[Mkguild] What, I'm still here? (with story!)

[Fox Cutter]

Well, back here after being gone for a few years but I've also stared 
to write MK stories again, so it's all good.

Speaking of stories, here's the first of my current batch. It still 
needs a little bit polish and a good title, but I would still love to 
here your opinions on it!

--Fox Cutter

=======

Untitled MK story

By

Fox Cutter


Cutter sat in front of his work table, resting comfortable on his 
haunches in his fox'taur from. The large vulpine flicked his tail 
slowly behind himself as he read over one of the numerous scrolls 
that were stacked on his desk, his glasses perched on top of his 
nose.  By his left hand was a flat sheet of brown paper that he 
carefully wrote on with a steady head, scratching out a letter at a 
time with his quill pen.

Leaning forward he looked at the tightly written Elvin script on the 
page, the letters were blocky and simple but with large deviation 
between each of them. To the unaided eye they seemed to blend and 
roll together making an indecipherable collection of symbols, but to 
the fox they were easy enough to read. The translations of the words 
appeared on his inside of his glasses, glowing slightly off his blue 
eyes. As he read them he made more notes on the page, carefully 
dipping his pin into the ink well every now and then.

"Excuse me," a voice asked from outside the library, but Cutter 
didn't notice it.

A few moments later the owner of the voice, one of the guards of the 
long house, walked in. The young woman looked a bit frustrated as she 
walked across the room to stand next to the librarian. She had been 
told, like everyone in the long house, not to disturb him when he was 
working, but this was important.

"Excuse me," she said again, but again he didn't seem to hear her.

With a sigh she reached out, waiting until he moved his pen of the 
page, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He jumped, freezing in place for a moment before turning his head 
around to look up at the guard, noting for a moment just how pretty 
she was before setting his pen down in its resting spot next to the 
ink well. "Yes?" he asked.

"You have a guest," the guard said, motioning towards the door of the library.

The vulpine blinked in surprised, looking at her over the top of his 
glasses. "I do?"

"Yes, a vixen, she seems to know you."

"She's early, we were supposed to meet at 10," he replied, looking up 
at the clock on the wall, something he had brought with him from the 
Keep's main library.

"It's almost noon," the guard replied.

Cutter froze for a moment, looking at the clock again. With a sick 
feeling in his stomach he realized that the pendulum on the clock had 
stopped. He had meant to pull the weights that morning but had gotten 
lost in the translation of the scroll. The scroll he had apparently 
been reading all morning long.

He sighed and flicked his ears back as he pressed his hands against 
his muzzle, glad that the black fur of his hands hid the stains from 
the ink. "Okay, please show her in."

The guard nodded her head and walked out of the library, a few 
moments later Kallie walked into the library. The vixen had a slight 
looked of awe on her face as she stepped between the wide shelves 
covered in scrolls and books. The anger in her face fading away as 
she looked over them all, her ears perking up high over her head and 
her tail slowly flicking, making her long skirt flutter around her 
legs. "I've... this is amazing."

He smiled a bit, feeling slightly underdressed next to her. For a 
fighter she had very elegant tastes in clothing, unlike his simple 
laced up shirt and vest. "The main Keep library is significantly 
larger than this, this is just a small elvin library. Though it's 
still probably the largest collection of their lost knowledge in the 
world. Most of the scrolls here are centuries old."

Kallie nodded and walked up to the desk, stepping gently around the 
fox'taur's bulk, her skirt swaying, the dark fabric both contrasted 
and enhanced by the lighted colored shirt she wore. The clothing also 
provided her a great deal of freedom of movement . "Can you read it?"

"I can," he said, carefully removed his glasses from his nose and 
folded them closed. He placed them on the work table next to his 
quill pen, then quickly wiped his paws clean on the blotch cloth.

She nodded and picked up his parchment paper, reading his carefully 
written notes on the page. " 'Every soul born on this world has a 
path set before it, but the journey is not a fixed one. While the 
course of a life can wind and change the destination can never truly 
be altered.' Your translation?"

"Yes, but the writing is like that naturally. It's very poetic, a 
study on what it means to truly live a life, and what does living 
truly mean in a world where your fate might have already been decided for you."

"I would like to read the finished work," he said, setting the page back down.

