Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) s03e07 Episode Script

What Is Starfleet?

1

BETO: Space is filled with wonders.
Bright and beautiful stars.
We travel among them
searching for answers,
investigating the
mysteries within ourselves.
Starfleet presents
themselves as our quadrant's
shining example of duty,
honor, peacekeeping.
But what separates a "Federation"
from an "Empire"?
Red alert. All hands to battle stations.
- [ALARM SOUNDING]
- Arm photon torpedoes.
BETO: Both colonize.
Both impose their laws
and doctrines on others.
Torpedoes armed and locked on target.
Ready to fire on your command.
PIKE: You threaten one of
us, you threaten all of us.
Trust me when I say, you do not
want the Federation as an enemy.
BETO: Are they explorers as they claim?
Or soldiers as they appear?
They call their vessels starships.
What distinguishes them from warships?
PIKE: Starfleet officers take an oath.
First, a vow to obey the laws
of the United Federation of Planets,
to defend its security,
and to abide to the
principles it stands for.
Second,
a vow to obey Starfleet's
orders and responsibilities.
BETO: Tell me about Starfleet.
What can I say?
What does Starfleet mean to me?
No comment. Full stop.
BETO: If you can look
straight into the camera
as you feel comfortable.
Whenever you're ready.
Violence is an acceptable level of risk.
Vulcans have many more ways
to handle this than humans.
BETO: Aren't you
half-Vulcan, half-human?
SPOCK: On Vulcan,
being half-human is
viewed as a deficit,
something to be excised
or buried so deeply within the psyche
that it will never reemerge.

SPOCK: As a child, I
had a friend Sovrek.
He was told by his parents
to no longer associate with me
because I was half-human.
In response, I ran away to the desert,
to the Plain of Blood.
[GRUNTING]
Two days later, my father
found me in a cave cutting
into my skin with a Vantu blade.
I was trying to cut away my human half.
I have faced far worse
for the benefit of Starfleet.
BETO: I thought the Enterprise
was an exploring vessel.
It's space.
It's unpredictable.
That's why we don't go
anywhere unarmed.
It's stupid to.
LA'AN: I've had 12 broken
bones, a fractured skull,
multiple phaser burns,
radiation poisoning.
Was even slashed open
by a Kolaran blade.
All hazards of the job.
I am the ship's security
and tactical officer.
But Starfleet's primary
mission is exploration.
I don't think killing people is okay.
I think sometimes it's necessary
for the greater good.
Sometimes that means we attack first.
The weapons Enterprise carries
are primarily defensive.
Our goal is to not have to use them.
That doesn't mean we don't
fight back if we have to.
BETO: If you were to encounter
a ship you've fought with before,
like the Gorn, would you fire first?
Unless you can kill them first,
the best move is to run.
As first officer,
my role is to support
the captain and the crew.
When it comes to executing
Starfleet's orders,
my job is to offer options,
strategy, even alternatives.
But my job isn't to question orders.
Starfleet has
the interests of Federation
and non-Federation
worlds clearly in mind.
Our missions and the goals of Starfleet
are always in alignment.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Time for a mission brief.
It's how we get our orders.
Sometimes
we don't know what we're
supposed to do until we arrive.
UHURA: Transport cargo to Lutani VII?
Did Starfleet specify why?
That's classified.
Are there any problems, Ensign?
- No, sir.
- UNA: Any other questions?
ORTEGAS: The Lutani used
to raid our cargo runs.
Pretty sure they're
helping the Klingons.
- Is that a question, Lieutenant?
- Are we helping the Lutani now?
- PIKE: Yes.
- But the why is classified?
That is correct.
You will find out what you need
to know on a need-to-know basis.
Lieutenant?
Crates are filling Cargo
Bay 12. Lists on your PADD.
We have armed escorts
standing by in case
anything happens.
Are we expecting anything to happen?
Things do happen, whether
or not we expect it.
That's why, when we enter Lutani space,
I've alerted phaser and photon
torpedo crews to stand ready.
It's an active war zone.
Thank you.
There is one more important
element on this journey.
UHURA: What's a Jikaru?
Technically, it is livestock.
The Lutani intend to use it
in their rebuilding efforts.
We shall pick it up and
we shall drop it off.
We have to be at half impulse?
