Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 57: All Will Be Malware
Galvan-Prime; Science-Center; June 9th, 2024; 5:48PM.
Azmuth approached the window of the Science-Center lobby, with his hands idly behind his back, where he and the other Galvan could see the far-side of the East-wing and the massive crimson energy beam that flooded the murky green skies with blood red thundering clouds. Looming with an ominous glow that spread throughout the atmosphere turning naturally puffy-white clouds into a blackened cataclysm-sized storm, "What have I done?" Azmuth lowered his head in disgrace as the other Galvan scientists cowered behind him, he quickly dispersed his shame, and begun strategizing like the First-Thinker he was, "Have we restored power to the planetary defense grid?"
Another Galvan quickly approached him with a holographic display of information, "We rerouted energy from the grid to strengthen the Science-Center's borders, we can't-" he tried to explain but, Azmuth wasn't going to waste time listening.
"Route the power back into the planetary grid and reverse the magnetic polarity of the orbiting satellite shielding systems…" Azmuth heard Malware's violent shouting even from across the facility as though he were standing right next to him.
"But, First-Thinker, that will allow for interstellar travel into our borders…"
Azmuth interrupted him by getting to the point, "And it will hopefully contain Malware on this planet long enough for Ben Tennyson to do his job," he turned around and looked the assistant Galvan in the eyes, "Meanwhile, we should alert the rest of the planet and halt any evacuation efforts that the shielding could interfere with."
The Galvan blinked, glancing down at her holographic tablet, "But, sir, this Ben Tennyson is just one human, we cant afford to stop evacuations based solely on his intervention!" the younger Galvan had to speak her mind, she simply didn't understand such a brilliant genius putting so much faith in one lowly human.
"Mm… yes, he is. And yet I've come to be proven wrong time and time again about the extent of his capability…" Azmuth pointed out, stopping his nonchalant strut when he noticed the concern on her face didn't waver.
"You built the Omnitrix, sir, I don't see how-"
Azmuth shook his head, glancing back out at the beam which was slowly sucked back into the building before their eyes, "Not his physical capabilities, though it did surprise me to see my device used in such unique ways… What constantly debunked my dismissal of Ben Tennyson was his immense aptitude for creativity, heroism, selflessness, and a singular drive to bring the true purpose of my Omnitrix to light."
"If you don't mind that I ask, what exactly was the Omnitrix's true purpose?"
Azmuth smiled a bit, looking away from the window, and continuing his walk away from her, "Perhaps if we survive this ordeal, I'll tell you. Now, reconfigure the planetary shielding as I've asked."
The female Galvan nodded her head, "Yes, sir," she ran back towards the front desk of the lobby to relay his orders to the other Galvans.
…
Jennifer recovered next to her father just in time to watch as Malware's sickening yellow circuitry was flooded with menacing crimson, his misshapen body took a proper Mechamorph form, his skinny, weak limbs became bulkier and full of life, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" he shouted with much more intelligence behind his voice, his body became complete just as his mind did, "I am complete!" he was no longer just an 'it' or just a virus, he was a real sentient being without any corruption in his life-code. He cackled as the massive crimson beam shooting upwards into the sky slowly sucked itself back into the helix which then channeled it back into Malware himself. Releasing the rods from his grip, Malware staggered back with a bright aura of blood-red electricity still swirling around his body.
Jennifer gulped as Ben took a step forward in front of her, keeping an arm out in front of her, all the while trying to access his Omnitrix through the Master Control but, to no avail, "Is… Is he like all the other Mechamorphs now?" she asked innocently.
Malware laughed at this, a casual controlled laugh, one that was almost sarcastic and rooted in narcissism, "What I am now is so much more than they, I am superior!"
Ben rolled his eyes, "Here we go, big evil speech time, hit me with it and I'll rate it out of ten," the one thing he never needed to be a hero for was knowing how to be a smartass at the worst possible moments.
Malware looked down at his claws, still sparking with neon-red electricity, shaking his head slowly, "Evil? No… visionary! I feel power building inside me, I see a world that I only I can create! It was Azmuth who thought me flawed, he gave me the name Malware… but I am not the flawed one, it is all the rest that are inferior! They bend and stretch, mimic and manipulate… they upgrade only what others have created, I do not upgrade other's creations, they upgrade me!" Malware's arm reformed and took the shape of the particle cannon that was once bonded to his chest, now freely positioning itself where he wanted at will, and aiming it at Ben and Jennifer, "And now, I will upgrade myself with Azmuth's greatest creation…" with his menacing gaze set on Ben's arm, the hero narrowed his eyes.
