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