¤.¤¤¤..... ¤¤.¤¤¤¤.¤.
¤¤¤..¤.... ..¤¤...¤¤¤
...¤.¤¤... ..¤.¤..¤..
...¤¤¤.¤.. ..¤¤¤¤.¤¤.
...¤..¤¤¤. ¤.¤...¤¤.¤
¤..¤¤.¤..¤ ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ¤¤¤¤..¤.¤¤
.¤.¤.¤¤¤.¤ .~† 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..... ~». ..¤¤¤¤¤.¤¤
¤¤.¤...¤¤. ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ..¤....¤¤.
¤.¤¤¤..¤.¤ ..¤¤...¤.¤
.¤¤..¤.¤¤¤ ¤.¤.¤..¤¤¤
¤¤.¤.¤¤¤.. .¤¤¤¤¤.¤..
¤.¤¤¤¤..¤. ¤¤....¤¤¤.
¤¤¤...¤.¤¤ ..¤...¤..¤