW. His wife had told him he could keep some food in the pantry but not to go overboard, that a 3 day supply would be more than enough. The old man had read about caching of food. Since he lived in the suburbs, he couldn't bury food in his backyard. So he leased a controlled climate storage unit and paid for a year's lease with cash.
A few weeks later he was visiting his parents who lived about a 2 hour drive away in a small town. He had been telling his parents about what was happening in the world but as soon as his wife started laughing at him, his parents had joined right in and laughed at him too. His whole family – wife children, grandchildren, dad, mom, brother, sister – they all thought he was crazy. In fact they had all made him a tin foil hat and gave it to the old man while laughing hysterically. The old man had quit trying to talk to all his family about things. He had read some words of wisdom on the PAW sites by someone he couldn't remember. The quote was It is very hard to convince a person of the truth, if that person's paycheck depends on them believing the lie. He was finding that to be very true.
Anyway, while visiting his dad and mom, his dad took him up into the attic and pointed several old wooden storage trunks out to him. Told him that they had belonged to his grand dad who was born in 1898, served in WW1 and then had come back home. His dad had said that the grand dad had wanted the trunks passed on to him. They loaded the trunks up into his car.
On the way back home, the old man was wondering why his grand dad passed the trunks to him. He could barely remember his grand dad who died when he was only 5 years old. The old man knew that his wife wouldn't want those dusty old things in the house, so he stopped at his leased storage unit, put them in, and then promptly forgot about them.
Over the next 2 years the old man kept researching and storing food in his storage unit. He did not let his wife or any of the family know what he was doing. He was buying long term food from Walton Feeds with disposable credit cards and having it shipped to a drop box address. He had a 3 year supply of food stored. The old man had gone “gray man”. He now walked hunched over, wore baggier clothes and had a belt of padding around his waist to make it look like he was flabbier than he was.
6 months later he got a call from his mom. His dad had a heart attack, was in the hospital and was in critical condition. The old man and his wife rushed to the hospital. The rest of the family was already there. The doctor said it was a bad one and only had a slim chance of making it through the night. While the family was consoling each other, a nurse touched the old man's arm and said his dad wanted to talk to him alone. Once inside the hospital room, his dad beckoned him closer and saying he didn't have much time left. The old man gave his dad a hug and his dad told him he felt pretty solid for looking like a flabby old man. His dad asked him if he had opened his grand dad's trunks to which the old man said he didn't. His dad said he should do it soon and to stay gray. The monitor's heartbeat display went flat and the alarms went off. Doctors and nurses rushed in and forced the old man to the side, but there was nothing to be done, his dad was gone.
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 8, 2021 17:07:07 GMT -6
WWI was fought with some good quality bolt action rifles and the BAR was introduced then.
Wonder what's in the trunks?
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Post by workhorse on Jun 8, 2021 22:48:28 GMT -6
Maybe a Maxim gun?
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 9, 2021 1:31:15 GMT -6
Could also be mustard gas or similar not-so-pleasant tools of war...
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 9, 2021 10:24:19 GMT -6
It had been 2 weeks since his dad's funeral. The old man was back home, his wife was off on another one of her regular business trips. Years ago when they had that argument and she had started giving him daily sex, that had lasted several months and then she had started tapering it off to where it was now only 2 or 3 times a year. She went on business trips that required her to be away for 3-4 days at a time and the business trips were happening every 2 weeks.
His wife was away on her business trip so the old man figured it would be a good time to check out the trunks his grand dad had left him. He made the trip to his controlled climate storage unit where he had everything stored. Once there he went inside, turned the lights on and closed the door. His food storage was there. There was enough long term food packed in buckets with mylar and O2 absorbents from Walton Feed to last for 4 years now. Another section held totes of work clothes. He saw the 3 trunks from his grand dad.
There was 1 long trunk and 2 smaller ones. They all looked to be foot lockers that the military would of used back then, well built and rugged. They were stacked up on each other, so he started with the smaller 1 on top. None of them had a lock on them.
The old man opened the top one, not knowing what to expect. Inside was a large King James bible. Now the old man was not a Christian but he opened it anyway. It was a very old bible so he was careful. The first few pages were of family history – marriages, births, deaths – of hundreds of years. Someone had kept it current because his marriage, children and grandchildren were listed. The rest of the trunk contained pictures and letters. He carefully put everything back in the trunk and set it aside.
