¨~=††**£££                                          £££**††=~¨
¨¨¨~~~†*@@                                          @@*†~~~¨¨¨
¨¨~~†**@££                                          ££@**†~~¨¨
¨~=†*£@£££                                          £££@£*†=~¨
¨~=†*£@£##                                          ##£@£*†=~¨
¨~=†*£@### ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ###@£*†=~¨
¨~=†*£@£## ¨~†            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.....             ~=¨ #£@££*†=~¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨=*@# ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ #@*=¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨~=†*£@£##                                          ##£@£*†=~¨
¨¨¨¨~†££@#                                          #@££†~¨¨¨¨
¨~=†*£@£##                                          ##£@£*†=~¨
¨~=†*£@£##                                          ##£@£*†=~¨
¨¨¨¨¨~†*@@                                          @@*†~¨¨¨¨¨