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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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