The next trunk was heavier. When he opened it, it was filled with old how-to books and several smaller canvas bags. The books covered many topics from gardening to medical. He opened the canvas bags. 1 bag had dimes, 1 had quarters and 1 had Silver dollars. They all looked in great shape with little wear on them. They were all old dates on the coins, most between 1920 to 1940. There was a smaller canvas bag in the bottom. When he opened it, a yellow light gleamed from inside. There had to be at least 100 of $20 gold coins. The old man had read in his research and PAW stories about silver and gold. He realized that these coins were worth a lot of dollars. He put everything back and set that trunk aside.
The last trunk was longer than the other 2. He opened it and was looking at 2 items wrapped in greasy canvas. Wow, did that grease ever stink! He gingerly pulled the long one out and unwrapped it. The item was also coated in the same grease, he recognized it as a Springfield 1903 rifle in 30-06 caliber and it looked to be in excellent condition. He set it aside and picked up the smaller one. It was a Springfield 1911 in 45ACP, again in excellent condition. The grease was acting as a preservative and the old man assumed it was cosmoline grease. It may have been doing a fine job of protecting the guns, but it was very stinky and sticky. There were several extra magazines for the 1911. Also there was several 100 rounds of ammo for each gun.
The old man carefully packed everything back in the trunks and headed home. His wife was very anti gun so he would not be telling her and she would most likely want to sell the silver and gold for the money. Even though she was making 3X the salary he was, she never seemed to have any money. So he decided to not tell her anything.
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Post by eyeseetwo on Jun 9, 2021 23:19:09 GMT -6
Smart not to tell the soon to be ex wife.
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 10, 2021 9:41:58 GMT -6
The old man's job was keeping him busy so he didn't have much time to think about what was in the trunks. His boss had him working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. Since he was salary, he couldn't refuse it. He was getting a good salary but when you stopped to think about the number of hours divided into the weekly salary, he wasn't making too much more per hour than an hourly employee. He had Sunday off, so slept in that day til 9AM. When he got up, he was alone in the house, his wife was already gone and didn't even leave a note of where she went. That was normal for her. Even on her business trips, he rarely knew what city she was in, let alone which hotel.
The old man decided to go back and look in the 1 trunk again. Once there he opened up the trunk containing the bible, pictures and papers. He was amazed at the number of papers and the history they contained. One folder contained a paper that was a deed to a piece of land that was 50 feet X 50 feet. He was scratching his head on that one, why a piece of land only 50 X 50 feet. The deed listed the coordinates so he pulled that up on his cell phone. Now he was really puzzled because it showed the location as being in the middle of a government owned property. It was about 50 miles away so he decided to go check it out.
He arrived there. He had to park at the end of the trail and walk in another 2 miles. His phone said he was close but all he was looking at was a steep hillside covered in thick brush that reached over his head. He pushed through it, following his phone til it stopped at a thick clump of brush. He had his backpack on that he always had carried when he bicycled and dug out a bottle of water to drink. When done, he pushed through the clump and was staring at an opening in the hillside. It was about door size in shape. He dug out his headlamp and a flashlight from his backpack.
He carefully went through the opening and after about 10 feet it opened up into a large cavern with side openings leading off to who knows where. Everything was dry, no musty smells from dampness. Off to one side he could see an old fire pit with some rocks nearby to use as chairs. There was a stack of small wood for the fire pit and some old rolled up paper to use as tinder to start the fire. The old man looked at the papers which turned out to be newspapers – dated 1926. So he figured they were put there by his grand dad. He continued looking around and stepped closer to the walls. They had some gray veins of something running everywhere. He used his thumbnail to scratch at it to see what it was. His thumbnail left a dent in it. Lead, he was in a lead mine.
