¨.-†%*§###                                          ###§*%†-.¨
¨.-†%*§###                                          ###§*%†-.¨
¨¨¨¨-%%*§§                                          §§*%%-¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨....†%§                                          §%†....¨¨¨
¨.-†%*§###                                          ###§*%†-.¨
¨.-†%*§### ¨¨¨...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...¨¨¨ ###§*%†-.¨
¨.-†%%%*## ¨.†            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.....             .-¨ #*††-....¨
¨.-†%*§### ¨¨¨...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...¨¨¨ ###§*%†-.¨
¨¨¨¨-†%§##                                          ##§%†-¨¨¨¨
¨.-†%*§###                                          ###§*%†-.¨
¨¨¨¨..-%§#                                          #§%-..¨¨¨¨
¨.-†%*§###                                          ###§*%†-.¨
¨¨..-%%*§#                                          #§*%%-..¨¨