.,«†$%¤#@# #@#¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤##@ @##¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤##@ @##¤%$†«,.
.....,,†$¤ ¤$†,,.....
.,«†$%¤¤¤# #¤¤¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤#@# ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... #@#¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤### .,† the spire «†. ###¤%$†«,.
.....,†$%¤ «†,««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«, ¤%$†,.....
.,«†$%¤@## †«, once upon a time, there was a †,« ##@¤%$†«,.
....««««$¤ †,« benevolent spire, towering well ,†« ¤$««««....
.,«««†$%¤¤ ,†« above our tallest trees. it was ,«† ¤¤%$†«««,.
.,«†$$%%¤# ,«† clad in white scales, and shaped «,† #¤%%$$†«,.
.,«†$%¤#@# «,† liked a mushroom. «†, #@#¤%$†«,.
......,«$¤ «†, we loved it dearly. †«, ¤$«,......
.,«†$%¤#@@ †«,««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†,« @@#¤%$†«,.
......«$¤¤ †,« it predated us by many years, ,†« ¤¤$«......
.,«†$%¤¤¤¤ ,†« and we did not know its original ,«† ¤¤¤¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤#@@ ,«† builders. they had used its «,† @@#¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤#@# «,† hollow body for many strange «†, #@#¤%$†«,.
....,†%¤¤@ «†, 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 ,†« #¤%†,.....
.,«†$$%¤## .,« cars..... ,«. ##¤%$$†«,.
....«†$$%¤ ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ¤%$$†«....
.,«†$%¤#@# #@#¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤### ###¤%$†«,.
.....,†$¤¤ ¤¤$†,.....
.,«†$%¤@## ##@¤%$†«,.
.,«†$%¤#@# #@#¤%$†«,.