I.S.M.I - Chapter Thirty.
Hal eyed the screen quietly, “You're sure this is a cabal installation? It looks like a normal town library to me.”
“We're sure,” Javier tapped the screen, “This is a new one on us, but we know there's a much larger underground facility because of what we learned from that helpful, talkative cabal scientist. There's also lot of people, far more than there should be coming and going, some of them known cabal agents.”
Hal chewed his lip thoughtfully, “And they have no idea we know?”
“Nope. Well... after all of the raids yesterday they're on high alert... super high alert, but we intentionally sent units out to more old abandoned sites we suspect they're watching, to make them think we're scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit.”
“Good thinking,” Hal nodded, “So when do we go in?”
“We have seven teams going in from different sides, and another five setting up perimeters the moment we go in, and to give the public a story about a gas leak. We don't want to risk one single soul getting out with those eggs. Once we get the all clear that everyone is in position, and all troops have their gear ready, we go in. There's two main entrances on the building, two into the floor below and one suspected emergency bailout a block down to the south that goes a floor deeper still. If there are any other exits, we haven't detected them.”
“And which one are we hitting?”
“One of the first floor down entrances,” Javier tapped a point on the map. “Our team will make entry here and sweep the floor for the eggs, capturing all cabal personnel along the way. If we find nothing we'll go down a floor with some of the other teams while designated teams hold the remaining upper floors. We have been told the eggs are here so our job is to ensure they stay here until we find them. Not a soul leaves this site.”
Hal nodded a little grimly, glancing down at the weapon in his arms, disliking the feel of it. As much as he admired the American ISMI's ingenuity with their weaponry, the resemblance they all carried to deadly armaments always made him uncomfortable.
This weapon in particular was a SKR-13 model known fondly by the ISMI agents as 'the sticker.' It was a high powered weapon that fired a 'rope' of sticky gel in a horizontal line at terrific force. This substance then hardened to near indestructible toughness after only a few seconds in the air. Training recommended it was used to bind legs together, stick arms to walls, and block up mechanical equipment. It could also be used for sealing doors and windows in a pinch. The golden rule was to never shoot someone in the face with it, as the jelly could cover their critical breathing apparatus. Everyone also carried a small can of solvent which caused the gel to dissolve, so if accidental injury was caused, it could be removed in time for recovery. In Hal's opinion, a jelly gun had no right to look so deadly. It was heavy, black metal, and looked for all the world like a normal deadly firearm.
They had also been given taser sidearms, cuffs and other entrapping devices. ISMI policy was to avoid deadly force against self aware life at all costs, even when that life was the cabal and potentially trying to wipe out civilisation.
Inside him, Deacon was settled firmly in place with all of his gear. He had been gifted a new drone, much smaller than his UK one, but well balanced and designed for indoor use, better for this operation. Hal had ensured he had heavy duty body armour covering his belly, and everyone had earpieces tuned into the small man's. He was set to give them live information and scout around with the drone in areas they couldn't get to when required. Javier had even gifted the man, with Sayer's help, a sharp little combat knife in a secure scabbard, just in case 'things got real bad' and he needed it. Hal felt better about knowing his friend was equipped for the worst.
Even Lukan was kitted out in body armour, though his was clearly much lighter and less restrictive. The werewolf was pacing the back of the van, looking ready to be let loose. Kaplain and Sayer were there as well, armed, armoured and ready to go. The group had another four men Hal did not know as well to bulk up their numbers, Javier's personal team, therefore Hal trusted them.
They sat and waited as the calls of readiness began to come in, Hal idly drumming his fingers on the armour over his middle, unused to this separation, but glad of it nonetheless.
“One more team to call in and then we are go,” Javier spoke with a tense tone to his voice, clearly on edge and ready to move.
A tense four minutes passed before the final call came in, and Javier acknowledged it before pressing the 'all' button on the console and speaking sharply. “All entry teams we are a go. I repeat we are a go.”
Hal drew a slow, calming breath as the van doors burst open as the two men at the very back shoved them, and the group immediately poured out into daylight from the disguised van (In this case a blue and purple, 'Mr Icy' branded ice cream van.
