Splat Force IV: Radicalism; Chapter 7

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! I hope you all have had a great day! As per usual, I'm back with a brand new Chapter of Splat Force IV: Radicalism!

A couple of key things happened last time, such as the team being brought back together, and the introduction of one Cyrus Zagan.

The last Chapter also ended with a bit of a tease with Yazmin Wells, the assistant of Cyrus Zagan, seemingly going behind his back. How will this place out? Luckily, you don't have to wait much longer!

So without further ado, let's get into into!

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(Previous Chapter)(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R  7 : O U T O F T I M E M A N

Shauna fell back in bed with a satisfied smile on her face. She let out a relieved sigh as she stared at the ceiling, her eyes squinting. She was wrapped up in a black fluffy blanket, and her clothes were thrown to the side of the bed.

Laying next to her was Emily. She too had a satisfied look on her face. Her lower body was under the creased bedsheets. She wore a dark grey vest. She was less exhausted than Shauna.

"Well... y-you lasted longer than usual..."

She stuttered, trying to catch her breath.

"I mean, four minutes is still pathetic, but still, it's better than your usual!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Shauna panted. She was flushed. Both of them had rosy cheeks.

"Th-That's me out for the night, hehe!"

"Ahaha, yeah!"

Emily replied before hearing her stomach rumble.

"Just goin' to get food, you wantin' anythin'?"

"I'm good, thank you!"

Shauna uttered back, still out of breath.

"Okay! I'll just get myself some cheese 'n crackers."

She said as she headed to the bedroom door. She stopped at the doorframe and gave Shauna and dirty smirk.

"I know you love it when I have dairy!"

"Shut up!"

Shauna moaned with a slight giggle before Emily left to get her snack. She stared at the ceiling as she finally calmed down and caught her breath.

After a couple of minutes, Emily returned holding a small plate. It was two crackers stacked on top of each other with a slice of cheese in the middle. She placed it between the pair of them. The two of them sat on their side, looking into each other's eyes She grabbed the top cracker and bit into it.

"So... got any ideas?"

Shauna had a blank expression. After their fun activity, Shauna didn't know what to think, nor did she know what Emily was fully on about.

"What?"

"The ongoin' Fisk case?"

She said whilst her mouth was still full. She gulped before taking another bite out of her cracker.

"Any ideas on what to do? Where to look? Just anythin', really?"

Shauna shook her head.

"Not really."

"Figured."

Emily said before gulping again.

"I'm as lost as you are, and I'm sure the others feel the same."

"Probably, ughhh!"

Shauna moaned before lying on her back once again.

Emily squinted her eyes as another dirty smile made its way onto her face.

"You're so cute when you're clueless."

She said as she took a bite out of the cheese slice.

"Makes you look like a submissive lost pet."

Shauna's head slowly turned to its right, looking straight into her girlfriend's eyes. She was blushing like crazy.

"Uhh..."

She whispered. She loved the flirting, but she had no idea how to respond to a comment like that.

After a moment of awkward staring, the couple burst into a fit of laughter, with Emily kicking her legs.

"Oh, Shauna, you're just so funny!"

"I guess so!"

She replied before both of them calmed down. Now that they were settled, Shauna quickly brainstormed ideas of what to do next, she quickly thought of an idea.

"Maybe you can ask Vincent Fisk for help?"

The smile on Emily's face began to fade. It quickly turned into a curious look.

"Okay...? I'm listenin'."

"That's my point! Ask him for help!"

Shauna repeated. Emily still wasn't following.

"Look, if anyone is going to know anything that'll help, it's got to be him!"

Emily was puzzled. She had a quick think about it.

"I don't know about this one?"

"Why? You're the one always saying to people that he's reformed."

"I know I am, and he is reformed!"

Emily replied, assuring Shauna where her thoughts still stood with Fisk.

"But, everythin' that he knows is already public knowledge. There wouldn't be anythin' to find."

"Couldn't you at least try?"

Shauna asked. She looked serious, only making Emily think harder.

After much careful thought, and after finishing off her slice of cheese, she answered.

"Fine... I'll see Fisk tomorrow."

She said, making Shauna smile. Seeing her girlfriend smile made Emily herself smile.

