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xariaseesred · 2 months

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chapter two

FLAMES

Overview: This delves deeper into the dynamics between Keitaro and an old friend, as well as closely exploring Keitaro's complex feelings towards Haruki and his internal struggle with his own identity and past. It will include vivid scenes and emotions throughout the chapter. Through it all, you'll witness the complexities of Keitaro's temperament, the challenges it brings to the use of his "curse" which not only serves as a glimpse into his mind, but also adds layers to the dynamics between characters.

Happy reading below the cut!! ; )

The rain, as expected, cools me down enough for me to coherently find my way back to the hideaway. The library being close to the edge of the city, makes it easy to get there from the countryside that has been abandoned ages ago simply because it is impossible to grow any healthy crops in a climate on haywire all the time.

The field is, like any other part of the city, filled with all kinds of wreckage. Fun to jump around on. Although one mishap could get you impaled.

Old military run facilities were a good hiding spot. As kids we ran off to find a place and ended up at the end of a runway. A spot with three hangars built to store huge planes in. Long forgotten for the sake of flight safety with the aggressive storms and all. The hangars had lightning rods though, we could harness electricity with little to no difficulty and enough space to not feel too cramped up. Food is a little less accessible but through errand runs and with the help of the area’s security guard we get by well enough. Griffin is good security. Not good enough to rat us out, but good enough to keep anyone who’s not with us, out of the premise. A weird man with endless stories, some too extravagant to even consider true, but entertaining nonetheless. My twin sister, Kira and I practically raised ourselves, but he was there watching us leave and return with cuts and bruises or even worse injuries only he was equipped to treat. Whether or not he got questions about his bloody clothes from his higher-ups is sadly information I don’t have. We have yet to get in trouble though and it’s all thanks to him.

“Aww, the wet puppy has arrived!” Kira announces as I jump off a broken airplane wing, down to the hangar's main area. I mumble a string of mocking incoherent noises back and toss her the plastic bag of books I brought her. The oil changing of the engine she has been working on for around a week now has her undivided attention until the bag lands in her lap. She read that she had to do that somewhere but had little information as to how she was going to go about things.

“I got your books, so shut it.” I take a seat on a stool and let my head hang heavily. Her face lights up before it morphs into a frown.

“I see that, wow. What a treasure hunt you went through.” “Lose the attitude, will you? You’ve been gone for days and I don’t even get a hug upon your arrival?”

“I found nothing! How am I supposed to feel, huh? And Haruki…” My fists clench at their own accord, heating up and threatening to set themselves on fire.

“You were bound to run into him at some point, please. He owns the place, Taro.” she scoffs.

“Still hurts.” Kira places her books onto her desk neatly, then makes her way over to me in a similar manner to how one would approach a stray cat. We are twins. Two halves of a whole as our mother liked to call us. Kira is a complete polar opposite of me in almost every way I can think of. If I was in her shoes at this moment, I would not know what to do with her. Kira on the other hand has learned to take care of me the way our parents did. A little rougher on the edges, but still efficient enough to not have me quite literally explode.

Instead of talking to me anymore about what I’ve been up to the past two days, she cradles my head while standing next to me. Not without a fight though, but she eventually gets a solid hold and rests her head on top of mine, in turn letting my hair soak her favorite hoodie that’s been through a lot with her. Occasional small holes, oil stains, spray paint, markers, even food since she is unintentionally a very messy eater, and all of which she has not been able to wash away despite hours of trying. Kira holds onto it despite that , and refuses to get rid of it. The hoodie getting wet is the last of her worries. She holds me until my hands stop glowing like the earth’s core and my heartbeat reaches a somewhat normal rate.

“We need to redo these, buddy.” Kira grabs one of my locs between her fingers then brings them all backwards in a soothing manner. My mood is still sour but it does the trick and sleepiness crashes over me like a tidal wave. She scratches my scalp gently with blunt nails, occasionally massaging my head to ease any tension that might still linger.

“You can do it if you want, I’m way past the point of caring.”

“I see that,” she snickers, tugging on my ear playfully.

“Shut up! I just wanna shower and sleep. I feel disgusting.”

