Chapter 4 Traitors591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SgVYctB2s
The doors sat slightly ajar and a foul odor rolled out of the hallway into Drexx’s nostrils. A faint pulsing light poured out into the courtyard as he watched Tutor leap over a wall and run off. He reached his hand up to push the doors open, a sense of dread and foreboding deep fear sinking into him, when someone touched his side. Slightly startled he turned to see two people standing behind him. Darlex and the woman that had been kneeling over him. The swelling around Darlex's throat had lessened considerably and he stood straighter then Drexx thought he could after seeing him so beaten. The woman still held her hand upon the Lokhagos’ side with an aura pulsing around him, his eyes glowing a faint blue in the pupils. His face was one of a well seasoned veteran of war, Drexx saw it twinge in slight pain as he fought to contain his composure.
“They were too many. I’m sorry,” Darlex bowed his head before lifting it back up and staring into Drexx's eyes a moment. The two locked eyes and Drexx saw the anger welling up inside the soldiers soul. “They had a clear purpose to get to Neith, I have no idea why but that was definitely their goal. They shouldn’t have known of the ceremony at all...,”he paused and looked away. Drexx saw a glimpse of sorrow in the mans well chiseled face. A tear ran down his cheek before the woman reached up and brushed it away. He turned from her caring touch but let her brush it aside before catching her hand and pulling it downward. She glanced a confused look up at Drexx who only nodded. She pulled her hand away and looked away to the courtyard.
“It's ok. You did your job and you did it well. You saved everyone else and drove them back as best you could.” Despite the anger he felt towards the event Drexx couldn't place blame on the man. A tugging in his heart removed the pang of anger that was there for Darlex. This man was in charge of saving far more than just Neiths life and he did just that. The only other dead were of his troupe that was probably even more heartbreaking then the loss of one woman. One thing Drexx knew about Shield Corp was that they have a strict adherence to put their lives before any other including the enemy. If saving a soul is possible then they will find a way.
“They had a Gibborim with them sir Drexx,” The small cleric called up to him, “They came in a force even we couldn’t handle with how fast they poured in.” Her thin blue veil left little visible save her eyes that were still glowing a faint teal hue. Her robe was slightly stained with blood and a faint weariness crept into her expression as she stood there. Drexx noticed a small Star of David embroidered on her shawl right where her shoulder sat. It glowed with a faint evanescence the same teal colour as her eyes. So she was born Judaic in blood and still believes in her old faith.591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDXa4axZ7k
“This was probably the fiercest fighting we have seen since the war.” Darlex trailed off before anything else. He lost himself in thought and looked away. Drexx could see him disappear into the past. His eyes casting off into some far away unknown land or time, he must be much older then he put off being in the war a full thirty years ago. The mans shoulders dropped as he seemed to lapse into some sort of memory, the clerics own shoulders tensed as her eyes flashed a bright red colour and the three of them disappeared into darkness with Darlex. Drexx looked around to find the trio lost in an expanse of space with nothing but the deafening din of silence, in the distance Darlex stood, younger and more naive as he waved them on. The older one looked on with blank eyes as Drexx looked to the small woman who only stood with her mouth open and eyes flashing between the teal and the red, The star now half of each colour as well. Drexx looked back to the spectre down the way to find it gone and a scene in its place.
Drexx followed the path in the darkness with his footsteps creating cascading luminescent ripples in the darkness of the teal colour. He watched the first steps ripples fall off some unseen ledge in the distance and red shoot upwards from some deep crevice. The surreal feeling tugged at him and he began a brisk walk away from the pair lost in their moment. As he walked he noticed something odd in his peripheral vision, the red pushing upwards from the crevice ran along the outline of odd broken and maimed buildings that had an ancient air about them. The architecture hung on itself like some odd spider web filled with the bodies of dead flies. The unreal feeling pushed him deeper into the darkness and the scene grew closer until it fully enveloped him in a surprise push from within itself. He looked around feeling odd and not himself, looking down he saw the tattered clothes of a soldier and the blood of a man on his hands. He lapsed then into the madness…
The gunshots rang out all around him. The crackling of the fires and falling of bombs raining from the sky. What was once a small village in the countryside now was a pile of rubble and ash. Broken bones and shattered lives, bloodied streets and upheaved foundations. The explosions and death tolls of war echoed through the night air and rushed through the din and smoke of death. Right beside him lay a young man barely old enough to grow a beard, barely old enough to hold a wife. He had been drafted from somewhere in Nevada just as the war broke out. World war three began in a blitzkrieg. No-one knew it was coming when the first explosions glassed D.C. all of Americas leadership gone in an instant of swift and merciless betrayal. Darlex looked up from his small hiding spot to see the devastation with his own eyes one more time, no matter how many times he saw it he couldn’t believe he was here and that this was happening. All of his company destroyed and killed so quickly, only he stood the test of time by sheer luck. They were hopeful having been stationed here, hopeful that they would live through the war to see their families again. If they even lived anymore. They held onto the hope that this was all a misunderstanding, that the news was wrong and that the superpowers weren’t at each others throats. “It's a small town not even on the map. This station is gunna be cake.” The boy said as they settled in last night. Their heads barely hit the pillow when the sirens went off. When the building collapsed around them in a sudden earthquake like blast.
