###§&§†~^¨                                          ¨^~†§&§###
##§&§†~^¨¨                                          ¨¨^~†§&§##
#§&§†~^¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨^~†§&§#
§&§†~^¨¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨¨^~†§&§
#§&§†~^¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨^~†§&§#
##§&§†~^¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨^~†§&§##
###§&§†~^¨ ¨^†            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.....            ^~¨ ¨¨¨^~†§&§#
§&§†~^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^~†§&§
#§&§†~^¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨^~†§&§#
##§&§†~^¨¨                                          ¨¨^~†§&§##
###§&§†~^¨                                          ¨^~†§&§###
##§&§†~^¨¨                                          ¨¨^~†§&§##
#§&§†~^¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨^~†§&§#