Chương 87: Out of Time
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07
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"Now, what's a daughter of Odin doing on Earth, and why the hell does she look like a prisoner?" I ask, while staring at the girl who is undoubtedly a daughter of Odin.
I didn't even know Odin had another daughter! Was she hidden? Or is this something.. more? I felt the shivers, and saw a Loki from the future appear. A second set of shivers saw me witness this girl standing in front of an orange portal.
Could it be that she's not from this time? Yes, highly possible, since if a Loki from the future can come here, then why can't a Hela from the past do so as well? She might not smell like Hela, or anything familiar, but she does have the look. And there's her Magic, which just screams out her identity as Odin's spawn.
"Give it back!" The girl, who does look somewhat similar to Hela, yells, as she jumps at me with the intention of physically attacking me.
Ah, children. So stubborn, and so demanding.
Not wanting to harm Hela, and possibly change the past(even the past of this past, funnily enough), I use my Telekinesis to freeze her mid air, and say, "Selene, my love. Take us to the kitchens, please?"
I might hate the current Hela, and even Odin, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do anything to the child version of her who hasn't done anything to me. As far as I know.
Selene looks at me with a raised eyebrow, and calmly controls the shadows to cover us completely. When the shadows retreat along with the cold, we find ourselves in the Kitchen of my Castle, Aves Keep. Waving my hand, I settle the frozen child Hela on a chair, and stick her to it with a spell. I then wave my hands, which conjures three cups of tea in front of the three of us, and then unfreeze the girl.
She tries to jump at me once again, but finds herself unable to even get out of the chair. Raising an eyebrow at her continuous struggles, I say, "I have some questions, Daughter of Odin. And I hope you answer honestly because I don't want to use Mind Magics on a child."
The child Hela stares angrily at me, as she still tries to unstick herself, and asks, "Who are you?" Her eyes were moving everywhere, probably to find a way out or something.
"Let's get everything out of the way. I am Athreos, a Mage from Midgard. You're Hela, the daughter of Odin who has somehow found herself outside her own time period, and on Midgard. Tell me what the orange portal is, tell me what this device is, and tell me why you're dressed like a criminal. And I in turn will send you back to your own Time period without doing anything untowards to your memories." I say, while staring at the girl.
Selene sighs, and loudly wonders, "Why not just pluck everything from her mind and be done with it? She's not in any shape to be a threat to us right now."
I internally chuckle when the girl widens her eyes in fear, and say, "I am not going to use my Mind on a child, Selene. Besides, she is going to answer willingly, since she seems to be in a hurry to escape. From her prisoners, perhaps?"
The girl scowls, when both Selene and I look at her, and says, "Loki. My name is Loki, not Hela."
Huh. Okay, I did not expect that, but according to the Myths that I remember reading, Loki was supposed to be a shapeshifter, so it's possible. But how can there be a child Loki prisoner, as well as an adult Loki who will invade New York? Does she get back to her own time even without my help? Or is this something that I made happen because of some Butterfly Effect in the past.
Sure, I'm not supposed to be able to change things like this, but this could have always meant to happen. In this Universe, I mean.
"Okay, Loki. Now, tell me." I say, and pick the tea to drink.
Hesitation clear on her face, along with a hint of restlessness, she says, "Listen well, mage. I need to get to Asgard, now. Take me there, and I will make sure my father rewards you handsomely."
Sighing, I say, "You didn't listen, Loki. You're not in your own Time period right now. You're in the past, a thousand years before your time to be exact."
Sure, I thought she was Hela first, from at least a thousand years ago, but now I know she's actually Loki, from 900 years into the future.
Loki scowls, and asks, "So? My father will still recognise me. And if not him, my mother will. They will take me in, protect me. I know that."
I snort, and say, "The Odin you knew and the Odin I know are certainly different then. This Odin will see you as a thief who somehow managed to steal his Magic and kill you as soon as you appear in front of him. As for your mother, Odin hasn't even married her yet."
She opens her mouth to argue against it, but I interrupt and say, "Look, the faster you explain your situation to me the faster you can go home. Understood? You're clearly out of your time, I will even personally deposit you back to your own timeline. But only if you explain exactly what happened."
I need to know if whoever imprisoned her will come looking for her. Is the adult Loki I saw in Pompeii related to this? Was he looking for his younger self? I need answers, damnit!
