,,~*†¤£### ###£¤†*~,,
,,,,,,*¤¤£ £¤¤*,,,,,,
,,,,,~**¤# #¤**~,,,,,
,,~*†¤£### ###£¤†*~,,
,,~*†¤££££ ££££¤†*~,,
,,,,,*††£# ,,,,,,****************************,,,,,, #£††*,,,,,
,,,,,,,*¤# ,,* 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..... ,~, ###£¤†*~,,
,,,,,~*††£ ,,,,,,****************************,,,,,, £††*~,,,,,
,,~*†¤£££# #£££¤†*~,,
,,~*****¤# #¤*****~,,
,,~**††¤£# #£¤††**~,,
,,~*†¤£### ###£¤†*~,,
,,~*†¤£### ###£¤†*~,,