Notes:
I don't own Sailor Moon.  Don't sue me.

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE read the Read Me thing for this story.  I have never before written a readme, but I did for this one because it's REALLY confusing in some areas.  If you don't want to be LOST,
then I suggest you go back and read the Read Me.

This first part is fairly straight forward: we start out with a little prelude (no pun), then we jump to the year 3016.  Crystal Tokyo is in its infancy.  Dimando and his crew are living there, but they just aren't happy.  The Dark Kingdom Shitennou have been resurrected, and they're good guys, but not the SAME good guys as in "Cycle of Our Souls."  Sorry.

Ok.  That's the basics.  You still need to read the damn Read Me!

Write and tell me what you think.  :)

The Great War; no one would forget, no one could forget.  Casualties had been in the billions; nation after nation had crumbled under the strains of war and famine and plague.  The Death Phantom, as the leader of the mysterious enemy was called, seemed immortal, indestructible, and for the first time in history every country on the planet had united as one to defeat a common enemy.

They failed miserably.

After nearly a decade of fighting; from 2005 to the Year of Peace, 2015; a small, blond Japanese girl with a strange hairstyle had stepped forward with a tiny, odd group of  women and men to lead the world to victory and, at last, peace.  Earth rejoiced.  The young woman was embraced as a leader, a Goddess-like Queen over them all, and her first action as sovereign of a new world nation was to put her subjects to sleep.

On the surface it seems a strange action, one that would undermine the faith said subjects have in their queen, but it did just the opposite.  The world was in a state of chaos: fields all over the planet that had once been fertile were now hopelessly destroyed, plowed by thousands of marching feet and watered by the lifeblood of the dying; the seas churned red with blood and poisons, and fish long dead washed up onto beaches everywhere; animals, plants and humans not killed in battle were dying of disease, starvation and exposure to residual toxins left behind by weapons of war.

This was the world Neo-Queen Serenity, as she would come to be called, and her followers had been given to rule.  She accepted it gladly, her kind heart weeping at the misery she saw everywhere.  And, like the mother she was, she rocked her sick child to sweet, painless sleep.  It was her great hope that one day, far, far in the future, she would be able to revive her people and her planet and create a new Utopia, one where all would be happy and free and at peace.

But far away the Death Phantom plotted and waited, knowing that his time would come once again.

3016

"Will it never end?  What are we to do, Endymion?  Just let them fight until they destroy themselves?"

"That is no solution, Serenity," he replied softly.

"The Senshi could stop them."

"And turn everyone against us?  Nai, we need to deal with this ourselves, personally.  That way the people will learn that they can trust us to protect them, not to send out our soldiers every time a word of dissent is muttered."

She smiled sadly.  "My love, I believe that this is a bit more than 'a word of dissent.'  Look at them."  Her arm moved away from her body in a fluid, graceful motion, and he followed its path with his eyes.  "They fight, Endymion.  They burn and they pillage and they kill.  We cannot allow this to continue."

Before he could reply, a sharp knock on the chamber door echoed through the room.  "Hai?" he called, more than slightly irritated by the interruption.

Rei, in her Sailormars form, strode into the room, a frown marring her pretty face.  "There is someone here to see you, Serenity-sama," she said, the last word tripping up her tongue.  Would she ever get used to calling silly, meatball headed Serena by her royal title?  At least it was only necessary in formal situations like this one.

"Show him in," Endymion said quickly.

Rei's frown deepened.  "I'm sorry, Endymion-sama, he made it clear he wants to see only the Queen."

Serenity placed a quieting hand on her husband's arm.  "It is all right, Endymion.  Rei-chan, show our guest in, please, and take Endymion to the construction site.  Surely Ami-chan has things she would like to discuss with him?"

Rei nodded.  "Hai, she was just complaining about a problem with the foundation.  Something about the ground being too soft to support the weight of the building?  Come along, Endy, I'm sure she'll be very interested in your opinion."  The dark-haired King cast a desperate look back at his wife but she only smiled gently and waved.

Turning back to the window, she frowned down at the still-smoking ruins of a small house that had been standing only hours before.  Why was this mob so intent on destroying what was left of Tokyo?  Did they not want the Utopia she and her husband were proposing?  Crystal Tokyo…

She sighed and turned her thoughts back to the matter at hand.  Something would have to be done about these rabble-rousers, that much was certain.  Hers was a mission of peace, though, and she did not know how to deal with those who loved violence.

