Sime~Gen Roleplaying on IRC: Snake River Dam Scenario
Episode #140: Over the Top (3/18/01)
Sylma has sought out a certain hollow not too far from the Tecton facilities, but not occupied by squatters because the approach is a bit tricky.
Sylma is by now quite used to the steep climb, and the hollow itself is level and relatively free of rocks.
Sylma and her brother completed the de-stonification the previous fall, when they decided that the place was perfect for workouts.
Elte stumbles about in the new snow, searching for a way up to the top of a rise that has a good view of the Dam site.
Sylma has regretted on occasion that they couldn't manage a proper indoor workout room, with mats and protection from the elements, but the Tecton has other priorities than helping its channels and Donors maintain exotic non-channeling skills.
Elte is wearing his big overcoat, the one with the huge pockets that can hold all kinds of tools and gear.
Sylma has to admit that the two feet of snow covering her hollow, now packed from a winter's use, are sufficient padding for anyone, albeit rather chilly.
Elte had thought in the few days of thaw that maybe winter was coming to an end and the snow would melt enough to clear the roads. But last night's blizzard put an end to that.
Sylma starts stretching to warm up, whistling a cheerfully martial tune.
Sylma intends to be at her best when Big Brother arrives: she owes him a handful of snow down the back of his shirt for certain remarks he made earlier.
Elte hopes to get a nice vista of the ice-bound encampment. Perhaps he will give it a caption of "Frozen Stiff."
Sylma believes in paying debts in full, although sometimes that is more easily dreamed of than accomplished, where her brother is concerned.
Sylma finishes her initial stretches, and moves into a slow-motion kata, dancing over the snow.
Elte scrabbles up a crumbling rocky slope, nearly slipping several times but always catching himself at the last moment. He pauses, panting. He thinks he hears a kind of whistling.
Elte grins. It is music, and a kind of catchy tune at that, what he can hear of it on the wind.
Sylma leaps and turns, careful not to cheat and augment: Arat disapproves of unnecessary selyn wastage, and that's not the point of the exercise, anyway.
Sylma has earned her unusually robust physique (for a Sime) the hard way.
Elte triangulates on the source and realizes it is coming not from summit of the rise but further down. He begins edging along a cliff-ledge drawn by this Pied Piper's tune.
Elte eases his way around a large icy granite boulder.
Sylma speeds up her exercise gradually, fighting imaginary opponents who always happen to be where they are expected, a courtesy that she devoutly wishes real opponents would follow.
Elte stops dead at the amazing sight of a Sime dancing like some sprite in a mountain clearing.
Elte admires the leaps, turns and pirouettes. He can see the young woman is graceful as ballet dancer, although her motions are rather more aggressive in style.
Sylma does look rather too healthy for a sprite, but she moves with the feline grace of a Sime athlete.
Elte thinks on reflection her grace is not so much that of a butterfly as a panther.
Elte notices the loose, grey-green clothes seem to float in the breeze and blend into the foliage.
Sylma finishes the exercise with a leap-and-kick combination that takes her a good four feet off the ground, lands neatly, and holds the position.
Elte's specially constructed miniature camera seems to leap in concert to his hands and he snaps a picture of the final flourish of the dance.
Elte wishes he had been fast enough to catch the leap.
Sylma has, of course, not been zlinning while she performed the exercise -- an iron-clad Dar rule for combat situations, to prevent accidents and make sure that Dar Simes remain immune to their Gen partners' nageric manipulation.
Elte admires the way the rising sunbeam slipping over the cliff top is outlines the woman's silhouette.
Sylma breaks her pose, and zlins up the trail to check for her lazy, oversleeping brother.
Elte readies his camera, hoping that a second act will follow.
Sylma doesn't zlin Sedel, but there is a Gen up the trail.
Sylma smiles in a friendly fashion.
Sylma: Hello, up there!
Elte is disappointed that she has noticed his presence, but after all, she is Sime.
Elte: Hello! You dance beautifully!
Elte: ~~pleasure~~
Sylma laughs.
Sylma: Why, thank you.
Elte knows that people always like to know when they are appreciated. Especially Simes.
Elte tries to remember what Riyyh tried to show him about making people feel happy but not too happy.
Elte knows he hasn't quite got the hang of it yet.
