#@@&£%==~. .~==%£&@@#
@&£====~.. ..~====£&@
&£======~. .~======£&
@@£==..... .....==£@@
#&&££%==~. .~==%££&
@@@&£%==~. ...~~~============================~~~... .~==%£&@@@
##@&£%==~. .~= 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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