Human Time Line

A History of the Homo Intelligens People

Chapter 4 The Younger Sibling
 



 
 
 

Surprises
 
 
 

It was hair dye that let them do it. Just by chance, a patient of a traffic accident was brought into an average hospital on Eden. Although badly injured, the patient was not in danger of dying. His papers said that he was one Oscar Barrani, a Sapiens from Earth in his mid twenties. On first inspection the patient certainly was Sapiens & the early medical examinations indicated nothing out of place.

As it was the law, being a traffic accident, Barrani  had to have his blood tested for the presence of alcohol or some other drugs legal or otherwise. The results of the test clearly showed that Barrani was clear of any drug. This was normally good as traffic accidents go, but the ER doctor noticed an anomaly in the DNA results. The doctor ordered further tests to resolve this, what he thought was a mistake, but again the same result came back. According to Barrani’s DNA, he was an Intelligens.

Naturally the police were called. Not before too long, poor Oscar Barrani awoke, not only discovering that he had two broken legs but was under police guard. The bedside interrogation finally revealed the fact that one year ago Barrani had change his identity to that of a Sapiens & had been living as one on Eden. All he had to do to pass as a Sapiens was dye his hair in order to cover the grey colouring to the sides of his head & control his temper. No one, until the DNA test, knew otherwise.

If this revelation was not enough for UFP authorities, Barrani  let it slip that he was not the only Intelligens living the life of a Sapiens. Realising his mistake, he said no more. Even later at his court trail, he refused to discuss further the illegal migration of Intelligens into the UFP. By then it really did not matter anyway.

The UFP Immigration Department was thoroughly at a loss with what to do. Having totally missed the fact that possibly thousands of Intelligens had slipped through customs, they at least tightened their checks on passengers. Sure enough, within a day, three Intelligens were caught on Earth trying to enter the Federation.

Internally, however, no one in the Federation knew what to do. Finally, President Munchester ordered that all Sapiens, regardless of who they were, would have their DNA tested. This caused a huge outcry & several challenges gave witness to the Supreme Court getting involved. After a month of legal arguments at the Court, & other debates in Congress, President Munchester finally got his way.

Unfortunately testing 12 billion people was not all that easy. Not only did it require having the logistics available for the testing, but personnel had to go around hassling the malcontents who did whatever they could to avoid the test in the first place. Ironically, the malcontents were more often than not Sapiens. Few were Intelligens.

The results of the DNA tests were stunning. Just over 20 million Intelligens, of both sexes, had made their way in total secret into the life of the UFP. And all thanks to hair dye. This in itself caused further problems as arrangements had to be made to, not only "house" 20 million people for a uncertain period of time, but they would all have to be transported back to Earth.

Before relocation could take place, however, the UFP went litigation mad. Still smarting over the forced DNA tests, which were still being challenged in the Supreme Court, almost 20 million Intelligens claimed refugee status. All sorts of reasons were given, ranging from fear of retribution by Intelligens authority back on the African continent, to discrimination or health. The claims of retribution were thrown out immediately by the various Appeals Courts, but claims of sex & class discrimination was another thing entirely. Federation law clearly permitted individuals to have refuge in the UFP if that individual could prove that they were a victim of sex, race or class discrimination. And Intelligens society was renown to practice two out of the three, regardless of the reforms.

The result of all this mess was surprisingly positive. Many of the Intelligens illegals were indeed granted refugee status. With this relief, they were able to leave behind their false identities & once more become proud members of their own specie. Furthermore, they continued to be well behaved & helped in paving the way for Intelligens being later accepted into the UFP.

Back on Earth, UFP investigators went through the various claims made by the refugees. The Intelligens Autonomous Government was reluctant to cooperate with the investigators but had little choice. Knowing what the findings of the investigation would likely be, the Prime Minister resigned. A new Prime Minister, one Hugo Cimneed thus had to undergo a grilling from both the Earth & Federal Governments  for not pressing home the required reforms.

For his part, Cimneed got some important concessions. If he truly did press forward with the reforms, then Associate Membership of the UFP would be granted. He was successful thanks partly to the 20 million Intelligens who had already, albeit illegally, made the UFP their home. Having proven that they could live with others without too much fuss, they had undermined this very conservative Federation policy on the matter.