She felt more than heard someone enter the room.  Listening with her psychic senses, her frown grew more fretful.  She recognized him, of course: Dimando, he called himself, leader of these misfits.  Serenity said nothing, just continued staring out the window, and he cleared his throat softly.  "Please have a seat, Dimando-san."

"I did not come to exchange pleasantries, Serenity," he said, his voice as cold and hard as the stone he was named for.

"Nai, I suppose you didn't.  Why have you come, then?"

"You know why.  My people wish to be free, yet you continually insist that we submit to your rule.  Why must we?  Who are you to declare yourself Queen over us all?"

She turned to face him and glided over to a chair.  She sat down, poured a goblet of wine and considered his words with utmost care.  "Dimando-san, what is it your people wish to be free of?" she asked, voice soft and gentle.

He frowned angrily and plunked down in the chair opposite her own.  "You, Serenity, and your husband and your Senshi."

"And what have we done to hurt you?"

"I just told you!  You wish us to be your slaves!  My people are not slaves."

"Slaves…" she rolled the word around on her tongue, tasting it.  Disgusting.  "Slaves to yourselves, my friend," she said at last.  "Slaves to your own violence and ambition.  Endymion and I want peace.  Are you not yet sick of war?"

"I am no friend of yours," he ground out between clenched jaws.

"Only because you do not wish to be."

The sweetness of her voice startled him into looking up at her.  It was a big mistake. Gods, his mind whispered, nearly numb, can such a beautiful creature really exist?  I must be dreaming.  He had known it was dangerous to come here, dangerous to look her in the face once more, but he could never resist Serenity.  He was her slave, truly told, and he loved every minute of it.  "It… ah…"  He cleared his throat and tried again, attempting to restore some of his earlier ire.  "It isn't so easy as that, Serenity," he finally managed.

"We were friends once, Dimando, long ago.  Why did that have to change?" she whispered, her voice infinitely sad.

He rose angrily and was at the window in three long, furious strides.  "You and your damned Crystal, Serenity!  Why couldn't the people of Earth simply live as they choose?  Why must we be cleansed?"  He said the word as though it hurt him, and she cringed.

"Look out that window, Dimando.  What do you see?"

"Ruins of a house.  Ruins of a city.  Ruins of lives long gone…what does it matter what I see?"

"The people who lived in that house aren't gone.  They're here, frightened out of their minds and out everything they once owned.  You say we make slaves?  You make death, you make pain, you make fear.  We want peace, Dimando.  We want this rebellion of yours to end.  What will it take?"

He turned to face her, brushing a stray lock of blue-white hair from his eyes.  "Free us," he said, his voice dark and final.

"Free you," she repeated, her tone incredulous.  "You speak so of freedom, as though violence is freedom, as though looting and burning and killing is freedom.  That isn't freedom, Dimando!  What is it you hate so much?"

"Not what, Serenity. Whom.  You.  Endymion.  Your Senshi."  It was true…except for hating her.  How could he ever hate Serenity, his angel, his goddess…his Queen?

She turned her face away as though he had slapped her.  "You will not accept cleansing," she said at last, her voice hopeless and dull.

At that moment he hated himself more than he had ever hated Endymion, his rival.  He hated himself for taking away the light he loved so much in her eyes.  He hated himself for not being able to bow down to her and accept the cleansing she offered.  But he couldn't.  He could never sacrifice a part of himself, even if that part was impure.  "We will not," he confirmed.

She rose from the chair and came to him, so small and fragile, so sweet and hopeful.  "Dimando, please.  We need you and your people.  Please, Dimando, at least consider!"  She fell to her knees before him, hands clasped.

Dimando pulled her up, horrified.  "You are a Queen now, Serenity.  You kneel to no one, beg of no one.  You know we cannot submit to your cleansing."

"I will never be a Queen until I am your Queen," she whispered, a single, shining tear tracing a path down her cheek.

He sighed and turned away.  "If you would just let us be, then you could be my Queen."

"You would never bow to me, Dimando, not while Endymion stands at my side."

"You have that much right.  Why him, Serenity?  Why him after all we've been through?"

