¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@                                          @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@                                          @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ¨:†            the  spire            ~†¨ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~: once upon a time, there was a    †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †:~ benevolent spire, towering well  :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :†~ above our tallest trees. it  was :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :~† clad in white scales, and shaped ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~:†        liked  a  mushroom.       ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†:      we  loved  it  dearly.      †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †:~  it predated us by many  years,  :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :†~ and we did not know its original :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :~†  builders.  they  had  used  its ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~:† hollow  body  for  many  strange ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†: purposes  -  a womblike place of †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~: gestation,  a storage  of strage †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †:~ fluids, a temple to some kind of :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :†~    arcane    deity.              :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~:†  we  were  grateful   for   its  ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†:  presence, and  honored  it  the †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~:  only  way  we  knew   how:  by  †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ¨:~        breaking        in.       :~¨ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@                                          @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ¨~† this place  we called our  city: :†~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :†~ wavy  and fractured,  with  each †:~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †:~ courtyard on a different height, †~: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †~:  roads becoming  roofs becoming  ~†: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~†: drains. and some  places,  like  ~:† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~:† the  spire, nobody had accessed  :~† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :~† for many years.  once  its walls :†~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :†~  are  just  too  high, and  the  †:~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †:~ internal routes to labyrinthine, †~: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †~: a  place among others  is easily ~†: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~†:           overlooked.            :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :†~ so,  basically, that summer the  †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †:~ four of us snuck and climbed and ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~: crawled for weeks, searching for ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†: a secluded place to do drugs and ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~:†  play music on  our handhelds.   :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :~†  instead  we  found  vast lungs  :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :†~  drained   of   their  catalyst  †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †:~ sludge, and  a birds-eye view to †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~:  make sense of our  roamings for ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†:         years   to   come.       ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~:†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :~† a  central  spine, a  staircase  :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :†~  around it,  the seven toroidal  †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †:~ lungs stacked  outside, and the  †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †~: control room on top. the sockets ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~†: for its eyes. the smaller spires ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~:†   for  radiating  consciousness  :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ¨~†           invitations.           :†¨ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@                                          @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ¨:† in twenty fourteen, the tower is †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~†:  toppled  and eaten by machines. †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †~: after a while,  something new is :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †:~ conjured in  its place. it's  a  :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :†~ tiny maw  at first, shorter than ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :~†  us,  and  we  let  it be.  our  ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~:† journeys still end at  its feet. †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~†:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †~: but then  we are  betrayed. the  :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †:~ new tower eats  us.  others  are :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :†~ sucked inside. new buildings are ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :~†  manifested overnight,  only  to ~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~:† disappear in the  evening  fog.  †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~†:  for a while  its  some kind  of †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †~: timeshare scam. goons are placed :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# †:~ outside, and we get beaten  up a :~† #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ :†~  few  times,  and  stop  going.  ~:† @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# :~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†: #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ~:†  iirc it's  currently  owned by  †~: @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ~†: some energy drink baron who uses †:~ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ †~: it to hold all his fourty eight  :†~ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@# ¨:~            cars.....             :~¨ #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@                                          @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨
¨¨:~†$%¤#@                                          @#¤%$†~:¨¨
¨:~†$%¤#@#                                          #@#¤%$†~:¨