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 11, 2021 7:56:54 GMT -6
A lead mine. The old man had read so much about lead – that it would stop radiation, that it would stop thermo imaging, that it was used for bullets. His mind was already running with so many thoughts of what he could do. This place looked as if no one had been in here since his grand dad, not even animals. He continued looking around and found an ammo can setting off to the side. It looked to be from WW2. The old man opened it and found a letter in it, a quick glance at the bottom showed him his grand dad's name. He read:
Dearest grandson
Since you are reading this, you are aware of what is really going on in the world. Your dad knew the truth but had married a woman who would not see the truth and was very liberal. Therefor he can not do much besides pass the trunks on to you. Grandson, the best wisdom I can pass on to you is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour if you haven't already done so. Read the bible in my trunk. Seek guidance, wisdom and discernment from God's word. Even back here in my time, I can see the future need for a place for you to hide in, this mine. In my trunks, I left you my rifle and pistol that I used in WW1. They served me well. Clean them up, take care of them and they will serve you well. There is some ammo in the trunk, there is more in one of the side passages here, buy more ammo. I have left you some silver and gold coins and also there are some small pockets of silver and gold in the back passageway. But don't store up silver and gold though. In God's word, the bible, He says that there will come a point of time where no one will be able to buy or sell without a mark from the Antichrist. So my advice is to buy material things that you will need and store them here – food, clothing, tools. There is a stream of fresh water that flows in the one side passage. Be strong in the Lord.
Love
Grand dad
The old man looked at his watch and saw it was late afternoon, so time he was getting back home. He made it back by 8PM and his wife was still not home. He cleaned up, grabbed a bite to eat from Chinese take out food and was resting on the couch when his wife came home at midnight. The old man stood up and made a move to give her a hug and a kiss in greeting. She stopped him with an out stretched arm and told him that she was all dirty and needed a shower. So he went to bed to get some sleep because tomorrow was a work day.
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Post by smitty60 on Jun 13, 2021 7:04:46 GMT -6
Sweet. Thanks
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 15, 2021 11:06:59 GMT -6
The old man was looking forward to getting back to the mine to better explore it but work was hectic and his boss was making him work a lot of extra hours. His wife had said that she was going away on a 2 week vacation soon and he was looking forward to having time off too. As it came close to time, he was suddenly told that he couldn't have the time off due to work loads. So he was stuck working.
He did get 1 day off while his wife was away on vacation. He didn't know where she was at, she just said that she was going to a hotel and pamper herself. Anyway, the old man went back to the mine and did some looking around. He liked the place even more. He found the extra ammo, about 500 rounds of 30-06 and 100 rounds of 45ACP. He found the passageway with the water, also saw the veins of silver and gold, explored another side passage and saw a gaping hole in the floor. He edged closer and in the glow from his headlamp the hole went beyond his light. He picked up a rock and dropped it in, from the time it took to strike bottom, it had to be at least 1000 feet down. He marked that location firmly in his mind.
He spent the rest of the day making plans of where to place his items that he already had gathered up. Then making a list of things he wanted to get. On his way home he stopped at the store and bought some of those disposable money cards so that he could order things online and have them shipped to his drop address. He ordered 1,000 rounds of 30-06 and 500 rounds of 45ACP. He ordered some lead bullet molds and gas checks since he had a lead mine. He ordered reloading equipment, plus primers and powder. His next day off he planned on starting to move his supplies from the climate controlled storage unit up to the mine.
Years have gone by and the old man is now 60 years old. Things have been constantly getting worse in the world. He has continued getting supplies into the mine, even selling off the silver and gold coins that were in the trunk, Lately the news has been full of the call for a digital currency so that people could not pay cash to buy things the government says is bad for them. He has continued researching about the truth of things going on instead of just believing what the government says is the truth. His children all have their own families. His wife, it hasn't gotten any better. She is on business trips almost every week where she is gone 2-3 days and sex is maybe once a year.
Now the government is on the news talking about a new wonder treatment.
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Post by 9idrr on Jun 15, 2021 18:41:53 GMT -6
Is he gonna get to see how long it takes for a body to hit the bottom of that big ol' hole?
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 15, 2021 19:01:20 GMT -6
Perhaps - or perhaps just run there and disappear around the corner but keep running in place so they chase him across that hole?
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Post by 9idrr on Jun 15, 2021 19:44:42 GMT -6
Perhaps - or perhaps just run there and disappear around the corner but keep running in place so they chase him across that hole? You, sir, are pretty damned devious. That's one reason I like you. |
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Post by papaof2 on Jun 15, 2021 20:41:49 GMT -6
Too old to outrun them; too weak to beat them in a direct fight - gotta be devious to survive.