He smiled. "There are eight scrolls, each one rather long to begin 
with. It will take me months to translate it and sadly there are more 
pressing issues to deal with. As much as I would like to dedicate my 
time to the job I have to catalog everything else in here."

A smile small crossed over Kallie's muzzle. "More pressing issue, 
like our plans for lunch, which will be an early supper now."

"Only if we go outside of the walls, we can easily take lunch in the 
market place."

Her smile grew just a little bit narrower. "Will you be able to teach 
me there?"

With a chuckle Cutter stood up on all fours. "Yes, I will be able to 
teach you, I know of a few quiet places." He said, offering out a 
hand to her."Would you care for a ride?"

She smiled and holding onto his hand lifted herself up onto his back, 
settling down to ride side saddle on the fox's back, one arm wrapped 
around his chest. She allowed her tail to drape down the far side of 
his lower body as she settled onto him.

Collecting his money pouched his slipped it into the pocket of his 
vest, then together they walked out of the library and out into the 
long house, quickly finding their way through to the keep itself. 
"How are your rooms?" he asked as they walked past the guards.

"Acceptable, but I will need to find something more permanent, 
perhaps in the city itself."

"If you join the watch they will provide quarters for you."

She blanched at that. "I dislike the idea of sharing a room with 
anyone, let alone a dozen other people. No, I would rather keep my 
own residence and rent my sword to anyone who cares to use it."

Cutter nodded at that. "Well, there are many merchants who would like 
to have a defense against any raiders instead risk being trapped here 
by injury."

"I am well aware of that," she replied, resting her head against his 
shoulder, her muzzle pressed into the fur of his neck.

He chuckled softly and nodded, pleased to find that the usual stairs 
down had become a sloping ramp. He took it easily, his bushy tail 
swaying behind his hind legs. "I suppose so. Have you taken to 
explore the Keep?"

"Yes," she replied softly. She had only been living at the keep for 
the last week, the place was still new to her as was the strange 
geography of the keep itself.  It was almost frustrating the way 
nothing was ever in the same place twice, but it seemed that she 
would eventually find her way.

"See anything interesting?"

"More pubs then I care to mention, it's hard to find a new place to 
get off my feet. I also paid a visit to the Chapel."

Cutter tilted his head at this, giving her a slight look with 
narrowed eyes. "You're a follower of the Way?"

She nodded. "Somewhat, less so since my father died, but I still 
believe. Does that conflict with your believe? I have to admit I'm 
unfamiliar with the Twins."

His smile grow a little bit thinner at this. "There is no issue 
between my faith and yours, other than the conflict between Eli and 
the Twins, but it is not as bad as their issues with Akkala and the 
other Lothanasi gods."

"Oh?" she asked, the tone of the one word making it clear that she 
wanted to know more.

The fox nodded, his ears flicking back slightly. "Yes, the Twins have 
managed to annoy almost every god to one extent or another. They have 
their own agenda and have make some... creative choices in following it."

"But they are not very well know?"

"Not this far north, no. I'm the only one at the keep. There is no 
place of worship and Kyia isn't interested in creating one. Though 
I've never gone looking either. To be honest I never been that faithful."

"I see," she replied.

Cutter smiled, touching her arm as they walked out into the lower 
keep. The day was over cast, giving everything a dim glow to it all, 
but it was still enough to make the fox'taur squint as they stepped 
out. People moved all around them, a few giving him a slightly 
annoyed look but no one saying anything. He started down along the 
wall, following it towards to the inner gate and the tower square.

"Maybe we should have our lesson first?" she suggested.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Yes, but I had something to eat while waiting for you to come and collect me."

A blushed passed through Cutter's face, burning under his fur. "Yes, 
sorry about that, I didn't mean for that to happen. Sometimes I get 
caught up in my work."

She nodded. "Well it seemed interesting."

The foxtaur turned, heading down between the walls of the keep 
itself, following them to search out a quiet place. He wasn't sure 
where he could find one at, but knew that one would be along in a 
short time. "I can let you read it sometime."

"I thought you didn't have time to translate it?"

He smiled. "I have my ways," he replied, the walls of the keep 
pressing around them as they slipped between the towers until they 
came into an open alcove between them. The only thing in the alcove 
was a empty pedestal, split down one side, and a few large pieces of marble.