Seeing the other groups converging on the building as well, Hal kept pace with Javier, who was leading them to their designated spot. Their entrance was hidden, but not very well, it was disguised as an oversized electrical box in a grassy field next to the library. No normal electrical box actually looked that size, or had a slanted back that clearly showed it lead down into a tunnel, but the cabal were like the ISMI in one way, they knew the best way to hide something was just by not hiding it. Stick it in plain sight and make it look boring.
Using an heavy metal ram that Lukan had been given to carry, they burst the first door, the 'ordinary outer shell' of the structure, to reveal a much more advanced metal door behind it. One of Javier's guys, a tech, came forwards and began fiddling with the code panel beside it, tweaking the cover off and messing with the wiring underneath until the door sparked and opened into a dimly lit stairway.
Hal and Javier nodded to each other and moved in unison down the stairs, swift and quiet on the concrete and metal. Two of Javier's men remained at the top. The corridor they found themselves in was clearly nothing more than a fire and emergency exit, and as such, there wasn't a soul down there. At least not yet.
The group swept along the corridor and to another large set of double doors at the other end. The tech came forwards once more and set to work on the code panel. It took a little longer this time, the security levels higher than before, but eventually the locks gave out and Hal was able to boot the doors open. The group emerged in a well organised circle, facing every direction, just in time for a set of alarms to start blaring, and chaos to erupt all around them.
As the alarms went off, shouts sounded all around, and doors began to open, frightened researchers and scrambling guards running every which way. Calmly and cooly, the team took them down as each one came into view, using the stickers to pin their legs together and arms to the floor. As each one went down, a pair of them went out to ensure they were disarmed and unable to reach any tools, then returned to the group. They moved in a systematic pattern, room by room, corridor by corridor. Hal had to admit he admired the military precision with which the highly trained team operated, and Sayer and Kaplain did a wonderful job of fitting in with it having only had the briefest of training sessions from Javier as they had driven over. The only one allowed to operate outside of the pattern was Lukan, who served as a scout along with Deacon's drone, sweeping in a much more organic and fluid manner than the rest of the group, just to throw off any lucky escapees. The facility was well made, metal walls and floors to keep out the underground damp, and mostly consisted of offices on this level, a few basic laboratories, but mostly workspaces with maps and research books strewn everywhere.
Soon enough, they crossed paths with the team who had made entry on the other side of the floor, merged with them, and after another brief sweep, they moved to the central stairwell, leaving men posted at each entrance in pairs, and two more pairs moving through the corridors checking on the existing captives.
This played out again on the second floor down. Smooth sweeping motion disabling everyone they met. This floor was less offices and more laboratories. Some of these were clearly in-progress studies too, as there were animals and unknown lifeforms in cages here and there, some artefacts and suspicious technology being studied or disassembled. They merged again with the team that had taken the other entrance, and found themselves faced with a door to another floor down, their scans had only gone down deep enough to detect this one, it was possible there were additional floors below, but they could not be certain.
The door to this floor took significant breaching, and when they did break through, Hal was not surprised when they were met with immediate gunfire. The teams down here were better organised, having had time the upper floors did not, and probably better equipped. Four members of the ISMI teams dropped heavy, bulletproof shields from their backs and formed up to get through the door and make a barrier, two on each side, for more of the ISMI agents to shoot from, working on disarming their attackers by jamming their guns and sticking their arms to walls.
This worked well, the teams with the shields separating and spreading down the corridors, allowing more ISMI agents out behind them to shoot their attackers down more efficiently. The first line of defence quickly fell, and the two groups separated, leaving a pair at the stairs as always, travelling down the hallways and sweeping the rooms as they found them. What they found here seemed to be more labs, populated by alarmed scientists and researchers hiding behind their desks, the occasional armed guard, little else. Once again there was a catalogue of interesting things being studied but now was not the time for Hal to stop and window shop. As they burst into one lab, the scientist there struck a metal orb on the ground that briefly cancelled out the gravity in a ten metre diameter around him. Fortunately, gravity was not a prerequisite for the functioning of the stickers, so they just took care of the scientist, and Hal grabbed the orb, reactivating gravity simply by holding it tightly until it ceased vibrating. Mercifully few of the scientists utilised their study subjects as weapons.
They swept the floor, calm and efficient, and circled around on themselves to meet back up with the other half of the team.
Hal took pause at this point, frowning as he looked around, “That can't be it. Where's the vault?”
“Yeah, you've been in cabal installations... they all have a vault where they keep the dangerous shit.”