She bit her lip.  "You know why, Dimando.  He is my destiny.  I love him, even if you can't stand to be in the same room with him."

"Damn it, Serenity!" he cried, anger flaring again.  "Don't you remember how things used to be, during the War?  We were happy then, all of us…and now I see you trying to be Queen, your Senshi going crazy from boredom, your husband wanting to crush my people like so many bugs.  I look at my people and see Saffiiru's broken heart in his eyes, Rubeus' cruelty growing with every passing day, and Esmeraud…" he trailed off, shaking his head at this last.

"Esmeraud's ambition will be her downfall," Serenity said solemnly.  "We've long known that."  She started suddenly, realizing something.  "Is that why you so enjoy this violence of yours?  Because you think we were happy during the War?" she asked, disbelief making her voice high and tight.

He shrugged.  "I do not long for war, Serenity, contrary to what you think.  I simply long for a time when men were allowed to believe what they wanted and be true to themselves.  Now you ask everyone to be the same, to be good and pure.  Humans aren't good and pure by nature, at least not wholly.  Why can't you understand that?"  His hands were on her shoulders now, his violet eyes boring down into her blue ones.

"I'm giving them the chance to be," she replied simply.

"What are you going to do with us?  We will not allow your cleansing.  We will not settle down and join the crowd.  Will you kill us?"

She recoiled, disgusted.  "Nai!  How could you ever think such a thing of me, Dimando?!"

"I never thought you would force your people into submission, or else I never would have fought at your side in the War.  You used to be so open and caring, loving everyone in equal parts no matter what they were like.  What happened to you, Serenity?"

She stared up at him, eyes cold and hard.  "I grew up."

Dimando let go of her shoulders and stepped back, saddened and defeated.  "I miss you, Serena," he whispered.

"And I you, Danny," she said, wiping away another tear.  "But we're different now.  I'm Serenity and you're Dimando and…and I'm a Queen.  The war is over.  I want peace, and if it means banishing you and your people, I will do it."

"Anything for peace, Serenity," he said, his voice light with mocking, "anything to achieve the fool's dream of Crystal Tokyo."

"It is not a fool's dream!  It will be real."

He looked up at her, amethyst eyes glinting strangely.  "Then it will be real without me.  Goodbye, Serenity."  With an earnest, sincere bow, he swept from the room without looking back.  Giving a little gasp, Serenity fell to her knees again, no longer begging…only sobbing.

"Rubeus!" the young woman called softly, peering around anxiously to make sure no one heard.  It was dangerous to keep sneaking off to see him like this, she knew, but...something about him just drew her, always had.

He turned, caught sight of her in the shadows, the skirt of her red fuku showing up even in the darkness.  "Rei-chan," he breathed in disbelief.  "Rei-chan no baka!  Do you know what would happen if you were caught here?!"  He moved closer, hugging the wall and avoiding the light.  "Dimando has forbidden us contact with anyone involved with Neo-Queen Serenity."

She frowned.  "I know that.  Why do you think I'm here?  I had to see you, Rubeus, I had to."

He smiled and pulled her into an embrace.  "It's all right, Rei-chan.  I'm not angry...just worried.  I'm glad you're here, but not glad that you risked yourself in coming.  How did you manage it?"

"It was simple.  Ami-chan and Endy-san were working on designs for the Crystal Palace, so Serenity and the others were bored half to death.  I suggested we all go for a walk, and then I slipped away when Mako-chan was busy arguing with Minako-chan about..." she sighed, "about Saffiiru."

"Minako still pines for him?" he asked softly.

"Hai.  She tries to hide it, but her love for him is plain.  How is he?"

Rubeus shook his head sadly.  "Not well.  He misses her, and Dimando's stubbornness angers him.  He doesn't understand why we don't just accept the cleansing."

"I don't either, frankly."  It was a heated topic between the two of them, and she knew they would never agree.  They had a mutual agreement to not talk about it when together, but sometimes Rei just couldn't resist.  "Serenity is broken-hearted over losing Dimando's friendship, Minako over Saffiiru...and I over you.  Why can't you just come back?  Things can be as they were during the War, only...well, peaceful!"

"We don't wish to be cleansed, Rei-chan," he replied shortly, pushing her away.  "We wish to remain as we are.  Why is that so hard for you to understand?  We would come back gladly if you would only accept our decision."

