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Post by Wynne Hikaru on Aug 26, 2021 9:00:33 GMT -7
Nodding their head at Shioon, Wynne began to say their piece after their partner finished talking. “It’s not breaking and entering if we have reason to suspect a ghoul is involved. If we needed a warrant every time we did something like this, we’d lose the lives of too many innocent civilians. With ghouls, time is always of the essence.” While breaking the door down wasn’t what Wynne wanted to do exactly, the action was already done. They’d just have to go with the flow and ignore the fact that doing such a thing was actually kind of iffy. And even if they got punished, it wouldn’t be on them. Technically Shioon kicked down the door so they doubted they themselves would be penalized. Plus it was such a small thing that it probably wouldn't matter anyways.
“There are people who like the CCG, people that hate them, and people that are indifferent. And all of these had different reactions towards seeing an Investigator. But in your case, you performed such a curious and strange action. Fleeing the scene? The only reason you would do so is if you feared the CCG. And people that fear it have something to hide. Are you hiding something from us sir?” No matter what the man said, the way he left was odd. And that was enough of a reason to begin this whole interrogation.
“And while we’re here I would like your name and occupation. The quicker you answer our questions, the sooner we’ll be out of your hair.” Reaching into their bag, Wynne pulled out a pen and a notebook. Judging from the mood, they had a feeling that the man in front of them was going to be difficult. But that was usually how these situations went. Unfortunate but that was how it was.
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Post by Asmoskon on Aug 27, 2021 21:19:02 GMT -7
Shioon continued to stand and keep her eyes open to the surroundings, but while Wynne handled the majority of the speaking now Shioon was under the impression that they weren’t dealing with an average person. This guy seemed incredibly calm for one that ran away at the mere sight of an investigator. He was handling himself fine to the point that even between criminals would be impressed, a fact that didn’t match up in Shioon’s opinion.
It was time to find out if this man really was hiding a ghoul somewhere in the building. She had a few different methods, but the first thing to do was to try and lure them out. Reaching into the front right pocket of her white investigator coat Shioon pulls out a small pocket knife, unleashing the blade only to slice a small cut onto her left forearm on the backside. Shioon just kept the sleeve of her coat up and began to walk around the room attempting to lure out any ghoul hungry for long pig.
A method of alluring starving ghouls employed in America that seemed crude, but Shioon believed to be effective for its cost. Of course it only works when near a starving ghoul so even if a ghoul was in this building this method wouldn’t be a guarantee to bring them out. If that was the case then she’d just have to do a different test in order to be certain this building is clean and the man is no threat.
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Post by Dorian Santiago Morterio on Aug 27, 2021 21:56:29 GMT -7
Black was pulled in a couple different directions with these two investigators. One the one hand he could tell he touched a nerve of some kind with Shioon. And the fact he did get a rise out of her made him want to smirk right at her and begin to antagonize her. She wanted to pull out laws and legislation Black was willing to go down this road. However Wynne and Dorian by extension were pulling him to do what he was meant to. Keep Dorian safe. Get these two out of his hair and get them to continue their search elsewhere. Still Black couldn't help himself, just one more comment to the taller female then he'd stop. She clearly thought herself above others around her, so Black felt it was only the right thing to do to remind her she wasn't. This would be despite the frequent protests from Dorian in the back of his head.
Glancing at Shioon once Wynne was done talking Black would tilt his head at her, wondering what exactly she was aiming to do, until of course he noticed she was cutting into herself. She was without any care or concern making herself bait. Black narrowed his eyes at her before he spoke, specifically to Shioon. "If your blood gets on the carpet you will be cleaning it up. It's bad enough I had to clean up blood the last time someone bled all over the shop. I'm not doing that again. You can still see the stained wood at the front of the register desk from the ghoul corpse." Black was now mildly aggravated. He'd had a clever response to give both of them. But there was without a doubt no chance in hell he'd allow someone to just bleed over the store AGAIN. Dorian hadn't cleaned it up, that'd been him. And that took well into the night for him to finish it so that it was presentable, no thanks to the CCG agent who retrieved the body and had taken his report of the events that had transpired.