“Good point,” Javier looked around, then said to the men. “Sweep again. Look for hidden and disguised doors.”
Hal's group broke off from the ISMI teams, and began to look around carefully. After a little while, it was Sayer who noticed that there was a discrepancy in the otherwise immaculate symmetry of the place. A door was missing.
After he voiced this, they set about closely examining one wall where they estimated it should be, and discovered a hidden staircase behind an exceptionally convincing hollow wall. Beyond that, there lay yet another staircase. Hal went back and called Javier and his men, and they proceeded downstairs once more.
This time, they came to an entirely different kind of door. This one looked much more like the type of thing the cabal would have, but shouldn't. Heavy stone that looked genuinely ancient, out of place in the clean, metal setting, carved with elaborate circles and patterns in languages Hal only recognised a few of.
The biologist sighed, gently running a finger down one of the designs. “It's an Ignotuscientific combination lock. We've only seen a few of these... how they got it here without damaging it... and got it working again in a new location... I'm actually a little impressed.”
“Well... what's the combination?” asked Javier, “How do we figure it out?”
“Can we just blow it up instead?” asked Lukan.
“That depends... do you want to be exploded?” asked Hal.
“No, not really,” replied the werewolf.
“If it works like the others we've found, you use any force on it, other than putting in combinations, it will return that roughly in triplicate to the applier. So if you slap the door, it will slap you into next week.”
“So... is there some calculation you can do?” asked Javier, looking at Hal, “Some kind of trick to fool the door maybe?”
Hal shook his head, “This is one of the most secure locking systems ever created, an amalgamation of different magic from different times and places... these things are rare and bloody hard to work with.” He blew through his cheeks, “We'd be better off cutting through the walls and ground than trying the door, however, I believe I know a better way.”
“Yeah?” Javier looked curious.
Hal turned to the guards at the rear, “Would you mind getting me a scientist from one of the floors above? Check their ID cards, I want the one you can find with the highest clearance. Make sure he's well bound, arms and legs both.”
While the two men hurried off, Javier gave Hal a raised-eyebrow look. “What are you going to do? You know hurting people is against our code of ethics... right?”
Hal grinned, “I'm not going to hurt the scientist. I don't approve of medieval torture methods. However, reasonable questions brought about by a healthy little amount of fear that I might hurt him? That's well within our code of ethics.”
“Just what exactly are you planning on threatening them with that would make them give up something this important?”
Hal shot a look at Lukan and smiled slyly, “You'll see. Everyone else take five minutes,”
After a short while, the two men returned, dragging a man who looked to be roughly mid thirties, he had dark hair and eyes, and a half-indignant, half poorly concealed look of fear look on his face, and a pair of glasses that had been knocked askew. He was set down in front of Hal in an awkward sitting position as his legs were bound together with sticky, and his arms were behind his back cuffed. “Ah, glad you could join us Doctor...” Hal glanced at the man's nametag. “Lee,” he gestured at the door. “You can probably hazard a guess why you're down here,”
“You want me to open the door,”
“Or give the code for us to open it, either way. We could just tunnel around it but you know how long that would take sooooo...”
“You think I'm an idiot? You guys can't do anything to me. If I tell you that the cabal can and will kill me. I'd much rather say nothing and deal with you lot.”
Hal raised an eyebrow, “Ah, I see you're familiar with the American ISMI then,” he chuckled, “You've made one small calculation error there.”
The man scoffed, “Oh yeah?”
“I am not from the American ISMI,”
The man paled a bit, “But you are from the institute. That means you can't hurt me.”
“Oh... I am not going to hurt you,” Hal held up his hands and moved back a little, allowing Lukan to loom threateningly behind him. “He, on the other hand... well. Let's say all this raiding has worked up a fierce appetite for my werewolf friend here...”
Playing his part perfectly, Lukan let his eyes glitter with threat, then changed into his combat form, his expression unchanged and hungry.
The man squirmed backwards a little, pressing his shoulders against the wall. “You can't do anything to me, you're not allowed... the institute...”
“Is... looking the other way it seems...” Hal said, glancing around the to reveal all of the guards, and Javier, had turned their backs as he had scripted them to do. “Strange that.”