We won't be able to run
with that on the ship?
It will not be on the ship.
- It will be outside of the ship.
- What else do we know about it?
That's classified.
Dismissed.
ORTEGAS: Because it's none
- of your business.
- BETO: I-I'm just asking you,
why do the Lutani need Starfleet's help?
Because they're currently at war.
BETO: Any thoughts on that?
No. We received orders to
transport cargo to Lutani VII,
a non-Federation world in
need of aid and supplies,
and that's what we're doing.
[QUIETLY]: What kind of supplies?
Easy guess. They're at war.
- [TURBOLIFT BELL CHIMES]
- [DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN]
"Jikaru" is the Lutani
word for "starlight."
They have lived on the
oceanic moon Tychus-B.
Oh, and according to the data,
one of the Jikaru has
shown signs of a
transformation.
Soon, it will be able
to move through space.
There are a lot of restrictions
around how we have to handle it.
BETO: And Starfleet is helping
move the creature to a war zone.
Why?
That's outside of my orders.
LA'AN: We've input the codes
for your orbital containment field.
Una, stand by to lock onto
it with a tractor beam.
We'll bring it in close to the ship.
This thing's really
gonna fly into space?
There is activity on the surface.
- Containment field is now down.
- UHURA: I can get
- visual from the observation lab.
- Tie us in.
[CREAKY BELLOWING]
[SINGING]
The Jikaru will be in orbit soon.
Tractor beams are ready.
[SINGING]
I'm getting a transponder
signal from a Lutani vessel.
ORTEGAS: Confirmed.
It's a Lutani scout ship
on an intercept course coming in hot.
- Hail them.
- No response.
I'm getting strange
readings from the Jikaru.
Tractor beams cannot lock on.
LA'AN: Captain, the
scout ship is in range.
- It's opening fire.
- Shields up.
They're not shooting at us.
They're shooting at the Jikaru,
but it's doing little damage.
ORTEGAS: Definitely not a fighter pilot.
Una, prepare phasers
to fire on that ship.
[JIKARU SINGING]
ORTEGAS: Captain, what's
the creature doing?
- [STATIC CRACKLING]
- [JIKARU BELLOWING]
[SONIC SCREAM]
ORTEGAS: What the hell was that?
UNA: Massive surge of radiation.
- La'An, status.
- LA'AN: Shields holding.
But the Lutani scout ship
is completely disabled.
No shields, and hull integrity failing.
Lock transporters on that
ship, beam the survivors aboard.
Get that containment field back up.
And turn that damn thing off.
We've recovered a pilot
from the Lutani vessel.
- She's in sickbay.
- I want a full update.
Who they are and why they came here.
Can I have the Jikaru audio data?
UHURA: I'm already on it.
Are you all right?
Your hand was shaking.
All Vulcans who practice the
ancient meditation of Surak
experience an increase
in esper sensitivity.
It allows our mind melds
to be more efficient.
You felt the creature's mind?
I sensed its aggression.
But I have recovered.
BETO: What would motivate
this Lutani scientist
to risk their life to
sabotage their own project?
M'BENGA: Dermal regenerator can't
compensate for the organ damage.
- Quadroline?
- No, it's fatal to her species.
- CHAPEL: Her vitals are crashing.
- Radiation poisoning.
Hyronalin hypospray.
She's going into shock.
We need to keep her conscious.
Hey, hey, hey. Look at me.
What's your name? Don't close your eyes.
Tell me your name?
- Dr. Gyud.
- Gyud.
- Hey, hey.
- [GASPING]
GYUD: Don't let them use
the Jikaru.
It's a terrible, awful mistake.
It's okay.
We were wrong.
- [CHOKING]
- [MONITOR BEEPING RAPIDLY]
- [GASPS]
- [SUSTAINED BEEP]
M'BENGA: Well, I am a doctor.
So
I have seen many deaths, I'm afraid.
BETO: Have you ever been ordered
by Starfleet to kill anyone?
I will defend myself,
like anybody would.
But it is not a function
of my current job.
You were in the Klingon War, yes?
Yes.
I was a field surgeon.
[EXHALES]
I am a doctor.
I'm not the most qualified person
to answer questions about
Starfleet's military protocols.
BETO: Mission assignments: Redacted.
Protocol 12: Redacted.