She looks at the PSP-like device that I had kept on the table, and says, "I want the Tempad. Then I will answer whatever questions you have."
Snorting, I pick the device that she just called the Tempad, and with a simple sleight of hands, send it into nowhere. She looks horrified when the device disappears from my hands, as I say, "Thank you for answering one question. The Tempad, so it is what you used to come to this Time Period. I assume it was also responsible for the Orange portal you were staring at."
So.. I was right. I somehow managed to sense the entrance of two Time Travellers into this Time Stream. But.. how? Why? Why now and why not before. Why not when Sise-Neg came after me? Was it because I wasn't Ascended then? Was it because this thing isn't Magical in nature? Was it because it happened so close to me?
Could be any one of them, some of them, or even all of them. Or none of them, sure, it could be something else altogether. But now I do know that it is a Time Travelling tool.
Child-Loki scowls at me, anger showing clearly, and says, "Give. That. To. Me."
"No." I say drily. Frowning, when she looks like she's about to yell at me, I teleport right behind her, touch her shoulder making her freeze with fear, and say, "This is getting boring. Look, I don't want to do this but I will if you don't answer my questions. I can't even help you if I don't know exactly what happened. But if you still refuse to do so, I will extract your memories straight from your mind, and then see what went on. Is that clear?"
Loki remains frozen with fear, and I feel her trembling. I didn't want to scare her, but she's stubborn, and a daughter of Odin.
And we don't have enough time.
Whoever imprisoned her could come here, looking for her. While I will know if someone opens up another of this Time Portal anywhere on my island, or if anyone even steps a foot on my Island, I don't want anyone to do so. This is my Island, my home, not a bloody tourist spot.
Also, I may have found out why I felt the shivers, but her situation seems.. odd to me. There are so many questions about her that I can't even begin asking without knowing exactly what went on before she landed in this time period.
For a few seconds, Loki remains frozen, after which, she whispers out, "I.. I was taken. Stolen from my room, when these people came in through those Orange portals of theirs. They called me a Variant, and took me to something called the TVA, where I was supposed to be punished for some crime I don't recall committing."
She cries angry tears, and says, "They stole me from my own home! From my father's palace! And they wanted to kill me! I escaped, stole that device they called the Tempad from the one who brought me there, and then escaped to the first shortcut Destination I found on it. And then.. you found me."
Loki begins crying silently at that point, just staring at me, while I think. So I was right, she was taken prisoner.
"What is this.. TVA?" Selene asks from her chair.
I look at Loki, who just shrugs, and says, "I don't know. They probably explained it to me before my death sentence was announced but I was too busy making plans of escapes and spying on their movements to listen."
Huh, she's Loki alright.
Nodding, I kneel next to Loki, and as she looks at me with tears in her eyes, I softly say, "I want to help you." She widens her eyes, hope returning on her face. "You're just a child who was taken against her will by an organization you were unsuited to fight against. Not your fault, you're just still too young. But we can't do anything on half information. To even know what moment in Time to send you, we need to know what exactly happened."
"I just told you!" Loki yells, frustrated.
Nodding, I say, "And it helped. A little. But I need more."
"I don't remember anything more! I was playing with my toys one moment, taken the next, and then in this TVA the moment after! As I said, I was too busy planning my escape to pay attention." Loki says, the last part spoken sarcastically. All the while, she was still crying.
Yup, definitely Loki.
Smiling at her, I say, "Yes, but while you weren't consciously paying attention, you do have the information in your mind. In your memories."
"What do you mean?" Loki asks, looking up once again.
Shrugging, I say, "Any explanation I can give you is far too complex for a young mind such as yours. Just trust that I want to help you, and that I need to know everything that happened from the moment you were taken, to the moment I found you. Understood?"
Frustrated still, Loki asks, "And what am I supposed to do, if I can't even remember anything else?"
Frowning, I ask, "Can't you use illusions to show me what happened? You are Loki, aren't you?"
Loki scowls, a blush forming on her cheeks, and says, "Mother hasn't taught me any Magic yet. The only thing I can do is shapeshift into animals, and that's only because it is something that comes naturally to me."
Well, that's a bummer.