She sighed and shook her head.  "Gomen nasai, Rubeus...I know how you feel.  I just wish things could be different."

Smiling gently, he said, "So do I.  That is why Saffiiru and I talked Dimando into meeting with Serenity, but it only made things worse."

"I know."  She turned away, chewing her lower lip, and wondered how to broach the subject.  How would he react?  "Serenity and Endymion are...are talking about banishing you," she said at last, bracing herself for an explosion.

Rubeus stared at her bent head, watched the way the light flashed off her dark hair, wondering if he had heard correctly.  "Banishing...are you serious, Rei-chan?"

She whirled around, angry.  "Would I joke about something like this, Rubeus?"

He ran a strong hand through his short red hair and let out a long breath.  "To where?" he asked at last.

"Nowhere on Earth, I know that much.  They have Nephrite looking for a place now," she said, moving a step closer.

"Kuso," he whispered.

"Exactly.  What will you do?"

He shrugged.  "Go, I would expect.  Dimando doesn't want us to stay here."

"But surely he didn't mean for you to settle off-world!" she cried.

"Nai, I would suspect not...but I believe the idea will agree with him."

What is wrong with him? she wondered.  This is not the Rubeus I remember, the Rubeus I fell in love with.  Look at his eyes...how cold.  She shivered.  "Will you not protest?" she finally managed.

"What would be the point?  None of us enjoy this stupid planet anymore.  We're outcasts, misfits...we're hated.  Why should we stay?"

"You aren't hated by everyone!" she declared hotly, dark eyes blazing.

Some of the cockiness drained away and he looked more like himself.  She sighed in relief.  "I know, Rei-chan, but what choice do we have?  Dimando will accept Serenity's banishment, and we are all sworn to him.  We will follow where he leads."

"Even off-world?  Away from me?" she whispered.

"If I must."

"Then go," she said, turning away again, back rigid with barely-contained tears.

"Rei-chan," he began desperately.  What had just happened?  One minute they had been happy, enjoying a rare moment together...and now...he shook his head.  "Rei-chan, please, I don't want to fight with you, especially if we're on the verge of being banished from Earth forever."

"Will you miss me when you're gone?" she asked in small voice.

"I miss you every moment we're not together."

"You'll soon forget about me.  You could get together with Esmeraud, perhaps...but then she's always had her eye on Dimando."

"I don't want Esmeraud," he said harshly, "I want you.  You could come with us, Rei-chan."

She turned around slowly, eyes wide with surprise.  "I could not.  Serenity is my Queen, I'm sworn to protect her!" she protested.

His lips twisted in a strange smile.  "Exactly.  Is my oath to Dimando any less than yours to Serenity and Endymion?"

She hung her head, ashamed.  "Of course it isn't.  I didn't mean to imply that it was."

"By suggesting that I defy him and accept cleansing, that's what you are implying.  I'll go with Dimando because it's my duty.  You'll stay with Serenity because it's yours.  It's simple, really."

"Hai, Rubeus," she whispered sadly, "so very simple." 

"Minako!  You startled me!" the pale-haired man said as a blonde woman came hurtling around a corner and straight into his arms.

"Oh!  Malachite-kun!  Gomen nasai, I wasn't watching where I was going."  She wouldn't meet his eyes, instead training her gaze on some unknown point on the wall.

"Minako, is something wrong?" he asked hesitantly, worried that she didn't seem to be her usual cheerful, bubbly self.  To his astonishment, she burst into tears.  "Minako...Minako, what is it?"  She said nothing, and he finally resorted to patting her comfortingly on the back as she cried.  "Shhh, Minako, it'll be all right," he whispered awkwardly.

Finally she sniffled and wiped her eyes, embarrassed.  "I'm sorry, Malachite-kun, it's just that...do you know Dimando?"

The General stiffened and his silver-violet eyes turned a dark, stormy gray.  "Hai," he said shortly.

She took a step back, surprised by the severity of his reaction, and continued more warily.  "You know, then, that the King and Queen plan to banish him and his people?"

Malachite nodded.  "This is about Saffiiru."  It wasn't a question.

"Hai.  I love him, Malachite...but now they're being banished and I'll never see him again!  I just don't understand why this is happening.  Can't a compromise be reached?  Why banishment?  And, worst of all, why banishment off-world?"

