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§**::^^^^¨ ¨^: 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. ^~¨ ¨^~:^*§§£#
###£*^:~^¨ ¨¨¨^^^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::^^^¨¨¨ ¨^~:^*£###
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£§***^:~^¨ ¨¨¨^^^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::^^^¨¨¨ ¨^~:^***§£
§*^~~^¨¨¨¨ ¨~: 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. ^:¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~^§££
##£§*^:~^¨ ¨¨¨^^^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::^^^¨¨¨ ¨^~:^*§£##
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##£§*^:~^¨ ¨¨¨^^^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::^^^¨¨¨ ¨^~:^*§£##
£§§**^:~^¨ ¨^: 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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