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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. ^,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
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,,,,,,,,^~ ~^,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,^~/ 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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