Looking back at Wynne Black sighed to himself before looking at her tiredly. He could handle Wynne but this Shioon was an idiot and if he wasn't careful she'd get on his nerves. "For the record, I don't agree that walking away from someone is justifiable cause for what you two are doing. Namely your companion, she seems like the one who'd break into somewhere because she's itching for something to do. However as I said before, I walked off after seeing you two because of the ghoul attack that happened about a week and a half ago. If you look into your records you should have something on it, assuming your bureacracy is done sending it through it's channels. I was one wrong move from getting eaten by a ghoul, Sunshine if I remember correctly, and some other Jack Skellington masked ghoul. The two got in a fight and the latter was cannibalized. I didn't witness it myself however the remains of the fight and mess I had to clean up and deal with alongside one of your organizations junior investigators was enough for me. I don't want to get involved in anything remotely related to ghouls and since the CCG is intimately involved with ghouls for obvious reasons I have made it a habit to avoid any of you like the plague."
"I don't intend to get myself into a similar situation again or ever if I can help it. So yes, if you think I've a reason to "hide" its for that reason, so I can go on living my life and working in this botany shop. But you and your organization already have all the details regarding the ghouls that were here and what information I could give you about them. And just so you can verify that I'm not lying, since I doubt you two will believe anything I say, my name is Kuro Martinez. Obviously I work here however it's part time. Now is there any further questions or are we done? I need to open up the shop and inform the manager of the now broken door to the shop. Not to mention clean up whatever blood your companion decided to let trail through the store."
Dorian hoped that was enough for them. There really wasn't much more than could be said. Well that could be said without him immediately being targeted by the court. If nothing else he wasn't lying. The shop did get attacked, he did give that name to the investigator, and the CCG did in fact have Sunshine's body. He just wasn't going to say the why's for his actions since by law he was required to contact the CCG with anything regarding ghouls and ghoul attacks. So without further delay he glanced back over to Shioon watching to see just how much a mess the other would make. He really hoped she had the decency to not make it a large mess and not be on the carpets that the manager had laid out. He'd have to explain that too and he already had more than enough headaches as it was.
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Post by Wynne Hikaru on Aug 28, 2021 13:49:34 GMT -7
As Shioon pulled out a blade in front of them and nicked herself slightly, Wynne gave their partner a concerned look. What was she doing? They knew everyone’s moods were getting hot, but cutting herself was not the move. Judging from what they knew of her, they doubted Shioon did this for the pain or pleasure. No, the action had a purpose. Was it to get her mind straight so she didn’t attack Dorian in a fit of rage? That seemed unlikely since Investigators that had short fuses like that usually didn’t live that long. The only other option was to allure starving ghouls, which Wynne was confident wasn’t in this house. Starving ghouls weren’t quiet, and they would’ve heard it by now. Still, they had an interrogation to finish, regardless of the actions of their partner.
“My companion thought there might have been someone held captive in here, hence the unorthodox entrance. Can you blame them for trying to help someone in need? As for Sunshine, I do know of him. I was part of the group tracking him down.” Lying about their companion with a straight face, Wynne attempted to make Shioon’s actions sound reasonable. A broken door was cause for annoyance, but the action was done. They would just have to deal with the consequences. The new information about Sunshine was interesting, since they were involved in his case a while back. They hadn’t known Kuro was involved, but now that they did, they had a few more questions.
“Judging from your words, I assumed the ghoul fight happened here? At the register desk? Who’s in charge of this place, if you only work here part time? The manager? As for believing you Mr. Martinez, we are trying to trust your words. We just have to be wary in our line of work. I'm sure you understand.” The whole Sunshine case might be still ongoing, which is probably the reason the two lacked vital information. It was a setback, but one they could overcome.
