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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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