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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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