Now armed with this important victory, Cimneed argued, pushed, & intimidated his fellow Intelligens. Not all of them, however, were in a cooperative mood & several riots took place in the first year of his reform campaign. Having said that, many more supported his efforts. It seemed that the promise of membership of the UFP, & above all space travel, was far more important & worth having than sticking to past customs which were far from comforting to most.
 
 
 

One Small Step For Intelligens
 
 
 

It took two decades of reform before the Intelligens were finally considered eligible for Associate Membership. Cimneed’s reforms met much resistance at first. It was really only when the next generation came along that change really made an impact on Intelligens society. As expected, it was the warrior class & aristocracy that were the most stubborn in their refusal to change. The civilians, however, especially the traders among them, were more inclined to adopt the reforms that the UFP demanded.

Having said that, the traders & others did not necessarily take on the reforms for any pious reasons. As had already begun to take place within Intelligens society, many had discovered that trade, industry &  economics were far better pursuits than following the war like traditions of their respective nation’s cultures. This had been well established by the time of the UFP intervention within the Southern Realm & Northern League, & even the Old Kingdom had begun to change.

Thus the traders naturally earned to trade with Earth, able to sell cheap products, & live very well indeed off of the profits. Needless to say, trading with the rest of planet Earth was merely the beginning. The markets that were on offer, that being the UFP itself, was enormous. Although it would be fair to say that Intelligens had no chance challenging the might of corporations like MICC or LumCom, basic commodities that did not require high tech was another matter.

Soon Earth was exposed to Intelligens items such as clothing & food stuffs. Intelligens wine, in particular, was sought after & not only on Earth. Several Luminous traders acted as agents for Intelligens wine makers & soon there began a large demand within the UFP for this product. It would be, for the Intelligens, their first experience of what rewards could come their way as a member of the UFP.

Possibly the most important aspect for Intelligens, however, was communications. In particular it was the amount of information that became available to them, about the galaxy all around, that had the most impact. Even the warrior class & the aristocracy stopped looking down upon the others about them, & most importantly, that included the Luminous. Once respect for their Human cousins was established, Intelligens started to learn more about their own potential.

As stated though, the Intelligens acceptance of the reforms was far from anything pious. As with the traders, the warriors & aristocracy had their own motivations. For the warriors it was simple. Associate Membership meant that some could serve within the UDF. Full Membership would be even better. The warriors would have access to the best weapons & technology known to exist. Even the professional citizen soldiers waited impatiently for the chance to serve in the UDF for pretty much the same reasons.

For the aristocracy it was for social & political reasons. Now a challenge was before them to join the elite of the galaxy. Not really understand at all the society & politics of the UFP, it still nevertheless had an upper class of sorts. It was nothing, though, like the class structure of Intelligens society, but the aristocrats saw similar aspects that they were familiar with.

It was truly a great day when the Congress of the UFP welcomed the first Intelligens representatives. It was certainly a great day for an elder Cimneed who took his Senate seat to a standing ovation from his fellow Senators. It had been a hard road & the Intelligens did not make it easy for themselves. At almost the last moment it nearly did not happen. As it is planets & colonies that are members of the federation, & not necessarily species, the political scene on Earth got bad.

Intelligens at first wanted their own separate representative electorates & senators on equal footing with the Luminous. Cimnned argued, with some justification, that Earth had two different civilisations that espoused different attitudes & ideas. It was a unique situation where no other planet had anything like it. But it was not to be, even though debate raged on in Congress for three years, which incidentally held up Intelligens Associate Membership.

In the end a compromise was finally accepted. Earth would be granted more representative electorates, which was appropriate anyway considering another 2 billion people would become  UFP "Associate" citizens & would thus be voters. Earth, however,  or the Intelligens for that matter, would not get any extra Senators. Having said that, Intelligens with 2 billion voters were bound to get four or five senators at least. And Cimneed was one of them.
 
 
 

One Giant Leap for the UFP
 
 
 

It took a further two decades until Intelligens were granted full membership into the UFP. The delay was not, however, unusual especially for such a young specie. In fact Intelligens were the youngest specie ever to join the Federation thanks to the unusual circumstances that took place on Earth. Having said that the road was not an easy one for the sometimes volatile Intelligens.