Offering a hand he let her slide off his back and onto the ground. 
"This should do nicely," he said.

"I wish there was a place to sit," she replied, brushing out her 
skirt as she did so, her tail flicking quickly in excitement.

"If this goes well hopefully you won't need it," he replied, turning 
his bulk around until they were facing each other, her larger size 
putting her over a head taller than she was. He gently rested his 
arms on her shoulders and smiled down at her.

Kallie took in a deep breath and smiled at him. "So, what do you do?"

"You might want to take off your skirt, you wouldn't want it ruined."

"I wore the skirt because I can easily hike it up."

He nodded. "But it can come on quickly."

"I'll manager," she replied with a small smile.

The fox'taur chuckled and nodded his head. "Alright then, have you 
learned how to turns into your pure animal form?"

"I have, it was easy," she replied, her memory flicking back to her 
second night at the keep, and how easy it was just to push herself 
and have her body change into that of a true vixen. It would have 
been a less pleasant experience if her mind had become that of an 
animal as well, but as it was only her body she was able to accept it 
with only minor discomfort.

He took in a deep breath. "Okay, this is kind of easy at first, but 
it takes a little bit of work to find it. You need to try to push 
yourself into being a 'taur, it's kind of like trying to find a notch 
between your two selves, your human self and your animal self. You're 
kind of tricking the magic to mingle both of the forms into one. 
There's probably more to it than that, including why it takes on the 
form of a centaur, but that seems to work."

"That's it? I just find a place in the middle? No prayers, no 
rituals, I just slip into it?"

"That's about it."

A smile flickered over her face. "Well, that's not that hard at all," 
she said, then closed her eyes. Taking in a deep breath she slowly 
let it out as she reached down to pull her skirt up over her hips, 
her tail sliding free of the back. A moment later her fur seemed to 
ripple like it was in the wind, then in a flash she grew. Her 
forelegs climbing taller as new hind legs grew, her lower body 
stretched out behind her as she took on a quadruped stance.

Letting out a gasp the new vixen'taur opened her eyes to look down at 
her long back side, reaching out with one hand to touch her flank. 
She stroked her hand along the fur, running her fingers through it 
before smiling and flicking her tail. "I feel powerful," she said, 
starting to dance on her four feet.

Cutter laughed. "That's normal. My first time I ran half way across 
the inner keep in just moments. It was exhilarating."

"How long ago was that."

"Just after the assault on the keep where I was injured," he replied, 
touching his right leg, where the dead muscles would have been had he 
been in his bipedal from.

A small frown crossed her face, but she didn't say anything, she knew 
that the events of the winter before last still hurt him, but she did 
not know why. She doubted that it was something that he would confess 
lightly, but  one never truly would know. They both had pain in their pasts.

"Can you help me with this?" she instead, pointing down to her skirt. 
It had bunched up over her hips, right where her upper body joined 
the lower one. It was tight around her waist, tighter then she had 
expected, and was quickly growing uncomfortable. She twisted it 
around until the ties were under her fingers, but the fabric was 
pulled so tight that she couldn't work the knots free.

He nodded. "You might want to exhale," he said, pulling at the cords, 
constricting the skirt even tighter around her waist. She let out a 
long breath as he kept pulling, then reached down to grab the ends, 
holding them in place.

This gave him more than enough stack to work the knots free, pulling 
at them with his fingers until he finally had them loose in his 
hands. They both let go at once, the top of the skirt expanding as 
she took in a deep breath.

"Thank you," she said.

"I'm happy to help," he replied, lifting his head to look at her, 
realizing they were almost eye level again. They looked at each other 
for just a moment, Cutter tilting is head slightly to the side as he 
moved a bit closer. She moved closer to him as well, her lips parting 
slightly, almost ready to kiss, but it was interrupted when their 
noses bumped into each other.

Pulling back in surprised the vixen started to laugh, rubbing at the 
side of her muzzle. "How do you kiss with one of these things?"

"I don't know," he replied, laughing in return.

With a shake of her head she pulled the now free skirt up over her 
head, the draped it across her back. "It was easier when only one of 
us was a fox."

He nodded and touched her shoulder. "Well, we'll work it out. It's 
not like we're the first couple in the keep. I think it will just 
take some time and experimenting."

