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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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