¨,-†^£¤###                                          ###¤£^†-,¨
¨,-†^£¤@##                                          ##@¤£^†-,¨
¨¨¨¨¨,†^¤#                                          #¤^†,¨¨¨¨¨
¨,-†^£¤@##                                          ##@¤£^†-,¨
¨,-†^£¤@##                                          ##@¤£^†-,¨
¨,-†^£¤@## ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ##@¤£^†-,¨
¨,-†^¤@### ¨,†            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.....            ,-¨ ¤£^---,¨¨¨
¨¨¨,,†^¤¤@ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ @¤¤^†,,¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨,-^££@                                          @££^-,¨¨¨¨
¨,-†^£¤@##                                          ##@¤£^†-,¨
¨¨¨,†^^££¤                                          ¤££^^†,¨¨¨
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¨,,-††£¤@@                                          @@¤£††-,,¨