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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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