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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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