Battle of ChaKana,
confirmed kills: Redacted.
Battle of J'Gal,
confirmed kills: Redacted.
Have you ever scrubbed
the surveillance logs
from sickbay?
I cannot recall.
I cannot recall.
UHURA: Before Starfleet, I was adrift.
I'd lost my family, I'd lost myself,
really.
Starfleet sent me in a
direction at just the right time.
BETO: Were you close to
anyone at the Academy?
Not really.
Except maybe Elena, my roommate.
We hung out sometimes.
Ensign Elena Cho. She was on the Cayuga.
Did you know that?
No.
I didn't. I
Elena went down with the Cayuga?
I didn't look at all the names
on the ship, because it
PIKE: If that creature
turns on us, sir
I know the mission, sir.
I-I know the orders I was
given. I'm not refusing command.
Because my crew is
required to do their job.
We don't survive this, what
Starfleet wants is irrelevant.
Sir,
you didn't see what it could do.
I know why it's important, sir, I
I understand the stakes.
We'll get it done. Enterprise out.
- All decks, red alert.
- Status report.
UNA: The Jikaru has broken
free of the containment field.
- It's moving out of orbit.
- ORTEGAS: It can do that?
I thought we had to
tractor it to Lutani VII.
SPOCK: It appears the
creature's evolved physiology
allows it to act as a
supercharged magnetosphere,
using energized
particles for propulsion.
So, what? It's got its own engines?
PIKE: What about the neural
dampener attached to the creature?
Shouldn't that keep it calm?
UHURA: Scans show it was damaged
during the attack on the scout ship.
Without a neural dampener,
we can't control it
or stop it from attacking
whatever it wants.
And the big fella's picking up speed.
Do we let it go?
[JIKARU BELLOWING]
SPOCK: It is now a weapon.
But also a creature.
Our orders are to take it
to Lutani VII, so that's
what we're gonna do.
- How, sir?
- I've done this kind of thing before,
just usually on horseback.
Chase down and lasso a bronco.
BETO: Have you ever refused an order?
Well, um
I think I can confidently
say that that's classified.
BETO: The Enterprise is
following Starfleet's orders
and transporting what
they know is a weapon,
- the Jikaru.
- [JIKARU BELLOWING]
- La'An, tractor beam?
- LA'AN: I've tried.
The creature's emitting a randomized
electromagnetic field.
The beam can't lock on.
- What about the transporter?
- Same problem.
Can we match its frequency?
Without precise readings, an
incorrect beam could result
in an energy feedback,
disabling Enterprise.
If tractoring isn't an
option, why don't we follow it?
- Keep it within visual range?
- PIKE: Do it.
ORTEGAS: Just not too close, okay?
I don't want to get ripped apart.
What about other ships?
Anything it runs into,
- it might attack.
- I can send out
a system-wide navigational
bulletin to keep clear
- of our coordinates.
- Keep it vague.
We don't want this weapon
falling into the wrong hands.
- Am I clear?
- Aye, sir.
LA'AN: If that's the order,
we need to work on a plan
to destroy the creature
- if necessary.
- ORTEGAS: Better that than Klingons get it.
BETO: What makes you good
at being head of security?
I think what makes me good at my job
is that I have a lot of experience.
From a young age, I've
had to look after myself,
and I've learned to make
logical decisions very quickly
in tense, high-risk situations.
BETO: What does it feel
like to kill somebody?
CHAPEL: This is incredible.
Its autonomic systems can manipulate
- and distribute energy.
- SPOCK: It is
Fascinating?
CHAPEL: Spock, I understand that,
when the Jikaru "powered up,"
you-you had a-a reaction on the bridge?
Your hand was shaking?
I have been experiencing discomfort.
It is manageable.
UHURA: Engineering is working
on recreating neural dampeners
based on our scans of the device.
This isn't just a neural dampener.
It's a shock collar.
It's become clear why
they felt they needed that.
SPOCK: The creature is,
to the Lutani, a weapon.
One they need to find a way to control.
They should have tried
talking to it first.
But, hey, I'm just a
communications officer.
CHAPEL: You think you were
actually in contact with the Jikaru?
We heard it.
It was talking.
[JIKARU SINGING OVER RECORDING]
[SINGING STOPS]
SPOCK: Perhaps.