Kallie flicked her tail at the touch, happy for the confirmation that 
their time together before the curse had taken her was not going to 
be the extant of her relationship. "I'm looking forward to that," she 
finally said.

"Good," he replied, only to be interrupted by the loud rumbling of 
her stomach. It was loud enough that it echoed around the close walls 
and brought a blush to her face.

She reached down to touch her belly while Cutter smiled. "You have a 
new stomach, and 'taurs need a lot more to eat then normal people do. 
Come on, let's go down to the town and get something to eat. I know a 
place that knows how to perfectly cook a side of mutton."

She looked at him with a little bit of disbelieve. "A whole side?"

Cutter nodded, taking her hand in his and leading her out of the 
small alcove, prancing a little bit as he walked. "Yes, a whole side, 
trust me, you'll be through it before you realize. Trust me, 'taurs 
need a lot of food. And it goes back onto you normal from it you're 
not careful."

"I'll have to be careful then," she said as the came out into the 
lower keep. A few people eyed them for a moment but only one person 
opened stared for a few seconds before shaping it off and moving on. 
Kallie looked back at him for a moment as they walked towards the gate.

"I would think people would be used to seeing fox'taurs by now."

He chuckled. "You would, but it turns out they aren't, and I doubt 
they have ever seen a vixen'taur. Only a few of us have bothered to 
learn the trick and I honestly think you're the first female."

"The first?" she asked, her tail curling slightly. Now that she had 
time to think about it she realized that she was basically nude from 
the waist down, but it seemed like it would be okay because that part 
of her was an animal, and no one wanted to dress animals. Cutter had 
never bothered with pants and she had never even noticed it until 
then, it just seemed natural.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking back at the vixen.

"I'm okay, my mind was just thinking about some things," she replied, 
her ears twisting slightly to the side, her tail flicking out again, 
starting to sway.

Cutter moved back slightly until he was side by side with her, 
pressing his flank up to hers. Her back was slightly lower than his 
was, but also lacked the fox's extra weight, leaving her looking 
lithe and muscular. She moved easily in the new from, like it was 
natural for her. "What sort of things?"

"Well, horses needed to be shoed, do we need to do anything like that?"

He shook his head. "Oh no, that's not really needed, though watch it 
when it gets muddy. Having your back end go slipping when your font 
is firmly planted is a bit of an experience," he said as they walked 
through the gate and down towards the town.  There was the familiar 
smell of life washing over them, food, dirt and waste. Kallie didn't 
really notice it, but Cutter did, he always did, and even with the 
keep's rather advanced sewage system it still smelled, even more so 
in the summer.

The vixen smiled a bit. "I'll make sure to avoid that," she replied 
as they walked past an ever growing number of people. Most of them 
saw them coming and moved to give them space, allowing the two 'taurs 
to move easily through the growing crowd.

The crowds grew even heavier as they walked through the town square, 
a few trading wagons lined up along one side and selling exotic 
fabrics and jewelry. She couldn't see it very well though the people, 
but the quality of the products were somewhat reasonable. Some of it 
she recognized from the midlands, and a few from across the sea.  As 
trade collections went it wasn't that impressive, and with the travel 
distance she wondered how they would be able to make any money 
selling them at the keep.

They walked past the wagons and out of the town square, taking a turn 
down a side street, then shortly after that turned again, now an ally 
between two buildings that was too narrow for them to walk abreast. 
The smell of food drifting down the small way, making her stomach rumble.

Cutter went first, pressing his way under some low hanging banners, 
the bottom of each one had become tattered and torn, a layer of fur 
covering each one from the number of animal keepers that had crossed 
under them in the past.

The road lead to an oddly shape square between five buildings. It was 
littered with tables and chairs, most of them filled with keepers of 
one type or another. One of the buildings had been opened up with a 
low set bar, with a large grill to the side, the smell of cooked meet 
radiating out from it filling the square.

He walked up to one of the free tables and pulled the chairs away. 
"If you care to sit?"

"Thank you," she replied, walking up to the table and sitting down on 
her haunches. It was an odd experience, with her rump resting on the 
ground but feeling like she was standing up. Instead she curled her 
tail around her hips and gave him a smile.