"I don't know why I sounded so down about it! I already see him every month!"

"Hehehe!"

Shauna giggled again.

"It's a bit of a gamble, but I hope it can pay off!"

Emily now laid on her back, stretching her body out. She sighed.

"Yeah, you're right."

T H E N E X T D A Y . . .

The Humboldt Institution, one of the many prisons in Inkadia. It was located on a small island in the middle of a lake close to Mount Nanti. The prison was also where the now-infamous Vincent Fisk was kept.

The stone prison had a road driving up around the island to the main reception. Every area that the prisoners could go outside, whether it was the mini gym or the basketball pitch, was surrounded by an iron gate.

Most prisoners were stored in regular, tiny cells in tight hallways, however, some exceptions were made for a certain bunch. Among them was Vincent Fisk. He had his own mini part of the prison. The rectangular room was split into two parts, the reception with a guard on watch, and his cell.

In Fisk's cell was a bed on the far left. On the other end of the cell is a bookshelf filled with some of Fisk's favorite books, along with diaries that he had written. In the middle between the bed and the toilet was a desk leaning up against the wall. All that was on it was a pen and a diary. It stood in front of iron bars, those bars being used as always open windows. Around the toilet were curtains so he could do his business in private. The cell had a glass wall and door, with the door always being locked from the outside.

Sitting at his desk writing in his diary was Vincent Fisk himself. His hair was dark grey and in cornrows, though he didn't have a ponytail, not anymore. His face was showing his age and was covered in stubble. He wore an orange prison jumpsuit.

B E E P ! ! !

Vincent stopped writing and stood up, facing the glass wall as the guard came out of his room.

"Fisk, you've got a visitor!"

He told him as he unlocked the door. Vincent was cuffed and escorted out of the room. Vincent walked down the tight cell hallway. Prisoners tried to reach and grab him but were not able to reach him. They shouted at him.

"PRIVILEGED MAN!"

"WE'LL GET YOU EVENTUALLY, FISK!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"YOU DESERVE TO BURN!"

Eventually, Vincent made it through the building and arrived at the visitation center. The room was split in two, separated by a wall and five glass windows with seats on each side. It was where Prisoners could speak to their friends or family. Vincent was taken to the window on the far left.

Waiting for him on the other side was Emily. Over her usual outfit, she wore a black beanie and her Birded Corduroy Jacket once worn by her late father. Vincent looked surprised at her. He sat down on his seat and picked up the phone connecting them.

"I wasn't expecting you this early in the month."

"Is the seventeenth an early date now?"

Emily joked.

"I'm surprised you didn't mention me comin' here at quarter past six in the mornin'!"

The pair of them chuckled.

"Good point..."

Vincent said with a light smile on his face.

"How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks?"

Emily said with a smile.

"How are you?"

"Still surviving, but I'm okay right now, thank you."

Vincent answered before asking another question.

"How is Shauna?"

"She's doin' great! Still lovin' life!"

"Great! Send her my regards for me."

"Of course!"

Vincent smiled before getting down to business

"Now, judging by the fact you're earlier than usual, I suspect you're here to talk about what's been going on in the world, yes?"

Emily nodded.

"Some of your old men are-"

"Coming out of hiding and attacking the cured?"

Vincent interrupted, finishing Emily's sentence.

"My guard puts the radio on every morning, afternoon, and evening. I'm fairly caught up."

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that."

Emily replied awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

"You were coming here to ask if I knew anything, right?"

Vincent asked. Emily's eyes widened as she slowly nodded.

"You have nothing to worry about, my dear. All the staff can vouch for me that I have no involvement."

"I know."

Emily replied, showing to Vincent that she never suspected anything from him.

"I've just come here to ask if you know anythin'... like at all."

Vincent thought to himself, trying to think if there was anything that he knew that she didn't. Unfortunately, he didn't come up with anything.

"I'm sorry, but everything I know is public knowledge I'm not sure if I can be of any help."

"Oh, I see..."

Emily replied with a disappointed look on her face.

"Well, if you do think of anythin', do the word and I'll be here, okay?"

Vincent nodded. Just as Emily was about to put the phone down, an idea sprung into his mind.