“Do that then, I’ll heat up some food for us.” She doesn’t make it far before I see her stop in her tracks in the corner of my eye, facing towards the entrance of the hangar. I look up to see what it is and she turns her head back to me, giving me an apologetic look before occupying herself with her new books. She just told me to go shower and she would prepare food. Why did she change her plans? Aiming a glare back at the entrance, the lightning outside lights up a shadow that grows bigger by the second.

My flight instincts are on high alert now. Although Kira does not seem all that worried, this occasion is not a usual one. If Griffin is planning to pay us a visit, he will send us a message through the crappy radio on our dinner table. Other than that, it really is just me and my twin sister. Whoever decided to waltz in here without warning must be lost. Gone miles away from where they should be. And by the looks of it, Kira is not going to help me figure it out.

“Kira, what the hell? You expecting someone?” There is no sign of alertness in her stance which keeps me in my seat. All she gives me is a shrug and a tight smile, completely lacking eye contact.

“This has nothing to do with her. I’m just here to give you your bag, Keitaro.” Ah, the shadow speaks. I can feel my heart rise up into my throat and I choke on whatever threat I was going to throw at him along with his name in a weak whisper. Haruki Nakajima is here in flesh and blood. God must have really had it out for me this week.

“Here. I’ll leave.” I do not know what he might pick up from my feelings, but I am frozen in place while he places a strap from my bag into my hand that is getting hotter by the second while I myself feel like a brick of ice. His face is still covered in a shadow from his hat so it’s hard to make out any expressions. He steps back even further from Kira’s desk light, seeming completely out of place. Kira lets out a heavy sigh behind him, knocking me out of my trance and gaining Haruki’s attention.

“Welcome, Haruki,” she smiles, pulling out a chair for him to sit in. “Wanna eat?”

“Can’t say no to that,” he says shyly, walking over to greet her. It has been a while since the two of them saw each other since I’m the only one who ever goes to the library. I leave them to go to the bathroom. Bag grabbed tightly. I never noticed I left it at the library, its content is far too important for such a mistake to occur.

Once in the confines of my own quarters, I dump the bag down on the mattress and fall down on it right after like a sea star; exhausted. The water from my poncho slowly seeps through the sheets, making me jump up at unimaginable speed. I am not changing those today.

The shower washes away days of sweating through busy streets and awfully crowded bars, miles of walking in untraced and treacherous forests and hours spent in different libraries looking for something I am not sure even exists. A way out. It is starting to sound like a fairytale. A sick and twisted one. I close my eyes and wish someone has not been trailing me. I also thank Kira and her smarts since she figured out how to get us hot water since it is easing out nearly all the tension in my body. My muscles feel like newly puffed pillows. Kira is a genius, really. She likes to do stuff constantly, build things, and create new ways to solve problems. Me, I am just there to give her books so she can do the things she wants to do correctly because I am the one who usually knows where to find things. An acquired skill I am starting to doubt heavily these days.

The hot shower, as relaxing as it is, does not wash away any of my worries however. Our parents are still gone, I have not found a way off this cursed land and people like me still move like prey in this predatory society. Haruki? Well…he still reminds me too much of what I am. Also cursed.

I avoid Haruki every moment that occurs like a plague, but it only keeps my head stuck thinking where I should go next. Only criteria is being somewhere he is not. It becomes an exhausting practice after nearly ten years of doing so. It is too draining so I have subconsciously resorted to being cold whenever I am forced to interact with him. Icy, snappy replies to any innocent question or suggestion he might have, in hopes that he stays away from me on his own. But since he is a saint who cannot do anything of the sort even if it is to protect himself, it results in him bringing back my bag and sharing dinner with us in our home. It went as wrong as it could go. Griffin is going to have to explain himself too for that matter.

I hear Kira and Haruki chatter in hushed voices through the door of my quarters and decide to block it out for the moment and really take my time getting dressed and getting my head out the gutter. My eyes catch the bag on the mattress figuring I should probably check that everything is in there. Notebooks, maps, bandages, cleaning alcohol, extra clothes, and wetland shoes. All check. I stare at the contents for a moment longer and a new fear arises. Haruki would not open and read my journal, would he? The page marker was pulled out entirely from the journal. Silky, wide black string laying flat across the other contents of the bag. If Haruki is the cause of that, the man is 1: unbelievably klutzy and 2: aware of what I’m always doing in his library. If he told anyone, it would not take long before I was either thrown into a deadly prison or just killed. Not to mention he is indirectly mentioned in my journal one too many times for me to be comfortable with the notion of him having read it.