"Truth be told, I think banishment is the best course of action.  They hate us, Minako.  They'll not accept Neo-Queen Serenity's cleansing, and therefore they won't accept us.  We cannot have that.  I know you understand."

Sighing, she looked away.  "You too?  He's not a bad person, Malachite!  He wants to be cleansed, but he can't go against his brother's wishes."

"Why not?" he demanded, feeling no sympathy for the younger man...a man he considered to be his greatest rival.

"Damn it!  Why must you all fight so?  Endymion and Dimando...Jadeite and Rubeus...Nephrite and Esmeraud...you and Saffiiru!  Why are Serenity, Zoisite, the other Senshi and I the only ones in this whole damn city with any sense?!"

He fought the urge to smile as he stared down at her enraged little form.  She was so beautiful...which, of course, was the main reason he hated Saffiiru.  Why was that fool more worthy of Minako's attention than he, Malachite, was?  "I suppose it has to do with jealousy," he found himself saying.

This stopped her mid-rage.  "Jealousy?" she finally managed to spit out.  "Jealousy over what?!"

He shrugged, in control of himself once more.  "I don't know, Minako-san.  Why don't you ask Saffiiru?"

She looked as though she was about to start crying again, and he mentally kicked himself several hundred times.  "I can't talk to Sapphire, you great big fool!  They're leaving tomorrow.  Tomorrow, Mal-san!  That's so soon...and they aren't even letting us say goodbye!"

Frowning, he turned away from her blue eyes, so sad over losing her precious Saffiiru. Nai, Malachite, an internal voice said, I strictly forbid you from doing this.  What if Endy-kun caught you?  Baka.  But he knew he would anyway.  He would die for Minako if he thought it would make her happy...luckily she didn't hate him quite that much.  "I can help you sneak out to see him," he said quietly.

There was a long, shocked silence behind him before the explosion.  "REALLY?!  Oh, Malachite, if you did that I would...I would...I would cook you dinner for a month straight!"

He laughed and turned back to her brilliant, shining smile.  "Nai, Minako-san, anything but that!"

She tried to glare at him, but she was far too happy.  "Domo arigato, Malachite.  Honestly.  When?"

He bit his lower lip uncertainly, glancing around to make sure the corridor was completely empty.  "Meet me here tonight after dinner.  We'll go then."

Nodding, she offered him another dazzling smile.  "You're the absolute best, Mal-kun.  I'll never forget this."  With that, she skipped off down the hall wrapped in a haze of stunned excitement.

"So I'm hoping, Minako mine.  So I'm hoping."

...A woman stood alone on a barren, rocky plane, the wind whipping her long, dark hair around her smooth face.  She held a tall, key-shaped staff in one hand, but she did not lean against it, did not use it as a crutch.  Despite the cold wind and her almost ridiculously scanty costume, she did not shiver.  She looked indomitable, like a permanent fixture in the stark, unrelenting landscape as she stood unmoving for a moment longer before her head tilted upwards and her dark, deep red eyes began to scan the sky.

At last she nodded and held her staff out before her.  There was a pulsing red glow that was soon replaced by a large bubble.  It contained, strangely enough, three people, two of whom were tightly and protectively curled around the third, much smaller one.  Concentrating, the woman carefully lowered the bubble to the ground, watching in satisfaction as it popped and the trio within resettled into sleep.

"Wake now, my dearest friends," she murmured softly, "for there is work to be done, and your children will need your guidance."  Then she was gone as though she had never been, and the only evidence of her passing was the presence of a blond woman, a dark-haired man and their pink-haired daughter on what was normally a quiet, empty stretch of land.

Gradually the blond woman began to stir, and soon she sat up, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.  "Darien?" she said, reaching over their still-sleeping child to touch his shoulder.  "Darien, wake up.  It's time."

His dark blue eyes opened suddenly and he sat up as though he'd been bitten.  "What happened?  Where are we?"

Serena shot him a glare as he blinked owlishly at her.  "Where do you think we are?  Sailor Pluto must have woken us up.  Come on, we need to wake Rini."  She went to touch her daughter's cheek, but Darien grabbed her hand.

"Wait, Serena, look around," he said, his voice slightly breathless.

