..&.&..&.& &&&.....&&
&.&&&&.&&& ...&....&.
&&&...&&.. &..&&...&&
...&..&.&. &&.&.&..&.
...&&.&&&& &.&&&&&.&&
&..&.&&... ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... .&&....&&.
&&.&&&.&.. .-† 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 «†- &..&&..&&&
.&.&..&&&. Ǡ- overlooked. -Ǡ .&.&.&.&..
.&&&&.&..& -«†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««-†« .&&&&&&&&.
.&...&&&.& -†« 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 «-† &.&&&..&&&
&.&.&.&..& -Ǡ us, and we let it be. our Ǡ- &&&..&.&..
&&&&&&&&.& «-† journeys still end at its feet. †«- &..&.&&&&.
&.......&& «†-««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†-« &&.&&&...&
.&......&. †«- but then we are betrayed. the -†« ..&&..&..&
&&&.....&& †-« new tower eats us. others are -«† &.&.&.&&.&
...&....&. -†« sucked inside. new buildings are «-† .&&&&&&.&&
&..&&...&& -Ǡ manifested overnight, only to Ǡ- .&.....&&.
&&.&.&..&. «-† 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..... -«. ....&&&&&&
&&...&.&.. ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... ....&.....
&.&..&&&&. ....&&....
&&&&.&...& &...&.&...
&...&&&..& .&..&&&&..
&&..&..&.& .&&.&...&.
&.&.&&.&&& &&.&&&..&&