"I'll be right back," he said and walked up to the bar, he spoke with 
the child behind it for a few moments, then put down some money on 
the counter and came back carrying a pair of mugs. He sent one down 
in front of her then took a seat across the table from her.

She picked up the mug and sniffed at, finding the familiar scent  of 
beer, but the color was darker then she had seen before at the keep. 
Carefully she lifted it to her lips, taking a sip while trying not to 
let it spill down her thin muzzle. It was a different taste then she 
had before, but one that was strong in a very pleasant way. "That's 
good," she said, setting the mug back down. "Where does it come from."

"Michal and Della brew it themselves, apparently they import some of 
the ingredients from Whales.  Honestly it reminds me a little bit of home."

Kallie leaned forward over the table. "Are you from Whales?"

"Oh no, I've never been there, though I should someday. No, this is 
closer to some of the beers from my homeland. Not exactly the same, 
but closer than any other beer I've had."

"It's always good to find a piece of home," she said, her smile 
faltering a moment later as she looked down into her mug, her ears 
dropping to the side of her head.

Without a word Cutter reached out and took her hand in his, holding 
it gently and lacing his fingers between hers. It provide some 
comfort for her, making her ears perk up just a little bit.

"Where is your home?" he finally asked.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does, but I won't pry. Everyone who chooses to come to 
Metamore Keep does so for their own reasons. Sometimes it's to find a 
new life, sometimes it's to leave an old life behind. Though sadly 
the change is not enough to hide from your past, if there is 
something hidden it will still find you here."

The vixen let out a sigh. "That's not reassuring. So, why did you 
come to the keep?"

  A small smile flicked over his muzzle, his ears perking up as well. 
"Oh, for a number of reasons. Yes, I was leaving my past behind, but 
it's already tired to find me," he smile faltered at that, but he put 
it back on. "It might try to do so again, but for now I feel safe. I 
have a new life here and one I'm happy to keep simple. I have a 
library to sort, a keep that I still have places to explore, and a 
few good friends. This has been one of the few places in this world 
I've been comfortable living at."

"I see," she replied, taking another ship of the beer.

Cutter shrugged and leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on the 
table. "As odd as it may be, the keep is a good place to live, even 
if people like us really can't leave. That's one of the upsides of 
the transgender or child curses, you can still go out in the 
midlands. Even so, I've been happy here and I haven't really wanted 
to leave since I changed."

"Sounds like you don't want me to leave."

He chuckled. "I wouldn't mind you staying here," he said, touching 
her hand again.

A smile crossed over her face. "I just need to find my place here in 
the keep. I wouldn't mind working for the watch, but I would like to do more."

"There are always the long scouts?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I've heard of them, what exactly are they?"

"They are very specialized. I should introduce you to Misha, he would 
be able to explain it better than I can. I'm just their librarian."

The vixen nodded for a moment, then gave him a particular look. "If 
you're just the librarian, what were you doing going around savings 
ladies from raiders?"

A flash of worry crossed over his face for a moment before it was 
replaced with a fairly controlled natural look. "I was out to pick up 
a book from a local village and just found myself in the right place 
at the right time."

"You're lying," she replied.

He shrugged and took a sip of his beer, a smile hanging onto the edge 
of his muzzle. "Maybe, maybe not."

"No maybe about it."

The conversation was interrupted by a bar maid coming over with a 
pair of platters, each one filled with a huge side of lamb. The 
moment the smell hit her nose she felt her belly rumble deep in her 
lower body, her muzzle starting to water as it was set down next to her.

Without a word Cutter reached into his vest and pulled out a pair of 
small knifes, holding them easily between his fingers instead of with 
them. He flipped his hands and the blades as one, pulling one from 
his hands with ease before spinning the other blade and offering it 
over to her, hilt first.

"You're good with your hands," she said, taking the knife from him 
and using it to slice off a piece of the meat.  She placed it into 
her muzzle and let out a sigh at the flavor, it was good, very good. 
Not the best that she had ever had, but it was the best in a long while.

He nodded. "I've a number of skills."

"So, once again, why were you running around killing raiders?"

The fox'taur paused for a moment, then set his knife down. "I had 
found some interesting notes in one of the scrolls about a caches of 
some sort down in that direction. I was trying to find it, hoping it 
was books or scrolls, but all I found were some rusted tools."

Kallie took another bite. "What where they for?"

