%§†=¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨=†§%
&%§†=¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨=†§%&
#&%§†=¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨=†§%&#
##&%§†=¨¨¨ ¨¨¨=†§%&##
###&%§†=¨¨ ¨¨=†§%&###
####&%§†=¨ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ¨=†§%&####
###&%§†=¨¨ ¨~† 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..... ~=¨ ¨¨=†§%&###
##&%§†=¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨=†§%&##
#&%§†=¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨=†§%&#
&%§†=¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨=†§%&
%§†=¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨=†§%
§†=¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨=†§
†=¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨=†