The bulbous stacks began billowing out steam again, like they did every morning. Fan walked through the alley, peering up at the sunlight reflected off the plumes. These plumes would reach high in the sky and remain long into the day, leaving trails that reached just above the horizon. What the steam was from, he had no idea, but the buildings crept along the flats every day, with no indication of their purpose, always releasing these clouds.
Fan found a handhold alongside the creeping building, grabbed it and pulled himself up. It was low enough that he managed to avoid having to climb on the building's treads. They were dangerous, and though he'd done it many times, one wrong move still meant getting crushed under the unforgiving treads.
Fan caught his breath and allowed himself a moment to breathe before ascending the building.
It was a nearly sheer, flat surface until the large, round protrusions near the top, but Fan had been climbing for a while and managed to find handholds in the smallest nooks of the wall. Eventually he reached one of the protrusions and pulled himself up to the roof, where he could rest.
White plumes continued to billow out from the stacks. The shafts of the stacks jutted out from the roof and formed a large round volume before curving to a narrow outlet the same size as the shaft. They made for good shade under the glaring sun, and the shafts weren't too hot, so there Fan decided to take a nap.
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