.-«†^¤¤£##                                          ##£¤¤^†«-.
..-«†^¤¤£#                                          #£¤¤^†«-..
.-«†^¤¤£##                                          ##£¤¤^†«-.
..-«†^¤¤£#                                          #£¤¤^†«-..
.-«†^¤¤£##                                          ##£¤¤^†«-.
..-«†^¤¤£# ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... #£¤¤^†«-..
.-«†^¤¤£## .-†            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.....             -«. ##£¤¤^†«-.
..-«†^¤¤£# ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... #£¤¤^†«-..
.-«†^¤¤£##                                          ##£¤¤^†«-.
..-«†^¤¤£#                                          #£¤¤^†«-..
.-«†^¤¤£##                                          ##£¤¤^†«-.
..-«†^¤¤£#                                          #£¤¤^†«-..
.-«†^¤¤£##                                          ##£¤¤^†«-.