....~*§§#@                                          @#§§*~....
.::~~~†*§¤                                          ¤§*†~~~::.
.....~*§¤¤                                          ¤¤§*~.....
.:~†*§¤#@#                                          #@#¤§*†~:.
.:~†****¤¤                                          ¤¤****†~:.
......:†*¤ ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... ¤*†:......
.:~†***§#@ .:†            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.....             :~. @¤*~~:::..
.:~†*§¤@## ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... ##@¤§*†~:.
.....::†*¤                                          ¤*†::.....
.....:~†*¤                                          ¤*†~:.....
...~~~*§§¤                                          ¤§§*~~~...
.:~†*§¤#@#                                          #@#¤§*†~:.
.:~†*§¤#@#                                          #@#¤§*†~:.