After the tour of the galley. You and Luna went back to your stateroom to wait for your dad. You were sure that you could have found his and meet him there. But you didn't want to be wake him up.

Instead the two of you hung out and talked about the schedule for both of you so far. Which was so far filled with you working in the kitchen to cook for everyone in the wardroom. Which luckily for you didn't consist of that many people. You had Alex and Bob. The Commanding Officer and Executive Officer.

Then there was Rick, who turned out to be the ship's Bos'n on board and was in charge of all the shipboard handling procedures for the entire ship. Then there was Mike, who was the Chief Engineer and he was in charge of the entire engineering department which included two engine and two auxiliary spaces. And of course there was doc who was in charge in the entire medical department. And last, but not least was Jeff, the supply officer. Who apparently was a very grumpy and picky eater when it came to his food.

You slight chuckled to yourself as you were reminded of another person who you knew that was a very picky eater. You couldn't help but to sigh as you thought about the guys back home. You hadn't been gone that long, but already you missed everyone back home. Especially Ignis. You had texted him when you were getting ready to leave Altissia. But you hadn't heard back from him.

You wanted to talk to Noctis as well. But after a bit of a heated argument between him and King Regis before you even left. It was decided that you would call him once you arrived in Tenebrae instead. Which hadn't calmed Noctis down any. But it had at least cooled his heels for a time.

Suddenly there was knock at the door. You both looked up and in walked a thin brunette with a huge smile. You and Luna both smiled back as she stepped into the room.

"Good morning your highness. I'm Jennifer. But you can call me Jen. I'm the HR Supervisor and the Public Relations official for this ship." She said as she bowed to Luna. "We're thrilled that your traveling with us."

"It's nice to meet you. And thank you for inviting us." Luna replied.

"Oh. That was all Bob's idea. I just made the arrangements." She beamed back. "He had heard about what you had done for a woman in town and wanted to help you out."

"Really? How did he hear about that?" You asked as you looked at her.

"Because she use to be on our ship. She was one of my HR Assistants as well as our old legal secretary." Jen said with a slight smile. "She had gotten really sick a few months ago and had to be taken off of the ship for treatment. All of the doctors did what they could for her. But it had progressed so quickly that there just wasn't anything left for them to do."

"We are very glad that we could help." Luna said back with smile.

"So you know her then." You said as you smiled at her.

"Yes." Jen said as she nodded to you. "Sara had been with us for several years. So she had become a big part of this ship."

Jen then dropped her head for a moment. "And to be honest, Bob wanted to help her as much as he could. He felt bad for how he had treated her for the first few years. But then again, she wasn't really who he wanted helping him out anymore. Not after....."

Then you watched her as she seemed to daze out for a moment as she became lost in thought. You weren't sure what it was about. But based on how she was reacting and by what she said, it had not only affected this Sara. But had also drastically affected her as well.

"Not after what?" You asked after a long pause, as you tried to see what it could be.

Jen then quickly looked up and gave you a puzzled look. "After?"

"You said 'not after', but then you stopped." You returned as you carefully watched her.

"Oh, it's nothing." She quickly responded as she waved her hand in front of her face as if she was swatting a fly away. "Nothing for you to worry about."

You glanced over at Luna and saw the same unconvinced look on her face that you knew that you were giving her. Yeah there was something there. But apparently she wasn't about to share it. Not yet anyway.

"So Bob was telling me that you wanted to see some of the experiments that we're currently working on." Jen said as she quickly changed the subject. "I can take you down there and introduce you to the teams if you like?"

"That would be awesome." You beamed back. "What do you think Luna? Are you up for it?"

"Yes." Luna beamed back. "I'm curious as to what you have learned about the new ocean life."

"Then let's go." Jen said as she moved off to the side and gestured for the two of you to follow her.

"Yeah." You said.

Then the three of you headed down to the labs. You were weirded out at first when you first walked in and saw all of the jars that had dead fish in them. But then as you walked further into the lab you saw the massive rows of tanks that were loaded with a huge variety of fish. Some of them you had seen while you had stayed in Altissia and then there were others that you had seen in Insomnia. But then there were fish there that you have never seen before. And some of them were rather scary looking.