Sighing, I say, "That's too bad, but it isn't the end of the world. I have a spell that can accomplish the same thing. But to use that, I will need to extract a copy of your memories of the event, straight from your mind."
Suspicious, Loki looks at me and says, "No."
"Not even if that will help you go back?"
Loki struggles for a moment to make a decision, but I smirk the moment she realises that she will have to agree if she wants to go home.
Do I feel bad about basically kidnapping this girl? Not really. Letting her try and make her way back home, while getting caught in between, is what I am trying to prevent. Besides, what kind of responsible adult lets a 12 year old run away by herself?
---
After looking at Loki's memories of her kidnapping, and her subsequent escape, Selene, Loki, and I sit silently on the dinner table. I had used the same spell I used to show Selene my fight with Hela right now, conjuring Loki's memories as an illusion around us. We saw, and heard everything from half a minute before Loki was taken, to when Loki was found by me.
There was food in front of us, which I had magically cooked, and we were eating it. But none of us was paying any attention to it.
"You can't go home." I say, breaking the 30 minute long silence after all the food is finished, and the table cleared up.
Loki nods, her tears already dried up, and whispers, "They destroyed it." Her soft voice sent a wave of sadness through me.
The TVA.. Time Variance Authority, is an organization that Prunes branches in the timelines. Whenever an event branches away from the so-called Sacred Timeline, branches away from a path that it should have never veered off of, this TVA comes in, arrests whoever caused this.. Nexus Event to happen, and restores the Timeline back to whatever it was supposed to do. They do it by Pruning the Divergent timeline.
Their exact words.
Pruning could mean that they just.. cut the timeline off, letting it go wild without affecting the Sacred Timeline, or.. they destroy it. But whichever one of these two they did, or do, they made it impossible for Loki to go back to her own home.
She could go back to the exact moment she was supposed to be taken, but she will only enter the version of the timeline that was already supposed to exist according to this TVA's laws. There will be a Loki there, a girl-child Loki even, who will have made whatever Path-changing decision she was supposed to have made and not the opposite that this Loki did. Even if this Loki goes there, there won't be a place for her.
Her home, the Asgard she came from.. doesn't even exist anymore.
"Have you heard about these people? This.. TVA?" Selene asks me. When I look at her in question, she clarifies, "You travelled through time, yes? When you came to this time, it happened by accident, but even before that, you said you had experience with travelling through time."
"You've travelled through time?" Loki asks, looking at me wide eyed.
Nodding, I say, "I came from 1866 years into the future, and I've been in this Time for 134 years. In this entire time, I have never even seen the TVA, or any proof of their existence."
"Why? They took me and I didn't even Time travel! I just.. I stepped off whatever path these Time Keepers had decided for me!" Loki rages.
Sacred Timeline. Whatever it is, it is decided upon by some beings called the Time Keepers. They decided what the entire Universe should behave like and don't tolerate it being changed. No matter how I see this, I only feel contempt for them.
Time is not linear. Just like Space or Reality, Time is supposed to be a literal Prism of Endless Possibilities. During all my studies I've known that. Time is SUPPOSED to branch out, spread out. Just because Wizarding Time Travel methods don't tend to do it, doesn't mean it isn't supposed to happen. Time is free to expand. Or it's supposed to be.
These Time Keepers, they're keeping the entire concept of Time constrained, not allowing it to do what it is supposed to. They're breaking the laws of Nature.
They're basically getting rid of Free Will!
But they don't target just those who cause the timeline to branch due to Time Travelling, no. They do it to anyone who causes the timeline to branch.
Oh, you ordered Pepsi when you were supposed to order coke? Arrested!
You break your left hand in an accident when your right hand was supposed to break? Arrested!
You cum inside her when you were supposed to cum on her? Well, you get the gist.
Bullshit, I say.
Shrugging, hiding my anger at the Time Keepers for now, I say, "The TVA doesn't seem to discriminate between Time Travellers and non when they arrest people, it seems. From what that Miss Minutes cartoon said, anyone that makes a choice they aren't supposed to cause those Nexus Events to happen. It is possible that my Time Travelling was already supposed to happen, as a part of the Sacred Timeline."
And I am almost 80% sure it's this. I know that my Time Travel adventure isn't breaking the timeline. I know that whatever I will do now will have little to no effect on my own past, or the 1945 that is to come. I even got proof for it somewhat when I forged the Ljosverd that I am supposed to get.