Hunger and unmatched exhaustion is enough to push the concerning thoughts away. It is enough for me to brave up and leave my quarters and set foot towards the already set dinner table. Haruki is seated timidly by the table watching Kira bring the last plate to the table with his hands fidgeting impatiently in his lap, cracking a few knuckles every now and then. I always hated that but it was the only sign of nervousness one could ever get from him. His face is always covered and he never was one to talk about himself so when we were children, I grew to have a little appreciation for the knuckle cracking as gross as it is. He still managed to form a soft smile and laugh at Kira’s silly little jokes. The scene felt uncomfortably familiar. Enough to tug painfully at my heart. After the shower, the anger was replaced with sadness and that sadness only grew at the sight of my twin sister and once best friend in our home.

“Oh, Keitaro!” Kira announces once she sees me. I stopped moving long ago and had to once again bring my thoughts back down to earth. “Please come eat, we waited for you.”

“You shouldn’t have,” I mumbled under my breath, taking a seat opposite her. She rolls her eyes at my statement before she starts serving each one of us the soup she heated up. When she gets to mine, the radio goes off in statistics.

“Guys, incoming.” It was Griffin’s voice being heard through the speakers. I let out a humorless breathy laugh before I say a quick prayer and dig into my soup. He has really put himself in deep shit now. Kira laughs a little too. Haruki on the other hand, is visibly confused, eyes going from me, to my sister, then to the radio, several times.

“Don’t worry, it’s just our friend,” Kira chuckles, giving him a quick pat on the back. His head twitches upwards slightly in registration to this information, but he remains still. Not at all surprising since we all pretty much live in hiding and “friends” are considered a luxury in this day and age. Haruki does not pry any further. He just closes his eyes for a few seconds before he too starts eating.

We sit in relative silence. I know Kira hates it and I cannot really do much about that. Reality feels so distant, it almost feels like I’m being fed the soup in front of me and my head is in the clouds without anything solid to grab onto. I am lost in thoughts without end until Griffin, the failure of a security today, makes his entrance.

“Evening, kids!” He beams, arms out in a warm greeting. I refuse to hear any of it and he has to know.

Within just a few moments, I have the old man pushed back out and around the door we indeed keep open to not die of heat. It might rain and thunderstorm all the time but the heat is next to unbearable. I stand in the rain with a solid grip on the man’s collar, gritted teeth and hands threatening to start glowing again. ‘What has happened has happened‘ is what Kira would say but here is the thing, I don’t want it to happen again.

“He had your bag, buddy, you know how you get about that thing,” Griffin stutters nervously, letting out a laugh in an attempt to ease the situation. The idiocy is laughable. An excuse like that could kill him right here on the spot.

“That’s enough to get him past you?” My eyes squint in question and my jaw is starting to hurt. Griffin better think about his future before he utters anymore nonsense.

“Okay, okay! Just–” His words are cut off and my glare goes down to my grip that has already tightened far too much, it has nearly cut off his airway. I loosen it reluctantly to let him speak. I feel like choking the stupidity out of him but I do not have the energy for that at the moment and his face was getting a concerning red color. Lucky for him, I am not planning on ending his life.

“Okay, thank you. Oh heavens,” he breathes, nursing his neck with a careful hand around his throat and the other kept steady on his knee. I watch him Catch his breath, almost starting to feel a little guilty until he shrugs in a careless manner.

“Spill!” I say feeling impatient. Griffin straightens himself up with great effort and drags down the zipper of his windbreaker slightly.

“You know, he had your little brand thingy.”

“Our little brand thingy,” I laugh bitterly. “I’m not gonna ask again, Griffin.”

“Keitaro, who else knows about it except you people?”

“You.”

“Fine, but the ominous guy had it on his stomach so he showed me and I thought it was okay since he had your bag and all, and you’ve been gone for like two days buddy. I assumed he knew you. Your bag is like your most priced possession. You won’t even let me anywhere near it.” He finishes his frantic rant with a sigh before he tries to fruitlessly look for a seat out here.

