††††††††
†††† ††††
†† ††
† †
† †
† THE GLASS FACTORY. †
† †
† †
†† ††
†††† ††††
††††††††
††»^¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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. ¨¨^»††££##
††
†† ††
† †
†† ††
††