“Just a few more questions and we’ll be on our way. Could we have your manager’s contact information? We may have some questions for him as well. Don’t worry about the door either, the CCG will reimburse you for the damages.” They had started off on the wrong foot, but Wynne was aiming to make it right. Even if the payment for the door would probably come out of their paycheck. Kuro didn’t seem like a ghoul, just an irritated civilian and with the mentioning of the ghoul fight that occurred here, it made sense why he left in a hurry. Wynne too would be annoyed at the CCG if they had to clean up after them. Picking up the nearest teacup in an expression of trust, they drank the lukewarm tea with a concealed grimace. It wasn’t much, but this was all they could do for now to try and mend the burned bridges. Drink his tea and pay for the damages they caused.
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Post by Asmoskon on Aug 28, 2021 18:30:25 GMT -7
Something didn’t seem right that much Shioon was certain about now. Although this man wasn’t giving them anything to go on, that was the very strange part. He’d apparently just suffered a Ghoul attack recently, had to scrub the floor of blood and didn’t want to deal with Ghouls or the CCG again. All of that was all fine and good and reasonable for an average person, but his actions didn't match what an average person would be doing right now.
He didn’t have the sort of typical anger towards a group that caused her additional work or placed him in danger. He wasn’t terrified of Ghouls from the sounds of it despite being near an attack. No, most men either wished they could see more combat with a Ghoul as if it were part of some action movie or they would be scared of the occurrence like the majority. This man was hiding something even if Shioon wasn’t able to find it. His off hand comment about her was enough that Shioon knew more.
He kept bringing up the door along with making comments that seemed the sort to try and provoke them. Strange for someone that claimed to just want the CCG gone. This whole thing was a mess right now, but Shioon was certain this man wasn’t telling them everything. Now came the long part of the job where actually investigating this place would start. Not leaving the room in case something were to happen with Wynne, Shioon stands now more as an additional guard than anything at the moment.
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Post by Dorian Santiago Morterio on Aug 28, 2021 19:31:39 GMT -7
Black nodded as Wynne explained the actions of their aide. Though that wasn't where his mind first went with their action he had to admit that was a pretty solid method of searching for the less fed ghouls. Thankfully the store wasn't a place the court worked out of so no ghouls were present. In other areas this tactic would have likely worked well given that even some of the cooks and other lower members ate humans more frequently. So even the scent alone could get them to start salivating. He shouldn't waste anymore of his time on the other investigator. She would only cause more trouble if he did.
With that said he maintained his focus on Wynne intent on making sure he answered her questions thoroughly enough to satisfy them. With a nod to their first question he started to speak. "Yes, at the front of the shop and it ended at the register. At the base of it, near the smaller potted roses is where you'll find the remaining stained wood. It's not the easiest to see but once you catch the difference it's hard not to see it."
As for the owner that would be Ms. Ichika. When we head back downstairs I can give you a card for the shop. Her personal number is on it along with the shops number so you can reach either of us if you have any further questions. The manager however doesn't really know much else about the attack since she wasn't present at the time. She had a medical appointment scheduled for that morning." Despite his lukewarm opinion of the CCG on it's best days Black was slowly coming around to Wynne. She was infinitely better than the last CCG investigator that he'd had to deal with. The last one had a complex not unlike Shioon. Just more pompous rich boy with connections.
This was only furthered when Wynne had actually decided to try the tea. Black actually reached out to try and stop her since he knew first hand the tea wasn't going to taste well. But unfortunately she got to it first and even he grimaced some as she very quickly realized this fact. "If it makes it any better I didn't stew it right to begin with so it wasn't going to be good even if the tea was warm. My apologies for that. If you'd like I can give you some bags of the blend so you can try it whenever you have a moment and actually taste what it should be. I've had this mint raspberry tea before and it's a lot better than my attempt at stewing would imply."
She'd taken the chance to try his tea and even he knew that was a dangerous game. The least he could do since she was meeting him half way was try and end things on a better note. Hopefully the promise of the blend would solidify things, especially since the room had gotten noticeably less tense now. At least between Black and Wynne. Shioon was a different story but Black could manage long enough so long as they had minimal interaction."Also if you'd like to see the stains I can show you. I doubt they'll give you much more information about the attack but maybe you'll see something the other didn't."