The whole battalion, what was left of them, saddled up and headed into the fray. They had no idea it was going to be this bad, no idea that everything had just ended in one night. Darlex sat holding that boy in his arms, his eyes turned back in his head but his hands still twitching trying to grasp something noone else would ever see. The life whisked from him after a promise to find his family escaped Darlex’s own lips. Looking back up away from the death in his palms he saw what soldiers were left being slaughtered. The fear and sadness drug him down into despair, he was sure this was the end for him. That his family were right, that he should never have joined willingly after the supposed betrayal of his grandfather. His own mother told him that he was going to die and it seemed she was right after all. The Russians stampeded through with no mercy, no remorse. Almost as if they weren't human, or were being controlled. The whole town was leveled before any defence could be mustered. A classic blitzkrieg. Small groups of survivors hung to the same thin shread of hope as himself but were systematically being killed off. The blood dripped down off his hand when in the night sky bright lights and huge craft appeared from thin air. Fire rained from the sky in an unceasing onslaught and dogfights darkened the thin beams of light from the stars. The first real battle in the war began and ended in just a few hours. The United Corporations quickly began their defence of their greatest asset. Humanity. New hopes raised up inside him as he pulled the body close to him, looking back down he mouthed the words that couldn’t escape his hoarse and tightened throat. “I will find them, They’ll know the truth.”591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMpfZOySco
Tears streamed down his face as he clenched the corporal to his chest. The twitching finally stopped and the corporals body started to stiffen. The only squad mate he could find was dead and his entire battalion gone. All the friends in the world he had dead, his life gone and his past shattered in an instant. It seemed the world was ending around him as rubble sprayed the area he was sitting in from a grenade going off not too far from him. An old woman’s scream echoed through the night and a man yelled in anger and pain for what was his grandmother. A Russian soldier sprinted into view and saw him holding the boy in his arms. Darlex froze and turned his head away as he saw the man draw up his gun. He knew he wasn’t going to make it, the feeble attempt to not see his own death was the only movement he could muster. The echo of a gunshot crushed his soul before he realized he was fine. No blood soaked the pavement below him and no pain rang into his brain, was this what death felt like? Serene and calm no matter the format? He looked up to see the silhouette of his saviour. A womanly figure clad in black stood before him with an outstretched hand. Her visor off and a trembling grenade shrapnel filled man on a floating stretcher behind her.591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcR5oiJfNdj
The vision ended with the two gripping hands and the memory vanishing leaving Drexx alone in that odd dark expanse yet again. Looking around though he was again standing next to the two transfixed in the memory sequence. Drexx reached up and tapped Darlex on the shoulder startling him out of the episode. The darkness exploded away from the trio and the woman fell to her knees panting looking up at Darlex. A look of sorrow and understanding in her eyes. Darlex looked to him with fear disappearing from his eyes. Drexx nodded in understanding at him and he reached up putting his hand on his shoulder, the other man pulled his hand up and put his over Drexx’s. What Darlex just remembered was truly tragic and now the three of them had lived through it for some reason. They didn’t know why but they did know that Darlex was doing his best to keep that scene from happening again to others. So many people have been through a lot in the last hundred years it raised Drexx's spirits to see them still fight on. To see them battle the evils of the world to protect others even though others had failed them.591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMYQ50ULNc
“Did you ever..?” The woman began to ask. But was quickly cut off by Darlex.
“No, The Americas quickly became too dangerous. I doubt any of them are left…They all deserved so much better than what happened.” He moved his hand to his throat that clearly began to hurt again. She reached back up and touched him again to calm the pain and heal him. His face calmed as her hand touched his side again.
“Well other than you Darlex the only person who might know anything is the priest Krish,” He looked down to the woman. “he would be through here correct miss...?” ending with a questioning glance.
“Judea sir. Of the Chesed sphere of influence at your service,” She curtsied slightly before looking back up to him. Drexx had only just noticed her hand was placed on Darlex's side and not his throat. Maybe another injury still lie there. “and yes through here are some living quarters and meditation chambers. Krish is of the Gevurah sphere and is probably speaking with our leader here in Sphinx.” I noticed him lead a full score at least of others in with him. They seemed noticeably upset about something more than the attack. There were several of each sephirot with him. I have never seen so many together beside ceremonies, we each have our own duties to attend to. For so many to shirk them today it must be something truly important.”
Darlex flinched from a sudden pain and Judea looked to him concernedly. “I hope you find out something. I've gotta head back to the embassy and debrief.” The two walked away at that and left Drexx standing at the doors. Darlex leaned on the smaller woman as she led him off to the other side of the complex past a tall sleek tower with slightly increasing tiers like that of an upside down pyramid. The pungent smell of something vile wafted up into his nostrils again peaking his curiosity. He has smelled it before. A sort of wasting smell that seemed to permeate the crevices and crags of the Scar. Why would it be here? In a place of worship and purity. Something was heavily wrong and he felt deep in his soul he needed to be swift. That if Krish awaited him inside it wasn’t patiently but desperately. Turning back towards the odd curved building he looked back towards the chapel that was now past another tall building. This one was equal in height to the other but opened along the sides by walkways that would crisscross the interior and circle around the exterior. Another thought of his wife ran across his mind before he placed his hand upon the door feeling an immense pain and sadness within. He felt he wasted enough time on the past and needed to press on.
Acting upon that urge he pushed the door open and began to step down the hall. Before he took so much as three steps inward he was stopped short by a gruesome sight he loathed to see in this holy place. Crippled bodies in priestly attire lay strewn across the smooth polished marble floor with their blood illuminated by coloured lights running along the ground and running off into a different hallway of the complex. Burnt and broken wall panels hung from their bolts and wires sparked a constant din of electricity down onto the scorched bodies below. One man in green stood with his hand outstretched towards the gruesome scene, his other hand held back by a small circlet of odd twinkling lights. His face distorted in a mangled expression of pure terror and hate. An odd sound rolled up from his feet as he stepped one more time, like a rod of hollowed metal being banged against to create a sort of melody as he stepped. One of sorrow and despair, a song that would make any listener begin to mourn the lives lost here. The lights along the floor flickered incessantly and a thick smoke wafted along from deep inside the hallway he looked towards. A light in the centre of the hall dimmed and pulsed between Yellow and black-light. The room was once a rest area filled with chairs and paintings, the chairs now ripped, burnt and tossed aside like they were nothing. Several were pinning men and women to the floor as the paintings over their heads were tilted in their direction. The faces and hands of the men and women depicted therein mocked them and reached out for them unnaturally.
Following his instinct he sealed the doorway behind him punching in a quick series of numbers that were highlighted by Keter. It seemed to be a lockdown sequence shutting him inside with the deadly smoke and sealing the entire effected area off from the outside. He turned back around as his helmet wrapped around his face and an oxygen level metre appeared in his display. At that he again began his decent into the madness before him following the flashing light on the floor. As he made his way deeper, past the threshold of the hallway, the smoke began to envelop up to his knees and blanketed the ground hiding anything below from his naked eye. From somewhere around him speakers began a steady sound of an organ playing, probably from within the chapel. Often a priest would play the organ in a holy tune to mourn the passing of any member of their society and it would be said to play throughout the Sepulcher. Death permeated the very air around him and the smoke rolled, as if it was liquid, around him creating a force to actually push against. Looking into a room he stood near he saw a woman in an orange Buddhist robe laying on a bed with her eyes fixed directly above her, her right hand draped down off the bed with blood dripping down it from a thick slice running from her neck to her forearm. With her legs spread and robe torn the faint gruff noise of some creature could be heard from inside the room before the whole scene was washed away by the fog. The only noise now escaping was a piercing scream that reverberated through the smoke to him. He turned away after being unable to push further into the room, the dense fog was like a wall of mist.
