.--^*$## ###&$*^--.
..--^*$# ##&$*^--..
...--^*$ #&$*^--...
....--^*$& &$*^--....
.....--^*$ $*^--.....
......--^* ...---^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^---... *^--......
.....--^*$ .-^ 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..... --. $*^--.....
....--^*$& ...---^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^---... &$*^--....
...--^*$ #&$*^--...
..--^*$# ##&$*^--..
.--^*$## ###&$*^--.
..--^*$# ##&$*^--..
...--^*$ #&$*^--...