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** D.E1 Chapter 78**

Symbiotic Bond

"Silver, I need you to calm down!"

It was late during evening hours. Rage of Lusceonis had no time to sleep though. Within the dark bridge of the massive Retcan ship that proudly wore the scars of battle, a heated discussion took place.

"You have no right to track my ship!" A female voice well known and respected made itself felt.

"How can you say that? We are your brothers! We are all Retcans! We have the right to know where you are and if you're well!" Obscuring Silver's own voice, a very deep voice echoed through the bridge, amplified by the speakers of the main screen.

"I thought we made it clear last time we spoke, Haro!" Moving deeper into the bridge, sitting on the Captain's chair, the proud leader of Rage of Lusceonis glared at who dared speak to her through the screen.

Her beautiful silvery blue eyes looked worn out by exhaustion. Her hunched posture was evidence of the difficult time she had gone through in the past month. A few bandages still covered some of the wounds that were yet to heal.

"Made what clear? You abruptly cut communications and ceased all contact from Lusceonis!" Magnified by the large screen, another white Retcan could be seen, sitting on his own throne-like chair. Menacing red eyes stared down at Rage's captain "How could you do that, Silver?"

"You are absolutely impossible to reason with, Haro... You are still damaged from the Great War. All of you..." Silver replied harshly. "We care for you, and we wish for you to wake up to reality."

"Silver, please..." Haro, one of the High Guides of Lusceonis tried to reason with the infuriated Silver.

"No, Haro! You will listen to what I have to say!" she sprung from her chair. She immediately clenched her side as her eyes squinted with pain.

"Silver, it's over! Why won't YOU listen?" As powerful as his voice was, Haro surprisingly showed himself a lot more submissive and clam than a few months back during the Blue Comet incident. He lowered his tone in an attempt to calm Silver down. Another white Retcan appeared from the shadows behind Silver and gently rested his arm around her.

"Silver, your wound is going to open again!" A very tender voice spoke to her. This voice had the most impressive soothing effect on Silver. Her fangs that showed menacing were now replaced by a clam expression. "We don't want that to happen for the FOURTH time, right?" Her son could feel the worries that obscured Silver's heart at that moment. They were one of the same; Silver, him, every Retcan on board Rage. Bo never left her side from that moment on.

"Why don't we listen to what Haro has to say?" Bo desperately tried to convince her to leave her anger and fear aside. "He is right, and you know it. They are our brothers, Silver. We are ALL Retcans. You are trying to protect them from their confusion and fear, trying to show them what it means to be a Retcan. Yet you insist to conflict with your own kind, which is exactly the opposite of what you are trying to achieve..."

Silver didn't respond. She just stared at the small and fuzzy Retcan boy of tender charcoal eyes.

"Thank you, my brother." Haro now spoke to Bo. "Could you make her sit down? I know she's hurt and I don't want her injuries to get worse."

Bo immediately followed Haro's advice and gently led Silver back to her chair. He sat on the armrest, petting her tenderly.

"You are Bo, right?" Haro asked. "You are Silver's assistant, if I'm not mistaken? I remember you from the crew roster."

"Yes, Haro." He replied with a huge smile. Haro returned the friendly gesture by smiling back at him.

"I am impressed..." Haro closed his eyes a second, analyzing this curious instance before staring at Bo and Silver again. "You seem to be the only one I've ever witness having control over her. Can you please make sure Silver listens to what I have to say?

"I am right here, Haro!" For a moment, Silver seemed distant, but as soon as Haro discussed about her, she sprung bad in defense. "If you wish to speak about me, or need my opinion, then do it directly at my face!" She replied harshly.

"Hey! No!" Bo quickly intercepted Silver before she could lose her composure again. Astonishing to Haro's eyes, Silver immediately changed her expression to a calm one again. This young Retcan of very loving presence had Silver in the palm of his paw.

"Maybe you should've been the Captain, Bo." Haro said chuckling in good spirit. He looked back at Silver to see how she would react, almost as if teasing.

"Oh..." Bo stuttered. "Me? No..." He smiled at Silver, fearing that she might get upset. Surprisingly she didn't. "I'm just general crew. Silver was kind enough to let me into the ship, even though I had no special training. I owe her so much..." He looked back at his Life Giver; smiling.