"What I don't understand is Loki's crime. She was just.. playing! What could a child have done that changed the timeline so much." Selene says, making me frown in contemplation.
Sighing, I say, "I suspect I know her crime, but it is pure speculation."
"Tell me." Loki demands.
Looking at her, I ask, "What were you playing? Think back, really hard on that."
Loki frowns, thoughtful, and says, "I was just.. playing with my toys. Imagining a story where a Valkyrie saves Asgard by defeating the dragon." She then nods, like a child does when confirming the story, and says, "Yes. That's it."
I then ask, "And were you imagining yourself being the Valkyrie that saves Asgard?" Loki blushes, and widens her eyes, confirming my speculation. At Selene's questioning look, I say, "Loki's crime, as far as the TVA is concerned, is imagining herself as a Hero."
"But.." Loki says, confused. "I am a daughter of Odin. I was always going to be a hero! Protector of Midgard, advisor to my brother when he becomes King."
I sigh, feeling my age, as I say, "I am sorry, Loki. But there are events that would have happened in your life that would have seen you become an enemy of your brother. Not enemy, enemy is a strong word. But you would have been bitter about his accomplishments."
Pausing at her devastated look, I say, "Or, it was what will happen now to the Loki that took your place after the TVA pruned your timeline. I assume that whatever made you decide to imagine yourself as a Valkyrie would have seen you actually become a Hero, Protector of Midgard and what not, which the TVA didn't see as a part of their Sacred Timeline."
"So.. her crime was being a Hero, when she was supposed to be a villain?" Selene asks, to clarify.
I nod, and say, "It is just a speculation, but it is the most likely conclusion we can come to from what little we know."
Loki is supposed to use the Bifrost to try destroying Jotunheim. She can't do that if she believes herself to be a hero. It is possible that this Loki wasn't as jealous of her Thor as the Loki I had seen in the movies was. It is possible that the fact that this Loki is a girl made Odin somehow love her more, and her speaking does hint at that. It could be anything! I don't know.
As I said, everything is just speculation because we know so little.
Loki tears up once again, and as she bangs her hands on the table, she yells, "What can I even do? These people broke into Asgard as if they owned it, stole me, and destroyed any chances of me returning there! I.. I.. I HATE THEM!"
I let Loki cry, having not forgotten that despite everything, she is just a 12 year old girl. Asgardian or not, she's 12.
As her body stops shaking, and her cries become silent, I ask, "What do you want to do? About the TVA?"
Loki looks up, having rested her head on the table, and glaring at me, she hisses, "I will destroy them! I will kill the Time Keepers for what they did. They didn't want me as a Valkyrie, as a Hero? I will give them the villain they want."
I simply nod, not surprised in the least, and say, "But you can't do it right now. You're still young, untrained, and your physical strength is.. frankly, atrocious."
"So, what? You'll train me?" Loki asks, sarcastically, but I detect a hint of hope in her.
Unfortunately for her, I shake my head, and say, "I'm afraid that's not possible. Whatever tools they used to find you in Asgard, they can sense your presence in the Timeline it seems. They can sense changes happening in the timeline, which means that wherever or whenever you go, the TVA will keep following. And if the Magical protections around Asgard couldn't stop them, then I doubt the admittedly inferior protections around my Island will."
Loki widens her eyes, and looks around, as if the TVA are just around the corner.
Snorting, I say, "Don't worry. They're not here. They may be able to appear here without my Protective spells stopping them, but no one can hide from me on this Island. No one. They are not here, yet. And I don't think they're coming here anytime soon, as long as all three of us stay here on this Island. But I have no doubts that as soon as any one of us steps outside, or maybe interacts with another person, the TVA will find us."
Whatever changes Loki's presence is doing to the timeline will not take effect as long as we remain isolated. Or so I think. But it isn't good to depend on guesses and hypotheticals for tje safety of a child's life.
Could I defeat whoever comes here to take her? Probably, yes. But can I stay vigilant all day, every day, for however long it takes for Loki to become strong enough to take on the TVA?
Because I have no doubts that she will go after them as soon as she's strong enough. And I might even help her. The TVA is committing crimes against Time, against the natural order. And I will not hesitate to go after them if the chance comes.