Feeling a need for light he pressed a button on his arm that activated a suit-wide illumination system that created a faint circle of visibility around him. As he found himself striding through the halls he could feel a presence fall upon him from all around. The sounds around him fell in line with the melody of the organ as it played its melancholy tune through the hall, the sound of dripping blood being akin to that of a church bell. The entire scene permeated the very fabric of the air around him as he walked and weighed him down with heavy shoulders. The hallway continued on past multiple rooms all closed off by the thick mist allowing only a vestige of sight within, to his left a man chained to a wall screaming in pain with the chains digging into his skin. To the right another woman being burned to death on a cross the scene mocking that which she wore around her neck. Each person in torment made Drexx want to turn away but he knew in his soul that the path behind him was lost and if he were to turn back then his own torture would ensue. The voices of the people began to trickle through the fog up to his ears as it grew thicker, it told him myriads of foul things. Some about his own death, that he wouldn’t make it long in this hellish scape. Others warned him against his folly to come here and begged him turn back lest his soul be taken just like their own. He ignored them with all his might as another force inside him seemed to lock his eyes at the arch ahead of him that marked the end of the hallway and a junction to another. The faint yellow pulses of light from the floor created an eerie glow from below as it diffused through the dense fog. He found himself wondering how the builders knew that it would be filled with such thick fog one day and built such a feature in without any second thoughts.
Shadows now enveloped all around his small circle of light, casted by the very light he followed like a moth to flame. He stopped by instinct to get ready for something he felt was encroaching upon him. Screeching noises could be heard down the distant hallways and room doors began to slam open with fierce force, a clapping sound started up just after one slam happened as if the door barely hung upon its hinges and swung against the wall. From below and just ahead of him stood a body, mangled and chewed with deep wisps of purple energy whisking off of its body, of a man garbed in deep black robes that disappeared against the darkness. The robes seemed to suck the light from the room like a black hole as it raised its head to face Drexx. The broken jaw of the man hung sideways from a sliver of skin as another jaw protruded from its neck, sharp teeth and a slithery tongue licked at the dried blood of the broken jaw as it rose a foot taller than Drexx and opened its eyes in his direction. They were a deep crimson with gemlike reflections reaching out from an immense depth. Drexx saw the whites were not that but instead a purple swirling misty colour. It reached its clawed hand up and ripped the broken annoying jaw off its face causing a new stream of blood to spew forth to the ground and shrieked loudly before charging forward with frightening quickness. The black robes it wore loosely were tattered and barely hanging on by the muscles around its gaping neck and flung wildly in the darkness causing the light in the hall to shift and cascade in ways Drexx had never seen. Responding screeches reached up from rooms all down the hall and more doors slammed open with loud bangs against the metal walls.
The creature that lunged for him reached him in a single bound covering several paces. before Drexx could react. He found he was quickly slammed into the ground and assailed by similar clawed hands reaching out from all around him. They were decrepit and mangled. Skin hugging bone with barely any muscle in between and the tips of the fingers were made into claws by the bones that stuck out of the skin. He struggled with his new captures as he felt himself somehow be dragged into the ground beneath him, a deep cackling reached his ears from the creature above him as it raised its large clawed hand above itself. With renewed strength he pushed hard against the ground forcing himself to rise and throw the creature off of him. Wherever he was being pulled to was not anywhere he wanted to be, and he had then his life on the line this time. The hands that had gripped him now had full bodies in several different coloured robes rising around him. He slammed his body into a wall beside him loosening himself from the black robed creature and began to run at full speed. The black robed creature pulled itself from the wall ripping its own arm apart from the splintered metal that was sticking out of the wall. It howled after him as the rest of the creatures stood beside it, none quite as big but all clearly deadly.
The screeching that rose up around him rang in his ears as more bodies rose as he passed them. It was almost like his presence gave new life to the dead in the hall that had been laying dead until now. As he pushed deeper he found himself passing all the multiple rooms that had been sealed before ripped open and bloody trails leading from inside to out. Priests that had been enjoying their time away from their duties ripped of their life in instants that had descended upon them mercilessly. Their broken bodies and tormented faces faintly appeared in the mists before him as he struggled not to look back to his pursuers. The faint yellow line on the ground was the only guide he had in the darkening abyss. The fog encroached even upon that light trying to ward him away from reaching his goal. He dodged the myriads of claws reaching for his hidden skin before coming to a halt with a wall suddenly appearing before him, its material that of sheared metal caked in the remains of people that lived in the floors below. Turning into a now empty room he pushed through the fog to find himself lodged within a room with no exit. Turning back he stepped towards the doorway before he became enclosed in a metal cell of red covered spikes with faint guttural humming reaching his ears from all around in the room. Grotesque shapes of what were once men and women stepped into sight just outside the bars their once bright red and burgundy robes hanging loosely about their defiantly mutated bodies.
The undead priests circled the cage around him and held up their hands, a bright ominous glow reaching through the fog in the room. Tendrils of reddened energy reached outward from the tips of their hands, what was left of the flesh on the bones. The tendrils wrapped around the spikes and began to push them inward encroaching upon Drexx. The thought of laying in the fetal position on the dank floor and being slowly stabbed to death by those spikes crossed his mind. He would likely turn into one of those creatures and be set loose upon the world to wreak havoc just like them, that he couldn’t allow. Looking around for any avenue of escape he espied only one. Above him a ceiling tile hung loose from its fasteners and dangled into the fog around him. Waiting just a moment he allowed the spikes to inch just close enough for him to launch himself up and grab one using his upward momentum, and some pressure release from his boots, he launched himself up to land a hand on the beams in the darkness above. Shrieks could be heard as the spikes dislodged from the ground and the red glow pointed towards him. He quickly pulled himself up expecting a crawlspace but instead found enough room to walk among the neatly managed wires and tightly hung pipes. Just ahead of him a spike smashed through the ceiling of the room below, clearly they wanted to capture him again. He bolted the other direction down the metal corridor. Hearing one of the dead clamber up into the corridor with him jolted him on further.