Silver just stared at Bo. She remembered years in past when he was born and how she had raised and trained him. This little white Retcan of her's never left her side. They had a bond unlike anything else. This brought a smile to Silver, and as her son sat right next to her, she felt his warmth. It was amazing how Bo could have such a soothing effect on her. It was something that not even Silver could comprehend.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, letting out a sigh and staring back at Haro, Silver prepared herself to confess... "I'm Bo's Life-Giver, Haro..." She said. She now stared back at Bo. The young Retcan stared back at her stunned at how she had now revealed that secret to a former Council member.

"Silver, wait!" Bo tried to take it back, but couldn't find the words. He quickly thought of an excuse, but nothing seemed to be good enough to convince Haro that what she had said was not true. He never expected that confession to come out of Silver so casually.

"No, Bo... There is no point on hiding it." She said as she gently held Bo's muzzle shut. She then glared at the screen to find Haro completely jaw-dropped. "Yes, Haro; Bo is my son. I hid the truth from the Council, you and even... my brother Titan."

For almost a minute, the three white Retcans stared at each other. Bo struggled to find a way out of it, Haro just couldn't find words to describe what he just heard. Meanwhile, Silver just sat down very calm. This revelation somewhat let out a huge weight off her back. But it would be fine, as she knew there was no point on hiding it; no reason at all.

"I..." Haro shook his head a bit. He did not know what to say. "I am... surprised, to say the least."

"Yes, Haro... I know it's surprising, but it is the truth." Silver replied very calmly. "What are you going to do now; are you taking me back to Lusceonis by force?" She then said. She never felt threatened. For what she had heard so far from Haro, the recent actions of Rage had pushed the Retcans to try and change their ways. She could feel it by the way Haro spoke to her, but she kept herself on guard.

"Silver... I don't think it matters anymore." Haro said. He had gotten up from his chair, but fell back to it, shaking his head in disbelief. "You are quite a handful, aren't you Silver?" He let out a chuckle.

"No, you are a handful, Haro..." Stubborn as always, Silver confronted.

After a minute or two, still shaking off the life-changing revelations, Haro smiled at Silver. There was a sense of peace in the air. There was no tension provoked by the fear of distant memories. Retcans had overcome the Great War, and were slowly recovering themselves from the traumatic experience. They had completely ignored how sensitive they really were, and how that post-traumatic stress had struck their nature so negatively.

"Silver..." Haro spoke. He scratched his ear a bit and examined his claws. His mood was completely opposite of what he had been ever since he lead the Council. He seemed much more calm, casual and... alive. "There is things you need to know. Things that have happened in Lusceonis since we last spoke...There has been changes."

"What?" Silver mumbled. She didn't understand what Haro could possibly meant by that.

"The Council is no more..." He confessed at a very paused but definite tone. He glared straight into his sister Retcan eyes, waiting for her reaction.

"The... Council?" Silver couldn't find the words. The Council meant so much for the Retcan race ever since they won the Great War. It was the cornerstone of the new order that brought the Retcan race back to their hind paws. The reconstruction of their society and civilization. The recovery of nature and their planet's environmental balance. The light of hope that such a horrifying event would ever repeat itself again.

"We never needed it, Silver..." Haro said. He seemed relaxed and also very relieved.

"What are you talking about?" Silver jumped back out of her seat. The pain was ignored as best as she could. "Without The Council, we wouldn't have recovered from the Great War!"

"Silver... You said it yourself." Haro played back an audio clip from their last conversation. This came very much to Silver's surprise. "Remember this?"

-We are turning into something we are not. In our strive to prevent the Great War to ever happen again, we are losing our essence... You need to awake from that fear that blinds you. You need to remember what means to be a Retcan... Who we really are...-

"These words have engraved themselves into my heart and soul, Silver." Haro said as he stopped the recording. "It's had a massive impact not only on me, but the former Council members and all of Lusceonis who have now heard it..."

"Haro..." Silver whispered.

"The Council did many things that were beneficial to our race, but also took it too far. It had to stop before we lost ourselves completely. We are Retcans, Silver. And if something as close as the Great War ever happens, we will then fight against those who threaten us. But before then, we will be Retcans and we will live as it is our nature."

