.......^~^                                          ^~^.......
......^~^%                                          %^~^......
.....^~^%%                                          %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤                                          ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶                                          ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶# ...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^... #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶## .^^            the  spire            ~^. ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶# ~^^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~^ #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶ ^~^ once upon a time, there was a    ^^~ ¶¤%%^~^...
....^~^%%¤ ^^~ benevolent spire, towering  well ^^~ ¤%%^~^....
.....^~^%% ^^~ above our tallest trees. it was  ^~^ %%^~^.....
......^~^% ^~^ clad in white scales, and shaped ~^^ %^~^......
.......^~^ ~^^       liked  a   mushroom.       ~^^ ^~^.......
........^~ ~^^      we  loved  it  dearly.      ^~^ ~^........
.......^~^ ^~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^~ ^~^.......
......^~^% ^^~  it predated us by many  years,  ^^~ %^~^......
.....^~^%% ^^~ and we did not know its original ^~^ %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤ ^~^  builders.  they  had used  its  ~^^ ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶ ~^^  hollow  body  for many  strange ~^^ ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶# ~^^ purposes - a womblike place  of  ^~^ #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶## ^~^ gestation, a storage  of  strage ^^~ ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶# ^^~ fluids, a temple to some kind of ^^~ #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶ ^^~    arcane   deity.               ^~^ ¶¤%%^~^...
....^~^%%¤ ^~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^ ¤%%^~^....
.....^~^%% ~^^   we  were  grateful  for   its  ~^^ %%^~^.....
......^~^% ~^^ presence,  and honored  it  the  ^~^ %^~^......
.......^~^ ^~^  only  way  we  knew  how:   by  ^^~ ^~^.......
........^~ .^~       breaking        in.        ^~. ~^........
.......^~^ ...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^... ^~^.......
......^~^%                                          %^~^......
.....^~^%%                                          %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤ ...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^... ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶ .~^  this place we called our  city: ^^~ ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶# ^^~ wavy  and  fractured,  with each ^^~ #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶## ^^~ courtyard on a different height, ^~^ ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶# ^~^  roads becoming  roofs  becoming ~^^ #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶ ~^^ drains.  and  some places, like  ~^^ ¶¤%%^~^...
....^~^%%¤ ~^^ the spire, nobody  had accessed  ^~^ ¤%%^~^....
.....^~^%% ^~^  for many years.  once its walls ^^~ %%^~^.....
......^~^% ^^~  are  just too  high,  and  the  ^^~ %^~^......
.......^~^ ^^~ internal routes to labyrinthine, ^~^ ^~^.......
........^~ ^~^ a  place among  others is easily ~^^ ~^........
.......^~^ ~^^           overlooked.            ^~^ ^~^.......
......^~^% ^~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^~ %^~^......
.....^~^%% ^^~ so, basically,  that  summer the ^^~ %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤ ^^~ four of us snuck and climbed and ~^^ ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶ ^~^ crawled for weeks, searching for ~^^ ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶# ~^^ a secluded place to do drugs and ~^^ #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶## ~^^  play music on  our handhelds.   ^~^ ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶# ^~^  instead  we  found  vast lungs  ^^~ #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶ ^^~  drained  of  their   catalyst   ^^~ ¶¤%%^~^...
....^~^%%¤ ^^~ sludge,  and a birds-eye view to ^~^ ¤%%^~^....
.....^~^%% ^~^ make sense of our  roamings for  ~^^ %%^~^.....
......^~^% ~^^        years   to   come.        ~^^ %^~^......
.......^~^ ~^^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~^ ^~^.......
........^~ ^~^  a  central  spine, a  staircase ^^~ ~^........
.......^~^ ^^~ around  it,  the seven toroidal  ^^~ ^~^.......
......^~^% ^^~  lungs stacked outside,  and the ^~^ %^~^......
.....^~^%% ^~^ control room on top. the sockets ~^^ %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤ ~^^ for its eyes. the smaller spires ~^^ ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶ ~^^  for   radiating  consciousness  ^~^ ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶# .~^           invitations.           ^^. #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶## ...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^... ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶#                                          #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶ ...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^... ¶¤%%^~^...
....^~^%%¤ .^^ in twenty fourteen, the tower is ^~^ ¤%%^~^....
.....^~^%% ~^^  toppled and eaten by  machines. ^^~ %%^~^.....
......^~^% ^~^ after a while, something new  is ^^~ %^~^......
.......^~^ ^^~  conjured in  its place.  it's a ^~^ ^~^.......
........^~ ^^~ tiny maw  at first, shorter than ~^^ ~^........
.......^~^ ^~^  us,  and  we let  it  be.  our  ~^^ ^~^.......
......^~^% ~^^ journeys still end at its feet.  ^~^ %^~^......
.....^~^%% ~^^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^~ %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤ ^~^ but then we are  betrayed.  the  ^^~ ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶ ^^~  new tower  eats us. others are  ^~^ ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶# ^^~ sucked inside. new buildings are ~^^ #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶## ^~^ manifested  overnight,  only to  ~^^ ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶# ~^^ disappear in the  evening  fog.  ^~^ #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶ ~^^  for a while its  some  kind of  ^^~ ¶¤%%^~^...
....^~^%%¤ ^~^ timeshare scam. goons are placed ^^~ ¤%%^~^....
.....^~^%% ^^~ outside,  and we get beaten up a ^~^ %%^~^.....
......^~^% ^^~  few  times,  and  stop  going.  ~^^ %^~^......
.......^~^ ^~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^ ^~^.......
........^~ ~^^  iirc it's  currently owned  by  ^~^ ~^........
.......^~^ ~^^ some energy drink baron who uses ^^~ ^~^.......
......^~^% ^~^ it to hold  all his fourty eight ^^~ %^~^......
.....^~^%% .^~             cars.....            ^~. %%^~^.....
....^~^%%¤ ...^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^... ¤%%^~^....
...^~^%%¤¶                                          ¶¤%%^~^...
..^~^%%¤¶#                                          #¶¤%%^~^..
.^~^%%¤¶##                                          ##¶¤%%^~^.
..^~^%%¤¶#                                          #¶¤%%^~^..
...^~^%%¤¶                                          ¶¤%%^~^...