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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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