Sylma knows that Sedel would have noticed at least three portions of the exercise which were less than perfect, but she appreciates sincere flattery as much as anyone.
Elte: You look so striking in the morning light here. Do you mind if I take your photograph?
Elte carefully moves down the cliffside towards his subject.
Sylma notes that this Gen's field is very high, and that he hasn't quite mastered all the intricacies of nageric courtesy.
Sylma: Why, not at all.
Elte: Perhaps, if you are not out of breath, you might dance for me again?
Elte snaps a few quick closer shots of her looking at him.
Sylma is, of course, in far too good a shape to be out of breath from a simple warm-up exercise.
Sylma: I was just warming up a bit, before my brother gets here to work out with me.
Elte: Oh, your brother?
Sylma observes Elte curiously.
Sylma: Yes. We're the only two ambrov Dar at the Dam site, so we work out together to keep our skills up.
Elte was wondering what stage this lovely Sime was in her cycle; he doesn't see any obvious signs of Need and was hoping for another opportunity to practice some of Riyyh's tips.
Sylma puts together the camera, nosy questions, and cliff-climbing, and makes a tentative identification.
Sylma: Are you that out-Territory reporter who's been working with Controller Farris?
Elte thinks a brother would cramp his own work-out opportunities, if he exists at all.
Elte has not yet gotten used to the concept that Simes don't lie.
Sylma does happen to be pre-turnover, although not by much.
Elte: I'm a reporter. Elte Andover. Glad to meet you!
Elte would not describe his own role as someone who works with Controller Farris. Harasses and bullies him, perhaps, but then Controller Arat is only one of the many, high and low, who merit the attention of the world-famous Elte man-on-the-scene-of-what's-happening.
Sylma extends a hand, having been well-drilled in interterritorial courtesy.
Sylma: Hajene Sylma ambrov Dar. My pleasure.
Elte raises his eyebrows at the courtesy.
Elte extends his (somewhat frostbitten) fingers carefully and slips them into hers.
Elte: The pleasure is all mine.
Elte: ~~pleased~~
Elte lets his fingers close on hers and soul-fully meets her gaze.
Elte: You are a channel, then?
Sylma shakes hands with the slight awkwardness of someone who is familiar with the gesture, but not used to doing it on a daily basis.
Sylma: Yes, I am.
Sylma does, of course, get a much closer zlin of Elte during the process.
Elte: And you said ambrov Dar. You are a Householder?
Elte: ~~total focused attention on his subject, like that of a cat about to pounce on a bird~~
Sylma: Housebred for generations, that's me.
Sylma looks at Elte with mild annoyance.
Elte smiles.
Sylma: If you're going to be so ...enthusiastic, you really ought to donate on time.
Elte frowns a bit.
Sylma: You're overdue, aren't you?
Elte thinks about it.
Elte: I suppose so. There's so much going on....
Elte waves a hand distractedly.
Sylma's Simelan is not quite as junct-aristocratic as Arat's, but it is certainly at least as educated.
Elte forgets to pay his bills and make his bed also.
Sylma: That's no reason to make some overworked channel chase you down.
Elte: I know. I suppose it's very inconsiderate of me.
Elte: ~~contrite~~
Elte has, however, made being inconsiderate a lifestyle.
Sylma's expression softens, but only a bit.
Sylma: It is.
Elte: I am trying to learn to what Sectuib Riyyh calls... ah... manners, but I can't quite get the hang of it.
Elte: I think I'm improving, though.
Sylma: It still isn't wise for you be wandering around so high-field.
Elte: ~~puppy-dog pleading for forgiveness~~
Elte wouldn't mind dropping in at the Collectorium this afternoon, but right now he wants to take pictures of her working out.
Elte wonders if he can cajole her into dancing some more.
Elte: Oh, Simes don't bother me, and I am slowly learning not to bother them. It's okay.
Elte: Is that dance a custom of your House?
Sylma: It's one of our standard warm-up kata.
Elte: So you called it a workout. Not really a dance then?
Sylma: Not in the usual sense, no.
Elte: Does it have a meaning in Simelan?
Elte has come to understand that certain portions of the Sime language are conveyed through tentacle gestures.
Elte wonders if the gestures are a kind of pantomime. He figures if you add a nageric component, a dance like that could communicate over distance better than semaphore signals.
