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#§%*†-:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:-†*%§#
##§%*†-:¨¨ ¨¨:-†*%§##
###§%*†-:¨ ¨:-†*%§###
##§%*†-:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:-†*%§##
#§%*†-:¨¨¨ ¨:† 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..... :-¨ ¨¨¨:-†*%§#
##§%*†-:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:-†*%§##
###§%*†-:¨ ¨:-†*%§###
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