Upon gaining Associate Membership, however, many restrictions no longer applied. Millions of Intelligens were able to legally leave, unlike previously,  the Earth & travel almost without restriction throughout Federation territory. Many met up with relatives who had sought refuge in the UFP, while many more ventured into UFP territory to seek a chance at a new life or simply to have an adventure or two.

Some others, as was permitted, applied for & gained employment in various institutions around the UFP. It was no surprise thus that the UDF was flooded with applicants who wanted to join the military. Unfortunately, most of the Intelligens would-be soldiers were rejected. Quota numbers strictly limited the numbers that could join at this time. Although this disappointed many millions of Intelligens, the few that were selected were also the elite.

Other warrior & professional soldier species, such as the Unis, Zargah, Braggah, Lyonies & Sapiens, soon discovered that they were quickly challenged for the elite status of the military. Aggression & skill more than anything made up for wisdom & intelligence. It did not take long, hence, for Intelligens personnel to soon establish themselves as front line troops. The Army seemed to be the main interest for Intelligens volunteers, but the Navy would get their fair share too. Interestingly, the Military Intelligence Corps saw virtually no Intelligens volunteers.

Upon full Membership, however, this small cadre was soon overwhelmed when the numbers restriction was eventually lifted. All the same, it soon proved to be of great wisdom as 50 million Intelligens flooded the UDF ranks. Several other species found it difficult to instruct many of the headstrong Intelligens, in particular the Nazzernich, but those that had been in the first group of Intelligens soon changed that problem.

One in particular was Colonel Msinga, who would, not long afterwards, be rewarded with the rank of General. Msinga, himself having to relearn the art of military disciple, soon taught this same lesson to the raw Intelligens recruits. There were many problems with the Intelligens during this period, but most came around to Msinga & the other instructors. In the process, it became very evident that the Colonel was a true leader.

Nonetheless, like the UDF, UFP society got one big shock. Having had eons of peace & tranquillity, the influx of the excitable Intelligens changed everything overnight. Soon reports of disturbances came flooding in ensuring that the various police forces were kept extremely busy for the first few years. Although all these problems were somewhat minor, immediately Congress began debating the wisdom of their decision to allow Intelligens access to the UFP.

Notably, however, various studies into the disturbances indicated that, more often than not, Intelligens had not been the offender of the crime. Reports came in time & again clearly stating that the Intelligens were often a victim. However, in most cases the reaction of an Intelligens was retribution in seeking justice. Alas this retribution always meant violence, which for an Intelligens was still considered a right thing to do.

Crime, though, was nothing new for certain members of the UFP. Much of the petty crime was often overlooked by several authorities. Usually it was because of the difficulties of proving the criminal, while other times the local police thought that the crime did not warrant their attention. Some species, such as the Luminous, whilst not gullible were not overly confident in reporting such crimes as such things are very rare in Luminous society.

To the Intelligens, though, no crime could go unpunished. Such it was in Intelligens society & as far as they were concerned that meant wherever Intelligens go. Thus various species of the Federation, especially the Buckhoo & Braggah, soon discovered at their expense that this new Human specie was nothing like the last. Any attempt to steal, swindle or cheat an Intelligens often ended up in a dispute which often ended in violence. After initial success, the Intelligens were then outfought by large numbers of gang members. In turn this soon changed. Intelligens organised their own vigilante groups who then took matters into their own hands.

Ironically it was this turmoil that would bring along a whole range of law & order reforms. If one thing the Federation benefited from the early days of Intelligens Membership, it was a thorough overhaul of the legal system. Police forces everywhere came under investigation & few passed with flying colours. Many personnel where charged with some type of crime, mostly petty corruption or incompetence,  but more importantly the dead wood was thrown out. The all new police forces now began to investigate all crimes. As a result, crimes involving Intelligens dramatically dropped.

Other than the impact, which Intelligens had upon the military & legal reform, little else took place. That is not surprising considering the Intelligens population was still one of the smallest of the UFP. Many other species actually wondered if they would ever meet an Intelligens as most companies & government departments never even had an employment application from any. Nonetheless, their name was heard on a hundred planets & some were even outside of the Federation.

The Phillis in particular got to hear of the name Intelligens, but like most they had never seen one. Their contact had been through Luminous traders who had sown up the Intelligens export wine market by acting as their agents for several decades. And like elsewhere, the Phillis had grown a fondness for Intelligens wine. In fact, other than the military, the Intelligens wine industry employed more than any else. It had also made many Intelligens rich.