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Post by Wynne Hikaru on Aug 29, 2021 14:50:56 GMT -7
With Shioon standing guard, Wynne listened attentively as Kuro answered their questions. It seemed that even though the ghoul incident happened a while ago, the stains were still there. Which made sense in a way, seeing as how removing stains from wood was already a difficult process. Blood would probably be even harder to remove, or at least that's what they assumed. Removing stains from wood wasn’t really in their expertise.
“A card would be nice. Although that does bring up another question. If Ms. Ichika and you yourself were both absent, who was working at the shop when the incident happened? Another part time worker? If so, I would like their information as well.” Both of them being gone was a little strange, but neither did the shop have to be run by two people. It did make them wonder though, was there something special about this shop? Ghouls just didn’t start fights without reason after all. Not when such a thing could reveal their presence to the CCG.
“All good, the tea was still….interesting to taste. And it would be my pleasure to sample the blend as I’m a big fan of tea as well. Peppermint is my favorite.” Any tea with some sort of fruit flavor felt divine on their taste buds, and they were always glad to have more. They and Kuro had a lot in common, be it their likes in tea or botany. Perhaps they could even be friends one day?
“That would be helpful. I doubt I’ll find any hidden clues from the stains, but a quick look couldn’t hurt.” Nodding to Kuro, Wynne would follow him downstairs if he chose to show them immediately. Their questioning was almost done, and so far Kuro seemed clean. There were a few strange situations concerning him, but nothing they could really pin on him. Everyone had their secrets, and as long as they didn’t involve ghouls, Wynne was fine with letting them have it.
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Post by Asmoskon on Aug 29, 2021 18:05:03 GMT -7
The tension in the room was decreasing as the discussion continued between this man and Wynne. It wouldn’t be long now before they would have nothing left to go on. Although something didn’t sit right with Shioon she had no information to go on and hadn’t been able to find anything from just sight alone, she didn’t have any reason to suspect the man other than his strange behavior, something that wasn’t good enough in Japan. So it seemed she’d just have to play nice and hope to find something more solid later in the day.
The blood on her area was starting to lessen already as she hadn’t cut deep enough to really drain more than a small amount of blood from her limb. The goal wasn’t to drench the floor, cause herself pain or damage herself, just a method to draw out the Ghouls unable to suppress their hunger. Shioon’s attention nor expression didn’t really change until the man offered to show both of them the stain on the floor. Mentioning how hard it was to remove and thus it was still present Shioon moved through the kitchen.
This was a tea shop, but as she opened up cabinets she was sure she’d find what she was looking for. This was likely going to cause some sort of reaction from the man, but at this point Shioon didn’t really care. It would take her a couple of cabinets to find, but the small manicured hands pulled out an average container of salt then filled a portion of a glass with water. “If you haven’t managed to get rid of the stain, try using salt water. Soak and scrub for about three minutes and then wait. If it doesn’t lift you can try again or rotate with white vinegar.”
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Post by Dorian Santiago Morterio on Aug 30, 2021 14:14:42 GMT -7
Things were progressing well now. The conversation was almost done and it seemed his using the attack on the shop as a shield managed to work well enough to convince them or hard stop any aggressive advances on him. This was good though he had no doubt they would call at some later date once he'd give them the card. He'd likely have to give them his own number but he hoped the shop's number would be enough for them to work with in regards to getting a hold of him. But that would be a matter to deal with at a later point. Something hopefully Dorian could handle, especially since he had a sneaking suspicion Wynne and Dorian would likely be able to get along well enough as long as he just let the fact she was a CCG member take a backseat to the individual.
As she agreed to take some of the blend Black got up and went to the cabinet he'd originally pulled it out from and grabbing a plastic sandwhich bag. They had small brown bags somewhere but right now this would do for his needs. Keep this information in mind by the way Dorian. If she decides to call and question us again peppermint tea is her preference. I know you'll actually remember it. He got a hum of acknowledgement and was content in letting that be the response from Dorian. When he finished filling up the bag halfway he closed it, replaced the remaining blend in the cabinet and then walked over and handed it to Wynne. "That should be several cups depending on how strong you make your tea. As for your question about the store I was the one working at the time. There are other coworkers but they handle the afternoon shifts since I manage the openings with Ms. Ichika. As for the stain follow me I'll show you."
