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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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