.~-^†¤#@## ##@#¤†^-~.
.~-^†¤#@## ##@#¤†^-~.
...~~-^†¤# #¤†^-~~...
.~-^†¤#@## ##@#¤†^-~.
.~-^†¤#### ####¤†^-~.
.~-^†¤#@## ...~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^~~~... ##@#¤†^-~.
.....~^†## .~^ 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..... ~-. ##@#¤†^-~.
.~-^†#@### ...~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^~~~... ###@#†^-~.
.~--^††#@# #@#††^--~.
...~~^†#@# #@#†^~~...
.~-^†¤#@## ##@#¤†^-~.
..~~^†¤¤## ##¤¤†^~~..
.~-^†¤#@## ##@#¤†^-~.