"WAIT!"

He shouted. Thankfully, his voice was loud enough for Emily to hear on the phone. She looked back at him and picked up the phone again.

"I don't know if you looked into this, but I have two potential names that COULD help you."

Emily looked at him curiously.

"Okay...?"

"Albert Newton and Cyrus Zagan."

Vincent told her.

"They're my former assistants. I haven't heard anything about them since my arrest. For all I know, they can still be out there."

"I'll look into it."

"Thank you!"

Vincent replied, feeling happy that he did end up helping after all.

"Do tell the others as well."

"I will!"

Emily replied.

"Should we leave it here?"

"Yeah, of course!"

Vincent said. The pair smiled at each other as the call drew closer to its end.

"Thanks for coming. I hope my information can help."

"Me too. Thank you for your help!"

"No problem, sweetheart. I'll see you soon!"

"Bye!"

Emily said back to them, ending the call. Vincent was put into cuffs again and escorted out of the visitation center. Emily left the prison, satisfied with her visit.

M E A N W H I L E E L S E W H E R E . . .

B Z Z Z T ! ! !

Rex Allen felt his watch vibrate, waking him up. He sat up in his hotel bed. Rex's apartment was wide and open. He had a king-sized bed with dark wood pillars going to the roof. The walls were smooth white, and the roof was brown. The floor was made from light grey tiles. In front of the bed was a brown couch sitting in front of a glass table and a TV against the wall. To the left of the TV was the kitchen with the best state-of-the-art equipment. Opposite the kitchen was the door to the bathroom.

It wasn't long until Rex was in the bathroom taking a shower. His hearing aids were off to not get them wet, so all he could hear were the faint vibrations of the water splashing against the bathtub. When he was done, he turned off the shower and looked up to the ceiling, the water dripping off of his wet hair.

He wrapped a dark blue towel around his waist, now leaving only his upper body exposed. Despite the time that had ed, he was still in better shape than most men his age. He climbed out of the bathtub and looked at himself in the mirror. He placed his right hand over the stab wound scar on his stomach.

After drying off, he put his hearing aids back on before getting changed. He put on a white buttoned shirt above a black vest, tucking it into his black tros. He wore a black tie and blazer. He wore smart black shoes. When fully charged and groomed, Rex walked back to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Now, the scars couldn't be seen. He stared for a moment, fixed his collar, and before leaving the apartment, he grabbed a Sports Bag that had his Splat Force gear.

Rex walked down the hallway of the deluxe hotel. The hallways had shiny checkered floors with crisp vanilla walls and a brown roof, being greeted by smartly dressed butlers as he made his way to the elevator.

Rex pressed the button to the ground floor. He held his hands in front of him as the door closed. As it opened at the bottom, he gave a nod to the receptionist as he left the building.

3 0 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

Rex rested his right arm by the bus window. With his other hand, he scrolled on his phone, trying to keep up with today's news. Of course, the main talk was still on the Fisk case. He then saw an article about New Baxter Village and the potential collaboration with MakoMart with a photo of the two investors who spoke with him the other day. Rex didn't seem too pleased when he read further into it. Clicked away from the article and put his phone away as the bus stopped.

Rex climbed off the bus at Reef Road. He thanked the bus driver as he left. He walked down the pathway with his hands in his blazer pockets. Eventually, he arrived at his old home. It had been long abandoned.

He found a way in through the cracks in the roof, going through them in his swim form. After climbing down from the attic, he began to walk around the place. There was nothing, no furniture, nothing on the walls, it was completely empty. The only room with things in it was the kitchen, and that was only because the stationary in there came with the house.

Rex entered the empty living room and sat down with his legs crossed where the couch used to be. He turned off his hearing aids and closed his eyes, breathing in and out very slowly as he relaxed his mind.

L A T E R T H A T D A Y . . .

Rex arrived at the Splat Force warehouse. Everyone was already there, even Samantha, though she was on the side drinking another beer with sunglasses on to hide her hungover eyes. Magnus smiled at Rex.

"Hey! How you doin'?"

"About as okay as I've usually been, thanks."

Rex said as he took off his blazer and tie. He then took off his white buttoned shirt with his black vest now out in the open.