Ben could feel the Omnitrix was rebooting itself slowly, trying his best to buy time by running his mouth but, it didn't appear to be working, "Okay, I can't even begin to get into how that's not gonna happen!" he felt Jennifer clutching the lower-back of his shirt, keeping her eyes on the enemy without stepping out from behind her father.
"Fortunately for me, you have little say in the matter," Malware fired a crimson beam of particles which would have vaporized them both had Ben not grabbed Jennifer by the shoulders, dashing out of the vault in a blur, through the corridor, and out into the open where they could tell the sky had darkened the landscape. Thundering dark clouds boomed above them, bolts of crimson lightning cascading through the sky.
He set his daughter down whom hardly realized she'd been picked up and moved at close to three times the speed of sound until they'd stopped half a second later; Ben knelt down a bit looking into her eyes, "Stay out of the way until your Omnitrix reboots, it might take longer than mine since I've been bonded to it longer than you have," he continued to glance behind him every so often to ensure the danger wouldn't sneak up on him.
An explosion rocked the building behind them out of sight, Ben narrowed his eyes over his shoulder briefly as Jennifer spoke up in defiance, "No way! I wanna fight by your side! I can't miss all the action!?" he couldn't believe how much she reminded him of himself at her age, eager to fight deadly battles even with the odds stacked against her.
"You aren't experienced enough with your powers, until your watch boots back up, you're benched, got it?" Ben grabbed her wrist gently and shook it at her, showing her how the usually glowing neon-amethyst hourglass lines were now dull grey.
"Yea… okay…" Jennifer gasped, backing away as she caught sight of Malware blowing an even bigger hole in the wall he'd entered the facility from, aiming his cannon-arm at the father-daughter duo.
Without hesitation, Malware fired his weapon, the crimson particle-beam being intercepted by twin blasts of neon-emerald Omni-Energy from Ben's eyes. Slowly, the hero floated a foot or two off the ground focusing more of his power on the beam-struggle between them; their clash sent sparks of vibrant greens and reds into the grass at their feet, burning it slightly on contact. "I am so much more than I was, all of this is… it can be mine!" Malware continued firing his particle beam while simultaneously, his legs began melting and stretching, leaching over entire buildings nearby before rendering them into ash. With each building he assimilated, his main body grew in size and the weapon he was using to match Ben's beam-vision was intensifying. Malware grew to nearly twenty-feet-tall, quickly stepping to the right and ceasing his attack at the same time allowing Ben's beams to pass by him harmlessly.
While Ben was blinking once or twice, taking only a second or two to adjust his vision; however, in those brief moments Malware used the opportunity to extend his free arm forty-feet across the battlefield latching onto Ben's ankles, and swinging him overhead until he faceplanted into the ground with enough impact to crack stone. "Once I have assimilated this planet and its vast technology, I will sail to a billion worlds with an army of my corrupted brethren, until every star in the Universe is extinguished!" Malware's facial-ring, which all perfected Mechamorphs had, begun to illuminate with a neon luminescence before discharging a crimson beam of energy into the chest of the downed hero, carving a deeper trench into his crater with the attack. "Reality will be forged in my image, a perfect image," an emerald explosion from the crater Malware was firing down at interrupted his monologue, a bulky teal-crystal fist emerged from the light, forcing its way through the beam, and punching Malware directly in the face.
Diamondhead huffed as he watched his opponent stagger backwards in pain, "Can't let ya do that, I keep all my stuff in this reality," he quickly knelt and punched the ground at his feet, summoning a cascade of crystals from below the planets crust stabbing Malware through the chest prompting the hero to widen his eyes, not expecting a lethal blow to land so easily.
"Don't be so shocked, hero, cant you see?" Malware glanced down at the sharpened blade pultruding through his chest, "I've become more!" he took hold of the crystal and it instantly degraded into grey ashes as Malware himself grew in size by several feet. Malware quickly backhanded Diamondhead through the air hitting the side of a relatively large building back-first before collapsing to his hands and knees. "None of the tactics you've used on your past foes will work here…" Just as Diamondhead recovered a solid-fist extended across the battlefield striking the Petrosapien through the building he'd struck, landing in a tumble on the grass behind it.
