,,«†¤¤@###                                          ###@¤¤†«,,
,,,«†¤¤@##                                          ##@¤¤†«,,,
,,«†¤¤@###                                          ###@¤¤†«,,
,,,«†¤¤@##                                          ##@¤¤†«,,,
,,«†¤¤@###                                          ###@¤¤†«,,
,,,«†¤¤@## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##@¤¤†«,,,
,,«†¤¤@### ,,†            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.....             ,«, ###@¤¤†«,,
,,,«†¤¤@## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##@¤¤†«,,,
,,«†¤¤@###                                          ###@¤¤†«,,
,,,«†¤¤@##                                          ##@¤¤†«,,,
,,«†¤¤@###                                          ###@¤¤†«,,
,,,«†¤¤@##                                          ##@¤¤†«,,,
,,«†¤¤@###                                          ###@¤¤†«,,