¨¨¨¨:«†§%#                                          #%§†«:¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨:«†§%                                          %§†«:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨:«†§                                          §†«:¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨:«†§%                                          %§†«:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨:«†§%#                                          #%§†«:¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨:«†§%## ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ##%§†«:¨¨¨
¨¨:«†§%### ¨:†            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.....            :«¨ ###%§†«:¨¨
¨:«†§%#### ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ####%§†«:¨
¨¨:«†§%###                                          ###%§†«:¨¨
¨¨¨:«†§%##                                          ##%§†«:¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨:«†§%#                                          #%§†«:¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨:«†§%                                          %§†«:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨:«†§                                          §†«:¨¨¨¨¨¨