Diamondhead glanced up at the height advantage now held by his opponent, Malware had gained a bulkier, tougher appearance and this transformation wouldn't suffice to face it. With a thought the Omnitrix triggered another transformation, an explosion of light revealed a twenty-five foot, brown scaled, bipedal dinosaur with a black and white belt slung across his torso much like an ammunitions-belt only with the Omnitrix symbol emblazoned in the center of it. Humungousaur tanked a particle beam from Malware with his left forearm as he charged forwards, shaking the ground with every stomp, backhanding the energy-weapon in his opponents arm out of his line of fire in order to land a clean uppercut to Malware's head, knocking him back through the air.
The corrupted Mechamorph got to his feet slowly but, not in time to defend against a flurry of blows, one after the other to the face, shockwaves rocking the small town around them; from the sky, uncorrupted security drones approached to assist and destroy the enemy threatening their planet. Each of the dozen Galvan on approach were wearing highly advanced armor with wings and jet-packs, missile launching capabilities as well as rapid-fire energy rifles in hand, and scanners on their visors. Humungousaur had Malware on the ropes until the latter began receiving fire from the Galvan military in an attempt to assist Ben, though he knew this was a mistake from the beginning, "No! Get away!" he shouted.
It was too late, Malware turned on a dime with speed none of the Galvan soldiers were expecting, reaching out with his extendable arms, and grabbing hold of two of the soldiers as their suits of armor disintegrated into ash upon contact. The Galvan fell from the sky in only basic uniforms, Jennifer noticed this and tried using her speed in a controlled manner the way she'd been taught, rushing over at half the speed of sound in a blur of purple and black, she caught them both in her hands just before they hit the ground, "Gotcha!" they smiled up at her as she set them down gently, "You need to call your guys back, my Dad can handle this, you'll just get hurt."
"Shocking," One of the Galvan turned to the other as they adjusted themselves on the ground, "The human child of all species is correct, this Malware will only abuse our militaristic defenses against us, they both nodded in agreement, speaking into the communicators that were in their ears and not the armor itself, asserting the other ten soldiers to retreat.
Jennifer folded her arms in discontent, "It's not that shocking…" she huffed, focusing back on her father's battle.
Malware now summoned more weapons which he'd absorbed, even as the Galvan forces retreated, just having access to the weapons made them ten times as deadly in his hands. Two sets of launchers fired off three rockets each propelled by crimson-combustion, and aimed at Humungousaur who only used his forearms to defend his face. The explosions sent ringing through his ears but, he kept his stance and didn't budge an inch, "Is that the best you've go-" he was interrupted by Malware using the distractions of the missiles to advance forwards, right-hooking the Vaxasaurian in the chin sending him down onto his left side several feet away.
While he was still down, Malware lifted his left forearm and formed a gatling-blaster-gun slowly beginning to spin in preparation for an assault; he unleashed thousands of rounds per second of crimson energy bolts keeping Humungousaur pinned until a wave of emerald genetic energy flushed over his entire body. When it subsided the energy bolts were suddenly being blocked by a large shell-like armor adorned over his back; he'd grown almost a dozen feet, his skin had become camo-green and a helmet formed with three silver spikes running down the top, and two downward pointing black horns on the sides. His back shelled armor has long spikes running down each side, his plated chest and torso are dark blue with five spikes on each end and his long tail now had a blue mace on the end of it, with silver spikes across it.
"Assimilate this!" Ultimate Humungousaur quickly used his opponents slight surprise to his advantage, turning and aiming his already missile-launcher shifted fist in Malware's face before firing several rockets exploding at point-blank range across his body. He flew from the smoke, landing on his back, and carving a trench into the dirt with his impact; the evolved Vaxasaurian got back to his feet and turned to approach his opponent. "Had enough?" he grunted down at his opponent, his missile launching weapons still primed and aimed at Malware on his back.