Contact with the Phillis had been made thousands of year ago, but until lately little had taken place between the two civilisations. Trade had slowly developed, but it was not until Intelligens wine had been added to the trading ships that the Phillis took much interest in the UFP. In fact, since the Sassnorah joined the UFP, the Phillis had been more concerned with any UFP activity along their borders. The Phillis, however, had recently changed their attitudes towards the Federation. Others, though, had not.
 
 
 

The Coming Storm
 
 
 

Ever since First Contact, UFP relations with the Wellous had never been on a positive note. The Wellous were a rather arrogant Ancient specie with little respect for any Junior one. What was worse was the fact that the UFP was all powerful. It was  this factor, as much as any, that had kept the peace between the Federation & the Wellous Empire.

Another factor was distance. Even though the UFP had slowly expanded its territory over the eons, it was still a great distance from Wellous territory. In fact the Wellous only began to take any interest at all in the UFP when the Sassnorah was granted membership. Then it came as a rude shock to the Wellous that several species within the UFP were in fact non-corporeal whilst at the same time rather young as species go.

Alarmed by these recent discoveries thereon followed more when various diplomatic missions took place between the Phillis & the UFP. The Wellous, acting through fear, came around to the conclusion that the UFP was slowly taking over the galaxy & destroying anyone in the process who got in their way. Gathering information about UFP history, this appeared to be the pattern as was evident with the destruction of the Passalous. The fact that the Cordah & the UFP never really got on well either, although peace existed between the two civilisations, was not taken into account by the Wellous.

Thus in such a mind set,  the Wellous began their own diplomatic operations aimed at creating an Ancients Alliance. At first it was not overly successful, but the Wellous kept at it. This diplomatic activity did not, however, go unnoticed by the UDF. Not long after the Wellous approached the Nazzer, which inturn was passed on, quietly, to the UDF Military Intelligence Corps. They, inturn, began to conduct limited covert operations on the, until then, little known Wellous.

Upon discovering that the Wellous were stirring up trouble, based on the now friendly UFP relations with the Phillis, the President of the UFP at the time was given a difficult choice. To either become more involved with the Phillis & risk war with the Wellous, or have their relations with the Phillis go cold & risk alienating a potential ally. Although it was unforeseen at the time, President Lo decided on the latter more cautious policy in order to placate the Wellous.

The Wellous, however, saw this as weakness on behalf of the UFP & decided to take advantage of it. Without much respect to the wants of the Phillis, the Wellous announced that the Phillis would come under their "protection". This gained some legitimacy when the, until then, unknown Ancients Alliance supported the Wellous announcement declaring that "… the protectorate policy of the Wellous Empire will ensure peace will continue to exist in the galaxy."

Regardless, the Phillis were not over happy knowing that they had come, without any input by them, under the "protection" of anyone, let alone the Wellous. Although the Phillis had amicable relations with the Wellous, they had never asked for such an arrangement. Having said that, no Wellous ships, other than the occasional trading vessel, entered Phillis space. The immediate result was, thankfully, that no invasion or anything remotely like it. Rather the Wellous was telling the UFP to keep out.

Alas that began to change. Even though the Phillis were still independent from everyone, protests of this "protection" began to be raised, not only within Phillis governmental circles, but also within the Congress of the Federation. Such news from both locations got back to the Wellous. They, inturn, began to express their own concerns about a possible coup against the current Phillis government, which incidentally would be supported, they argued, by the UFP. Again the Ancients Alliance, minus a few Ancients civilisations like the Nazzer, supported the opinions of the Wellous.

In an effort to distance themselves from the claims of the Wellous, President Lo invited diplomatic missions from them to discuss all & everything about the UFP. She included in the invitation a similar one to scholars, who would be free to study the culture, society, structure & history of the Federation, in an effort to dispel the misunderstandings &  misconceptions that the Wellous had of the UFP. These, as well as the diplomats, shortly thereafter arrived. But for the Wellous it was a great deception. They took the opportunity to conduct a covert operation & thus gained as much information as possible for nefarious purposes.