The man let out a fearful little huff and Hal gently squeezed his shoulder. “Look... I'm a very reasonable man. I don't want any trouble, it gives me a headache. But you see, you lot have been causing a great deal of trouble lately and I do not appreciate it. Let me make you an offer one more time. Give me the combination, and you get to walk out of here with all the other prisoners to be dealt with legitimately. If not? Well... in this kind of chaos people can go missing can't they? All the monsters and artefacts down here... anything could happen in a panic.”
Hal glanced at Lukan and the werewolf leaned over him, opening his mouth wide and leaning towards the scientist's face, teeth on full display, a long string of saliva dangling threateningly towards the man. It was a nice touch in Hal's opinion, very dramatic.
“Okay!” squeaked the scientist. “I'll tell you!”
Hal smiled, and Lukan backed up, wiping his mouth. “Go on,”
The scientist reeled off a combination list of symbols and which wheel they were on, and after a moment of glancing at the door, Hal clicked his tongue and then hissed through his teeth. “ooooh, I wish you hadn't done that,” he shook his head, giving the man a pained look and moving back, letting Lukan loom in once more, opening up.
“Wait WAIT I-IDIDN'TDOANYTHING-that-that's the code!”
Hal patted Lukan, “Wait,”
The scientist looked immediately relieved.
“Feet first,” Hal added, “I want him to have as long as possible to think about what he's just done.”
The scientist let out a frightened shout as Lukan obeyed, grabbing his legs and flipping the man over, swiftly pulling off the smart black shoes, revealing mismatched black business sock clad feet, and swiftly sliding them into his mouth.
Now on his front on the floor, the scientist shouted again, wriggling like a snake, trying to pull himself away from the werewolf, but Lukan kept a firm grip on the man's calves, tugging him closer, swallowing loudly and wetly.
Hal moved around to be in front of the scientist, still kneeling as he calmly checked his nails, “A trap trigger code, is most specifically not what I asked for.”
“That's the real code!” squealed the man as Lukan swallowed again, the legs disappearing up to the knees.
“No, no it's not,” sighed Hal tiredly. “And I am genuinely disappointed you think that I'd just fall for something like that,”
The man gave a hoarse, despairing shout as Lukan swallowed again, clearly enjoying his part in the little performance, gripping the man with strong hands as he dragged him towards himself.
Hal patiently and calmly allowed this to go on for a little while, ignoring the man's shouting as he took out his phone and checked his emails briefly, pantomiming doing mindless nothings.
Just at the point where Lukan was working his long jaws up the man's chest, Hal pocketed his phone again and straightened up, stretching a little. “Well. A shame to waste the time but we can always find another scientist to ask, we have plenty,”
“That's the real code, I swear it!” shrieked the man frantically.
“Ah but it's not is it?” the biologist went to the door, and Lukan co-operatively shifted himself and his prey so the man could watch Hal. “Look,” Hal pressed the first of the digits the man had given him, turning the wheel of strange symbols with his hands to lock it in as he did so. “Let me see now...” he turned the second wheel, setting it in place with the second character.
With each press, Lukan took another gulp, and Hal continued right up until there were only two left to lock in, and the scientist was left as nothing more than a face, panicking at the back of the werewolf's maw. “Only two more presses,” said Hal, still clicking his tongue against his teeth, “And it looks like you're out of time... one more swallow will finish you, and you won't even get to see what the trap does...” he hovered a finger over the second to last digit, his face calm, unconcerned, he lowered his finger and twisted the wheel to input the symbol, and Lukan tensed for the final swallow.
At this though, the scientist let out a shriek of “Wait!” just in time for Hal to raise an eyebrow and look at him.
“That's... not the real code.”
“I am well aware,” Hal smiled sweetly. “Would you care to give me the real one?” he gestured at the wall.
His voice shivering and shaking nervously, the scientist reeled off another code, his voice breaking a little as he insisted they had been trained to give the trap code in all circumstances.
Hal smiled broadly, “Excellent, that seems more like it,” he began to enter the code, pausing as the scientist demanded release, and grinning at Lukan. “Well now... I would, but your previous dishonesty has worried me, so I think we need to keep you as a little insurance policy...” he explained, apologetically almost.
Lukan, grinning as he knew what this meant, tipped his head back and swallowed noisily, showing off the bulge in his neck as the man's head slipped down and out of sight.