Elte wishes he could zlin.
Sylma: Well, yes and no. Such exercises tend to work better when one imagines that each movement connects with an opponent.
Elte frowns. He has missed something here.
Elte: What is a kata?
Sylma: The easiest way to think of it, is as a stylized combat with an imaginary opponent or opponents.
Elte: So it is a war dance?
Elte winces. He knows that didn't come out right. The difficulties of Simelan are very frustrating.
Sylma: No, its more of a way to practice and polish particular groups of techniques.
Elte: A training exercise then?
Elte hasn't seen any channels functionals before that are so athletic.
Elte has seen channels train to do a lot of weird things, though, so anything is possible.
Sylma: Yes. Kata allow one to practice when alone, or to warm up properly before working out with someone else.
Elte: What kind of functional involves stylized combat?
Elte has certainly never seen Arat move around this much.
Elte has had the distinct impression that the Controller delegates combat assignments whenever possible.
Sylma: Functional? Why none, usually.
Sylma: There are few instances in which a channel has to forcibly subdue a prospective patient.
Elte: Then what skills are you training?
Elte thinks that Hajene Rifan certainly could use a bit of hand-to-hand instruction, both on the job and at home.
Elte thinks that Rifan was certainly worse for wear after his last session with the Minister Plum; he wonders if Sylma is a specialist brought in to deal with the recalcitrant prisoner.
Sylma: Why, those of my House, of course. Dar provides the finest security teams, body guards, and elite combat groups in existence.
Elte strikes himself [lightly] on the forehead.
Elte: Ah, of course.
Elte lets his mind skim back over his in-T orientation materials.
Elte: Dar is the only Household with a military specialization, isn't that right?
Sylma is aware that Arat's security team might have a differing opinion of Dar's superiority, but there are plenty of jobs that Dar turns down for various reasons, so it's not really an issue.
Sylma: Well, before Unity, most Householdings had to defend themselves against attack regularly.
Sylma: But only the ambrov Dar turned those skills into a marketable profession.
Sylma winks.
Elte: Yes, Sectuib Riyyh has told me how Naros defended itself against the Gen Army during the Unity Wars.
Elte: Fertilizer bombs on carts, he said.
Sylma: Dar is far enough from the Border that we didn't have to worry much about Gens, but junct Simes were quite willing to attack a Householding, when there was a shortage in the local Pens.
Sylma: Although they didn't attack Dar very often.
Sylma winks at Elte.
Elte: I take it your folks had some more effective ways to defend yourselves.
Sylma: Yes. The few times Dar was attacked, it didn't go well for the attackers.
Elte: Now Sectuib Riyyh seems to feel that combat of any kind is in opposition to the principles of Naros.
Elte: How does Householding Dar come to terms with the moral implications of the use of violence?
Elte has seen it is usually not possible to use force without making some one unhappy, which the Narosians cannot bear.
Sylma: There are quite large philosophical differences between Householdings, you know. About the only thing we have in common is a commitment to ending the Kill.
Elte: Do your people feel justified in murdering people in self-defense, such as when the juncts attacked you?
Elte: ~~overwhelming curiosity~~
Sylma: Dar has rather strict rules about the proper uses of force, as you'd expect, but when there is no other reasonable option, we feel it is justifiable to murder to defend our lives, or those of our clients.
Sylma: We make no secret of that, and as a result, we seldom have to actually murder anyone.
Elte: Have your people ever had to murder Gens in self-defence?
Sylma: Occasionally.
Elte: What would you consider an appropriate punishment for a Gen who tried to murder you?
Sylma: Punishment? Why, that sort of thing is usually left up to the courts. I'm a channel, not a judge.
Elte: If there were no courts? If for instance, I were to suddenly pull a gun and try to shoot you, what would you do?
Sedel scrambles up the approach to what he likes to call the Frozen Torture Chamber. Of course it depends on how much pain he is willing to take from Sylma. He really hasn't been "letting" her beat him lately, her skills have just improved to the point that she can when she wants to. Well, at least when he isn't really fighting it hard. He does have his pride to maintain after all.
Sylma: Take the gun away from you, of course. And then hold you for the proper authorities.
Elte makes a threatening gesture of reaching into his coat for something, but of course it is the camera, not a gun. He forgets his nager is not matching his threatening words
Elte: Can you take this away from me?