"These species were recently discovered while we were off the cost of Garlea." Jen was saying as several scientists were jotting down notes as they were watching the fish as they were reacting to different types of food that was being lightly sprinkled into the tank. "They have never been seen before. So the team is trying to learn everything that they can about them. In fact we are heading back to Gralea so that we can dive in and learn more about their habitat."

"Wow." You said as you looked at the fish. "So your going to scuba dive with these?"

"Yes. In a sense." You heard Bob's voice say as he came out from one of the rooms just off from the main area. "In fact while your taking Luna back by the train, we'll be there to do just that."

"That's awesome." You said as you beamed at him. "I wish I could go too. That would be exciting."

Bob smiled at you. "Perhaps we could work something out on our way back? It might not be there, but perhaps we can closer to Altissia."

"Yeah! That would be amazing." You replied as your eyes lite up.

"I'll talk to your dad about it when I see him later." Bob replied. "So what do you think so far?"

"It looks like you've done a lot of work here. I never even seen half of these fish before." You said as you looked back at the tanks again.

"We've seen a lot of them in different areas. But none like those." He said as he pointed to the dark tank that sat off by itself. "But these here are something that you would only pray to see in your nightmares. Not swimming around in the open ocean."

You jumped when you saw a glimpse of it when it got close to the glass, before it quickly turned around and disappeared again into the dark waters. "We have to keep the tank dark since it is very sensitive to bright lights. It seems to irritate it."

You glanced at Bob as he looked at the tank with a straight face. But you could see the tension in him as he clenched his jaw as he watched the tank carefully. He must have been the one to bring this on board. And especially since he seemed to be the only one who would even get close to the tank. Everyone else seemed to be avoiding it.

"It seems to keep your team somewhat calm as well." You half joked as you watched the team walk way out of their way to completely avoid it.

"Well some what." He said with a sad tone. "Several of them want to release this thing and get it off of the ship. But after the fight I had to put up, just to catch it. I want to learn as much about it as I can before I do."

"Better you than me." You said as a chill ran down your spin.

"Well, you will never have to worry about that." You heard your dad say from behind you as he walked up to you and put his hand on your shoulder. "But then again, I don't see you swimming down as far as these things live. And besides, only a fool would try to fight with one of these in the water."

"Very true." Bob returned as his agreed with Paul. "These things are vicious and extremely fast in the water. I just barely escaped myself from this one. If it hadn't been for the cage beside me, I would've been fish bait."

The color drained from your face as you looked at him. If he had almost been taken out and he was twice your size. You could only imagine the struggle that he had had to get the one he did. You then looked back at the tank again and your breath caught as you could have sworn that you saw two red eyes staring back at you through the dark water. Then you jumped when Luna touched your arm.

"Let's go see some of the other experiments." She said as she started to lead you away from the tank.

"Yeah." You said as you slowly walked away, leaving Bob there to stare at the tank for a moment longer before even he joined the group.

After playing with some of the friendlier fish, you headed back up to the galley to start dinner. Luna decided to head back to rest for a bit in the stateroom. Your dad said that he would keep an eye on her while he checked in with Korn and with Weskham on his laptop. With radio's help, he had been able to figure out a way to connect to the ship's intranet so that he could tap into the radars and securely transmit his email messages without anyone detecting him. Which he was extremely grateful for.

You on the other hand, were very lost in thought as you walked through the passageway as you made your way back to the galley by yourself. You could still see that fish in your head. With its bright red eyes and fangs, it almost looked like it was going to devour you without even touching you. Bob had been right to describe it as a nightmare fish.

Well you were so distracted that as you turned the last corner, you didn't see the person coming in the opposite direction. That was until it was too late as you slammed into them and almost made both of you fall backwards. But he stopped both of you, as he grabbed the wall and you to prevent both of you from falling. The touch of his hand made your heart leap from the sudden contact.

"Whoa, careful there." He said in a smooth voice. "Well, if isn't the bridge wing screamer."

You looked up in shock and saw the same blue eyes that you had looked at when the ship had first hit open water. He was looking back at you with a look that almost made him looked bored to see you. You gave him a confused look as he held you for a moment. Then he released the wall and you.

"No thanks is necessary." He said in a flat tone as he walked past you and continued around the corner.

It took you a couple of minutes to register what he had meant by that. You then quickly looked around the corner hoping to spot him as he walked away.