This was a revelation Silver did not expect at all. Somehow it filled her with joy to hear this from one of the Leaders of Lusceonis. Ever since they met the Evocanis, their erratic ways had slowly been fading away, giving room for their true nature. Peace, love, understanding and a pure and natural emotional connection. The way of the furred being.

"However, there are still things that need to be taken care of..." Haro regained his stoic posture, shaking his head, taking a deep breath and staring back at Silver. "We will talk about it later, as for now we have to assess the situation that the former R105, is in."

Silver didn't answer for a brief period as she stared at Haro in disbelief.

"It is no surprise to you that R105 was very lucky to survive that attack." Haro said. He brought up some diagrams of Rage of Lusceonis and the damage it received. "The ship's design kept it from terminal damage, but the state that it's in now it is almost, if not, irreparable."

Seeing all this information from her ship did not make Silver too happy. She had been spied on for the duration of the entire voyage; far beyond from what she was comfortable with.

"Given that the damage exceeds your supplies, materials, and resources, you have no way out of this, Silver."

"I have it under control." She replied sternly.

"No you don't." Haro replied even more stern.

"Yes. I. Do." Silver was now becoming irritated. Having someone defy her authority and judgment was something she did not appreciate.

"Oh really? Tell me how then; because my engineers know that R105 is not going anywhere."

"My ship's name is Rage... And will figure it out!"

"Excuse me..." Suddenly, a voice was heard from the entrance of the bridge. "I think we should listen to Haro, Silver."

A creamy white Retcan stood in the shadows not long before finally standing next to the Captain's chair. His silvery blue eyes glimmered in the dark much like Silver's.

"Titan. I am so glad that you joined us. Could you speak some sense into your little sister?" Haro playfully mocked at the situation. He was trying to be as light-hearted as he could to bring the tension down a bit.

"Are you serious?" Silver replied irritated.

"Silver, you know we are in a terrible predicament at the moment." Titan spoke as he stared at Silver. Bandages around his head were evidence of the hard times he had gone through. He walked slowly down the bridge until stopping next to Silver's chair. "Our resources are depleted and we just barely managed to seal the affected Sectors from the rest of the ship. There is a hole across the entire ship, Silver, in case you don't want to acknowledge it. We have no maneuverability, we barely managed to repair the hangar and reorganize our defenses..."

"Don't tell me what I know, Titan!" Silver was again angry. She felt threatened by everyone who confronted her at that moment, yet she knew they were right.

"We can't take resources from Canis Major, Silver. You know that, you gave the order so it would never happen, and we all know it's the right thing to do." Titan spoke sincerely to his little sister. He sat on the arm rest and gently placed his paw on Silver's shoulder.

Silver sighed once again. She knew they were right and she had lost the argument. "I know..." She responded; surprisingly very calm. Her muscles relaxing under Titan's gentle touch gave him hope that Silver would be more reasonable.

"And we know it too, Silver; my sister Retcan." Haro said. "Every R-Series has multiple beacons with independent control modules. They work separate from the ship's main systems, yet they also transmit the ship's location and condition to Lusceonis. Anytime the ship gets close to critical damage, a distress signal is sent out..."

"That's how you managed to link to our frequency again." Silver spoke almost over Haro's words. "You never lost contact; you only pretended you did..." Silver now understood. The palm of her paw hit right on her head when she realized it. "You were watching us all this time!"

"It was never done with the intention to monitor or control you. It was the only way to know where our brothers were at all times. It was done to protect you and help you during a situation like this..."

"Silver..." Haro continued. "A fleet of engineering ships, supply ships and Rage's sister ship, R01, is heading in your location as we speak..."

"What? Wait; no!!"

"Silver, listen!" Haro continued. "Why are you so stubborn? We care for you, Silver! You are my Retcan sister! We cannot and WILL not let you stranded in the middle of a space void."

There was no response from Silver. With her head down, she let out a sigh once again. Her eyes had filled with tears, not knowing if it was the pain of her injuries, the helplessness she was in at the moment, or how touched she felt with Haro's gentle words. There was no reason for her to be so stubborn at that moment. It was her nature to be like that, but she felt she had taken it too far.

"No response, Silver?" Haro asked after a brief moment of silence. Silver just shook her head.

"Very well, my brothers... I will speak with you personally in about twelve hours universal time. Go get some rest."

"Thank you, Haro." Titan spoke not only for him, but all Rage of Lusceonis. With a smile, the screen went black.