It was at this point he realized Shioon was searching through his cabinets for something. And as much as he wanted to call out to her and say something he was more curious about what she could want to find. Curiously enough Salt, a glass, and water. He raised an eyebrow at her and was immediately answered with a possible solution to get rid of the stain. He blinked admittedly more surprised than he should have been. He simply nodded and walked over to put a fresh rag into the glass so it could soak up the salt water. Once done he spoke to her. "I hadn't realized this could work. I'd heard about it a few times from some of the older female customers but I thought it a "pseudo fix". Once we're done I'll make sure to give it a try. Thank you." From there he'd motion both to follow him down the stairs.
Once down there by the register he'd simply start to move a several pots and vases of various plants to reveal that there was indeed a blood stain on the floor. It was faded some showing that Black had in fact attempted to clean it up but it remainded regardless. The one thing that was perhaps concerning was the fact it reached onto the desk the register was sitting on and then pooled into a sizeable puddle that reached upwards of 3 feet out. Given all the flowers and the various colors and combinations in the bouquet examples around the front of the register it would be hard to notice it first. Especially the "darker fade" near the register since the pots and vases had covered that pretty well and in the shadows it just looked darker.
The more Black looked at it the more he groaned mentally. He'd have to make more salt water. Thankfully though the morning should be slow enough that he could tackle this on top of his upkeep for the plants."In retrospect I'm going to need a lot more salt water. That and possibly a large portion of the vinegar bottle. Still at least I can finally ease Ms. Ichika's concerns if I remove it. You wouldn't believe how scared it made her. She really thought the shop would close down from the stain alone."
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Post by Wynne Hikaru on Aug 30, 2021 14:38:34 GMT -7
“Thank you.” Gently placing the sandwich bag into their fanny pack, Wynne watched their partner rummage through Kuro’s cabinets. The reason was provided a few moments later as Shioon gave Kuro some tips on how to remove stains. Mentally making a note of this information, Wynne decided to keep it in mind in case they ever spilled something. They were usually pretty careful with things like that, but you never knew what might happen.
Once downstairs, Wynne crouched to take a closer look at the stain. It was more imposing than they thought it would be. From the description Kuro gave, they thought it was a small spill. Tiny but formidable. Instead what met their eyes was a whole puddle that extended a few feet with other stains located around it. If the blood was still there, it would’ve resembled a murder scene. Which might have actually been the case.
“Yeah, those stains look pretty intense. You might actually need to buy a specific cleaning bottle to remove those spots.” That was the limit of the advice Wynne could give. Maybe if the blood was cleaned up earlier, Kuro wouldn’t have had to deal with this problem. But since this place had once been a crime scene, the blood couldn’t be cleaned immediately as it was evidence at the time. Unfortunate but necessary.
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Post by Asmoskon on Aug 30, 2021 18:11:22 GMT -7
While this was coming to an end Shioon was starting to get the feeling that caused a groan from her soul, this was going to be the only moderately eventful thing to happen. She already had the feeling that it didn’t matter what else the day had in store for her and Wynne it was all going to be fruitless and potentially very boring. She still didn’t know much of anything about Wynne and her small talk skills were about as refined and developed as a Ghoul’s self control. No getting down to the first floor once again and seeing the blood stain on the wood was the only thing left to do here. When Shioon could actually see the stain her hand was brought up to the side of her head as she began to lose herself in thought.
Why had the Ghoul been killed in this sort of position? Had the investigator got it from behind when it had been attempting to get the human behind the counter? Had the investigator just happened to push it back against the wooden barrier? She made a mental note to check out the file and investigation that was going on about this attack. Something still felt off about all of this, her intuition just wasn’t settling down. Even if she couldn’t find anything right now, even if this guy wasn’t a Ghoul, something about this shop was off. “Could always do a controlled burn, but you’d have to be extremely careful with the plants.”