"Thank...you......?" You said as you looked down the now empty hallway. Where the hell?

You then dropped your gaze again and turned back around the corner and continued to the galley. That was twice now that you had seen him. And you still had no idea who he was or where or how he keeps popping up the way he does. Hell, you still hadn't even said a single word to him. But perhaps that was Because each time he had caught you completely off guard.

But then as you got ready to walk into the kitchen, you vowed to found him and thank him and argue with him at the same time about being excited enough to yell. You just weren't sure which one you were going to do first. But at this point you didn't care. All you knew was that you were going to talk to him. And set him straight. And with that decided, you headed into the galley to start dinner.

"Wow." Alex said as he looked at his plate. "This looks amazing. I had no idea that we had all of these ingredients."

"Of course you didn't." You grinned back at him. "Some of these had been hidden on the top shelves."

Bob slightly laughed. "That sounds about right. Henry puts things up there then forgets about them all the time."

"Well let me know if you want seconds. There's plenty." You commented as you left the room and headed back into the galley to grab them some more rolls and drinks.

"She's got a sharp eye." Bob said to your dad as they started to eat.

"That and there isn't a kitchen that she can't function in yet." Paul said to Bob with a grin. "I almost feel bad when I have her cooking for only the two of us. So I'm glad that she can get a chance to cook for others on this trip. It will help her out in her training after all."

"So how is that coming along for her? Do you think that she will really be ready to be a full fledged retainer by time she's 18?" Alex asked as he ate.

"As of right now, yes. But she had been training for a few years for this already. So none of this is unusual for her." Paul commented back as he took a bite and closed his eyes from the amazing flavor.

"Would you gentlemen like a glass of wine to go along with your fish? Or would you prefer some tea instead?" You asked as you walked back into the room.

All three of them looked up at you in surprise. They hadn't even thought about a drink as they ate.

"Let's go with the wine. We can celebrate tonight with a glass. After all, we haven't seen each other in a long time. Which to me means we should celebrate with a glass." Alex said as he beamed at Bob and Paul.

"I couldn't agree more." Bob said as he sat back and gave Paul a smile. "A great glass of wine to go with a great meal. I can't think of a better evening."

"Well alright then." Your dad returned before he looked at you. "You heard them. We'll take three glasses."

"You got it. And I'll bring out some tea for you Luna." You beamed back at them and grabbed three wine glasses from the mini bar that was right by the galley entrance door.

Then you served Luna her tea and poured everyone else a half glass of wine and left them the bottle in a small silver bucket that was half full of ice. You then went back into the kitchen to grab some more food for some of the other officers as they started to walk in. You weren't sure who was who as they came in. But to you it didn't matter. If they were there, they were there to eat. And that was what you wanted them to do.

After serving everyone their food and bring out tea for the rest of the officers, you went back into the kitchen and started to help the kitchen crew clean up for the night. Henry was a bit surprised when he saw you wiping down the counters that you had used before you headed into the scullery to start washing dishes after cleaning the wardroom once everyone had left. He hadn't expected that. He had thought that you were simply going to just cook and handle the wardroom and nothing else. But then he smiled to himself as he watched you thank the rest of the crew as they brought you their dishes to be cleaned.

After ever dish was done. You cleaned up the scullery and broke down the dishwasher for the night so that it could dry off for the night. But right as you were getting ready to walk out and head back to your stateroom, you were stopped by Henry as he stood near the doorway. You froze in your tracks as you looked at him as he stood there staring at you.

"You do seem to know your way around a kitchen after all." He said in flat tone.

"Thank you." You answered back as you dropped the towel in your hand into the bucket of dirty towels that needed to be washed. "I have worked in several different ones."

"I could use your help at night. If your willing." He said as he searched your face.

You cocked your head to one side as you looked at him. "Really?

"Yes." He said as he dropped his head for a moment. "You see we have a slight meal that we serve at midnight for the watch standers who have to do the midnight to four watch. We call it mid-rats. Would you be willing to be put into the rotation to help serve this to the crew?"

"What would I have to cook?" You asked as you watched him with curious eyes.

"It's not so much as cooking, as it is reheating some of our left over dinner for the crew to eat. Nothing new is made unless there isn't much left of any dish and you need something to feed the watch standers. And of course this is considerably a much smaller meal since it's only for a small fraction of the crew that will be eating this. Most of the crew will be asleep during that time." He said as he looked back up at you.