"Whoa..." Bo said surprised. "Did he just say he would speak with us personally?"

"It seems so." Titan replied. "He was wearing a space uniform, which kind of surprised me."

Looking down at Silver, who still just sat still, with her head down and eyes close, Titan gently brushed her neck fluff with his claws. "This is good, Silver. You know that."

"This fixes all of our problems, Silver. Let's just work together as a race. Let's reconstruct our ship, help the Evos end the war against the machines, rescue their brothers and go back home." Bo said. He slid down the armrest until he scooched right next to Silver. He then lovingly held Silver in a hug, resting his head on her's.

"There is hope, Silver. This is an incredible gift. Seeing our brothers finally changing back to what we always were, and also helping us in our cause. You know very well we had no possibility to recover ourselves from that battle, and if the machines decided to attack again, we would certainly lose the fight." Titan gently spoke to his sister.

Silver finally raised her head and stared at Titan. Her eyes lacked the characteristic scowl she always wore. Those big and beautiful silvery blue eyes were wide open, shining with tears. But she was not in pain; she had finally given up to her stubborn ways. These were tears of relief. She relaxed her body and rested on Titan's lap, pressing her head against his belly. Bo hugged her from behind tenderly.

"My little sister... Such a beast that you are sometimes. But you need to remember how to be a Retcan too. Just leave that warrior pride in the barracks every now and then..."

They have had enough for that day. Titan suggested going to bed and sleep for a few hours. Their body and minds needed that. But Rage of Lusceonis would not rest for long, as someone ran into the bridge, noticeably altered.

"Captain! Titan, Bo!" A white female Retcan ran into the bridge. "You need to see this now!"

"Oh no... what is it, Crystal?" Silver had no energy to deal with more problems, but what Crystal had to say was something that would bring some joy and hope to their lives. At last; they needed good news.

"It's Husky..." Crystal said. Her voice broken made the other three Retcans on the bridge cringe with fear. They all jumped up from the Captain's chair with worry overwhelming their heart.

"Please... no..." Silver muttered in denial. She held her muzzle with her paws as her eyes flooded.

"No, no..." Crystal noticed the worried expression on the three Retcans and realized they might be thinking the worse. "He's well! He just woke up half an hour ago!"

Storms never last forever... Despite the hopelessness that ate the Retcan's heart at that moment, hope fought back and pushed a light into that darkness. The Evo that had fought so bravely, that was medically dead, he was now awake and well. From that moment on, all the worried seemed to matter not, as Titan, Silver, Bo and Crystal ran back to the recovery room.

"I will not leave him there!!" The powerful bark of an Evocanis was heard in their earpiece.

"Evocanis; listen to me!" Zonda was still weak from his ordeal at the gladiator arena, but he did as he could to maintain his leadership. It had been a horribly difficult fight, but despite their victory, the danger wasn't over yet. "We will do this together. I am letting you do what is your right. But you will follow my orders; is that clear?"

"We have no time! We must rescue him. I promised his Life-Giver I would!"

Through the now inactive battlefield, surrounded by debris and what was now space trash, a small fleet of Retcan fighter ships and a prototype D.E1 fighter flew almost max speed towards the machine's main fleet.

"What is your name, Evocanis?" Zonda questioned through the communicator.

"Lay..." A raspy voice replied.

"Okay, Lay. You will follow my orders. This is the second and last time I will ask. Do you follow me?" Zonda understood the pain and desperation of the Evocanis. He was also in denial after hearing from R105; how they had confirmed a group of rogue Evocanis fighting their way into one of the machine's mothership. They had found a very injured Fx drifting far away inside a damaged fighter ship, and so far they had nothing on Anubis and Husky. All they knew is that they had gone to the Machine's mothership in search for Fx. He knew he couldn't stop Lay, but for the sake of not letting anyone else getting hurt, he had to maintain control.

"I understand..." The raspy voice replied.

"As much as it pains me to say this, and it does a lot..." The words that would come up next were the most painful admission. "There is a high chance Husky and Anubis didn't make it. They have both been there for almost the entire duration of the fight... alone..."

"I KNOW!" Lay suddenly burst into anger. "No matter the outcome... I will bring them back home..."

