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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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