"How long do we serve?" You asked as you leaned up against the wall as you studied his face.

"It's only for about two hours if that. We serve just long enough for the watch standers to grab a bite before their watch begins." Henry returned flatley.

You thought about it for a moment. It didn't seem to be that bad, and it would be a great way to help out. And besides, it would give you a chance to see some of the other crew members on board. And perhaps you could see that guy again so that you could talk to him.

"Sure." You replied. "I don't see a problem with that."

"Good. I'll put you on for tomorrow night then. There is usually plenty of food left over when I do strogonoff." He said back with a smile. "And thank you."

You smiled back at him. "No problem."

That night, you went back to the stateroom and told your dad and Luna what you and Henry had worked out for the mid-rat situation for the ship. Both of them thought that it was a nice gesture for you to decide to help them out like that. Which made you feel even better about deciding to. Then your dad took you and Luna back up to the bridge to watch the sunset on the water as the ship cruised along the water that was almost as smooth as glass.

"Wow." You quietly said as you stood there with your hands on the railing as you took in the beautiful colors as they were painted across the sky.

"Beautiful. Isn't it?" Your dad asked as he had his hands on your shoulders.

"Yeah." You quietly replied.

Then you glanced over at Luna as saw her staring at the sunset with almost fear.

"Are you okay?" You asked as you tried to break her of her trance.

Luna then dropped her head for a moment before she looked over at you with a sweet smile. "Yeah. I'm just remembering something."

"I hope that it's a good memory?" You replied as you watched her.

She took a deep breath before she spoke as she looked back out at the sunset. "Here too."

The next few days were pretty uneventful. You got up early and took your shower before you headed to the galley to start making breakfast for everyone. Your dad would bring Luna with him when he came so that she had an escort. Then they would head to the lab for the morning.

Once you were done in the galley, you would join them. Then just before lunch, you would head back to the galley to prepare the food. Luna would then visit with Alex and Bob while your dad laid down for a nap. After he got up, they would all come down for lunch together.

After lunch was the only thing that was different each day. And that was because Jen would take you and Luna to a different department each day. This gave each person a chance to meet Luna and talk with her. You both enjoyed this part since it gave you a chance to meet the rest of the crew.

The first night you had met with the admin department. Where you got to see Misty, who turned out to the CO's secretary and was the supervisor for the other two secretaries on board. Plus you got to meet Faith who was a thin dark complected woman with curly hair. She was the ship's accountant and was in charge of the finance and payroll division. Jennifer even introduced you and Luna to her one Human Resources person that worked under her. And since it was such a small group, everyone was able to ask a lot of questions and even had a few laughs when it came to some of the people that they had had on board.

The next night was with the operations department where you got to meet people in radio who had helped out your dad. Turns out that most of them were IT's and electricians. They were the teams that kept the radars moving and all of the electronics in operation, to include the tvs that was always playing movies. It turned out that it was simply them putting on different movies that everyone or anyone requested to be played.

Which you took advantage of and requested that they played one of your favorite movies while you were going to be working on the mess decks that night. Which helped out since there hadn't been that many that came up the eat. Henry hadn't been joking when he said that it would be a small fraction of the crew. And it was a bigger disappointment when the blonde guy didn't come through to grab something to eat. But you weren't even sure if he was going to be on watch or not anyway, so it was already a long shot.

The third night you got to meet the team in main space one where Mike sat. He had invited his engineers there so that they could ask questions. They were periodically changing people as they were swapping out people so that they could keep checking on the other spaces. And so that the watch standers could ask questions as well. Turned out that most of them use to be old Navy sailors who worked there, which is how they could work on the engines with no problems. And that was because they had work on the exact same engines and power generators in the past or on ones similar to them.

You were starting to get excited about meeting the navigation department when you had gone to bed that night. But when you woke up the next day you weren't so sure that that was going to happen. Because the seas seemed to had gotten a bit rough as suddenly you became aware of why there were handles along the bulkheads of the ship and she rocked back and forth and side to side. And sometimes at the same time. You learned very quickly to walk with a wide stance so that you didn't fall as you made your way to the shower before heading down to the galley.