But.. What kind of person would I be to keep a child isolated for centuries upon centuries, until she's an adult? She won't even have a shred of a childhood!
No, I cannot train her.
"That doesn't, however, mean that we are going to leave you without any help." I say, bringing the topic back to her training, and her life.
Selene asks, "What can we do?"
Chuckling, I say, "Why, Selene, we are going to do to Loki what happened to me. Or well, I am." Loki and Selene look at me in confusion, for a few seconds, before Selene widens her eyes in realization. I nod, and say, "I am going to send Loki back through time."
"But.." Loki whispers, confused. "Won't the TVA still come after me?"
I shake my head, grinning, and say, "I have been 2000 years into the past of my own native time, for 134 years, and I didn't see the hide nor tail of the TVA. What does that tell you?"
"That you didn't commit crimes against the Sacred Timeline?" Loki asks, hesitantly.
Selene then adds, "Or you just don't remember encountering them, because they pruned whatever version of you that did commit crimes against the sacred Timeline."
Okay, possible. And isn't that a scary thought. I could have been erased out of the timeline, or another version of me could have been, and I wouldn't know.
"Well, possible, yes. But the fact that I am still present here tells us that even despite whatever I might have done, the TVA still considers me a part of this specific era. I belong here, as far as the TVA is concerned." I explain to Loki, because Selene has already guessed what I have planned.
Loki asks, "So.. will going back in time make sure I am a part of that time?"
I nod, and say, "But it will only work through one method. Mine." I only get a confused look in return, so I draw a line in the air using one of the very few Illusion spells I can cast, and say, "Consider this as a representation of Time. This is how the TVA believes the Sacred Timeline should go, or so we assume. Understand?"
Loki nods, so I use my finger to draw a rough arc between one point of the first line to one a small distance behind it, and say, "Let's just assume I got back from this point in time, to this one. I interact with people there, practice Magic if I want to, catch up on my sleep, do anything. And then, when the Time catches up to me, I find that nothing has changed. This happened because of only one factor, and that is the Sands of Time."
"What is that?" Loki asks, wide eyed.
I wave my hand, and say, "What it is, isn't important. What is important is the fact that the Sands of Time will always create Time Loops like this whenever it is used to travel backwards in time. Whatever you do in the past won't matter, because it was already supposed to happen. It has already happened, as far as Time is concerned."
"But.. even if you do this.. send me back in time.. how will I learn anything? Will one of you come back with me?" Loki asks, frowning in confusion.
I smile, and say, "No, dear girl. We don't need to. Your teacher is in the past itself."
And then I look at Selene, who raises a confused eyebrow in return. Oh yes, her teacher is already present.
I turn towards Loki, and say, "I will show you to a room, where you can rest for a few hours. Selene and I need to prepare a few things before we send you to the past, and we need to decide what time period to send you to."
As I stand up, however, I am interrupted by Loki saying, "You're doing this? You're actually helping me? And not out of some selfishness?"
I smile at Loki, and say, "I have some selfish reasons for helping you, but not one of them include me taking advantage of you. The most important reason for me helping you, is that you're a child. And I seem to have a soft spot when it comes to children."
And related to Odin or not, Loki is a child. I am not going to let my hate of Odin come between me helping her. She does not hold blame in any war crimes committed by Odin.
---
After a few hours, Loki, Selene and I stand in the flower garden outside Selene's Castle.
Selene goes towards Loki, and hands her a letter. She says, "When you get out of the portal, you will be confronted by a woman. She won't attack you, because well, you're a child, but she will undoubtedly threaten you for coming to her house unannounced. You will hand her this letter, and tell her that you're from the future. If all goes well, she will welcome you into your home."
Loki gratefully takes the letter, and puts it into an expanded pocket of the long gown she now wore. I couldn't exactly send her in prison garb, could I?
I then kneel down in front of her, and say, "Whatever you learn, don't forget to enjoy a little. Don't put all your efforts in vengeance, because what kind of Valkyrie is focused solely on vengeance?"
Loki smiles, and asks, "Will this work? What if the TVA still finds me?"
Chuckling, I say, "They will try, but your teacher will know to protect you if it happens. And not many people can survive an encounter with her."
