,,,,-;^$## ##$^;-,,,,
,,,,,-;^$# #$^;-,,,,,
,,,,,,-;^$ $^;-,,,,,,
,,,,,-;^$# #$^;-,,,,,
,,,,-;^$## ##$^;-,,,,
,,,-;^$##@ ,,,,,,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,,,,,, @##$^;-,,,
,,-;^$##@# ,,; 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..... ,-, #@##$^;-,,
,,,-;^$##@ ,,,,,,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,,,,,, @##$^;-,,,
,,,,-;^$## ##$^;-,,,,
,,,,,-;^$# #$^;-,,,,,
,,,,,,-;^$ $^;-,,,,,,
,,,,,-;^$# #$^;-,,,,,
,,,,-;^$## ##$^;-,,,,