[ I'll be working on this over the next few million years ... I promise to try to finish it sooner ... ]
~ This story originated in a dream, and now wants to become reality. Anyone can do what they like with this thing ... just don't forget your cellphone in the sub-basement of any house, on Halloween, at 3:00 AM, on the night of the New Moon ...
Prelude ~ "Tall House Hill" ~
"I inherited this house last year, then they told me how much work needed to be done. I imagine if I knew what I know now, I would turn and run and never look back, at first sight of Tall House Hill..." - the Narrator
~ ~ ~
The manufacturing process of Tall House Brand Diamond Glass begins by dropping a 400 foot cube of titanium steel down a mile high chamber onto random rocks dynamite-blasted out of the Ibolt Quarry 17 miles north of the town of Ducan Iowa, on any particular winter solstice. Then the freshly pressed marble plates serve as molds placed in the floor of a gigantic kiln, made by J. Ibolt III about a hundred years ago for the purpose of creating seemingly random glass art for the Gallery in Tall House. Since Tall House burned and the Estate of the Ibolt Family dictates that the family home shall never be rebuilt, neither should the remnants be destroyed, Jared Spencer (being the deed holder of the land upon which Tall House once stood) decided to use the remains in the formation of artwork to be displayed in his art gallery, which he wanted to build south of town. To do this, a method of preserving the remnants so visitors could see but not touch needed to be invented. The Ibolt Kiln was large enough to press glass plates 20 by 40 feet, and Jared Spencer deduced that a core of diamond set between glass sheets would bend light in various interesting ways, and if the diamond is thin enough in some places, it would be tranparent, and would protect the remnants which had been gathered from the house. The remnants included brick from the huge fireplace on the first floor of Tall House, as well as sculptures of mythical characters, such as Beth Nova, Queen Felina, King Survoborognor, Muthro Sanquangi, and Mary Ibolt (Jon Bakner Ibolt's mother) Kallah of the Intergalactic Wars, Simlilcronon the Dragon and Kayrith the Unicorn. Also amongst the remnants were paintings of the Horn of the Unicorn from different views around the Isle of Ishna and a map of the Great Kayrithyan Star Cluster.
So the process of preservation began, by crushing coal into the marble mold and pressure baking it in the kiln (till it became diamond) then pouring various minerals into the mold as the roof was lifted slightly. With various pressure and temperature adjustments, glass would be bonded above and below the diamond sheets. The surfaces of the mold were not perfectly smooth, so the results of the process included very thin spots of diamond held in thicker glass. the final formation of the glass on top was air cooled so it was very smooth and encased the diamond inversely proportionate to the thickness of the diamond. The underside of the glass was rather rough, as was the diamond, so light didn't really shine directly through the diamond-glass from the underside, if light was shining on it. The light source would be the roof, where some of the glass panels were exposed on edge to sunlight throughout the day. The roof of the house was made of regular Toledo Safety Glass one foot thick, which allowed light to difuse through into the diamond-glass walls. The geometry of the Gallery allowed an exponentially decreasing density of light to infuse the further down into the Gallery that the walls went. The Gallery stood 80 feet tall above the surface of the hill, and equally far deep into the ground. Including the floors, made of various old-growth wood from the forest north of town, the building that would house the Duncan Public Gallery and it's living quarters and offices when completed stood three stories tall above the ground, with a 3-level basement.
The top floor was very transparent and the light shinging through the various trees around the perimeter of the property illuminated the concourse network which led from various parts of the Gallery to others in a very interesting way, depending on what time of day it was. All of the colors visible in the diamond-glass were primary and secondary colors of light. From above, the Gallery was a giant hexagon. Each of six segments of the Gallery were dedicated primarily to 1 of 6 colors. Between the Magenta Wing on the left and the Red Wing on the right, visitors would be able to enter the Gallery on all 3 above ground floors, with the sun rising behind them as the entered in the morning and the sun setting in front of them as they exited the Gallery at the other end, between the Cyan and Green wings. The Gallery's public section stood above ground. The offices and storage were below the ground. The owners residential portions were on various floors. Jared Spencer lived in an apartment in the center of the Gallery,onthetop floor and his private gardens were at the very center of the building on all 3 above ground floors, and could be glimpsed in various places within the Gallery, but were not to ever be breached by the general public, expect during tour weeks.
Three years after the Ducan Public Gallery opened, a mild earthquake shook the ground, disturbing the foundation. Jared Spencer decided to lead the exploration of the 3-level basement, to deduce the extent of any damage. The Gallery seemed unaffected, but shifting in the earth could be problematic in the spring melt from the reservoir in the hills east of town. Jared decided to explore the basements on the Autumnal Equinox. He would start from the top floor of the Gallery and examine every wall to make sure there was no stress damage deteclatable, while his construction crew would open up access to the 3-level basement, via the plumbing chambers under the central garden. the center of the sturcture upheld the least amount of weight and all of the stress was distributed through the walls.
The interesting thing about the Gallery was how the light went from bright, pure colors on the top level, to tertiaryrandom hues on the next floor down, tranmorphing into soft pastels on the ground floor. The light infused down into the basement, in ever darkening degrees, such that the deepest floor was practically pitch black.
The unknown underneath the Gallery, was even darker. Jared Spencer would discover what this meant on Halloween night, when the greatest discovery of his life so far would impose itself upon him, against his will.