"Have you?" Ultimate Humungousaur was shocked when the particle cannon formed in the center of Malware's chest, quickly hitting him with a thick crimson beam that knocked the Vaxasaurian back on his heels, his armor holding up well enough. "All of this technology, running through the entire planet all the way down to its core!" Malware formed a blade out of his arm and stabbed the ground at his own feet, silently separating small parts of himself to travel beneath them.
Ultimate Humungousaur charged forwards right-hooking the tainted Mechamorph before following with a left-hook using just as much force, enough to unleash a shockwave that shook the surface of the planet for miles. Even Jennifer and the Galvans still within the locked-down Science-Center had trouble keeping their balance as blow after blow shook the ground until, suddenly, Malware caught the evolved Vaxasaurian's next punch enveloping his fist in Mechamorph ooze before solidifying it, trapping it in his grasp. "You cannot win," Ultimate Humungousaur sent a left-hook into Malware's face but, this time it did nothing but catch it within his polymorphic head, slowly sliding it down into his own arm where he now trapped the heroes remaining hand, "Even now there are pieces of my body working their way to the planet's core! I will corrupt this planet from within, devouring every molecule, every atom, until Galvan Prime becomes the first Planet Malware!" Ben struggled, even with his Ultimate form active, he couldn't break his enemies grip, grinding his teeth with effort as he watched Malware form what must've been a devious grin. With Ultimate Humungousaur trapped, Malware sent a powerful electrical charge through his body sending crimson lightning cascading across his body, releasing him, and letting the hero stagger backwards. Malware placed his arms together aimed at a recovering Ultimate Humungousaur who only barely caught sight of how his arms melded into a single long-barreled cannon that was visibly gathering energy from the planet below them. Glowing blood-red power surging upwards through the circuitry designs on his legs up into his arms, "Goodbye, Ben Ten Thousand…" without another word, Malware fired the ten-foot thick energy beam tearing through the air with white lightning and a high-pitched whine accompanying it. Ben threw his bulky forearms out in front of his face but, was consumed by the blast forming a long vaporized trench leading into and through the Science-Center's west-wing, nearly taking out the entire half of the vast building.
Jennifer looked on in awe as the Galvan within the building braced for impact and avoided collapsing debris, the lobby was still safe but the shields were down and the glass they hid behind had shattered completely. "I will consume this planet and everything on it! And then I will spread through the stars-"
"Malware!" a surprisingly confident yet, small voice shouted up at the creature now adorned with make-shift horns sprouting from its spine and a much sharper jawline; Azmuth approached on a floating emerald disc with his hands comfortably behind his back, "Sowing chaos and destruction doesn't take any special talent, if that's the best you can do, I'm not impressed!" he announced to Malware's frustration, growling at his creator.
He balled up his fists and slammed them down int the ground, collapsing two fifteen-foot-tall buildings with the force of his strength, "No! Of course not! Nothing I do could ever impress you, father… In your eyes, I am nothing but your failed experiment, your… shame."
Azmuth closed his eyes and shook his head, "My only shame is that I have been unable to heal your pain; it's not too late, give up this vendetta of yours, and allow me to help you, it's not too late," against even the great First-Thinker's expectations, the other Galvan workers must have gotten the planet's security back online, he was surprised to see three spherical-emerald defense drones rise up from beneath the planet's crust, surrounding Malware who up until this point had seemed to be listening, "No, wait-" the planet defended itself against Malware's corruption by violently electrocuting him even while Azmuth called out for it to stop.
"More lies!" Malware shouted, prompting him to absorb the energy he was being attacked with, his body shooting crimson lightning out around him and assimilating the defense drones until they too were piles of ash, pointing a clawed index finger at Azmuth who looked like a massive hypocrite from Malware's point-of-view, "Even now you conspire against me! It is too late!" he fired a beam from one hand casually attempting to nonchalantly incinerate Azmuth but, wasn't expecting a tiny force bubble to form around the disc the First-Thinker was floating on, "What?!"
Azmuth shook his head and willed his disc back down towards the Science-Center, closing his eyes in disappointment, he never meant to create the Galvanic Mechamorph species and he certainly didn't intend on giving birth to a corruption like Malware, though what hurt most of all was being so helpless even with the most vast intelligence in the known Universe, "I am truly sorry it had to be this way, Malware, I only wanted to help you…" from behind, almost as if the Galvan had seen it coming, an explosion of emerald-light consumed the area to a wide degree.
