#@@#$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$#@@#
##@@$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$@@##
##@#$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$#@##
@#$*»¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨»*$#@
@##*†,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,†*##@
#@@#$*†»,¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨,»†*$#@@#
@@@#$*†»,¨ ¨,† the spire »†¨ ¨,»†*$#@@@
#@@#$*†»,¨ »†,»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†», ¨,»†*$#@@#
@#$*†,¨¨¨¨ †», once upon a time, there was a †,» ¨¨¨¨,†*$#@
@@#$$*†»,¨ †,» benevolent spire, towering well ,†» ¨,»†*$$#@@
@@$**»¨¨¨¨ ,†» above our tallest trees. it was ,»† ¨¨¨¨»**$@@
#**†»»¨¨¨¨ ,»† 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 ,»† ¨,»††***#@
#@@#$*†»,¨ ,†» few times, and stop going. »,† ¨,»†*$#@@#
#$$†,,¨¨¨¨ ,»†»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†, ¨¨¨¨,,†$$#
#@@#$*†»,¨ »,† iirc it's currently owned by †», ¨,»†*$#@@#
#@@#$*†»,¨ »†, some energy drink baron who uses †,» ¨,»†*$#@@#
#@@#$*†»,¨ †», it to hold all his fourty eight ,†» ¨,»†*$#@@#
##@#$*†»,¨ ¨,» cars..... ,»¨ ¨,»†*$#@##
@@@#$*†»,¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨,»†*$#@@@
#@@#$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$#@@#
@###$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$###@
#@@#$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$#@@#
@$$$†††»,¨ ¨,»†††$$$@
@@@#$*†»,¨ ¨,»†*$#@@@