"I see you've been busy."

"Oh, we only started half an hour ago."

Magnus answered.

"I see."

Rex replied as he ed the rest of the team.

Emily whistled at him. She no longer had her jacket and beanie on, but instead had just her regular get-up on.

"You're lookin' great for a sixty-year-old man!"

She complimented, making Shauna giggle.

"Sixty...? I'm fifty-one!"

Rex exclaimed quietly.

Emily snickered before approaching, this time with a serious look on her face.

"I told the others, so I'm gonna fill you in now."

She said before going into the explanation.

"This mornin', I visited Fisk, and he told me somethin' that might end up helpin' us."

"Okay?"

Rex said with hands on his hips.

"Spill the beans."

"He talked about two of his former assistants. Albert Newton and Cyrus Zagan. Both went on the run after he went down."

She told him before spilling some extra beans.

"He told me that there had been no news about either of them being arrested and that for all he knew, they could still be out there."

Five out of the six of them met in the middle of the room.

"We've looked everywhere on the Internet but found nothin'."

Magnus said, troubled.

"I feel like this could be our missing piece in the puzzle. All we'll need is to find anythin' on either of them."

"And then track either of them down."

Shauna ed in.

"Dad, do you know anyone who could have information?"

Platinum asked.

Immediately, Rex thought of a name, but he hated it. He turned around and walked a few feet away before stopping, holding his left hand against one of the display stands.

"Squit..."

He whispered out loud. Rex sighed before saying what was in his mind.

"William Swannack might know..."

Platinum walked to her father and stood in front of him with a puzzled look on her face.

"You two were allies, right? Why not just go to him for help?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because the last request I asked of him was that I'd never see him again! And I plan to keep it that way."

Rex answered. Platinum gave him a confused look, not understanding why, nor knowing what had happened between them.

"It's okay."

Magnus said as he stepped forward and placed his hand on Rex's right shoulder. Rex turned to him.

"Emily and I will go, and you stay here with the others."

"Sounds like a plan."

Emily ed in.

"Someone's gotta stay here and be in charge."

Rex nodded, accepting Magnus' offer.

"Fine, but he better not be coming here."

"He won't."

Magnus assured. He looked back at his fellow Commander.

"Let's go!"

Magnus and Emily walked to the front door of the warehouse, leaving the rest of the team behind. Rex clapped his hands twice to get the room's attention.

"Alright, everyone, just get back to what you were doing. And you..."

He said before pointing to Samantha.

"You need to start committing!"

"I will when I... do!"

Samantha said before entering a small fit of laughter.

Rex approached Samantha, clearly not impressed by her behavior.

"You've become lazy and sloppy."

"WHAT?! No! I haven't!"

Samantha snickered before standing up to his level.

"Prove it."

Rex said before making a request that tormented her.

"A hundred pushups... you can still do that, right?"

"Uhh... hard !"

Samantha said before having a drink. Out of nowhere, Rex snatched the drink from her hand.

"Dude!"

Rex poured all the beer on the floor. On the glass was empty, he threw it into the bin without even looking. He gave her a disappointed look.

"A hundred pushups... don't make me ask again!"

"Ugh... you're meaner than I ..."

Samantha mumbled before dropping onto the ground. She began doing the pushups. Platinum and Shauna had the most satisfied smile on their faces, especially the former.

L A T E R T H A T A F T E R N O O N . . .

Magnus and Emily arrived at the Inkopolis Bernadette Care Home. They ed a small sign to the left of the entrance pathway.

'ing Those We Lost On:

April 16th, 2002.

Forever In Our Hearts.'

The pair of them were greeted by an Octoling woman with tan skin, black glasses, and blond hair in a ponytail. She wore a white shirt with black tros.

"Are you William's three o'clock?"

"We are!"

Emily answered. The care worker opened the door of the pair of them, allowing them inside.

The care worker took them upstairs to the second floor. The walls were made from smooth brown wood, with the ceiling being dark wood and the floor being made from white wood. The care worker stopped in the middle of the hallway and knocked on one of the doors.

K N O C K , K N O C K ! ! !

"William? Your three o'clock is here!"

