,,,,,»»**£                                          £**»»,,,,,
,,,,»***£#                                          #£***»,,,,
,,»†**£###                                          ###£**†»,,
,,»†**£¶##                                          ##¶£**†»,,
,,,,,»††*¶                                          ¶*††»,,,,,
,,»†**£¶## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##¶£**†»,,
,,,,,,†*£¶ ,,†            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.....             ,», ##¶£**†»,,
,,»†**£¶## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##¶£**†»,,
,,»†**£¶##                                          ##¶£**†»,,
,,»†**£¶##                                          ##¶£**†»,,
,,»†**£¶##                                          ##¶£**†»,,
,,,,,»†*£#                                          #£*†»,,,,,
,,»†**£¶##                                          ##¶£**†»,,