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