It didn't take long for the small fleet to reach the origin of the signal. A strangely asymmetrical ship barely held itself in one piece. It was a massive ship, and the thought of someone being lost inside it was nerve-wrecking.

"Watch the entrance. There is a lot of debris in the way. It might be unstable..." One of the Retcans announced as they slowly flew their fighter ships through the wreckage. Traces of white mist bled from the ship, evidence of the atmosphere loss. Through the mangled and twisted remains, they managed to board the ship.

"Oxygen is lost, General..." They double and triple-checked their scanners. There was no doubt that the ship had almost lost its entire atmosphere. If an oxygen-breathing creature still roamed inside, there was no way he could've survive that.

There was little hope, but the blood bonds of furred beings were too strong to let go, even if all logic was defied. With emergency O2 helmets ready, they rushed into the depths of the shipwreck. Minutes passed and it soon became an eternity. That ship was massive and the deeper they got into it, thinking they would reach an end, the further it went. They were not ready for a near vacuum operation. Their equipment was not the right for the occasion and their bodies felt the strain of lack of pressure. But their armors did offer some protection.

"Oxygen concentrations are rising, General. Atmosphere pressure is higher." It was good news, now that they had ventured themselves further inside. "Still not optimal for life..." but maybe as they got further deep into the ship, the concentration would be higher. Maybe there was a chance.

"If they knew this, they might be somewhere safe..." Lay never lost hope.

"Husky..." Silver gently got close to were Husky now slept. He was sandwiched in between Hasky and his brother Fx, sleeping peacefully on a floor-level sleeping panel. "I'm sorry, my beautiful Evo friend..."

"He is fine for what I can see." Red was next to them. "I did some tests. He is alright other than being a bit malnourished, a bit of muscle atrophy and other little things that can be reversed with therapy and lot's of eating. However, there are a few things that do bother me..."

"Is he in danger?" Silver asked. He could barely hold her tears.

"No... And that is what worries me. I need you to see something I found. It's rather... unsettling. But first, I need Anubis back here to perform some tests on him as well."

"Have him picked up and brought here." Silver didn't hesitate to give the order.

"I already did. He should be here in an hour or so."

"The signal is getting stronger!" It was becoming progressively harder to advance inside the collapsed structure of the ship. Their Lanthracite blades glistened orange, as they had to cut their way through at some places.

"We'll hold them back! You keep on going!" Three Retcan warriors readied their alternate weapons, ready to counter a small group of machines that lurked out of the dark. They would be no match for the trained Retcan warriors.

Only a small opening between all the scrap and twisted metal; that's all they needed to follow the signal that now got stronger.

"They have to be here!" Lay thought to himself. He was very nervous. He knew what he had to do, but the idea of seeing his Evo brothers being dead after a long suffering due to suffocation was a strong possibility. This idea struck him harder than ever.

Nothing would stop them. They had a mission and that was to recover their comrades and brothers no matter what. Bent metal beams, collapsed decks and destroyed walls wouldn't be an obstacle.

"Oxygen and pressure levels increasing." Could be read on their ComPod screens. A quick positive paw gesture from the battlefield medic signaled that there could be hope.

"See this?" Red shared the screen of his large ComPod with Silver. "This is the last blood test I did on Husky not five minutes ago."

"Anything to be worried about?" Silver doubted to ask, fearing bad news. They had silently walked outside the room now.

"I will compare this other blood sample from myself. The reason why I do this is so you can see how the Nano-Machines look in our blood stream."

"Wait... what's going on?" Silver asked confused. "What about our Nano-machines?"

"Just look for yourself..."

It was very confusing, but Silver saw the Nano-machines bonded to Red's blood cells, effectively doing the job they were created for. But then she saw Husky's blood test.

"Wait..." she said, comparing both samples over and over. Silver was no medic, but it was clear that something was not right.

"What am I looking for, Red?" She asked. "Should there be a difference on both samples?"

"Evo blood and ours look the same, Silver. We both have Red, White and Platelete cells. What DON'T you see in Husky's sample?"

It was confusing, but after a second glance, Husky's blood indeed looked different. It was certainly missing something as she had first noticed.

"Nano-machines?" Silver said instinctively as she noticed the absence of the tiny blue dots that traveled bonded to the blood cells.

"Exactly..." Red affirmed.

"I thought the Evos involved in the D.E Development Team were inoculated with the Nano-machine prototype made specifically for them."