She frowned at him, but after a moment complied.  "Gods!" she whispered at last.  When they had fallen asleep, they'd been at the base of Mt. Fuji.  Now, as far as the eye could see, there was only a gray, featureless plain.  "What happened here?"

"I have a better question: how long have we been asleep?"

"Mommy?" a sleepy voice said before she could form an answer.  "Mommy, what's going on?"

She smiled down at her daughter comfortingly.  "Nothing, precious.  Do you remember when I told you that we would go to sleep for a long nap, but then Sailor Pluto would come to wake us up?  Well, she did, so here we are!"

The little girl looked around her in wonder, red eyes wide.  "Mommy, wasn't there a mountain here when we went to sleep?"

Her parents shared an apprehensive glance over her head.  "Hey, don't worry about it, little one," Darien said, tugging on one of his daughter's short, pink pigtails.  "We've been asleep a really, really long time, and things change when you sleep for that long," he told her, hoping she wouldn't ask him to be more specific.

She screwed up her face in order to facilitate the thought process, then said, "Well why don't you have a beard?"

"A beard?" he repeated blankly.

"Yeah, Daddy, a beard!  We read a story in school about a man who went to sleep for a hundred years and woke up with a beard to his knees.  You don't got a beard."

"Don't have a beard," he corrected gently.  "I guess it's because the sleep your Momma put us in was magic.  None of us grew older, now did we?"

She studied both of her parents very carefully.  "No, I guess we didn't.  That was some good magic, Momma."

Serena laughed brightly.  "Thank you, baby.  Come on, let's go find the other Senshi.  You can help."...

"Serenity?" her husband asked tiredly.  "What are you doing up?  It's nearly two in the morning."

She sighed and turned away from the window.  The burnt house mocked her, warned her, frightened her, and memories from the past flitted around like ghosts.  Was banishing Dimando and his people the answer?  Something told her it wasn't...but she saw no other alternative.  "I couldn't sleep," she said at last.

Endymion frowned in concern, knowing how heavily the issue with Dimando weighed on her.  "Serenity, you know we have no choice."

"I know," she replied softly.

"Is this because of Minako and Rei?"

She sighed long and deep.  "That's part of it.  They're so in love, Endy-chan.  I feel as though I'm robbing them of something so precious..."  She shook her head slowly.  "I just keep thinking, 'What would I do if
someone took Endymion away from me?'"

"This isn't the same, love."

"How not?  Minako and Rei love Saffiiru and Rubeus, I love you...how is that not the same thing?  Is their love any less pure because we don't agree with it?  There were many who didn't agree with us back in the Silver Millennium, if you remember."

He smiled faintly.  "I see your point.  What shall we do about it?"

She shrugged and paced across the room wearily.  "I know not."  Changing the subject, she said, "How is Small Lady?"

"Asleep, of course. Why do you ask?"

"I'm worried about everything and everyone these days, Endy-chan.  The rioters give me cause to worry over Small Lady more than almost anything else, yet because of them I have very little time to spend with her.  It's a paradox."

"Just like our problem with your two Senshi," he said, neatly changing it back.

She glared at him briefly, but let it pass.  "We should give them something else to do, something to take their minds off of everything."

"Ami already has Crystal Palace to keep her plenty busy."

Serenity nodded distractedly, thinking.  "Maybe...maybe they could concentrate on restoring their home planets.  I mean, once we get Crystal Tokyo up and running.  I don't think we would have enough power to do it before then...but that would certainly give them something to do.  And, also, they would be Queens in their own right...and perhaps bring their loves back to them."

"Hopefully by that time they will have forgotten Rubeus and Saffiiru," he said with a vague frown.

"Perhaps...I'm sure I could think of a General or two who would love to help them do just that," she said with a mischievous smile.

He laughed long and loud.  "I'm sure I could too, but your Senshi seem to be completely oblivious to the attentions of my poor, lovelorn Generals...with the exception of Nephrite and Makoto, of course."

Her good cheer restored once more, she grinned brightly.  "I suppose we'll have to do something about that, ne?  The easiest will be Ami and Zoisite, I think.  They spend practically every minute together anyway working on the Crystal--" her words were brought to an abrupt halt by his kiss.

"Let's go to bed, Serenity.  This can wait until tomorrow."

With a sweet smile, she agreed and allowed him to lead her to their bedroom.

End I

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