“Never again, man. Never.” He nods quickly and puts a hand to chest dramatically. I push him back into the hangar feeling pretty much done with everyone and everything.

“Anyone ever tell you that you should respect your elders?” Griffin utters over his shoulder.

“Don’t test me today if you value your job, old man.” He is lucky I cannot shoot laser beams out of my eyes.

We finish our food in silence while I once again disappear into a haze. Gone enough to not notice Kira dragged Griffin off to her engine to show him something. It is routine for her to do so but I wish she would hold off on that at least until Ki left. Instead she went through with it and the two of us were trapped in an awkward silence. How do you even begin to explain to someone that they are a reflection to the monster you are? How do you make them stay away from you when back in the days you considered each other a complete set together. How do I erase years of pain I have caused?

“Keitaro?” I hear from beside me, almost a whisper and could easily have been missed if it was not for the fact that we were seated in nearly dead silence. I look up at him, but he has his head down and face covered as usual, making my heart’s acceleration halt for a second. “I’m sorry if I make you uncomfortable,” he goes on to say, his head falling even lower. Is he really sorry if he stayed for dinner knowing that? “I just wanted an opportunity to talk to you.”

Silence falls over us again. We should talk. That is the right thing to do. Being alone with him is overwhelming though. Agh, I also want to know if he even touched my journal. I should really stop writing stuff about this self-assigned mission I am on. Someone is bound to see it.

My head hurts from all this thinking. It is pulsating like a second heart, driving me absolutely mad. I stand up, grabbing Haruki by the arm a little farther away from Kira and Griffin’s loud chatter back and forth. Haruki steadies himself on his feet and tries to relax himself under my skeptical gaze that hides insecurity and years of pent up sadness.

“Go ahead.” Just in that moment his unit rings loudly between us, interrupting whatever Haruki had right at the tip of his tongue. He looks at his unit, biting his bottom lip so hard it almost looks painful. I hesitate to put a calming hand on his shoulder which he notices, backing away in reflex. As much as it hurts, as much as the sharp sting in my throat is begging me to shed tears in front of him, I stand my ground and let him leave to take his call. In that instant, the voices of Griffin and Kira stop, gaining my attention. Kira knows better than to ask any further questions so they carry on with their rambling.

It is a relief to see that my sister is not burdened with excruciating thoughts of escaping all we know for a dream outside the barriers of our imagination. Yet she tries her hardest to come up with plans, plan B:s and sub plans to keep my mind at ease. Griffin accidentally became her idea-dumpster and I thank higher power every day since he seems to enjoy it. Our father would have loved it too, but he died years ago. The inner emptiness in Kira’s life was so prominent she almost died from lack of food and sleep. Hope was crucial in her life and since our father could not provide her with that any longer, I had to take that responsibility and join our minds to form a plan that would take us to this supposed “better” life; off the Island. Griffin took the dumpster role as the elder here and he has silly stories to tell from his unbelievably eventful life as a soldier in the Islands top force, before he got booted for excessive drinking. The stories make Kira laugh though, and I could not ask for much more.

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xariaseesred · 2 months

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Novel by Xaria Ryu

chapter one

GENESIS

Brief: In the opening chapter of 'Cursed Shores', we're introduced to a world brimming with challenges – a cityscape plagued by the consequences of unchecked super-powers. Keitaro, navigating a hazardous environment, seeks refuge in a bar, surrounded by a populace drowning their sorrows in a daily struggle for survival. As the night grows darker and the rain starts pouring mercilessly, we witness a mysterious encounter, a brief yet intense confrontation, and a glimpse into the Keitaro's internal struggles. We are then taken to a basement filled with aged books, where a complicated dynamic with Haruki, is explored. The chapter ends where stage is set, not with grandeur, but with a quiet intensity, inviting us to a world where survival is an art and secrets lurk in the shadows.

CHAPTER LIST:

chapter two: FLAMES

Chapter starts below the break: keep reading! :)

Monsters, genetically modified plants trying to kill us all, abuse of power that leads to massacres and wars or incurable diseases, would all be perfectly good and logical reasons as to why I am plastered at a bar scanning for someone who might know a way off this island. The people here are nearly all understandably drunk out of their minds, none of them able to live their daily lives for longer than a work day. Children darting between tables without supervision, while lurking hazards stand poised to exploit even the slightest misstep. The place is loud, save for the moments when someone gets too reckless with their curse and gets dragged off the premises. The silence that washes over the room feels like a cold blade threatening to slit your throat. At least to anyone with something to hide. Once that is revealed, you can kiss this hell goodbye and welcome another one right after hours and hours of wishing you were never born.

