.~«†$£§£##                                          ##£§£$†«~.
...«««†£§#                                          #§£†«««...
....««†££#                                          #££†««....
.~«†$£§£##                                          ##£§£$†«~.
.~«†$£§§§#                                          #§§§£$†«~.
.~«†$$£§££ ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ££§£$$†«~.
.~«†$£§£## .~†            the  spire            «†. ##£§£$†«~.
.~«$£§£### «†~««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«~ ###£§£$«~.
...~««$§§§ †«~ once upon a time, there was a    †~« §§§$««~...
.~«†$£££££ †~« benevolent spire, towering  well ~†« £££££$†«~.
...~†$££§§ ~†« above our tallest trees.  it was ~«† §§££$†~...
.~«†$£§£## ~«† clad in white scales, and shaped «~† ##£§£$†«~.
.....«$£§# «~†       liked  a   mushroom.       «†~ #§£$«.....
.~«††$$££# «†~      we  loved  it  dearly.      †«~ #££$$††«~.
.....~«$§# †«~««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†~« #§$«~.....
....«†††£§ †~« 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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