I believe I was sensing its emotions.
Joseph told me about this,
about how Vulcans abandoned
these psionics centuries ago.
Because of brain aneurysms,
synaptic overload.
Death.
Perhaps I can shield
my mind from its effect.
It is a logical, reasonable option.
[JIKARU SINGING OVER RECORDING]
BETO: Do you believe in every mission?
Yes.
Uh
I mean, of course I do.
PIKE: Starfleet needs us to
deliver the weapon or take it.
Thoughts?
UNA: The Lutani are at war.
Understandably desperate,
eager to shift the balance.
This creature dies because of their
experiments, it's nothing to them.
If it saves them, it's everything.
PIKE: And if it falls
into the wrong hands?
UNA: Then it's trouble for everyone.
PIKE: How do you feel about
what's happening to the Jikaru?
UNA: You know how I
feel. It's irrelevant.
PIKE: We have our orders,
whether we like it or not.
Same goes for the crew as well.
UNA: No one tells you about
this part of the job, do they?
The new neural dampeners
are loaded into torpedo tubes
and standing by.
Uh, Captain?
Mr. Spock and I are working
on an alternative plan.
A way to communicate with the Jikaru
- without injuring it.
- Communicate how?
Oh, we're still working on that, but
PIKE: Unfortunately, we're out of time.
The creature's trajectory
will take it near a planet
- with ships in orbit.
- Captain, the neural dampener
will put the Jikaru
in a catatonic state.
We won't be able to communicate
with it in that condition.
PIKE: We have our orders, Ensign.
We don't have to like them,
but we do have to obey them.
[ALERT TRILLING]
Captain, we're in range.
PIKE: Fire.
[JIKARU BELLOWING]
Torpedo wasn't able
to penetrate its skin.
LA'AN: It's a narrow target.
The dampener has to reach
a precise depth near
its cerebral cortex.
- PIKE: How many torpedoes do we have?
- Three more.
PIKE: Fire again.
All power to shields.
[GRUNTING]
Shields are down to 40%.
PIKE: Ortegas, full power astern.
Give us some distance from that thing.
¡Quítame eso de la cara!
Engines answering full astern.
Giving distance and lots of it.
Damage report, all departments.
All nonessential personnel
off the bridge, now.
UHURA: I'm sorry, Beto. You have to go.
BETO: No, I'll-I'll stay right here.
- Wait. Nyota, no.
- I'm sorry.
- Just stop. Wait.
- Sorry.
[ALERT SOUNDING]
PIKE: Damage report.
LA'AN: That attack drained our shields
like nothing I've seen before.
Another energy burst will
disable them completely.
Anyone else gonna have
nightmares about space dragons?
Captain, the Jikaru is in pursuit
and energizing for another attack.
Ortegas, get it off our tail.
You don't have to tell me twice,
but helm controls are sluggish.
[JIKARU BELLOWING]
It has to be stopped, Captain.
I suggest we hit it with a
full spread of photon torpedoes.
SPOCK: I advise against that.
The Jikaru could simply
absorb the energy,
then use it against us.
BETO: How's your hand?
It's fine.
Stop asking.
You can't prepare for the unknown.
You face it, deal with it. That's it.
End of story. [SIGHS]
UHURA: I'm sorry for being so abrupt.
It's just when the ship's on alert,
things move fast. We can't
have any distractions.
I get it, okay? Sure.
What I don't get is
how Starfleet can agree
to bring a weapon of
war to a distant planet.
Help me understand that.
Are you recording this?
I am, yes. That's my job.
Just like your job.
You're delivering a weapon,
or taking it, or-or maybe both.
And you're all just following orders.
None of you like it,
so I just want to
I just want to know why,
because it feels like
the actions of a colonizer, who takes.
[WHISPERING]: Oh, my God.
Th-This is what you've
been after all along.
Nyota, I've been af [STAMMERS]
- You should go.
- Wait.
And don't come back to the bridge.
[UHURA SCOFFING]
PIKE: And you really
think this will work?
UHURA: With a neural
amplifier, we believe Spock can
communicate with the Jikaru.
SPOCK: The amplifier should allow me
to mind-meld with
the creature remotely.
I have already sensed
impressions from it.
PIKE: Spock, you have no way of knowing
what connecting with this
creature might do to you.
