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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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