The care worker announced to him. She opened the door and allowed Magnus and Emily through. Once they were in, she left them with him.

The room was small and square. On the left was a wooden bed with thick bed sheets. Next to the bed was a desk with four drawers and a seat. It was in front of the window. On the right wall was a TV on a wooden stand. It was off currently. There was no bathroom as the care home had a shared one that all the residents used.

The retired William Swannack stood up from his chair. He was older, more skinnier. He wore a green sweatshirt and a white cap. The right arm of the sweatshirt had been cut short due to his missing limb. He greeted his guests with handshakes.

"Mr. Lang."

He greeted, giving him a handshake before turning to Emily.

"Miss Rogue. I appreciate the visit, have a seat!"

Both Magnus and Emily were guided to his bed. They sat down on it as the General faced his chair toward them.

"I've seen you and the team on the TV quite a bit, Mr. Lang, is everything okay?"

"Been wrapped up in a case that I think you can help out on."

He told him.

"Really?"

William asked with an interested look.

"How can I help?"

Emily answered the second question.

"We were hopin' you would know anythin' about Albert Newton or Cyrus Zagan."

She explained. The former General looked at her and slowly nodded before turning to his drawers.

After a couple of minutes of unboxing, William had all of his available folders spread out on the wooden table.

"Do you conveniently have all these stored in your drawers?"

Emily asked.

"Well, after hearing about everything on the news, I made a call to Mr. Bishop requesting these old files. He accepted and sent them here."

William explained as he searched through the folders.

"Let's see here... oh! Here we are!"

William had turned to a page listing known associates of Vincent Fisk and their page number. He placed his finger on the paper and navigated it to the set of names he was looking for. After finding the names, he turned to the next page, and there they were.

Both pages had a photograph on the top of each page along with general information, such as their name, their date of birth, their sex, and their species. Alongside that, each had a couple of paragraphs dedicated to their background and what role they played in Vincent Fisk's rise to power.

However, the pair of them had a different status. Magnus pressed a finger on Newton's status.

"It says here that he died. How?"

William pointed to the bottom of the page. There was a highlighted text that read:

'Only a couple of weeks after Fisk was taken down, Newton was found dead by the wreckage of Fisk's base at the Coraldia. His death came from what is suspected to be a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. His body was found holding a gun.'

Emily was confused. Something didn't make sense to her.

"Wait, how does Fisk not know if he's dead? Wouldn't he be... the first person who should know?"

"Not all information hits the public eye, Miss Rogue."

He told her.

"A lot of information on our cases tends to be kept to ourselves."

As the pair of them spoke, Magnus read the page on Cyrus Zagan. His status was listed as unknown. The highlighted text at the bottom read.

'The whereabouts of Zagan are not yet known. No body of his was found under the wreckage. He seemingly just vanished.'

"Hey, how about Cyrus Zagan?"

Magnus asked, bringing everyone's attention to the second page.

"It says that his status is unknown."

"Well, we never found any trace of him. He just disappeared."

William said, scratching the back of his head before turning to Magnus.

"What do you think, Mr. Lang? Any ideas?"

L A T E R T H A T N I G H T . . .

Yazmin Wells sat in the comfort of her own small home on her laptop. She had the USB drive plugged into her computer, letting it all of the files onto it.

She sat in her living room. It was a very small part of her main room with the only things being two green sofas, one against the wall of the stairs and the other sat opposite it, as well as a small TV over a fireplace. Opposite the living room was the more open kitchen. It had the essential stationery, but nothing too fancy. Between the living room and the kitchen was the door to the garden. Opposite the stairs was the door to the bathroom. The front door was around a corner from the stairs.

Once all the files had been ed, she began to look through each of them. She was mortified. Yazmin saw photos of brutally dead bodies of the cured, as well as videos of the assassin doing the killings, which was worse. She also found files of who their next targets were. There was a whole list of them that went on for pages.

One of the files was a photograph of very cryptic words:

'λαχτάρα, χτυπημένος, δύο, εκδικητικός, πνίγηκε, σούρουπο, παζάρι, ελευθερία, eνας, ηλιόλουστη μέρα.'