Elte lifts the camera and starts snapping pictures rapidly.
Elte: ~~taunting~~
Sylma has his wrist firmly grasped, pointing the camera up into the sky.
Sylma uses her tentacles to "extract" the camera from his grasp.
Sedel doesn't hear the usual whistling coming from the clearing. He hears voices! Now who in the world would be willing to make this climb? He hurries on and enters the clearing stay out of sight behind a huge boulder. Sylma will know he is there but he wants to see who is invading their space.
Elte tries to free his wrist and grabs for the disappearing camera.
Sylma has automatically stopped zlinning as she made her move, being well used to Gens who play nager games.
Sedel tries not to snort as he sees Elte's difficulty.
Elte grapples Sylma, trying to get it back.
Elte figures he may not make too much headway in the tug of war, but the wrestling is its own reward.
Sedel watches, ready to disable Elte if he should get the upper hand. Sedel is not worried about that happening really.
Elte: ~~glee at the physical romp; zlinning like a big rambunctious dog~~
Sedel: Do I look like that, Syl?
Sylma slips the camera into her own pocket, freeing her other hand, and augments to whirl him around.
Sedel comes from behind the boulder.
Elte hooks a leg through Sylma's to try to throw her off-balance.
Sylma grasps Elte's other wrist and holds him firmly, arms behind his back.
Sedel notes the that Elte is putting up a good fight for an untrained Gen.
Elte is immobilized before he realizes what is happening. He thrashes with all his strength.
Sedel chuckles. That hold is hard to get out of but not impossible, if you know how.
Elte can't budge. He stops struggling and goes limp, laughing.
Sylma dodges Elte's thrashes, which can't quite reach her, and has time to look at Sedel.
Sylma releases Elte and steps back just far enough to escape any last-minute retaliation.
Sylma: Well, Big Brother, you slept late today!
Elte turns.
Sylma's cheeks are glowing with cold and exercise.
Sylma hands Elte his camera.
Elte: Well, I guess you weren't bluffing.
Sedel: Wasn't sleep got waylaid to help out in the infirmary.
Elte turns his attention to Sedel.
Elte's eyebrows raise as he takes in the big Gen.
Elte: You're big brother?
Sedel: Elte isn't it?
Elte: Yeah, that's right.
Sedel: I've seen you around. Yes, the runt is my little sister.
Sylma wrinkles her nose at Sedel.
Elte: She is quite something. I'm combat trained myself, but she handled me like a puppydog.
Sedel can't honestly call her a runt any more but old habits die hard.
Elte: You just as tough?
Sedel: Maybe.
Elte figures a Sime always has the advantage, but surely he can beat another Gen. Sedel is awful big, though.
Sedel isn't as fast as Sylma but he does have years more training and sheer mass on his side.
Elte: Dar train Gens to fight, too?
Sedel: Yes.
Sedel is fighting not to smile.
Elte: And do you dance... uh, I mean, perform warm-up exercises?
Sedel has gotten away with a lot playing the "big dumb Gen".
Sylma: He does both, actually.
Sylma winks.
Sedel rolls his eyes. Sylma obviously has something in mind.
Elte grins at Sylma.
Elte: He's not as pretty as you are.
Elte: But I would sure like to get a few shots of you two working out together.
Elte has no objection to pleasing his female readers as well as the men who follow his photo spreads.
Sedel takes off his heavy winter coat to reveal a body not much diminished in size by his divestment. He is tall and very well built from years of being thrown around by siblings and others. He usually gives at least as good as he gets though.
Elte nods approvingly. He figures the Householding Gen could provide grist for the mill of a few nice fantasies of the type epitomized in Plum's bodice-ripper.
Sylma: Better get back a bit. [to Elte]
Elte: Okay.
Sedel: A moment please. [works the kinks out of his shoulders and spine with a short stretching routine]
Elte takes two steps back. He has no intention of staying back, of course.
Sylma joins in the stretching, just in case she's stiffened up a bit, while talking to Elte.
Sylma: Shall we start with "Kittens at Play", Sedel?
Elte checks over the camera to be sure it wasn't damaged in the by-play.
Sylma names a showy demonstration kata for two, with a satisfying number of spectacular jumps, kicks, and throws.
Elte sees the sun has risen enough to light the snowy glade perfectly.