I'll be monitoring Spock's vital signs
during the procedure,
so if there's any complications,
the link can be severed.
We just We need to be
close enough to link them.
I still can't believe I'm letting you
approach the Jikaru in a shuttlecraft.
UHURA: Hopefully the shuttle's
small size won't alarm it.
And if you do rile it,
you won't last a second in that shuttle.
None of you will.
The creature nearly
destroyed our ship, Captain.
It might try it again. Given our orders,
the shuttle is our smallest risk of loss
against the creature.
Godspeed.
CHAPEL: Easy. Easy. We
don't want to make it upset.
Yes. Closer.
[JIKARU BELLOWING]
CHAPEL: Spock has made
connection with the Jikaru.
SPOCK: I am not sensing any aggression,
but I do believe it is
aware of our presence.
I see her,
- feel her.
- [JIKARU MOANS]
Something so sublime.
- [ALERT CHIMING]
- Ship quartering in at high impulse.
It's a Lutani warship.
We're being hailed.
Captain Pike, now you're
tracking the creature
to take it back to Starfleet.
I question the wisdom
of trusting Starfleet.
LA'AN: Captain, the Lutani warship
- is powering up weapons.
- Red alert.
I think they pissed off the big guy.
With the Galileo right
in their line of fire.
[JIKARU BELLOWING]
PIKE: Enterprise to Galileo.
Get the hell out of there.
CHAPEL: Spock's vitals are spiking.
- [EXPLOSION]
- [GRUNTS]
PIKE: You're right, people do die.
Have you ever seen somebody die?
I don't recommend it.
And if it ever does happen to you
I don't think you would enjoy
being questioned about it.
PIKE: We don't always
like our orders, but
I trust my crew, they trust me,
and sometimes that's all we have.
PIKE: What is the creature doing?
As far as I can tell,
watching the Lutani ship.
After it attacked our
shuttle, it started doing laps.
Well, now we know not
to try talking to it.
I'm not so sure.
Before the Lutani got
there, Spock was able to
connect his mind with hers.
I felt it, too. She bonded with me.
How are they?
Christine is stable.
I have Spock in an induced
coma so his brain can heal.
He needs some time.
Did we learn anything
more about the Jikaru?
According to the data,
her brain chemistry
was artificially altered
to focus solely on
violence and destruction.
It causes her great pain.
UNA: Can you reverse it?
No. She's too far gone.
I still think we just
need to talk to her.
UNA: How? Spock's in a coma.
The Jikaru's telepathic ability
was too strong for Spock.
Maybe someone who isn't as sensitive.
Uhura, I know where
you're going with this.
Instead of a shuttle, we use Enterprise.
- Neural link me.
- Nyota
I've studied for this.
Communication with a new species.
I won't risk another crew member.
You don't have to.
I'm volunteering.
[JIKARU SCREECHING]
[DOORS WHOOSH OPEN]
[GRUNTING]
[DOORS WHOOSH SHUT]
[HUMMING]
BETO: What makes you a good medic?
I care about my patients.
[UHURA GROANING]
- [JIKARU SINGING]
- [UHURA HUMMING]
Uhura, you're risking
permanent brain damage.
[HUMMING FORCEFULLY]
[WHIMPERING]
This is one of the last
photos I took with my family.
This is very important to me.
[DEVICE CHIMING]
[GRUNTING SOFTLY]
[SINGING SUSTAINED NOTE]
Destroy.
Attack.
Destroy me.
What does that mean?
She wants us to attack her.
Then she'll turn her aggression on us
and let the Lutani ship go.
BETO: Boy, you all look very happy.
We-we are.
We were.
UHURA: The sun.
If we attack her,
she'll follow us there.
The sun?
She's tired of being a weapon.
[UHURA SOBBING]
Yes.
[CRYING]
[JIKARU CRIES]
BETO: You're doing okay?
Yeah, thanks.
She
wants to die.
It's the only way she can find peace.
PIKE: Yeah, when I was 14,
I had a bronco that
fought so hard she fell.
Broke her rib
straight into her lung, and,
um, she couldn't breathe.
[SNIFFLES] I didn't like
what I had to do, but, um
I did it.
That's the job, sometimes.
When the costs we pay for our missions,
for our choices comes due.