Gloves hide my curse, but my temper needs more than gloves to be concealed, and it is rising by the second. The alcohol stench and the soldiers posted up in every corner of the place are not helping.

“Fresh meat, huh?” a velvety voice asks in a hushed tone standing next to me.

“Walk along,” I nearly snarl, keeping my head down and not sparing them a glance. Whoever it is does not let up and slides closer to me, alcohol reeking off their person.

“I know what you are,” they go on, voice sounding almost like purring now that we are standing shoulder to shoulder. With swift movements, I have spun them around, grabbed both their hands and pinned them behind their back under the bar’s edge so no unwanted eyes witness what just went down. It is a woman covered in rain protective gear looking a little younger than she sounded. Former military employee I would assume. No one else could get their hands on anything like that. Half my body covers hers and I tighten my grip around her wrists.

“Eager to end up in jail I see,” she laughs. Drunk, I make out of her behavior. I will spare her the questioning and I tell her as much until I have convinced her that she is out of her mind. I let her go, leaving her giggling by the bar as I walk out into the neonate night. Cannot risk someone taking her seriously. I would rather have my trial that is barely two days away than get beaten to death in a jail cell.

With no plan to ever return and risk my identity being outed, I make my way to a place I have learned to love and despise.

♦

The basement, crammed with thousands of books, exudes an icy chill between its shelves covering just a few square meters. I wish slamming the book shut in frustration was enough. Throwing it across the room would be a crime in here. Burning it up into ashes is out of the question, but painfully desired. You cannot win in this dreadful city, let alone the whole Island. Leaving is not an easy feat either.

The flame dancing between my index finger and thumb, dies down gradually, turning a transparent pastel blue as it gets smaller and morphs into faint smoke. Rather than reigniting the flame, I allow the darkness to envelop me, accompanied by a deafening silence. I sit there by my miserable self until I hear indistinct footsteps grow louder and louder evoking a curse from deep in my chest. I don’t have the patience for this right now. I glance towards one of the shelves. It doesn’t take long for the inconvenience to step into my little corner and lean onto one of the coarse wooden shelves sporting a sad smile. Calling him an inconvenience is wrong on my part but not entirely untrue. I try too hard, way too often to avoid him only to have my night end like this.

“You okay in there?” he asks after a heavy sigh. His tone is just light enough to come across as friendly. It has been a skill people have to learn to master around me since they know better than to step out of line with me.

“I’ll need you to keep your mouth shut.” In the weak light that is seeping through the window from a street light, his staple black cap casts a dark shadow across his face at all times so all anyone ever sees is his mouth, which is now shaping a strained line in reaction to my words.

“Always a ray of sunshine, yeah? I’ll need you to leave. Now.” Too pure for his own good.

I am a walking hazard to these preserved books. I should in fact not be here in the first place, is what he should say. He is just too nice to say it.

“Haruki…” I know it is nothing I can say that really helps my case but it is not like me to hold back what I truly feel around anyone either. Be it complaints or hateful remarks. There is not much on the good side of things around this one since his very existence has been a deep sorrow to endure dating back years. The only defense my brain seems to have against that is spite.

“Light this candle, will you. Can’t see shit in here.” My body temperature and temperament is irregular as it is, but right now I can feel the blood sizzling far beyond its boiling point. He knows better than anyone that riling me up could have dire consequences. None that I will ever be proud of. That should also keep him away from me. Why he lets me stick around is beyond my ability to comprehend. Words do not suffice these days, but I’m willing to bet good fortune that unimaginably mean things would come out of my mouth to someone who’s never truly wronged me.

After much inner turmoil I decide to light his candle. Haruki had started getting antsy as well, eyes glowing a terrifying dark red shining through the shadow as if ready to strike any second. People might think he is perfect but even he is not immune to impatience.