The railings to the suspended corridor that hung about a foot over the ceiling tiles of rooms below started shaking and shooting off in every direction slicing through wires and stabbing pipes filled with hot water or other liquids. Steam started to fill the corridor and mingle with the fog as sparks from the electricity sprouted flames underneath the walkway. Electricity arced through the air around him as it bounced between particles of vaporized water. Several times the electricity hit his armour in a jolt pushing him from one side to another but he pressed on in an effort to keep away from the demons crawling through the chaos behind him. He must have crossed through the ceilings of several rooms before finding an opening that would be quick and easy to slide through. Without wishing to risk the time it took to break through or open a panel he had continued on looking for a quick route and finally found on in the form of a beam stuck through the wall of a large room, acting as a support for its apparent vaulted ceiling. He sprang over the barely standing railing and onto the beam running underneath the walkway and bolted towards the opening. Loud screeching of metal and crackling of fire could be heard from tee walkway as it convulsed and collapsed in on itself just moments after he had exited the path.
Exiting the maintenance shaft out onto the beam of the room he found himself over a vast scene of devastation. A large number of priests were in the room at the time of an apparent surprise attack. He could see several still sitting in chairs or laying dead beside tables and bookshelves where they were the moment of the attack. Their bodies mangles and torn into like some ravenous beast had killed a meal. The doors to either entry point on opposite sides of the room were blown away and ripped out of the walls. The fog was currently noticeably absent here as he crossed the beam to the other side where he saw a way back down via a sort of stepped bookcase. He made his way down and stepped onto the floor of what was assuredly the common area. The devastation was much more clear. The doors on this side had been pushed off with great force and bloody prints of odd shapes and sizes had rushed in. They led right up to the priests that had been unable to respond quickly enough. Others had been standing in time and clearly been able to defend themselves against the initial attack but failed against the second wave that had been waiting. Their bodies lay in heaps amid the few creatures that had been taken down by their efforts. Drexx walked up and looked out that very same door to see the rolling fog yet again mingling amongst bodies and blackness. He began to dread the thought of stepping back into there but he knew Krish would be that direction, even though he could be lying dead among those behind him Drexx somehow knew that the man was still alive. Somehow the creatures and the fog present here told him that something was still happening deep within the Sepulchre. Again he opted, against his natural judgement, to follow the yellow pulsing light through the din of the fog.
The hallway here was the same as the previous, the fog stretching down across the floor blocking the light of the path in its mist. The same music still played through the speakers of the sepulchre, with the same tapping of blood against metal and his footsteps still echoing the same sound. He wondered, for a moment, whether or not he had exited the room in the wrong direction but looked back before entering the mist fully one last time to see that the path behind him was illuminated in a different hue of yellow then the path he had been following. With his path assured he stepped into the darkness fully and continued down the path he knew would lead him where he needed to be. The undead priests seemed to have lost him for the moment as he made his way hastily but quietly down the hall past room he was sure held only more of the same saddening sights. Dead men and women or lost souls he couldn’t save and would dragged down with if he even tries. He was forced to live with the guilt of leaving those people behind to face their fates alone.
He eventually found himself facing the opposite entryway to the hall living quarters. Far fewer bodies littered the floor on this end of the building and the fog was much thinner then before. But here he noticed the staircase the fog flowed down into a dank hollow staircase littered with bodies. How many people died in these halls and what exactly happened? Were the thoughts that crossed Drexx's mind as he stepped over a blue robed man clawing at his own skin, still alive and in desperate need of help Drexx couldn’t give. He shook his head at the poor fellow as he began to descend. The stairs withered away and began to feel as if they were melted by some intense heat as hell descended into another hallway. Indeed the corpses here were melted to the stair as well with burnt flesh and ashes clinging to the frail black skeletons. This hall was littered with far fewer bodies and more damage to the walls and flooring. Burn marks and deep thick scratches ran along them, the bodies of what surely made the marks lay all over as fewer Priests lay dead here. Either meaning there was more skill involved or all those that Krish had brought with him had perished already. The man at the top of the stairs suddenly screamed before a splatter of blood hit the wall beside Drexx, the howl of the creature in black rolled down the stair causing the skeletal frames of the bodies around him to writhe in pain and reach for him trying to claw him away as if he were the one causing their torment. With that he immediately ran off down the hall.
Shaking began to be felt as the creature stampeded its way after him. Loose panels fell down into the floors below leaving large gaps in his way with the yellow line broke of in patches making it difficult to find his way deeper. This hall seemed to be a large interconnected causeway between the different buildings of the Sepulchre. He couldn’t think of whether he knew what building he was heading into or not but he did know that if they were all connected like this then its possible that the whole building had been infected by these savage beasts. Yet glancing out a window he passed while being chased showed him that he was in an isolated portion. Perhaps that code Keter gave him saved the rest of the complex indeed. With the glimpse again disappearing behind the wall of the causeway he made his way quicker down the hall. The black dressed creature rushed its way through with heavy footfalls and deep guttural growls, a body was flung far ahead of Drexx by the creature attempting to knock him down. It slid into a side wall with such force that it broke through it and tumbled into the night air outside. The release of pressure immediately sucked some of the fog out with it before emergency blast shields slammed down and sealed the entire hall off from the outside world. Cutting the only source of light, other than the pulsing yellow, off from inside the causeway. In the slight distance an arch stood open, the gateway into the next building. The light began to be cut off from the hallway as blast shields began closing the arch off with Drexx to be trapped inside with the creature that has been chasing him.
Luckily the sounds of battle echoed towards him from the room just past the archway. Flashes of light pulsed outward between the two shields as they grew nearer with every footstep. Tremendous and loud explosions shook the walls as the voices of two men yelled out at each other. Both verbal and physical arguments that seemed particularly deadly. Each time a phrase was uttered some clash of force pushed against the door. He quickened his pace to reach the familiarity of other human beings still alive, even if they were still attempting to kill one another. The demon behind him quick and close on his tail. Others rose up ahead of him as he pushed ever nearer, thick convulsing masses that barred his only escape. But despite the thick wall of evil flesh and blood he pushed up with his boots and flipped over them effortlessly landing with a roll that ended just near the now nearly closed arch. As he reached the arch he could make out what the two voices were yelling out. To him it seemed nothing more than random words and phrases. Yet he was sure there was some purpose to it he couldn’t understand. He peered through the gap in the door as he slid in between the shutting metal sheets to see himself in the antechamber of a large mosque. The arch now securely locked behind him with heavy beating and growls escaping the creatures on the other side.