A smirk crossed his face, which he hid my folding his hands together 
and propping them in front of his muzzle, his elbows sitting on the 
table. "Nothing obvious, but I have my theories about it, but I think 
it has something to do with water," he said from behind his hands.

"Interesting," she replied.

"That's one word for it," he replied.

"What are you going to do about them?"

He shrugged, still keep his hands folded in front of his muzzle. "For 
the moment, nothing. I can't do much with them at all, but I am 
trying to find a way to clean them up, they might be useful to other people."

"I see," said, looking into his bright blue eyes, trying to 
understand both what he was, and was not, saying.

Instead he just smiled and put his hands down and picked his knife 
back up in one single fluid movement.  He sliced a piece of meat and 
ate is in a few quick bites, not even getting a bit of it on his fur.

She tried to follow suit, but wasn't quite as successfully,  having 
to wipe her muzzle clean a number of times. Still, she managed to 
keep any from staining her shirt. All in all it was an interesting 
meal with a man she was finding very attractive, but there was just 
something about him, like he knew more than he was telling. In many 
ways he was like every other librarian she had ever met, yet more so. 
He was both shy and reserved yet outgoing and almost strutting at times.

That, and the knife in her hands was clearly from the northern area 
of the Kitch Steppe, something she had never thought she would see 
outside of the finest homes. The fact that a librarian at Metamore 
Keep had it said something very interested about the man across the 
table from her. She wondered if he even knew the significance of them.

Soon enough she had eaten through the whole side of meat and five 
mugs of beers. She was surprised by it, not only did she feel just 
full she hardly felt drunk at all, and that was extraordinary. She 
could hardly have two glasses of wine without getting tipsy.

Cutter just smiled at her as he cleaned his knife on the table linen. 
"Is your stomach satisfied?"

"Yes, rather nicely to," she said, reaching up with one forepaw to 
rub at her belly. It fell tight, but not in a bad way.

He nodded and stood up, stretching out his hind legs. "Shall we head 
back to the keep?"

"We shall," she replied, standing up, finding her hind legs kinking 
for a moment before she stretched them out and flicked her tail. 
Together they walked out of the small square, back through the narrow 
street and back into the town.

The crowd in the town square was even larger than before, the crowds 
filling in around the merchant wagons. A new wagon had joined the 
group, but even from a distance she could see that their goods were 
worthless.  She didn't say a word though, it wasn't her concern.

As they walked up though the gate to the keep something rather 
unexpected happened, something that looked like a fox was standing in 
the center of the path, watching them walk. While it looked like a 
fox it clearly was something else, the skin was made out of metal and 
it moved with a soft clicking and whirring sound, which grew louder 
as it moved towards them, it's head cocked to the side.

"Hello Madog," Cutter said, bending his for legs so he could reach 
down and pet the top of his head.

"Madog?" she asked.

He nodded. "He's an automation, harmless mostly, but clever, or so 
I've been told."

The mechanical fox leaned up into the petting and wagged his tail. 
"Very clever."

Kallie bent down as well. "He talks."

Madog looked at her, his ears flicking a bit. "You talk, so I talk."

For the life of her she couldn't think of a good response to that.

The fox'taur chuckled and nodded his head. "I know many people who 
can talk but were far from clever. What brings you out today?"

"Meting a new friend," he replied, turning his head to look at the 
vixen, his metal eyes glowing in the sunlight in a way that made him 
shine in an very interesting way.

She offered out her paw to him. "It's nice to meet you."

Madog leaned up and pressed the top of his head to her hand. His skin 
was warm, not at all like she had expected a machine to feel like. 
She could also feel the clicking and moving on the mechanisms inside 
of his body. It was like touching a complex clock.

"Foxes, foxes and more foxes! Always room for more foxes!" he said, 
casting an look at Cutter before pulling away and walking away from 
the pair of 'taurs.

Kallie turned to look at Cutter. "Is he always like that."

"Pretty much," he replied.

Madog stopped and looked back at them for a moment. "Such silly 
foxes, a nun and a blade," he said, then vanished off through the gate.

They looked at each other for a moment, then without a word decided 
it was better to not even ponder what the mechanical vulpine had 
said. Instead they walked back through the keep,  though everything 
felt odd for the rest of the trip.


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