¨¨¨¨¨¨^»†^ ^†»^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^»†^§ §^†»^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^»†^§¤ ¤§^†»^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^»†^§¤# #¤§^†»^¨¨¨
¨¨^»†^§¤## ##¤§^†»^¨¨
¨^»†^§¤### ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ###¤§^†»^¨
¨¨^»†^§¤## ¨^† 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..... ^»¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