The mosque was built of thick metal beams and limestone casing that shown through the gouges and tears that marked the clay facade. Adorning its walls all around were dark crimson banners with a sigil of nine circles interconnected by solid bars embroidered in a brighter red. The lowermost circle was encased by a teardrop and was blue with green outlines. Atop it sat a crown in bright golden light that bounced off it from lights somewhere adjacent to the banners. The floor had a thin layer of sand over the polished marble floor with myriads of mats strewn about the outer edges that faced multiple idols of what was presumably Allah. Most noticeably the mist that had permeated through the living quarters was stretched to wisps here and completely avoided the prayer mats. Drexx knew little of any faith especially that of Islam so he passed over them without a thought and continued to follow the voices he had been following. The trail led him into a pair of double doors shouldering a thick red sandstone staircase that ran up into darkness beyond. He walked up to where he saw a crack in one door and peered inside to see an awesome sight.
In a very large room encased around by thick circular pillars of granite were two men, one garbed in extravagant yellow and silver robes and another in a deep crimson exo-suit with brighter red robes hanging tattered about his waist. The two were locked in a deeply heated battle, both fighting for their lives though it seemed very one sided. The man in yellow hovered several feet off the ground and threw a slew of attacks at the other. Apparitions rose and dissipated as the red bolstered against them and fire rained incessantly from the ceiling as electricity sputtered across the ground. The one in red slung attacks straight back in between dodging his adversaries. His attacks bounced back at himself or simply vanished before touching the man in yellow. The ground rolled and heaved under the red’s feet as he raised his hands pulling whole blocks of stone out of the ground and threw them at his adversary. Out of the gaps of the stone flew out hunks of metal that assailed the red’s position as he raised his hands again but against them, the repelled themselves toward the yellow who brushed them aside with rushes of wind quickly before rebounding with pulling pieces of the pillars out of place and flinging them at the red. The fighting continued on in this fashion for several moments as Drexx stood in awe.
He decided to exit the scene and approach it from above to get a better vantage point. The stairs were smooth and crafted of polished stone. The facing sides all had relief carvings of scenes from the Quran and its surrounding faith. Intermingled within were carvings from many other religions as well as they tied together in similar context or historical scenes. The hand rails were a dark wood coated with a shine. Twenty one steps brought him up onto a sort of platform slightly slanted back down into the scene below him. The two priests were still locked in their duel of powers that Drexx couldn’t believe he was seeing. Which one is Krish? The thought raced across his mind as he stood staring at the battle of energies. The two danced around the room casting different attacks at one another for a good while before the roof started to cave in around them. The red began catching pieces of it and easily flinging them towards the yellow who dodged or began having to skirt the edges of the room. For an instant the thought of the demons in the halls washed over Drexx's mind. If that room collapsed then they could escape into other parts of the complex. Seeing the devastation that they wrought in this portion to unsuspecting priests, that likely held some semblance of the same power as these two, it was doubtful that anything less would come to the rest of the complex.
As if responding to the return thought of them Drexx heard the blast shield that had sealed he creatures away creak and groan under some pressure. The creatures were likely to break in any moment and whichever side was fighting for the people would be quickly overwhelmed. He stepped forward onto the platform and barely missed an arc of electricity that sprang up from the ground. A huge chunk of the walkway he was on a moment ago flew over his head after being ripped off its founding pillar, the red had thrown it at the yellow who pushed it aside through the wall adjacent to the blast shield. The two momentarily paused their advance against each other before the red immediately turned away from his foe raising a thick steel wall from the ground and slamming it against the doorway. Seconds after he did so smaller shields fell where the staircases began as they attempted to save lives hidden within the domed room. The red looked up towards the ceiling to see it begin a motion much like the shutter of a camera as more metal circles and sealed it off from the outside.
“And with that I take my leave. It is refreshing to see how far you’ve grown Krish. We shall have to finish this training another day.” The yellow garbed man’s old and noble yet tainted voice echoed up as he disappeared into thin air with a resounding boom that knocked Drexx over. He fell off the platform straight to the ground beside a painting that lay torn on the ground. The same man in yellow stood above a crowd with arms outstretched and his mouth open in a speech. The people below cheered and seemed to be praising him. A calm light had illuminated the scene behind him as he gave off a warm smile to the people below him. Drexx pushed up off the ground and looked to the man in red now holding his arms down and one on his side. A slight pain evident on his brown skinned face.
“Damn,” Krish stood panting where he was a second ago not even phased by the rush of sound that pushed Drexx over. “That traitor.” He turned to see Drexx staring down at the painting. Drexx felt as if he has seen the man before but couldn’t place it . “That was our illustrious leader. He led us all astray and now demons are running amuck in sphinx. The very thing we promised to protect the people from.” He walked over to Drexx holding out his hand.
Drexx took it and pulled himself up. “no actually. I’ve sealed the complex. I know that smoke he used. It seeps from underneath the scar in places where the creatures brood.” He looked Krish up and down. The battle must have been intense he stood slumped over and his face was sunken in. His robes lay tattered on the ground probably blown off by the shockwave and his suit was battered and chipped.591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ampzjdju1
“Well that’s a lead I suppose,” His middle eastern accent shown through now. “And who might you be to have entered here against anyone else’s better judgment?”591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtlkFC7zyx
“Drexx. I was told you helped defend my departed wife Neith.” He looked around the destroyed room and began to believe in the power of the Followers. The destructive force they held in their veins but never used. It must take great discipline to live a monks life with that power. The ring of columns that circled the room were either completely gone or only half standing in a pile of ash. The mosaic tiles from the ceiling lay scattered all over the floor and moonlight poked through the holes left behind. An image of the prophet Muhammad rest at their feet staring up at the ceiling with a sure and steady look on its face, his turban wrapped securely around his head. Krish kneeled down and picked the piece of ceramic up muttering a short Islamic prayer to it, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger," his communicator automatically translated the phrase from Islamic as it was spoken. Krish set the small picture back on a small table he had stood back on its feet.591Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDK2cZMZny
“Ah yes,” he stopped looking down toward his hands. “I am terribly sorry the order failed you this day. But none of us were ready for what happened here. The Risers were all over the chapel and courtyard. Shield Corp did their best but all of us priests were either away or being led astray by our own leader.” He seemed genuinely upset about the failure. A man of truth just like the image he had just set down he was distraught at the thought that his bravery was not enough to save the followers from the evils of the enemies of what he was sure was his god.