PIKE: I just spoke with Command.
They weren't thrilled with me,
but given the circumstances,
we're in agreement now.
La'An, let's get her attention.
Firing a low-yield burst.
Enough to annoy her,
but not enough for her
to reflect back against us.
[BEEPING]
[JIKARU SCREECHING]
UNA: She released the Lutani ship.
Ortegas, set a course
for the system's sun.
Aye, sir.
The Jikaru's children on her homeworld,
they haven't been altered.
She's worried for them.
Understood. Tell her, um
Tell her that we'll make
sure they stay that way.
That's a promise.

Ensign Elena Cho,
my friend
died doing what she believed in.
It's what I believe in, too.
[SIGHS]
This is the job.
We're often in a situation where,
if we don't do anything,
people will die.
But is it really just all on Starfleet?
Don't you think we
should take a step back?
There are other people
trying to help, sure, but
none with our resources.
If not us, then who?
I do think it's brave,
that you ask all these questions.
No one should accept anything blindly.
And that's
That's all I was trying to
do, I was just, I was just
trying to provide a counterpoint.
I believe you think that's
what you were trying to do,
but you came here angry.
You had a point to prove.
W-What was my point?
[SIGHS]
You blame Starfleet for
taking your sister away.
And then, when she got hurt,
you needed someone to
blame for almost losing her.
The thing is, she's still here.
Erica and I chose to
be a part of Starfleet.
And you can choose to
shut us out for that
or you can accept it.
But Starfleet isn't keeping
you from mending things.
[DOORS WHOOSH OPEN]
[DOORS WHOOSH SHUT]
How we doing?
The Jikaru is still pursuing
us, just out of range.
PIKE: And the Lutani ship?
Heavily damaged, but still intact.
PIKE: Hail them.
[TRILLING]
What are you doing with the Jikaru?
Where are you leading it?
Honoring her final wish.
No. We've spent years on this project.
- You can't just
- PIKE: Project?
This is an intelligent,
emotional creature.
She has a right to her free will.
- You took that from her.
- VOOR: Captain,
I'm sure we can come
to some arrangement.
PIKE: I'm shutting down
your metamorphosis program,
and have been authorized
to quarantine Tychus-B
as a sanctuary world for the Jikaru.
No. You can't do this, you mustn't.
Countless Lutani will
die without this weapon.
The Federation will continue
to provide help in other ways.
Just not like this.
VOOR: And if we refuse
to allow you to do this?
We have other warships in the area.
You threaten one of us,
you threaten all of us.
Trust me when I say, you do not
want the Federation as an enemy.
[JIKARU BELLOWING]

[JIKARU SCREECHING]
[DISTANT IMPACT]
[SNIFFLES]
So much loss.
ORTEGAS: For me, joining Starfleet
was something I could control.
Mom was dying.
I couldn't do anything about it.
I was lost
scared, I couldn't face it.
I couldn't face it.
Okay. Do it. [CLEARS THROAT]
I figured, out here, I'm in control.
Every day, I get to
prove what I'm made of.
I'm the best.
Nothing can touch me,
until it did and now
there are days when I'm
as scared as I was then.
I'm here because these
people are my family now.
Just as much as you're my family.
They give me hope.
Don't tell them I said
that. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
[BOTH GRUNTING]
UNA: Someone once said
space is dark and cold
and full of death.
Our job
is to bring light,
bring warmth, bring life
to wherever we go.
That's our mission.
UHURA: Before Starfleet,
I was adrift.
I'd lost my family.
I'd lost myself.
Starfleet sent me in a
direction at just the right time.
LA'AN: Without Starfleet,
I'd either be dead
or undisciplined,
consumed by my own anger.
SPOCK: Starfleet has
allowed me to explore
my human half.
Had I attempted this
exploration on Vulcan,
I would have been shunned
or banished.
BETO: I have now been invited
to see a side of Starfleet
I didn't expect.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- ♪
- [CHATTER CONTINUES]
Thank you very much.
BETO: What separates a "Federation"
from an "Empire"?
And a starship from a warship?
[LAUGHTER]
[OVERLAPPING CHATTER]
- Oh, yes!
- [CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
UHURA: What is Starfleet?
It's the people.
All of us.
We make Starfleet what it is.
Not the other way around.






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