"Indeed they all were; including Husky..." Red said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He did not know how to tell Silver about what he had just found out. It was difficult enough for him to understand.

They fell into the void... A gap under them had swallowed them whole.

"Down here! It's got to be it." The Retcan scout yelled through the Com systems.

They had to let themselves be devoured by that darkness. The signal was at its peak. If they were to find the two Evocanis, it was in this place.

Zipping down the line, they fell into the abyss. The gap they entered through was small enough for them to fit, but underneath its depths, it hid a massive hollow.

"What is this place?!" Zonda exclaimed. He had turned his helmet and and belt light on, but could not hit anything except for what appeared to be a sandy bottom.

Tossing a flare, they could confirm the bottom's location. Two Retcans and the Evocanis had hit bottom and were temporarily stunned by this place. A cavern surrounded by what appeared to be sand dunes and ancient debris.

"Over here!" The scout snapped them out of their daze.

They quickly moved, as the ship shifted violently and the gravity conduits failed erratically.

"Husky! Anubis!" Lay desperately cried. Reality had struck him finally. He knew he would see his Evo brothers soon and there would be a high chance that he had to carry their bodies back home; to where they belong.

Soon, the confusion turned into horror.

"General!" The scout yelled.

"Ready your weapons!" Zonda ordered.

To their horror, as they cut through the pitch black with their flashlights, they were literally walking on remains of biological life forms. But to their shock, these remains soon mixed with metallic fragments and limbs as they got closer to their mark.

"There are hundreds, General!" The scout said in horror. He aimed everywhere with his E.M.P rifle. "Hundreds of machines! They are fresh, sir!"

"Find the Evos!" Zonda barked his order. "We are right behind you."

Lay finally reached his limit. He knew they were within meters from the bodies of his brothers. He couldn't handle it. The brave Evocanis fell on his knees. If they somehow managed to survive the lack of oxygen, hundreds of Machines would surely have been their demise. But... Why were these machines fresh? Green fluid was spilled everywhere, meaning that they were destroyed recently.

"P... Possitive I.D, General!" The scout had stopped dead on his tracks. His rifle aimed down to the ground. It was for a second or two, but Lay could see two green spots of light shining in the darkness. The eyes of an Evocanis reflecting on the flashlight.

"He's... He's alive sir!! Bring O2 Mask NOW!"

Everything happened in slow motion. Lay felt a rush of fire invading his body from top to bottom. He stood up, ran to the Retcan scout, while taking a couple of O2 nozzles from his belt.

The mangled body of a black Evocanis desperately tried to assimilate every ounce of oxygen from the near-vacuum. He was dying. What shocked everyone was what lied next to him.

"It's Anubis!"

Next to Anubis, an arm could be seen reaching for him. That arm with white fur held an O2 nozzle...

Husky in his last breath had given the last minutes of O2 to his friend, effectively saving him... What would Lay tell Hasky? How could he walk to his brothers and sisters with the body of Husky? He was destroyed, but Husky was now a hero who would be remembered forever. Lay would not be defeated. He would fight and destroy those machines, effectively avenging his lost comrades.

"When Husky was first brought here, he was dead..." Red remembered that dreadful moment not a month ago. "At least that's what we thought. His heart had stopped, but his body was still warm for a reason I cannot explain to this day."

"What's this have to do with the Nano-machines?" Silver tried to get back on subject.

"For a second I thought that this was an unintended effect from the Nano-machines. They are made to aid survival, whether it's during a biological or physical threat." Red again paused for a minute. It was as if he couldn't find logic to what was happening.

"However," He continued "Nano-machines don't have the power to sustain life."

"What does this mean, Red?" Silver still tried to understand. "I really don't know where are you going with this."

"Perhaps, my Engineering Scientist and us Medics created something more powerful than we intended. Maybe that is the reason Husky was able to be brought back to life, into that coma state. At least that's what I thought..."

"And?"

"But..." Red doubted. "Then I tested his blood... There were no traces of Nano-machines, Silver..."

"It pains me to say it..." Red spoke words his heart never wanted to admit. "Medically, scientifically... Husky shouldn't have survived that..."

"Red... But he did." Silver reassured.

"Yes..." Red took a deep breath. "Something else kept Husky alive... And I think I found what it is..."