And if you thought that the shower had been rough with having to brace yourself against the shower walls, the galley was turning out to be a even bigger challenge. You had had no idea how hard it was to cook when everything kept sliding around. And you didn't dare do anything that was required a pot to be in the stove that couldn't be locked into place. Otherwise there was a good chance that it would be on the floor and would cause problems for the rest of the kitchen crew.

But you also noticed that there weren't that many people up and about because of the rough seas. Henry told you that it was pretty standard when the seas got rough for quite a few of the crew to be bed ridden until the sea-sickness pills took over. You at that point, decided to put out a bunch of cracker packets and water so that they could at least have something to calm down their stomachs. This seemed to help with a couple of the junior officers. But much to your surprise, all of the seniors officers still had their full breakfast and were acting like the ship rocking was no big deal for them.

That day you didn't head to the labs since they weren't going to be conducting any tests because of the seas. Instead they were just trying to keep the tanks from spilling and the fish from getting out. Which lead to the teams locking down the top of each tank with water tight lids that locked down firmly with clamps. Then they all just went about working on their computers with inputting data, which was the only thing that they could do in those kind of seas.

You didn't think that the seas were to bad. But then again, it did only seem to make you sleepier than usual. Which your dad said was normal. So most of that day you and Luna slept. The only excitement that you had was cooking for the senior officers. Which they seemed to really like since they could order whatever they wanted and could get it. Of course this was due to there being hardly anyone going through on the crew side.

In fact because of the low numbers, you noticed that there were also less people working in the galley as well. Which you thought was also a norm. Until you found out that a lot of them were sick to. You felt bad for everyone who was laid up. But was very glad that you, Luna or your dad weren't among them. But to help out Henry, you started to help him cook for the entire crew. This seemed to help out a lot and made clean up much quicker after each meal as well.

The next two days were more of the same. But it seemed that more and more of the crew were up and about again. Which was good. Not that it really affected you. The senior officers were still just as hungry as usual. Must to your delight actually.

But there was finally a few more cooks in the kitchen to help out with the workload. Which freed you up a bit more so that you could concentrate more on the wardroom again. You hadn't realized how much one or two people could affect the effectiveness of a kitchen until then. You made a note to yourself to try and help out more at the citadel whenever you had a free minute when you got back.

Of course the cooking part of the whole ordeal was proving to be the most difficult part. You had to learn how to cook with cookware that was stationary. Which was a bit of a challenge itself just trying to figure out how to use it. But the more you used it, the better you got with them. Plus Henry helped you out a couple times when you were really starting to get frustrated as you tried to make up some soup for the sailors that were still laid up in medical.

The ship's doctor had been thrilled when you brought down something for them all to eat. Which included his own medical team that hadn't been able to leave since they were taking care of patients. But you knew that they needed to eat just as much as their patients. Otherwise the roles would reverse on them very quickly.

By evening of the third day you were starting to get worn out and tired of walking on walls as the ship rocked around as it sailed through the rough seas. Luna and your dad had already turned in for the night. But you couldn't seemed to sleep anymore. So you got up to go see if the mid-rats guy needed help. After entering the galley you headed to the mess decks counter and found Henry himself manning the counter.

"What are you doing here? I thought that Kevin had the watch tonight?" You asked as you gave him a curious look as you walked up to him.

Henry looked back at you with a smile as he sighed. "I sent him back down. He looked greener than the brocolli did at dinner."

You sighed as you walked over to Henry and leaned up against the wall as the ship listed again from a wave. "These seas really take a toll on sailors doesn't it."

Henry dropped his head as he slightly nodded. "That it does. There are only a few people who can handle waves like these for so long."

"So I've noticed." You said as you glanced down as you stood back up as the ship righted itself again. "I had no idea that it could be this bad though. I'm just glad that my dad and Luna seem to be doing fine with this. But then again, nothing really seems to phase my dad. Unless it's some super major that is."

"Your dad has always been like that though. Even when he was right out of high school and in his first two years of college. That man seemed to have a death wish or something with as aggressive as he was back then. Nothing phased him and nothing was going to slow him down." Henry said as he slightly smiled as he recalled a few memories from then.

You gave Henry an even more curious look. "You knew my dad back then? But how?"

Henry looked up at you and smiled. "Because I served right along beside him. But unlike me, he only had to do his two years for his Kingsglaives training as a Warrant Officer. I signed up for six years. And served as an enlisted person in order to become the chef that I am today."

