Chapter One: Glass Life
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Day after day I hear the inner workings of the factory. The clinging and bending of metal fill the space within. The loud movements of cogs and gears as the machines worked to mass produce. The smell of the factory was a mixture of what can only be described as rotten eggs, sulfur, and a faint smell of nickel.

 Do not even get me started on the accidents that were all too common. It was customary to see a poor sap's body mangled beyond recognition. The only way to know who died was to see who didn’t show up at the factory the next day. The factory itself was massive. It was as if a great castle stood there but instead of regal towers, there was billowing black smoke that decorated the skies with thick smog. 

The inside was not any better, It was a maze, constructed of massive, dark pipes that stretched out and curved in random directions infinitely. All leading to pieces of machinery that stood high in the air, hanging above like guillotine blades. Numerous bridges lead to different sections of the factory where the higher-ups would lounge in about and watch us blue-collared folk as upkeep manufacturing production. The higher-ups never once spoke to us as individuals. To them, we were simple tools to be used, nothing else. That's just how things were before everything went to hell.

My name is Tony and I was there when It all happened When the world… fractured. I worked in a factory like this one. The factory was made to mass produce guns exponentially to fuel a war that lasted for 145 years. The world around me was lifeless, people looked sad all the time. You could really tell in someone's eyes, their eyes would be dark and dull as if saying “There's nothing you can do to me that's already been done.” That was life really everyone was tired of something, it didn't matter what it was. Working in that factory was as you can imagine terrible. Long hours of either hard labor or looking after a production line with little to do. I would usually look after the production line. standing there as still as a statue, that’s what I did. The boredom was unbearable to the point where I hoped that there was an error in one of the manufactured weapons so that I could do at least something. Home life was not much better, living in a cheap crap hole of an apartment was not as ideal as people think. I came home to a small hallway with the end of the hallway leading to the living room that led to others versus rooms. The walls were all the same color of chipped gray paint. The floors are all the same dark wood with markings to indicate others who have previously lived here. The only rooms without wood floors were the kitchen and bathroom, both floors being the traditional black and white checkered pattern. Seeing floor patterns like that was actually rare. My mother use to talk about how much the world has changed. She was an assistant scientist and witnessed historical breakthroughs in the advancement of human technology firsthand. She worked with someone called… Mr. Kin. He was a man of great talents or so I'm told. I know next to nothing about him and his upbringing. My mom likes him so I think he’s fine. I remember her saying to me, “Everything advanced so quickly, floors like the checkered patterns in old homes are now seen as old school or retro.” 

I miss mother. 

Day in and out I would work, go home and then go to bed with little to no change in my life. Little did I know that the world had an unexpected surprise that would change everyone's life…including my own. I remember it all… like it was yesterday. I was walking in the city I lived in. Ships flew overhead as the cars below started to grow restless. Alarms started to blare as a loud voice from the ships above started to speak. “Remain calm citizens, we are here to-” 

before we all knew it a kind of portal appeared. It was like shattered glass that had this blue glow emitting from it. Looking into it, I saw a gigantic claw that reached from this glass and pierced the ship causing it to explode. I ran as fast as my legs could run down the sidewalk to my apartment. As I ran, I heard what…sounded like voices? They were …talking?   But the voices were quiet, so quiet to the point that it sounded as if they were saying nonsense. If the situation could not get any worse, more of these portals started to appear, causing more havoc. I witnessed screaming, fighting, and crying. I  did not, could not care, I just desperately tried to make it to my apartment. Buildings were on fire. Skyscrapers toppled over like building blocks. People jumping out of buildings and hitting the ground. I never knew why the people jumped. Was it to have a chance of survival? Or was death a better outcome? I only stopped running when that old woman fell right in front of me. I can not forget that gruesome sight. Her blood and organs painted the sidewalk. Her head was practically fused with the ground as pieces of her brain were visible from where I looked. The look on her face as I stared at this sight was enough for me to have nightmares for months. I after witnessing the old woman, I thought of going into the underground subway for at least some shelter so I could think of what to do next. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have time to do even that.

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