After she gave the last bit of advice that she could offer about the stain on the wood, Shioon began to move towards the front of the shop. Taking the time to look out of the glass window to the outside. What was she missing? The Ghoul had come in through the front door and attacked? If it had been a starving Ghoul then it likely wouldn’t have thought well enough to use the door instead of just breaking their way in. If it had been one just looking for a meal then it would have done so at night with less chance of being seen. It had done so with an investigator close by? It didn’t match up, something was wrong, an outside factor she didn’t have. This story, this turn of events, felt more like a failed hit from a gang than a Ghoul attack.
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Post by Dorian Santiago Morterio on Aug 30, 2021 18:38:08 GMT -7
"Yeah you're telling me. Well at least I've got a couple ideas of how to handle it now. Though if I want to follow that burn trick I'm going to need to have Ms. Ichika close the shop likely for this large a stain. That'll have to be a conversation for later however. Before I forget however here is the shops card." Black reached over next to the register to the pile of cards and grabbed one for each investigator. Internally he wasn't very fond of the idea of having both know how to get a hold of him, but in all honesty the report about Sunshine's attack already had everything they needed to contact the shop. This would just allow these two to have an easier time remembering it. He'd give both cards to Wynne however due to her simply being the closer of the two.
Black gave a glance to his watch and froze for a moment. It was 30 after the shop was supposed to be open. He groaned internally. If Ms. Ichika knew, she'd beat him with a rolled up newspaper. He'd never seen her do that but it just felt like the sort of thing the manager would do if she were really upset. And opening late was one of those things. Still Black would have to manage that alongside a few things once these two were gone. His day and his shift specifically would be busy regardless of if he had customers or not. With a glance at Wynne he spoke up to her. "If you have any further questions I'll try to answer them quickly but I really need to open up the shop. It's 30 after and if the manager comes back she'll have my head over it. However in the meantime I need to put everything back in place for now. Don't want to spook the customers."
Black made his way to the front of the desk and began moving the vases and potted plants the same way the manager had earlier. He'd glance back at Wynne or Shioon if they spoke up but his focus was going back to the shop and making sure it was presentable. He knew Dorian would never let him hear the end of it if he didn't. He loved this place so much if he ever got over his concerns with seriously harming someone he might be able to kill for it seriously. One could only be so fortunate. But I suppose thats why Dorian is a better people person than me. He still has that spark in him. Something that seems muted if nothing else for me. Then again, I'm not exactly normal now am I? Whatever, let's just hope these two are done now. I need to get to that phone call and take care of the shop before letting Dorian come back.
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Post by Wynne Hikaru on Aug 30, 2021 19:46:21 GMT -7
Taking the card from Kuro, Wynne handed the extra one to Shioon. If they ever came up with any more questions, they’d be sure to give him a call. “No, we have no further questions. Thank you for your time.” Giving Kuro a nod, they would leave the store with their partner in tow. They weren’t thirsty now, but in a few hours they couldn’t wait to try out the tea they received.
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Post by Asmoskon on Aug 30, 2021 19:56:54 GMT -7
The limitation on what could be done right now had been reached. Getting the card for the information on the shop wouldn’t really offer her anything other than a resource to use for minor things. One thing that she was going to do regardless though was her job. Something was off about this shop or perhaps the area around it. Once she was done surveying through this area of the ward today with Wynne she’d be sure to dig up some more information.
The case about the shop was still ongoing, due to her status as a recent hire though she’d doubt she could manage to be assigned to the investigation. She’d have to go about it during her free time and hope to find something out. As she left the shop her eyes gathered up around the scene. Alleyways, shops, bus stops, anything and everything. She believed she’d caught a scent now it was time to hunt.
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Post by Jack Scottsmen on Aug 31, 2021 11:22:22 GMT -7
Ok, that's 290 Ryo to both Wynne and Asmoskon, While Dorian gets 319 due to Penny Pincher.
As far as Social Bonus goes, Wynne, Asmoskon, and Dorian all get 100% to their next threads with any or all of the other particapents of this thread.
Dorian, Asmoskon, and Wynne all Gain a C-Rank Social Benefit as well!
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