Hal sighed a bit, shaking his head as he dropped the sickly sweet smile and went back to entering the code. “Fucken idiot,” he muttered, “Thinks I was born yesterday. Bloody trap code, like I can't tell the difference between original combination and new addition,” he scoffed as he grumbled to himself and entered the last of the code, sighing as the door groaned and began to creak noisily open.
“Hal, you're still one crazy guy,” Javier punched him on the arm, “That scientist is going to need therapy,”
“He chose to give me a trap code, he knew the consequences,” Hal shrugged, “Besides, he's perfectly safe. Lukan's just keeping him warm, right Lukan?”
The werewolf, who had returned to his human form and was looking immensely self satisfied, let out a belch and nodded. “Very warm.”
Hal shrugged at Javier, “I use the tools you give me. You give me a werewolf, I will utilise them. The moral of this story is never trust me with anything, ever.”
“Maybe this is the reason everything wants to eat you,” suggested the other agent, shaking his head but looking amused. “You invite it by doing it to others,”
Hal let out a genuine laugh, “In fairness everything else started it. I just learned to take it in stride. If you can't beat them join them and all that.”
As the door finished opening they fell silent, and Hal nodded, “This is the vault alright,” he muttered. The room was chilly, temperature controlled to be such. It contained rows upon rows of black shelving filled with various items sealed in locked transparent containers, spaced safely apart.
“Sayer, front and centre,” Hal nodded at the room, “is there a way for you to find the eggs quickly? There's a lot down here.”
Sayer, coming to the front of the group, nodded a little, “Feffin allowed me to get a feel of the magic coming from their egg... I think I can search for something like that.”
Hal nodded, “Go for it. Everyone else sweep the room for Cabal. Nobody touch anything else.”
As the ISMI guards spread out across the space to search for trouble, Hal followed the young man as he walked along the rows of shelves. Neil had raised his hands, and a bright cyan blue light was glittering through his scars, flickering over the space almost like tiny beams of light were reaching out to touch his surroundings. After a moment, he began to head in a certain direction with more purpose. Hal, Kaplain and Lukan followed as Javier went to directing his men around the space.
Hal felt a strange little tingle as he passed one shelf in particular, a prickle of the familiar. He paused to look at the shelf, frowning as he saw the spot directly beside his head was empty, he frowned, running a hand through the shelf, examining the empty space in the dust there. “Something has been removed from here... recently...” he said, frowning as he saw nothing but a number on a plate in front of the space, and no other identifying information. “Something that bothers me...” he waved a hand, shaking his head, “Never mind, let's get the eggs,” he said, as much for himself as anyone else, and resumed hurrying along.
Sayer continued around the space, the light from his hands glowing gradually brighter. In a sense, Hal could roughly tell what he was doing, he was dowsing for the eggs using his own magic somehow. He followed, looking at the things they were passing on the shelves, making mental notes about some of them. An ornate dagger, an oversized, ridged tooth from some kind of creature, a children's colourful bouncy ball, all neatly stored in clear, locking containers.
Sayer came to a sudden halt, causing a brief pile-up of the men bumping into each other.
Neil turned, went back a few steps, then walked in a circle before turning and staring at a wall. “Uh... there?” he said, looking confused.
Hal detangled himself from Kaplain and came forwards, pressing his hands on the wall, tapping with gentle fingers, “It's hollow,” he said, running his hands about one side and the other, “And it's a panel, not a whole piece,” he leaned on the wall, felt a click, and moved back, causing it to open smoothly, “A hidden push door, clever, but not especially so,” he pulled it open, and behind it sat a sealed black container, about a metre long, half a metre high and wide, with silver clips and handles. “And what do we have here...” he ran his fingers over the clips, checking for triggers and wires before popping them open and pulling the top of the case up to reveal three gently glowing eggs. He sighed in relief, running a hand over one of them gently. “Sayer, these the real deal?”
The young man came forwards and gently reached out to touch the eggs, nodding. “Yes, these are the real thing.”
Hal let out a slow sigh of relief, nodding as he looked back the way they had come, and straightening up suddenly as he saw movement among the shelves, a stooped figure scooping something off a shelf. “HEY!” he shouted, “Someone's here!”
Kaplain immediately raised his sticker and fired at the retreating figure, but the stuff only clipped the man's side and therefore did not incapacitate him. “Shit,” the agent swore before grabbing his walkie-talkie and reported an unknown in the vault.