From the rubble of the Science-Center's west-wing emerged a giant among giants, several-hundred-feet in height, a massive white humanoid clad in crimson armor with a single sharpened horn pultruding up from the top of his head; Way Big looked down on Malware who backed away several steps before being crushed under a massive heel that totally encompassed his body, forcing him into a puddle of ooze. "Ew!" the ooze suddenly formed and emerged from beneath Way Big's metaphorical boot, slithering away and into the cracks he'd made earlier leading to the planet's core.
Jennifer was completely in awe, jaw agape and eyes up at the titan standing before her, it was seldom that she ever saw her father use his more powerful transformations, he'd even stopped using Celestial so casually, locking him away in his 'Cosmic Playlist' along with other dangerous forms. Way Big was unsure if he'd ended the threat yet, lifting his foot to see if Malware was dead or defeated but, he was simply gone. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" the ground below them begun shaking violently, Azmuth started evacuating the Science-Center as it came tumbling down from below, Jennifer shook her stupor and began helping in the effort to evacuate, watching the building crumble into a pile of rubble before her eyes. Way Big was on guard but, still unsuspecting of a massive arm shooting out from below the ground, right beneath his left foot, throwing the To'kustar off his feet, landing on his back with an impact that could have shattered mountains.
Slowly, Malware emerged from below ground, one arm at a time he pulled himself to the surface, having now grown as tall, if not taller, than Ben's Way Big form; "I am the ultimate life-form, all will be Malware!" he shouted, his deepened, growling voice booming through the atmosphere and across the planet.
"Not yet," Way Big recovered quickly enough, getting to his feet, every step he took created a loud thud, cracking apart the ground in the shape of his footprint, "If you wanna get off this planet, you have to go through me," Way Big's voice too was deep and threatening, even his own daughter was intimidated.
"With pleasure," Malware charged Way Big with a fist reeled back in an attempt to right straight the hero in the face, though the To'kustar was faster than he anticipated as he managed to sidestep the punch, even at their size, he was quite agile. He grabbed hold of Malware's arm and yanked him forwards, passing him as he kicked the giant in the lower-back sending Malware face first into the ground. "If you can grow, why cant I?" jutting his clawed fingers into the ground, Malware began growing in mass and size, becoming several times bigger than before, even Way Big was shocked to be looking up at his opponent once Malware stood seconds later, "How does it feel being small, Ben Ten Thousand?" he begun chuckling even as Way Big grimaced at him with unwavering determination.
Way Big was flooded with genetic energy without a single gesture, the wave of emerald Omni-Energy crossed his body in seconds forcing him through millions upon millions of years of combat-based evolution; he grew several thousand feet until he was at eye level with Malware once again, only now sporting two more horns atop his head, and added bright-blue armor to his red-white aesthetic. "I don't like it," Ultimate Way Big growled, putting up his fists in a fighting stance, he jabbed Malware in the head so fast the living-virus didn't even see it coming but, the resulting shockwave still sent a sonic-boom downwards where the innocent Galvan watched alongside Azmuth and Jennifer hoe Ben Ten Thousand did his job. Malware staggered back several steps before firing another crimson beam of energy from the palm of his left hand, only Ultimate Way Big dodged this by simply dipping his head to the left, the beam passed over his shoulder and he backhanded Malware onto his back once again, just barely getting back to his feet several seconds later, "Give up!" he shouted.
"Never!" Malware readjusted himself and gathered more power from the planet's core, adding it to his own and amplifying it to an enormous degree; he must have realized using this power to grow any larger would be pointless, which is when Way Big came to the conclusion that he must be using it for an energy attack instead like he had earlier.
"Don't do this!" Ultimate Way Big crossed his arms with his right arm perpendicular to his left arm forming a cross, bright blue cosmic energy began to gather across his forearms like bolts of lightning within a storm cloud. He knew that if two beams like the ones they were threatening to use collided, it could cause massive destruction to the entire planet, especially if Ultimate Way Big used all of his power, he could easily vaporize a continent by mistake.
