*†-:,,,,,, ,,,,,,:-†*
†-:,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,:-†
-:,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,:-
:,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,:
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:,,,,,,,,, ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, ,,,,,,,,,:
-:,,,,,,,, ,:† 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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