Hal glanced at Lukan as he clipped the case shut, “Can you get these? I care more about the eggs than I do about anything else.”
Lukan nodded, “Go hunt, leave Sayer with me, we'll focus on bringing the eggs out,”
Hal nodded, patted Sayer on the shoulder, then rushed after the figure with Kaplain in tow.
As they weaved between the shelves after the running figure, the vault suddenly began to fill with steam, making it much harder to see what they were after. There were shouts from the ISMI agents, also hunting the intruder, and clatters as people began to knock into shelves. Hal grabbed his walkie and barked some orders about keeping calm, moving systematically, and being certain not to touch anything on the shelves, restoring some order to the space. After a short time, Hal and Kaplain stumbled onto an indent in the back wall, a rounded platform that had been haphazardly stacked with clear boxed artefacts. Hal frowned as he saw a series of glyphs painted into the walls and floors all around, “It's a ritual...” he muttered, “I would wager a teleportation thing... they're trying to bail with as much as they can...” he reached in and started grabbing boxed artefacts, sliding them across the floor away from the space, “Help me, quick,”
Hal and Kaplain set about dislodging as much as they could from the platform. One box in particular had that same familiarity Hal had felt from the space on the shelf earlier. This gave Hal pause, and for some reason, instinct made him tuck it into his vest before he continued pushing things away, flicking them back towards the shelves, anywhere but the platform.
They hadn't been working on this for more than a few minutes when there were shouts and gunshots once more, and an audible scuffle broke out somewhere. Hal heard angry yelling and stickers firing before heavy footsteps began to come their way. “That's enough, sounds like we need to help,” Hal turned and began to move towards the sound, Kaplain followed.
They passed a few rows of shelves before Hal saw two figures emerging through the steam carrying something heavy. Hal raised his sticker and the man in front held out a pistol in return, “Stop!” shouted the man, glaring at Hal. “We're leaving, and you can't stop us...”
Hal took aim at the pistol and shot it with the sticker, rendering it useless and flicking it out of the cabal scientist's hand.
The man shouted in anger, suddenly hefting the heavy thing they had been carrying, raising it up above his head. The second man co-operated, holding it up high as well, letting Hal get a look at it. They were carrying the dragon egg case... a splatter of blood across the side of it showed there had been a fight to get it. Hal felt his chest tighten.
“If you shoot us, we'll drop this... and what's inside will break, which is something I know you don't want!” exclaimed the scientist, stumbling towards the platform with its painted symbols.
Hal kept his sticker trained on them, so did Kaplain, but they could both see there was no way to take down or stop the men without them dropping the case. Maybe once they got to the platform... before they could finish the ritual somehow...
“Don't do anything stupid now!” shouted the man at Hal, staying turned to face them, “We will drop it...”
Hal felt in his heart this man was not bluffing... but he couldn't do nothing and let the eggs get away...
As the Cabal members stumbled up onto the platform, the one who had been speaking changed his grip so only one hand was supporting the case, grabbing a glowing stick of chalk from his top pocket with the other. “We'll stop you yet Institute,” he hissed, as he began writing on the wall, adding more glyphs to the spell, leaving Hal looking around in a panic for a way to stop them. “You idiots have set us back, but we will return more dangerous than ever and end your idiotic control of everything magical... it should be free for everyone to use...”
“You're no different to us. You lock it all away for yourselves, it's not free here,” Hal tried to bait the man into a dialogue, gesturing around the vault. If he could buy time with some arguing, a bit of hyperbole-
“But it will be! When we're done with our studies!” snapped the man, still writing. “Then you'll see... you all will...” he hissed as he finished the glyphs.
Hal stared hard at the man, committing his face to memory, imprinting it with a label of special hatred. Pale skin, blonde hair, clipped little moustache and beard, green eyes framed behind round glasses and a long row of scars in his scalp along one side.
As the man drew the final line, the writing all around the platform lit up, and in a blast of brightness that blinded Hal for a long moment, they, and everything on the metal platform was gone.
Hal dropped to his knees, bitter frustration at the back of his mouth as he let the sticker fall to the ground. They took them. They got the eggs after all that.
He felt Deacon press gently at him as his breath hitched in his throat. They had been so close... he had touched them... and now they were gone again.
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