Malware cackled back at him as the power continued to build within his body, surging around the circular ring on his face, "That is why you will lose, hero! I could care less about the planet or its people, however, you do!" without warning, he unleashed a massive crimson wave of energy that changed the color of the entire atmosphere itself, the hemisphere turned blood-red until Ultimate Way Big was forced to unleash his own blast of energy in return picoseconds following Malware's discharge. They met in the middle and the clash sent shockwaves that wiped the surface of the planet below their feet clean of buildings, mountains or plateaus, and any living thing for hundreds of miles. Ben had to count on the fact that Azmuth was too smart to die that way and would in return protect his own people along with Jennifer.
He was right, moments before the blast had gone off, Azmuth had extended the shielding of his floating disc to its maximum capacity, overlapping nearly a hundred Galvan scientists as well as himself and Jennifer standing beside him. "Will this thing hold up against all of this destruction?" she whispered to the side without taking her eyes off the battle.
"I've used it to observe the birth and death of stars up close so, I'd hope so… from this distance at least," Azmuth sounded unsure, especially considering it wasn't him or at least not this version of himself that invented the crystal added to Ben's Omnitrix allowing him to evolve his transformations, its limits were unknown even to him. "The rest of the Galvan populations should be within similarly durable bunkers once the Science-Center gave the evacuation order… so long as the planet stays in-tact, we should all be safe."
The magnitude of the powers clashing above them was indescribable, it was as though God and Satan were dueling for the fate of existence right before their eyes; though, this wasn't going in the favor of God unlike the biblical canon. Malware was stepping forward, his beam growing closer to Ultimate Way Big as the bright blue energy became shorter and shorter with every step. The ground at their feet cracked apart forming a massive crater around the collision of their beams, bolts of wild lightning struck the ground as well tearing apart the landscape and setting it ablaze with blue flames. As the Evolved To'kustar took a step back, the wind from his foot stepping down on the flames put them out almost instantly; Jennifer was biting her nails nervously, looking up as her father was quickly losing ground in the beam struggle that threatened to consume the planet below them.
Suddenly, from behind them, a wormhole tore open through the fabric of reality where familiar mystical symbols surrounded a swirling vortex of orange-yellow light; from the portal Gwendolyn in her skintight black and blue battle suit with her navy-blue cloak over her shoulders, cape billowing in the wind as behind her a speedster came through as well. Though it seemed the stability of the wormhole was collapsing in on itself and within seconds, it was gone; Gwendolyn brushed a lock of her short orange-auburn hair out of her eyes but, didn't even look up at the obvious destruction, she immediately knelt down in front of her daughter who was shaking with fear and adrenaline.
"What happened? Are you okay?" She shouted with a concerned tone and expression, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her up and down, observing for any scrapes or cuts.
"I-I'm fine, Mom, we were teleported away and…" Jennifer trailed off when a loud booming footstep sent a shockwave out across the landscape once again, shocking her from her focused concern on her daughter, and shifting it to her husband.
Gwendolyn slowly turned around, glancing up at the massive battle and beam struggle going on above them, tearing apart the ground as who she had to assume was the enemy closed in on Ben.
Albedo didn't address his former boss in the slightest, only transforming back from his Kinceleran form to look up at the destruction being caused before them, "I must help him," he reached for his Ultimatrix and twisted the dial, looking over the crimson holographic image of a To'kustar until Azmuth finally spoke up.
"Wait! You'll only make this worse! He can-" Azmuth tried to explain his reasoning but, Albedo couldn't help but argue.
"I've grown since last we met, I don't worsen things anymore, I make them better, I help them!" Albedo had been waiting a very long time to say that to his former mentor but, he was interrupted in his angry rant when Gwendolyn pulled on his sleeve, prompting him to look back up at the battle.
"I think he means that…" she pointed up where Malware had consumed the beam Ultimate Way Big had been attacking with and was now struggling to take over the rest of his arms, having enveloped them in his essence as soon as he got close enough.
They struggled back and forth for a few minutes until Malware yanked Ultimate Way Big forwards with immense strength, forcing him into a bear-hug of sorts where he slowly began consuming his body with black and crimson ooze. It stretched over his arms and across his torso, wrapping tendrils around Way Big's neck to keep him pinned, "I told you the power of the Omnitrix would be mine, and now it is! Soon all will be Malware!" as Ben was seemingly swallowed whole by the sentient virus, Albedo, Gwendolyn, Azmuth, and Jennifer along with about a hundred Galvan scientists watched the Universes mightiest defender… fall.
…
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