Sedel: Sure. [walks around the practice area to make sure there are no hidden objects and takes his stance]
Elte readies his camera; the pair are perfect. All of New Washington will pant over them.
Sylma grins at her brother in challenge, then darts forward in the first attack.
Elte thinks, and they're not even lovers. Brother and sister. That's perfect.
Elte starts snapping.
Sedel stands with his feet shoulder width apart and his knees slightly bent. He receives his sister's charge with a gentle grace and tosses her over his head.
Sedel spins quickly around to be ready for the next charge. He is also checking to be sure she isn't hurt.
Sedel can't help the concern. Donor instinct and older sib habits combine to make him very over protective.
Elte snaps a shot of Sylma sailing upward with a backdrop of pine branches.
Sylma gives a delighted whoop as she hurls through the air, curls to hit the snow at just the right angle, and rebounds as if made of rubber.
Elte snaps Sylma hurling straight at Sedel's bulky frame.
Sylma takes a flying leap towards Sedel this time, and one foot extends at the height of it to snap a regulation two centimeters from his nose.
Sylma lands gracefully, and tosses the "stunned" Gen into the snow.
Sedel curses himself for being a bit slow on the recovery. Must be the cold. He somersaults backward.
Sylma: You're slow today, Big Brother!
Sylma: ~~ taunt ~~
Elte snaps the huge Gen performing the incredible backwards somersault.
Sedel: Just getting warmed up little girl.
Elte is pretty lithe himself, but he's not carting around that much bulk.
Elte notices that the snow in Sedel's hair is beginning to melt and trickle down his neck.
Sylma grins as she braces herself.
Sedel leaps into the air and manages the same move as Sylma if a bit less gracefully.
Elte catches the apex of the leap, arms glistening with water.
Sylma demonstrates the block: leaning backwards to avoid the kick, then "falls victim" to the follow-through throw.
Sedel: Having fun yet?
Elte snaps Sedel throwing Sylma to the ground; his audience will like to see a Gen winning.
Sedel rolls his shoulders again. There is a persistent tight spot just below his left shoulder blade.
Sylma is, in fact, having a lot of fun: she loves showing off for an appreciative audience, even if she isn't zlinning Elte's reaction.
Sedel: Your turn.
Sedel braces and watches Sylma closely. She isn't averse to changing the order of the moves to catch him out.
Elte: ~~ combination of aesthetic delight and professional clinical assessment of potential viewer response to each image~~
Sedel trusts her not to do anything that will actually get either of them hurt though.
Elte moves in to get some closer angles, trying to keep out of the potential path of hurtling bodies.
Sylma is already well into the next move in the sequence: instead of rolling to her feet again, she has twisted like a cat to hook Sedel's ankle with her own and jerk him off of his feet.
Elte grabs a shot of the Gen lying helpless before the Sime conquerer; it has a kinky appeal.
Sylma spoils the image just a bit by looking more like a grinning urchin than a Sime predator, but at least her tentacles are extended.
Sedel hit the packed snow with a bit of a "whumf" rolling quickly to the side and springing to his feet. He comes up grinning.
Elte darts in to catch a close-up.
Sylma is already up herself, and ducks neatly under Sedel's flying side-kick.
Elte snaps; closeup of darting fists and flying feet.
Sylma breaks the sequence: instead of ending with the last throw of the kata, she darts forward and pins Sedel in the same hold she used earlier on Elte.
Elte holds his breath, wanting to see if she can immobilize the big Gen as easily as she caught him.
Sedel grins. This is one of his favorite moves after all. The trick is not to pit physical strength against the move.
Sedel takes a breath to make sure Sylma is ready and literally somersaults backward over her head. With a zlinning Sime this is even easier as a field flash would make them let go in a heart beat. With Sylma it has to be a bit more energetic and no nager tricks.
Elte blinks and practically drops the camera in astonishment.
Sedel lands behind her. If Sylma had held on to him this wouldn't have worked but no Sime would be able to hold him in a real combat situation so she lets go as she is supposed to .
Sylma lets go, rather than have her arms dislocated, then turns and spoils Sedel's triumph by dumping a handful of snow down the back of his shirt.
Elte 's fingers automatically snap the shot without conscious thought intervening.
Sedel: Brat!
Sylma dances backwards, laughing.
