¨¨--«†^^¤#                                          #¤^^†«--¨¨
¨¨¨¨««†^^¤                                          ¤^^†««¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨-†$#                                          #$†-¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨-«««†$¤##                                          ##¤$†«««-¨
¨¨-«†^^¤¤¤                                          ¤¤¤^^†«-¨¨
¨-«†^$¤### ¨¨¨---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---¨¨¨ ###¤$^†«-¨
¨-«†^$¤### ¨-†            the  spire            «†¨ ###¤$^†«-¨
¨-«†^$¤### «†-««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«- ###¤$^†«-¨
¨-«†^$¤### †«- once upon a time, there was a    †-« ###¤$^†«-¨
¨¨¨-†††^¤# †-«  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 -†« ¤¤¤^†-¨¨¨¨
¨-«†^$¤### †-« outside, and we get beaten  up a -«† ###¤$^†«-¨
¨-«†^$¤### -†«  few  times,  and  stop  going.  «-† ###¤$^†«-¨
¨-«†^$¤### -«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†- ###¤$^†«-¨
¨¨¨--«^$## «-†  iirc  it's  currently  owned by †«- ##$^«--¨¨¨
¨-«†^$¤### «†- some energy drink baron who uses †-« ###¤$^†«-¨
¨-«††^$¤¤# †«- it to hold all his fourty eight  -†« #¤¤$^††«-¨
¨-«†^$¤### ¨-«             cars.....            -«¨ ###¤$^†«-¨
¨¨¨««†^^¤¤ ¨¨¨---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---¨¨¨ ¤¤^^†««¨¨¨
¨-«†^$¤¤##                                          ##¤¤$^†«-¨
¨-«†^$¤###                                          ###¤$^†«-¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨«^¤#                                          #¤^«¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨-«†††††^¤                                          ¤^†††††«-¨
¨¨-«««^^$¤                                          ¤$^^«««-¨¨