"I.. I guess it's goodbye then. Thank you, Athreos." Loki says, as she holds her hand out to me.
Smiling, I shake her hand, and say, "I have no doubts that we will meet again, Loki. Good luck."
I hadn't created a Time Watch yet, since I hadn't decided what I was going to do about my situation yet. But I did have a ton of Time Sand in Nowhere, ready to use.
Taking a fistful of the Time Sand in my hand, I throw it into the air, and with a simple wave of my hand move the dust to form Runes into the air. The Runic Circle made by the Sands of Time stays in the air, unmoving, and starts glowing a dull green colour.
Raising my left hand, my Magic Silver Sling Ring on the middle finger, I wave my right hand in front of me, with closed eyes, focusing on creating a Portal. Only this time, while I imagine this exact same location as the destination, I focus on a different Time. Slowly, green sparks get emitted into the air in between the Runes, slowly forming into a circle that stays inside the Runic Circle. And then, with a bright green flash, the circular green portal touches the Runes, and combines with them, giving rise to a bright green Time Portal
The circular Time portal was completely green in colour, with just green light in the middle. We couldn't see the other side, as I had expected, but I had no doubt that this had worked.
The Runes had set the destination, powered by the Sands of Time, while the Portal had actually connected to the destination Time, with the help of my Sling Ring. It took a lot of effort to create a portal through Time, but I expected it. 1400 years is not a short time to travel through.
A bit tired from this spell, I turn towards Loki, and say, "As promised, 1400 years of time for you to live peacefully. Good luck, Loki."
1400 years. To give her a childhood, and enough Time to learn everything she might need to deal with the TVA, alone if she wants, and with our help if she accepts.
Loki smiles at us, and hesitantly looks at the green portal. Taking a deep breath, she jumps into the portal, and the portal winks out of existence, its work done.
"Did it work?" I ask, turning towards Selene.
Selene frowns, and says, "I don't know. I don't remember her coming to me, and I don't feel any changes to my memories happening."
And who better to teach her, than Selene, an External-Mage-Sorceress who will gladly accept a young child to raise.
I frown, wondering if I made a mistake. Did the TVA get her again?
Suddenly, however, Selene winces, and starts falling down, her legs giving out. I catch her before she can fall, and I see tears in her eyes, as she holds her head with pain.
What the fuck? I immediately start casting Diagnosis charms, to find out what's wrong with her, and see a lot of activity in her mind.
Another pair of hands joins me, as I start sending Healing Magic to her mind, and I snap my head upwards, only to stare at a blonde girl, looking around 25 years old, who was looking at Selene with a whole lot of concern.
She wore a black leather armour, similar in make to Selene's clothes, with a hint of green and gold shades. There was a headband above her forehead, made out of Gold, with a hint of horns on the headband.
"Loki?" I ask, hoping that it's her.
She glances up at me, and says, "Yes, although I go by Sylvie now. It is good to see you again, Athreos. I didn't expect her to just drop down like this. 1200 years of memories being locked away must have had a toll on her mind."
Loki. Or Sylvie. She's here. She's here!
It worked!
Relieved, I say, "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you, Sylvie. Let's take her inside, you can then tell me what you did these 1400 years."
Sylvie nods, smiling a bit morosely, and says, "Yes. Let's take mother inside first." She then waves her hand, controlling the shadows around us to cover us, and uses them to teleport us to Selene's room.
Seems things aren't the same as before.
Whatever happened in these 1400 years, it seems my plan worked. Sylvie got to live for 1400 years, and she got to train her Magic. I just hope she isn't as consumed by her vengeance as she was before.
---
A/N: Hope I explained TVA Pruning rules correctly, and did it well. Hope I also explained the difference between Mason's time travel, and TVA's time travel well enough.
Mason believes that Time should remain free, unbound. Even despite whatever multiversal war that happened, he believes that Time should not be bound like this. And killing people, erasing them out of existence for following their free will instincts is something Mason doesn't agree with.
I will explain what Loki/Sylvie did in the past in short in the next chapter, along with her relationship with Selene, and then move on. As I said, I don't want to focus on the past for too long. No, I won't go into the TVA in this fic. Maybe some other time, some other fic.
If you have any questions, I'll try and answer them.
Thank you for your support! Tata!
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