Elte: Hey!
Elte: How did you do that?
Sylma: Oh, I palmed the snow that last time Sedel threw me.
Elte: No, I mean him!
Sedel: It isn't just what you see. It would normally involve a nager flash to make the Sime let go.
Elte can't imagine how so much Gen poundage can be sent aloft through the gyrations he has witnessed.
Sedel: Sylma let me go because if she hadn't we would both have dislocated shoulders.
Elte: You don't have some weird Household secret to let a Gen augment?
Sylma pouts just a bit: for some reason, Gens are always terribly astonished at seeing Sedel work out, but take her skill for granted. As if it didn't take her just as much practice to get the moves right.
Sedel: Nope just years of being beaten up.
Elte laughs.
Elte catches the quirk of disappointment on Sylma's face and turns his admiration full force on her.
Elte did not miss Sylma's grace and precision, it just isn't so surprising in a Sime.
Sedel: You do realize that Sylma has had to spend as much time at this as I have.
Elte: You are both incredible.
Elte thinks "and so are these photographs, when I get them developed".
Elte: I went through basic training in Gen Army, and I've never seen moves like those, Sedel.
Elte: Is that something you could teach me?
Sylma: How may years do you want to spend learning?
Elte grins.
Elte: Oh, I always want everything immediately.
Elte: But I'm a pretty quick study.
Sedel: That is not an immediately move. Not all Gens can master the field flash. The somersault is just an over the top show off move. Anything that will get you physically away from the Sime is acceptable.
Elte: Well, as you saw before, I didn't get real far myself.
Elte: I take it these techniques were developed to safeguard Householding Gens from junct attacks?
Sedel: Yes. It's also great exercise and fun.
Elte: You know, stories about the Householdings always talk about the channels protecting Gens from the Kill.
Sylma nods agreement.
Elte: But they say very little about Gens doing anything to protect themselves.
Sylma: Well, channels can't be everywhere.
Elte: Of course not.
Sylma: There are plenty of Gens who can defend themselves, even outside of Dar.
Sedel: And if juncts had believed that Householdings were training "Killer Gens" the politics would have gotten messy.
Elte: I am sure that is true.
Sedel: Although, any Companion qualified on that level.
Sedel: A Donor can "kill" without even touching a Sime.
Sedel: We don't do it, of course.
Elte nods.
Sylma: Well, not if there's a reasonable alternative.
Sylma: That's why it's customary to leave situations like attacking juncts to a channel or Donor: we have options that you don't, to handle the situation without fatalities.
Sedel said nothing. He had come close to doing just that on one occasion.
Sylma: And the fatality might not be to the attacking Sime.
Sedel: It isn't something to play with.
Sylma doesn't want Elte going off and attempting to apply what he thought he saw in a critical situation.
Elte: Well, I'd like to learn as much as possible about your House and your traditions of combat.
Elte: It's different than the ideal Household portrayed in the Tecton publications.
Elte: And those differences interest me.
Sedel chuckles. This sort of thing is more Syl's area. He goes back to his "big dumb Gen" routine.
Sylma: The Tecton describes the things that Householdings have in common, not what makes each one unique.
Elte: And yet it is the uniqueness of each thing that makes it special.
Sylma: Very true. Before Unity, people sometimes traveled from House to House, looking for the one which came closest to their own ideals, before offering a pledge.
Elte: And what ideals gave birth to the beauty and power of your demonstration?
Sylma quotes a poem in archaic Simelan.
Sylma: Or at least, that's how one of Dar's founders viewed it.
Elte didn't understand a word, but the cadence of the recitation was very melodic.
Elte gazes at Sylma's snow-spangled hair and flushed face and feels he understands everything in a cosmic kind of way.
Elte: It would be great if you could translate that for me... perhaps over a hot cup of trin?
Sedel smirks. He didn't really have to do the "big dumb Gen" routine. Looks like Sylma has found a new playmate.
Sylma sizes up Elte with the same sort of cheerful, challenging look she was giving Sedel during their workout.
Sylma sees some potential for a different sort of workout with Elte, that could be just as mutually enjoyable.
Sylma is, of course, ignoring Sedel's smirk. Big brothers are always inconvenient at such times, but that's life.
Sylma: I would be delighted.
Go on to Episode #141: Tentacleless
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