“That’s not really your color, Ki,” I tell him under my breath, but still making sure I also don’t cross his boundaries. That nickname is one I gave him when we were just toddlers, playing in the tunnels under the city, both of us, along with a couple dozen other kids, having been strictly told to never show our faces on the surface until we were deemed ready. We were naive souls back then. Not our fault, but we could’ve never guessed what challenges awaited us.

“What on earth did I do to get you actually talking, huh?” Fake smile or not, it could rival the sun in its brightness, teeth gleaming like the most expensive pearls. In the dim light of his candle the sharper angles of his youthful face get the spotlight. No wonder people idolize him the way they do. It’s almost aggravating how beautiful he is. Sometimes I think holding a grudge towards him for that reason would make more sense. That him always turning heads, getting what he wants all the time and people praising him for damn near everything is annoying enough. Him in his whole casual suit and tie get-up should be annoying enough.

“I’ll leave,” I exhale sharply before I make a fool of myself. While I grab my things I see Haruki’s eyes lose their color and disappear behind the shadow, his smile fading back into a strained line.

“Help me put these books back, Keitaro,” he utters firmly and I get the feeling that he could sense I did not want to be around him anymore. “Please?” The place is a mess and it is too late to argue with anyone at this hour.

I sort the books for him to the best of my ability, just to make it easier for him to put them back on the shelf. They are all old and torn. Most of them are missing pages, some have been found under water so the pages are uneven with the black words faded. Haruki finds this aspect of the library-keeping very intriguing. As illegal as it is for him to keep these books here in this region, he would protect them with his life and he has made that much unmistakably clear for me. He knows this place as well as his own bedroom. Down to every nook, secret passage and whatever people back then decided to hide within the books. Even theft is completely out of the question since he would know within a second if a thought like that appeared in someone’s head.

As we inch closer to being done with the books, my thoughts drift deeper into darker territory, further down memory lane and I once again see how close Haruki was to losing everything he ever held dear. Haruki senses the shift in my aura and makes the mistake of looking up and meeting my eyes. His now gleaming a concerned gray. The candle that he had set on the table lights up the rest of his face. Big innocent eyes asking questions I cannot answer and the burn mark I feared making an appearance from his temple down to his cheekbone. Still covered in angry, deep scars. The work of which I caused.

Until now, the anger I held earlier had started to subside. Now it awakened like a tiger held captive for too long, ready to kill anything that moves. I freeze for a second knowing that if it gets too intense, I am totally in the wrong place. I put the last book into Haruki’s cart to dart out of the library and into the night’s thunderstorm. Before Haruki gets completely out of earshot for me, I hear a barely audible “good night” as an overdue apology is stuck, heavy on my tongue.

Heavy raindrops fall against my hair feeling cold everywhere it is parted as I make my way off the streets out toward the fields. The houses there are safer since these thunderstorms are constant. Sometimes accompanied with rain and sometimes not. They destroy more in a matter of minutes than what we can build in years, and that’s not to mention the relentless flooding this city goes through weekly. It has been like this for years and years so it is hard to remember what a normal day was like.

As I approach the coast, a sense of unease washes over me like the tidal wave crashing against the shore. Something is different tonight, as if the air itself is charged with an electric energy that prickles my skin and sets my nerves on edge. It’s eerily quiet and in the distance I hear the whispers of patrol getting closer. Not a good sign.

And then, I see it.

Hovering above a small lonely piece of land on the horizon, a strange craft hangs suspended in the air like a phantom from another world glowing red. Its sleek contours are illuminated by the faint glow of the city lights, casting eerie shadows that dance across the water's surface.

My heart pounds in my chest as I watch in awe and terror, the sound of helicopters cutting through the air like a knife. With trembling hands, I raise my scope to get a better look, my breath catching in my throat as I witness the craft unleash three beams of light that stretch for miles in every direction.

I duck behind a nearby rock, my heart racing as adrenaline courses through my veins. This is no ordinary sighting; this is a warning, a sign that something far more sinister is at play.

As the echoes of the craft's arrival fade into the night, I know that I can no longer ignore the call to action. Whatever awaits me once I am away from this island, I must face it head-on, for the fate of my sister and those I hold dear hangs in the balance. But come hell or high water, I will not rest until I uncover the truth behind this mysterious intrusion and put an end to the chaos that threatens to consume us all...

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