And these nefarious purposes involved convincing the other Ancients to ally themselves with the Wellous. It would be the only way, considering the numbers involved, where the Wellous could stand against the might of the UFP. Different stories, as part of the Wellous deception, were told about the Federation. The most ingenious was one that was developed was passed onto a rather pious, but benevolent civilisation, known as the Jehovah. Meanwhile, the UDF was not idle.
 
 
 

Plans Afoot
 
 
 

"What do you mean you’ve known about this civilisation for centuries?" demanded the newly President Lysander. The Spiritous was somewhat annoyed by the revelation.

Admiral Zochovak, a Zargah, did not help matters much by adding "The Military Intelligence Corps aren’t the most helpful at times when briefing the politicians with extremely important secrets. They consider such an act as one step away from treason."

"Well remind those idiots that I just happen to be the President & Commander in Chief."

Trying to get things back on track, General Msinga an Intelligens, asked "So someone is pulling the strings of the Wellous? I don’t know them all well, but I find that hard to believe."

"Well the Wellous will ally themselves with just about anyone if they think they’ll gain their objectives, & if it means at our expense, you can rest assured that they’ll get involved. But in this case I think it’s the reverse", replied Zochovak.

"Who is this species again?" asked the President.

"Their name translates as the ‘Jehovah’".

"Well considering we’re all here you might as well brief us or does Military Intelligence think otherwise? Now there’s a contradiction in terms!" a still smarting President added that gained a polite chuckle from most present.

Zochovak, who did not show any signs of humour, began "Well we don’t really know overly much about them. Most of what we have has come through BigEar interceptions or from the Nazzer. Recently we approached the Spiritous Sanctus Sapiens for information, but we got very little. Having said that, several covert operations, which included info gathering missions on the SSS, provided some background data."

"Are we spying on the SSS?" a stunned Msinga questioned.

"Honestly Admiral, what is Military Intelligence up to spying on them like that?" demanded the President

"The SSS aren’t exactly forthcoming or cooperative at times. Ever since their intervention on Earth  against the Intelligens," whereupon Zochovak gave a knowing glance towards Msinga" Military Intelligence, under previous Presidential orders, have kept an eye on them".

"Very well, back to the Jehovah".

"First off, we know that they are an Ancient race at least 2 million years old. At one time they travelled the galaxy. It is unknown whether they are Vale Gateway capable, but I’d say it’s safe to assume that they are. According to the Nazzer, Jehovah territory lies out here beyond the Wellous. From BigEar & Enigma2, we’ve been able to ascertain that the Wellous informed the Jehovah about us. From further analysis of the data, the Jehovah had little interest in us, however, until Homo Sapiens & Earth was mentioned".

"Why would Earth or my specie mean anything to them Admiral?" asked Vice President Sarah Gee.

"Well this is where it gets weird. I don’t understand it & I don’t pretend to. Apparently there was an alternate universe & the SSS have something to do with it."

"A what?" asked Msinga.

"An alternate universe", answered Lee Kobin a Luminous & head of UPX. "We don’t know much, but a similar universe to this one existed until a Vale Gateway experiment went badly to say the least. It’s where the SSS originally came from. There was even a federation similar to this one, which included basically the same species as now. Anyway, as I said, the experiment went wrong & the universe started all over again: or something like that."

"You lost me about an hour ago" laughed Msinga

"Still what has Sapiens got to do with the Jehovah?" Gee asked again.

"According to various sources, the Jehovah have come to believe that they created the Sapiens. I can only offer, thanks to the Wellous whispering in their ears, that they now view that the Sapiens, & the rest of us, have drifted from the righteous path & are going to judge us accordingly" offered Zochovak

"Oh not the end of the world stuff again." Gee wondered why her ancestors believed in such stuff. "The religious freaks are going to come out of the woodwork if this gets out. It’s bad enough with the Morab going on about the Trinity Myth, but this…"

"Hang on, it was the SSS who manipulated the genes of Homo Erectus & thus created Sapiens" argued Kobin.

"But did they in the alternative universe?" Zochovak asked.

"No idea. Only the SSS would know that. Knowing them they won’t say anything" admitted Kobin.

"It’s either that or the Jehovah once created the Earth." Zochovak continued, "It’s difficult to understand all this alternate universe stuff I know, but there it is. Mind you we don't have much information to work on, so it could be something else entirely different. Whatever the truth, the Jehovah are holding the Sapiens & the rest of us responsible for whatever the Wellous have blamed us for."

