##£¤%$\~^,                                          ,^~\$%¤£##
#£¤%$\~^,,                                          ,,^~\$%¤£#
£¤%$\~^,,,                                          ,,,^~\$%¤£
¤%$\~^,,,,                                          ,,,,^~\$%¤
%$\~^,,,,,                                          ,,,,,^~\$%
$\~^,,,,,, ,,,^^^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\^^^,,, ,,,,,,^~\$
\~^,,,,,,, ,^\            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.....             ^~, ,,,,,,,^~\
~^,,,,,,,, ,,,^^^\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\^^^,,, ,,,,,,,,^~
^,,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,,^
~^,,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,,^~
\~^,,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,,^~\
$\~^,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,^~\$
%$\~^,,,,,                                          ,,,,,^~\$%