"What's a Warrant Officer?" You asked as you grabbed an empty bucket and flipped it over so that you could sit down while the two of you talked.

"A Warrant Officer is a non-commissioned officer. In other words he served as an officer. But he was never fully commissioned because he didn't have his degree finished yet. We call these officers 'Mustangs' for short. Some of them are prior enlisted personnel who have moved up through the ranks. While others are like he was. College students doing their specialized glaives training so that they have that one major skill that can help not only the King of Lucis, but also their teams." Henry explain while he watched you soaking up all of the information like a sponge. "I'm surprised he hasn't told you anything about this?"

You dropped your head for a moment. "We don't really talk about the past much."

Henry just slightly nodded his head as he looked down. "I can understand why. A lot can happen that makes it too painful to talk about."

"Can we do less talking and more serving?" You heard a smooth voice say from the other side of the counter. "I could sure use a brown bag lunch for watch tonight."

You and Henry both looked up and saw the trim blonde with blue eyes looking at you. Your jaw dropped as you looked at him. But as you watched him. His jaw clenched as if he was upset with you. But then he quickly looked away as Henry handed him a small brown bag.

"Did you want to take up a couple more for the rest of the watch team?" Henry asked as he watched the blonde staring at you with his cold eyes before he turned and looked at him.

"Yeah. I can do that." The blonde said to Henry as he took the bag from Henry.

"Good. I would hate to lose anymore of your guys up there. Your already on a skeleton crew." Henry said as he handed over six more bags.

"Thanks Henry." The blonde said.

Then before you could even react to him, he turned and walked away. And again you were left sitting there not being able to say a single word to him. And as you watched him walk away, you couldn't seem to move either. All you could do was sit there with you mouth agape as he walked away yet again.

"So what were talking about?" Henry asked as he sat back down again.

His words and motion seemed to snap you out of your trance. You shook your head and turned to face Henry again. You felt silly that once again you couldn't seemed to talk to the blonde. And you had no idea why. You weren't attracted to him or anything. But at the sametime you couldn't seem to talk to him.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked as he watched you as the ship rocked gently to the side yet again.

"I'm fine." You replied as you steadied yourself on the bucket. "But can I ask who that was? I keep running into him but I can't seem to get his name."

"Who? The kid that was just here?" Henry said as he gave you a curious look. "That was Christopher. But he goes by Chris to most of us. He's one of our quartermasters. And one of our best I might add. He is right under the Navigation Officer in my book for accuracy in his navigation skills. I keep telling him to go for the supervisor position. But he told me that he's not interested in babysitting anyone."

"But if he's that good, then he could train them and then he wouldn't have to worry about babysitting them anymore." You said as you gave henry a confused look.

"That's what I keep telling him." Henry said as he dropped his head. "But he doesn't seem to want to listen to me. Perhaps he would listen to a peer like you."

"Oh, I'm no one's peer. I'm still a kid myself." You corrected as you sat back up as the ship leveled out again.

"Based on what I've seen since you started helping out in the galley. You can give any adult a run for their money in people skills." He said to you with a smile. "So why not go talk to him and try. He'll be on watch until 4am. That gives you a few hours to talk to him where he can't walk away from you."

"Yeah." You said as you looked back up and Henry. "Your right. I will go talk to him. After I help you clean up from mid-rats."

Henry smiled at you. "As always, the help would be appreciated."

******Author Note******

Okay, so I know that a lot of people would be with most of the crew and would be laid up in bed sick as dog from seasickness. But who wants to read about that. (Yuck!) And besides, what healer gets seasick. They just cure themselves after all. :)

I do want to thank all of you for your support as I hit yet another milestone of 17k reads. I still can't get over the numbers for this. I love it and I love your support that you have given me. You truly do make this a very enjoyable experience with each chapter and with each milestone that this book hits. :) :) :) :)

With the seas rough and the reception back to shore being choppy, Paul is more on edge then usual as his mind drifts back to Altissia more often. He can't help but to start to get to the point that he has to find a safe way to release his frustration. But will his time in the gym only prove to be to much. Or will the seas be the factor that takes his mind completely off of Altissia and back onto the emergency at sea as the they face some unexpected guests.

Thanks for reading. :)

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