"It’s the Phillis business all over again" the President observed, politically astute as ever.

"So let me sum it up" offered Msinga. "The Wellous has deceived a very powerful civilisation into believing that we’re the bad guys. To top it off the Jehovah think that they created Homo Sapiens & are thus responsible for everything that’s been done in the galaxy since. And they’re not happy. So now we’re got to slug it out with God."

Although the statement was a typically crude Intelligens observation, it was also very close to the truth.
 
 
 

Brinkmanship
 
 
 

Before a final decision could be made on the situation with the Wellous-Jehovah business, two extremely important events took place that made the decision for the UFP. The first was a remarkable celebration for the Luminous. It seemed, at first though, to have nothing to do with the pending war. Unfortunately it would be such a distraction that the second event would follow in quick succession, & that did ensure war would shortly arise.

Without any warning it happened. No one was expecting it & there were certainly no clues as to its pending occurrence. Unlike before, some university research team or someone else, usually gave some warning as to possibly the greatest event a specie could undergo - that being Catharsis. Previously, such an event would involve the government making long term plans that would be implemented once the Catharsis took place.

Virtually overnight the Catharsis evolved 55 billion Luminous into one of the most advanced species in the known galaxy. But the Catharsis of Homo Luminous into Homo Fontusme sent the UFP into chaos. It also occurred at an extremely bad time as political crises go. Already aware of the Wellous-Jehovah threat, the last thing that the Federation needed was a distraction like this. Furthermore, news of the Catharsis & new specie spread like wildfire around the galaxy. Needless to say, the Wellous heard of it & immediately accelerated their plans. The Wellous-Jehovah Alliance decided to move, although it was more so the doing of the Wellous than any action on behalf of the Jehovah.

Just like the evolution of Homo Fontusme happened without warning, so too did the coup against the Phillis government take everyone by surprise. Under the guise of saving the Phillis people from a government about to declare a tyranny, the so called People’s Revolution, with support from some of the military, took over the reins of  government, & declared  that a truly independent Phillis was now established that was free of UFP control.

Unfortunately for the coup leaders, several members of the disposed government escaped, & quickly joined up with loyal military units who then gave battle with the rebels. Phillis blood was being spilt in the streets of most cities as supporters of the coup fought those that were loyal to the government. Even though the Phillis President was killed in the first hours, other members of the government organised the counterattacks.

Soon, due to numbers, the coup forces were finding that they were slowly being defeated. In the meantime, the remanding leaders of both sides called out for help. Before the UFP could react, being caught up with its own internal problems, Wellous forces crossed into Phillis territory under the declaration of their "protectorate" status & quickly put an end to the civil war. But the Wellous did not put the coup leaders in jail. In a further shock, the Wellous announced that they were staying, arguing that they had been invited to ensure law & order by the new government, that being the coup leaders.

Naturally this was denounced by the survivors of the legal Phillis government who pleaded for help from the UFP. By now the Federation was settling down from the Fontusme Catharsis, to discover that the Phillis had been invaded & taken over by the Wellous. Numerous diplomatic missions quickly took place, but these got no where. When the threat of warfare eventually raised to the surface, the Wellous quickly brought out the Jehovah Ambassador who declared that the "… two [civilisations] have a mutual defence treaty & any attack on the Wellous, or the Phillis Protectorate, would be considered an attack on the Jehovah." Needless to say, the deposed leaders of the Phillis challenged the so called Protectorate & once again called for help.

Alas, before anything solid could be organised on the UFP side of the border, clashes between UDF patrols, responding to distress calls from Phillis refugees fleeing the Wellous occupation forces, & Wellous ships had already begun. Several such events soon started a flurry of angry diplomatic notes between the UFP & Wellous, in which each side blamed the other.

President Lysander, however, was in no mood to placate the Wellous any more  & ordered reinforcements to the border. Furthermore the President gave orders that all distress calls be answered, regardless of which side of the border the calls came from. Knowing that this last order was provocative, the President wanted to send a message to the Wellous & their allies - the UFP was no longer going to tolerate this aggressive behaviour by them. It was also catch-up politics. The UFP had been caught out & was being pushed into a corner. Overall it was a gamble in order to force the Wellous to back down, even though the President well knew that the Alliance against the UFP almost certainly wanted conflict.

Alas the gamble failed.
 



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