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Post by iamnobody on Jun 16, 2021 7:46:23 GMT -6
The news was all ablaze with talk and video of a new wonder treatment that would cure everyone of everything and would also reverse aging. It consisted of an injection that contained nano particles that were an AI – artificial intelligence. Videos showed people with cancer being injected and within 24 hours they were healed. People with missing limbs, the nano particles caused them to grow. 80 year old people, they showed them reversing age to 30 years old. The person and company behind this was Frank Yates and Minisanto. They were offering this injection free to everyone.
People were lining up and demanding their free injection. Fights broke out in the lines of people waiting. Video showed a person being stabbed in one of the fights. EMTs were there and said that it was a fatal wound. The wounded person was injected and in just 2 minutes they were normal. While the person that did the stabbing was banned from ever getting the injection. After that, no more fights happened.
It took 6 months for all the people that wanted the injection to get it. It seemed like 99.9% of people got it. The nano particles basically change people's DNA. No more sickness, no bad eyesight or hearing, no obesity and the fact that everyone reverse aged to 30 years old. Men aging back to 30, with flat stomachs and bulging muscles. Women aged back to sexy, curvy bodies. The few people that tried to ask questions about the safety of the injections were mocked, jeered and shouted down.
The old man was still reading on the internet sites. It was pointed out that Frank Yates wanted to reduce the number of people on this planet and Minisanto was the same company that had changed DNA in plants, patented them and now claimed to own those plants.
Over the months it was noticed that no new pregnancies were happening. After most people had got the injection because of the rewards of having it, now they were saying that people that didn't have the injection were a danger to the ones that had it. Stores installed equipment at the entrances that would not open the door unless the AI in the nano particles triggered the door opening.
The old man had tried warning his wife, children, grandchildren, mom and siblings about the dangers but they all laughed at him, made another tin foil hat for him and rushed to get the injection. His mom was looking like a 30 year old and was out with many guys. His wife was after him to get the injection too but he kept saying no. Now the old man was still in decent shape at 60 years old from working out, bicycling and hiking over the years but he was definitely not a 30 year old that the injection caused.
Soon the non injected were the most hated in the world. They couldn't go into stores to buy things, their workplaces would not allow them to work and being near them was a crime. In 5 days time, not having the injection would cause a person to be put in prison and any person not not turning in a non injected person would have their nano particle AI turned off and they would change back in to the sickly old person they once were. No injected person wanted that.
The old man came home from work and his wife was waiting on him, trying to get him to change his mind about the injection. She tried kissing him but he backed away. It had already been proven that the AI nano particles could be transferred from an injected person to a non injected via body fluids. His wife then stripped her clothes off and she was that younger 30 year old. She started doing a “show” for him and he had a physical response to seeing his wife put on a “show” for him. His wife laughed as he went to shower and change his clothes for a dry pair of pants.
He hurried the shower and got dressed in his outdoor clothes. He heard his wife talking to someone on her phone and started walking towards her. He stopped around the wall corner when he heard her say she was turning him into the authorities in the morning for not having the injection. That he was a loser as a man anyway. Then she was saying how he had never a suspicion she had committed adultery over the years but she had with many guys, including even his boss and that is why he was required to work so many extra hours. That her business trips were spent having sex with her bosses so that she could keep moving up the corporate ladder. That her 2 children were not his. How the old man thought he had been the first man for her but in reality that year in 12th grade when he had went on that trip for a week, that she had sex with the whole senior football team.
The old man is standing around the wall corner with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. He heads to the garage and gets in his vehicle and leaves. As he drives, his mind is trying to figure things out. He finds himself parked at the wide spot over looking the river. His mind slows down and ideas begin to form, slowly they turn solid. Over the years many people had used this spot to end their lives. The river below was deep and ran fast. Very few bodies were ever recovered. His bike and backpack were in his vehicle.
He found a sheet of blank paper and a pen.
I am such a big loser.
My wife committed adultery many times.
I found out my children were actually another man's children.
Goodbye cruel world.
He left his keys, wallet, phone, change and the letter on the vehicle dashboard. It took him 5 minutes to get his bike and backpack ready. Soon the 60 year old man was pedaling to his mine 50 miles away.
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