“No no its ok. I think there’s more to this then a random attack. Especially after seeing that battle you were just locked in.” Drexx put his hand on the mans back and felt a familiar rush of energy within him that weaved between the two. Krish straightened his back and looked back at the image of his prophet. His shoulders raised as he regained a small fraction of mental strength and a smile. The energy that coursed between the two seemed to revitalize both persons. Drexx himself felt a rush of adrenaline and strength enter his muscles, his somewhat tired eyes snapped open more alert.
“There most assuredly is more to this. Our father would not go rogue for a paltry sum of money. There is more at stake here.” At that Krish looked around as Drexx noticed a scratching at the walls. “Can you defend yourself Drexx?” it was a question directed in more of a reassuring way then a simple inquiry.
“Yes although Keter hasn’t reached me telling me one way or another since I locked it down.” He knew Keter had something to do with the priests from studying their scriptures a while back. He mentioned the name to see of he could learn more. He had always been one to seek out knowledge of the unknowable. Amani called him a wise one once for solving a problem within the tribe, but it was a simple misunderstanding any outsider would have been able to fix. Though he did doubt that at the time any other outsider would have tried.
“You are blessed child? Then we have a fighting chance if we can tap you into the Chokma’s meditation lines.” That was a new response. Before when Drexx asked a priest about Keter they refused to help as if it were some secret. He learned all he could about the enigmatic figure in his head but could only find that he was some sort of worshiped being that introduced the priests as a new order. He had arisen in only recent decades from some unknown crevice of time. And quickly solidified a dying worlds faiths truly signifying an end to thousands of years of disagreement. How was a mystery to many but he could still see avarice in some older faithfuls eyes when looking upon another, though they now very seldom acted upon it. When they did their falsities were shown to them immediately and the result of their foolishness laid bare for all to see. Humiliating and humbling at the same time is how Drexx thought it would feel.
“Chokma?” He also knew that word from his studies into religion. The wave of automation that opened most peoples lives from the stupor of labour introduced a whole new wave of innovation and learning. In his youth he spent much of his time in libraries learning everything he could. Chokma was Judaic in origin. Part of the tree of life that dictated the very structure of the world according to their holy teachings. Now that he thought of it Keter was a word from that very same diagram, it sat atop the diagram and was the origin point of all energies that flowed down through the tree into the world itself, Malkuth.
“Yes step here my child. I will give you access to the Chokma. I will be acting as my late leaders replacement until another is chosen by Keter. I can make the decision and here is coming a threat I cannot defeat on my own.” Drexx hesitantly stepped forward and Krish placed his hands on Drexx's temporals. How Krish felt he couldn’t defeat such basic monstrcities bewildered him, perhaps Krish was simply too weak from his bout with the old master. Krish’s hands touched his head and instantly Drexx felt a calming and pulsing warmth rush through his body. A prickling tingle stood the hairs all over his body on end as his eyes no longer saw the room around him. The room shifted away from solid to a plasma pulsing with the sound of every scratch. Ripples running through the fabric of existence around him with every noise that was made in the area, colours that had no name pulsed around him. The ground he stood upon melted away and fell from underneath his feet into a realm surreal and familiar. The same structures that he thought he saw back with Darlex surrounded him much closer now. The ripples of sound dissipated into streams of odd coloured liquid and rivlets of water that ran down the smooth oddly designed walls. Doorways hung open and empty, beyond them only a void of darkness and isolation. The walls were a bright sheen of white with an odd black web-like pattern flowing across their curves and waves. His feet touched solid ground and looking down he saw the road he stood upon was a blindingly bright golden rock that emanated an energy like no other. Almost like sun rays it pierced his eyesight forcing him to look back up to the scene around him. Now even this dissolved away from him and his vision was filled with a deep darkness of blues and oranges. He looked around himself to find he was now floating within a void of light with innumerable dots twinkling in various colours all around him and spanning into the void in every direction. He searched around to gain his bearings to find himself moving towards one of the floating dots, blue in colour it enveloped him in it’s glow. He tried to look around but found his vision locked in place as he was forced to look downward. Darlex lie quiet and calm on a bed of sweet smelling roses with calming incense and candles burning in the room around him. The hands of the person he was seeing through moved away from him and he felt an odd tiredness pour over him as Darlex winced in pain for moment before lapsing back into sleep. His gaze was directed toward the door as an older woman strode up to his viewer wearing a long blue shawl around her neck and a light circlet around her golden hair. She placed her hand on the persons shoulders and helped them up before taking their place next to Darlex as the person walked out of the room. For a moment his gaze looked back towards the man on the bed with an attraction towards him.
As the person slowly left the room closing the door his gaze disappeared back into the void of the colours. He looked around to find another that was near him and it shot towards him as he looked towards it. A dark foreboding green colour enveloped him as his vision switched to someone in a bright white fresh smelling room with odd instruments adorning the walls. He only sat staring towards the man in front of him that was jotting down notes on a device in his hands. He felt the presence of several other people in the room around him well before the back of his brain lit up in an itch. The person he saw as looked up and past the man in front of him to a window that had several men and women on the opposite side. A man in the front stood only about five feet but held an air of authority about as they stared each other down. “Aerdrasil,” Escaped the lips of whoever he saw through the eyes of. The room immediately felt more tense as the men around him stepped back and the man in the chair across from him quickly jotted down something else “Gi ne subur.” the scene disappeared yet again as the words escaped the persons mouth. Drexx didn’t understand them but it had seemed that the speaker didn’t attach any care to the others in the room as it had been directed more inwardly.
Many more colours swirled around him in the expanse as he witnessed others, several everyday folk going about their lives in normal fashion. One had been very different, the dot itself hummed with an electric radiance. This one was a woman with short black hair and wearing a business suit. She had been in an office space somewhere in a Soto Industries building, given off by a small emblem as her cuff links. “So Cleo,” a snakelike voice rolled into his ears as the woman looked around to find herself facing a man in a business suit with a cobras head embroidered on its lapel. “You find yourself wanting more of your old life do you? The last Pharaoh speaks to you,” the man stepped forward “Doesn’t she?” Cleo took a step back before standing tall against the odd man, defiant and strong.