Following up were their translations:

'longing, struck, two, vengeful, drowned, dusk, bargain, freedom, one, sunny day'

K N O C K , K N O C K , K N O C K ! ! !

Yazmin jumped in surprise from the knocks at the front door. She closed her laptop and hid the drive in her pocket before heading to the front door. Little did she know that there was a figure outside in her garden watching her.

Yazmin opened the door and was shocked to see who it was.

"How's it going, my favorite assistant!"

Cyrus Zagan asked with a crooked smile.

"May we come in?"

Yazmin looked nervously down the ends of each hallway. The only person who was out was Cyrus himself.

"What do you mean? It's just you."

"Give him a minute, he can be a bit sh-"

S M A S H ! ! !

Yazmin ran back into her house after hearing a glass smash, Cyrus quietly followed. Upon entering the kitchen, she was greeted by the assassin. His dark silhouette was illuminated by the windows at blue hour. Cyrus picked up a photo of a young girl on the wall.

"What a cute daughter you have! Such a shame she'll most likely end up being one of those weird gender freaks rioting on the streets every June, but hey, that's how the world works these days."

He said, following the very offensive comment with a light snicker as he threw the photo aside.

"Why are you here?"

Yazmin asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to catch up with you, that's all! You haven't been to work today and I got worried."

He said before pointing to the assassin.

"My friend over here decided to give me some much-needed company."

"I'm okay, I-I'm just... I-I..."

"What's the matter? You seem... you seem a bit nervous?"

He asked. His eyes darted back and forth between her and her laptop.

"Is it this?"

"No!"

Yazmin screamed as Cyrus walked to her laptop, knowing what it could mean for her. To stop him, she tried to pull him.

S L A P ! ! !

Cyrus responded by slapping her across the face. He then grabbed her chin and forced her to face him.

"Don't touch me, you stupid bitch!"

He growled at her. Once he was finished intimidating her, she pushed to the ground before going back to her laptop. Upon opening, he was greeted by all of the files that she had ed.

"Oh, hello? What's all this, then? Huh"

Cyrus threw the laptop aside and rushed over to Yazmin, forcing his crying assistant back onto her feet.

"N-No! Please! It's not-"

"Not what it looks like. Yeah, yeah, shut up! It most definitely is!"

He hissed. Yazmin felt his warm, awfully smelling breath touch her nose. She was uncomfortable. All of a sudden, he reached both of his hands into her pockets, eventually pulling out the drive.

"Well, well, what is this?"

Yazmin remained silent, not wanting to answer. Cyrus got more frustrated.

"WHAT. IS. THIS?!"

He asked. Yazmin shut her eyes and cried, making Cyrus groan. He looked at the assassin, who still stood by the backdoor.

"Here you go!"

Cyrus threw the drive to the assassin. He caught it with his metal arm and crushed it. Cyrus walked to the now broken laptop on the floor. He bent down to pick it up. All Yazmin could do was watch and quietly beg.

"P-Please..."

Cyrus walked past Yazmin and then stopped as he reached the corner.

"You know, I actually liked you a fair bit: unlike most women, you actually shut up and did your job. You stayed in your lane... well you did, and... now I'm gonna have to make an example outta you."

Cyrus said to her. His jokey, loud demeanor was replaced with that of a down and frustrated one. He glanced at the assassin once more.

"Do your thing!"

As Cyrus left, the assassin finally made his move. Yazmin watched helplessly as the assassin unleashed his blade.

"NOOO-"

S L I C E ! ! !

Her scream was cut short as the assassin attacked. Her blood was splattered all over the walls. The only sounds being heard were her body dropping, blood dripping, and the assassin withdrawing his blade.

T O  B E  C O N T I N U E D . . .

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T H X  F O R  R E A D I N G ! ! !

Thx for reading the seventh Chapter of Splat Force IV: Radicalism! Yeah... Cyrus Zagan is a bit of a prick. I want to clarify that anything he says about any group of people does NOT match my thoughts and feelings. You're allowed to hate on him (hell, I encourage you to), but it doesn't mean I agree with his views, because I most certainly do not! Things are starting to take off with the conclusion of this Chapter, and with Yazmin's unfortunate end, things are about to get more interesting, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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