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† the glass factory. †
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,,,,~=^†£¶ several centuries after it had last ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ belonged to us, we went on an outing to £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† the glass factory that bore our family †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ name. it had changed owners many times ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† since our ancestors death, and then †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ stood abandoned for a long while. £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ finally, the natural end station for ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ the buildings that survive: a museum, @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# and a gift shop. #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# there's a long time since my family #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ made anything. by many, we would be @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ considered poor. ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† there are two main factory buildings, †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ domed things of several floors, made in ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† yellow brick. large but narrow windows, †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ reminescent of some cathedral. £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ custom-made glass, of course, large and ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ leaded, and ashen. a bit too dark to be @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# practical. on the eastern building, #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## some are shattered. ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ the other one is publicly open. there's @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ a museum, with wax figures of my great ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ great great grandfather, or something. £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† various tools (or replicas) laid out on †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ tables, with explaining texts. a lot of ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† glass of varying thickness. †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ †† ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ †† †† @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# ======= † † ======= #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## †† †† ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# †† #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ i quickly sneak out, and climb into the ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ other building. the contrast is £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† overwhelming. it must have stood †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ derelict for a long time, windows ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† broken, metallic trash and pools of †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ dark glass all over the floor. no £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ electric lights, but i can see by the ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ light that shines in wherever the dark @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# windows are missing a pane. #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# however, the greatest difference is the #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ higher floors: this building has none. @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ it is one massive hall, stretching away ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ infinitely above me. somewhere up there £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† is some great iron latticework, from †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ where chains are suspended, and parts ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† of machinery has been falling down. †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ there is, in the middle of the great ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ hall, a thin spiral staircase that @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# leads up there. i sneak over there, and #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## take a few reluctant steps. after just ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# a revolution, i notice that for each #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ step the building starts to glow, the @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ bricks turning a dark red, and then ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ orange, all the piled up debree being £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† lit from behind. †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† i stop ready to run down and out, but †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ there's someone else on the staircase £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ with me now, pressed close. he's ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ looking like me, short hair and thin @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# arms, but with ears from some animal, #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## and more disturbingly, completely made ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# of dark liquid glass. #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ †† ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ †† †† £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† ======= † † ======= †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ †† †† ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† †† †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ my fear holds me in place while he ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ starts operating levers and dials set @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# in the center of the staircase. slowly, #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## it starts spinning, circling upwards. ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# it's an elevator! i start to run #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ downwards, but now the liquid boy @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ creature grabs hold of me. i try to ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ shake him off, but he's too strong, and £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† pulls me back up beside him. †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† this time, i turn angry instead. what †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ the hell? who is this guy, acting like £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ this? i reach out my free arm and slam ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ a random lever. some metal bar is @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# suddenly released between us, hitting #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## him on the arm, forcing my release. i ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# shove him off of me, and he falls into #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ the levers, messing them up. @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ immediately, a thin rusty chainmail ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ curtain is dropped around me. but the £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† elevator also speeds up significantly. †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† the walls are flaring now, yellow, †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ white, almost blue. i close my eyes and £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ curl into a ball. but then, the glass ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ boy screams, a piercing sound that @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# forces my eyes back open. i watch as he #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## becomes too liquid, his body pooling ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# down in his now massive tail, and the #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ tip of it suddenly breaks of in a glass @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ drop that falls toward the factory ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ floor. £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ he's crawling on the stairs, unable to ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† keep his body upright. can't reach the †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ levers, claws at my chainmail cage, £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ while his body is turning into dark ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ pearls. finally, he's lost too much of @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# himself and the scream is cut short. #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## the last of him rains down. ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ i still can't reach the levers from @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ within my cage. looking up, i try to ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ make out the ceiling, but it's all a £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† whirling sea of colours. below me glows †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ the hellfire of the factory walls, but ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† very faint. i sit down, curl back up, †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ become still. £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ †† @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# †† †† #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## ======= † † ======= ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# †† †† #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ †† @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ a large clunk shakes my entire body, £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† and snaps me back into reality. i'm †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ back at the factory floor, but the ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† stairs are still moving slightly, †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ clicking in place, carrying me the last £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ few centimeters. i came from below, ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ somehow. the chainmail is retracted, @¶£†^=~,,,
,,~=^†£¶@# and i slowly dismount the stairs. #@¶£†^=~,,
,~=^†£¶@## ##@¶£†^=~,
,,~=^†£¶@# shaking and crying, i make my way over #@¶£†^=~,,
,,,~=^†£¶@ the factory floor, wading through dark @¶£†^=~,,,
,,,,~=^†£¶ glass marbles. a quick glance down, and ¶£†^=~,,,,
,,,,,~=^†£ i see there's something faint inside £†^=~,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† them. embryos? are these eggs? †^=~,,,,,,
,,,,,,,~=^ ^=~,,,,,,,
,,,,,,~=^† i shudder, and climb back out. †^=~,,,,,,
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