“Cleopatra is long dead snake, her memories may be mine but her life is not. Begone with you before Mistress Sekhmet learns of your presence.” Her queenly stature imposed itself against him as he stepped back into the shadow. She fiddled with a series of buttons that arose from her wrist, a small red dot flashed in the corner of her vision. A recording began starting from the moment he showed up.
“Oh I am sure she knowsss…”His voice trailed off as he melted into a black mist at the floor, the same time Drexx faded away from the scene. He began to focus less on the dots around him now as he searched the darkness instead for any clue as to where he was. As he found himself searching among these dots and through the void he heard a familiar voice echoing from around him. “So you have been chosen by Yesod to receive more of a blessing.” Keter wrapped around him with his voice squeezing him tight. Drexx's eyesight shot forward and became fixed in place. The colours around him shot forward into the expanse and began swirling in a spiral mass mimicking the galaxies in the night sky. As it spun he felt a faint pulse shooting through his body and saw the dots begin to coalesce into something near the centre of the spiral. Nine different hues formed different portions of a body as well built as his own but also very different in feeling.
The form that began to take shape in front of him was that of a man. Yet it shifted and changed in ways that would say it was alien. Exoskeletal bug shells or multiple armed green skinned fellows. The most distinguishable form Drexx noticed was one of a scientist with a bright swirling galaxy as an afro over his head. This is the one the shape took as a final stopping point in the changing mass. Within the hair he could see innumerable objects and many events transpire. What he saw he couldn’t tell from past present or future, though the feeling came to him that they were happening as he stood in the odd expanse, with a scientist in a lab coat of thin light that sat over the black mans body. Many were of happiness that didn’t seem real but very much so was, babies being born to happy couples or youngsters playing in streets without the worry of attack. Spinning around the man in twirling patterns were words from every language Drexx knew, as well as many he didn't. The ones he could pinpoint were of knowledge and intelligence or wisdom and truth. As he stood staring at the apparition it spoke in the same chiming voice. “I am Keter. The father of the order and of all that will come. You are different than what has stood before me yet.” The being stood in front of a large throne atop an odd chariot, upon was a grizzled old man with colourless skin, almost grey, with a flowing beard and a long angular scythe leaned into his golden clawed hand. The old man seemed lethargic and distant in mind from the scene before him. Keter paid little mind to him except from cocking his head when seeing Drexx notice him. “There is another here after all. We will discuss the possibilities another time.”
“Different?” Drexx asked as he broke out of the hypnosis he was put into by Keter’s appearance. How could he be different then anyone else? The figure ahead of him shifted and changed in colour to one of more a yellow hue. The enigmatic figure said nothing but stepped forward and reached his hand up to Drexx’s head. Its finger touched his forehead and an explosion of light ripped the vision asunder. With a bright flash of the symbol adorning the large craft and the U.C soldiers the vision cracked and vanished revealing again the reality around him. Krish held back a horde of vicious creatures and his old allies with an odd force of plasma warping and pressing back against them. Drexx stood staring down at his hands. He could swear he saw something moving under his skin. A million little microscopic creatures or bugs crawling underneath. Yet it didn't itch or feel terrifying instead it was calming and soothing. He looked up to see Krish on one knee fighting to keep the strange barrier up. “Damn what do I do?”
Krish looked up to see the faint yellow glow around Drexx's eyes. He reached out and touched Drexx's leg. Instantly he rose stronger and more determined. “So your the latest of the yellow of Yesod. Put your hand forth and attempt to conjure anything that would be help here.” Krish stared back at the plasmic force surrounding them. “Almost like imagining a tool or weapon into existence.”
Almost instantly Drexx realized that the plasma was formed of Hydrogen from the air around them. He walked up and touched the plasma thinking of a flame. The instant his finger touched the plasma it became engulfed in in fire. He then pushed against it with his mind forcing the explosion outward around them burning the creatures closest to them to a crisp. Only a few more stood beyond the infernos wrath behind pillars. They stepped out to face their adversaries. Being released of his conjuring Krish fell to his hands and knees without a word. Drexx felt an itch in his hand. He clenched his fist and a great curved sword appeared in it. After a moment of staring transfixed at the blade wrought of thin air he charged for the nearest enemy. The first he reached was the same man in black robes. It reacted to his movement before he even made it and blocked his first attack. Drexx did the same as it attempted to strike him with sharp clawed fingers. He felt an uncanny awareness to the situation that allowed him to see the creatures image move before it did. This image though was one of tormented humanity. A solid human of flesh and blood that reached outward from the husk that it resided within, its face awash with grief and pain. The two moved in unison anticipating eachothers movements for what seemed to them a few minutes. Their dance was well choreographed it seemed as Krish sat staring at the two battling in the thin circle of light that escaped downward from the moon hitting just the right angle through a hole in the domed ceiling. The creatures finesse was almost unreal given its broken and bloodied outward appearance.
Drexx decided this took too long as his blade swept down and immediately back up and an air of unease washed away from the room as a pulse of energy escaped the blade directed at the creature. It stumbled the instant the energy hit its chest opening the ribs around its blackened pulsing heart. Drexx sunk his blade deep into its chest expelling waves of blood from the coagulated dead but pumping muscle. He pushed his hand up and cut deep through its chest rending bone and flesh as one. It fell backward with its face calm at last, the body hit the floor with a loud thud as Drexx stood staring at his victory. The image of a man in black robes stood where the creature fell from, he bowed silently to Drexx and dissipated from view with only a fond smile. The only other creature left in the room was the blue that had been killed on the stairs. “You didn’t help...” it said to him in a broken raspy voice. It stepped forward with the streams of tears from the pain it endured in life burning channels down its pale cheeks. A thick gouge lay in its chest where its heart once was but instead it hung from its waist tied to its body with the veins that hung from the hole in its chest, blood seeped from the openings in the heart dropping to the floor burning like acid.
The taunt never changed Drexx’s thoughts, they instead fueled an inherent anger within him that he directed toward the creature. He charged at the creature, now raising its hands and causing Drexx to feel noticeably faintly weaker. He rushed his blade downward as the creature turned toward the bodies laying around them. They stood back up again and quickly horded around Drexx who parried their sharp claws and fangs with flurries from his blade, each one he slew fell to the ground with their past selves standing amazed at his victory over their ferocious new bodies. These though did not vanish like the black did, they stood along the outskirts of the battle as Drexx lay waste to the necromancers summonings. Each that had been felled by his hand never rose again to the frustration of the blue clad undead before him. With the deathblow to the final raised he charged at the blue who pushed forward a barrier of dark light toward Drexx. He sliced through the layer of darkness to find himself surrounded by the people he just saved who held back a second layer of the demons power, two women held the blue down in place whispering into his ears. His face convulsed in confusion as he fought with some hidden inner emotion before Drexx sliced upward with his blade severing the final artery from the heart dangling about the things waist. He threw the blade downward stabbing the heart into the ground as he raised his other hand toward the undead. The blade disappeared and he sent the creature flying through a wall with a quick bright beam of superheated particles flying closely behind. At that last moment Drexx returned to himself staring down at his hands marveling at the ferocity he had just fought with. He couldn’t have known how to do all that so quickly his mind didn't seem his own until now after the fight. It was as if some other force guided him through the battle but with his own instincts and willpower.
Drexx looked around the room to the people standing about him, their specters returned the stare in earnest. Their images each stepped forward and knelt around him with their heads lowered as if expecting something from him. He looked over at Krish questioningly hoping he could provide an answer. “Their await acknowledgement I suppose,” he said as he held his chest with one hand. “You’re their leader now I suppose, or at least their savior.”
Drexx looked back around him at the rainbow of coloured robes surrounding him, men and women alike hung their heads down from his gaze as he raised his hand in front of him “Rise,” They one by one, starting from just in front of him and going counter clockwise around him, rose and met his eyes with regret in their own. “You did not fail today. You followed Krish into battle with your leader unquestioningly, and deserve your rest.” smiles washed over them as they looked to one another wondering at the afterlife. “May eternity find you full of heart and Anubis judge you worthy of salvation.” With that they bowed again and one by one disappeared back into nothingness, their glow vanishing from the room the darkness again surrounded the two still living persons. Drexx found himself thinking of light and without hesitation a globe of energy appeared above his head and floated to the ceiling, when it hit the Mosaic tiles it expanded and rained rays of light throughout the dome. Following its glow he found it had rested just over the head of Moses atop Sinai.
“Lets get back to the courtyard. The other priests will need to meet their new leader.” Krish said despairingly as he stood leaning on a pillar. His face was sunken in and drained of energy, tired and beaten. He looked at Drexx in contempt and pity.
“I’m no leader Krish. I didn’t come here for power. You have knowledge that I need and your clearly far more deserving.,” Krish cut him off with a wave of his hand. The contempt did vanish though, probably a look of jealousy directed at the colour chosen for Drexx.
“Either way I need healing and you need to learn of the order and its powers. Perhaps you are not our leader but you are the only one that may be able to defeat that traitor. Lets be off then shall we?” He started toward the broken doorway limping and holding his side. Not once giving Drexx a chance to interject.
“If I am powerful enough to lead you all cant I heal you?” that stopped Krish for a moment before he started off again going slightly faster.
“We have little time and healing is an art like those of the creators. Fighting is different and in our blood it will come naturally. But arts take time to learn let alone master. Hurry now I have a feeling we aren’t alone still.” Drexx followed quickly before sensing something standing in the shadows watching them. It had a snake like feel to its presence. The same feel as the man that had confronted this Cleo he saw through. Whatever it was they weren’t ready to face it and he ignored that he noticed its presence. They headed straight back to the courtyard through the mangled and burnt halls. All the bodies had gone and the fumes of the vapour no longer assailed their nostrils. The mist no longer clung to the floor revealing the true devastation of what he had lived through. Bodies torn to pieces and burnt to crisps, blood running rivlets down the halls into drainage systems. They at one point passed a man that had been impaled upon a spike driven through him from the floor below. Before long they passed into the common area that Drexx had passed through on his way to find Krish. Krish stopped to look around in disbelief, a look of pain on his face.”The sheer thought of this was something that crawled through my skin years ago, he won’t get away with this,” He kneeled down next to a young man, barely in his teens, his body ripped open by some clawed fiend. “The traitor will be brought before the judgement of Gevurah, before the judgement of all the order.”
Drexx lay his hand on the mans shoulder, when he looked up at him he motioned toward the other door with his head. The pair stood and made their way back with Krish using Drexx as a brace. The second hall was much more gruesome, adding to the fear and anger of the priest with each passing life lost. The room that had been blocked off to Drexx now lay open to see the horror within. A man in green stood beside the door clenching his chest, tears streaming down his face. Krish saw the man and stopped Drexx, walking up to him on his own. The man jumped and nearly pulled his small knife on Krish before seeing who it was. The moment the two locked eyes they embraced in a hug with the green robed man sobbing almost uncontrollably. Drexx walked up to see inside the room and was met with a gruesome scene. The orange robes were torn from the woman’s body, what was visible was only her lower half and the hand that had been dripping the blood into the dish. Her torso had been ripped open and her legs spread, all three men knew what happened as she was killed by the demon that Drexx was sure he heard. No trace of the creature remained in the room save for where a pool of acid had melted through the floor. “Come Krish, there is work to be done and it will be better to say goodbye to those lost in a more clean and proper setting.” Drexx said to the two as he pulled the door from its slot in the wall. The green man tried to stop him but had no strength left. His attempt was halted, with little effort by Krish. The mans hand falling onto the metal of the door as he began to sob.
“He is right Zara, There is nothing left to do but save her soul…come lets get you to safety.” Krish’s hand rose up next to the greens shoulder and pulled him along. “I should never have brought you two along. This was my fight and I couldn’t have won. No matter the man power.” The trio walked in silence out into the entrance hall that had been where Zara was frozen in time. The door was still sealed shut with no new marks on its surface and little lights blinking on the panel next to it. Drexx walked up to see a new code set out before him on the lit up number pad. The only energy making it through the veil from Keter it would seem, though Drexx knew it couldn’t have been his doing fighting in the room where he met Krish. It must have been Keter or some other being, Drexx had never held a sword in his life let alone face off against these creatures in such close quarters before. He reached up and punched in the code. To the relief of all three of them the door moved and with a resounding release of pressure from the hydraulics hidden in the walls lights from outside broke through the crack in the center.
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