##£@§†~:.. ..:~†§@£##
###£@§†~:. .:~†§@£###
##£@§†~:.. ..:~†§@£##
#£@§†~:... ...:~†§@£#
£@§†~:.... ....:~†§@£
@§†~:..... ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... .....:~†§@
§†~:...... .:† 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..... :~. ......:~†§
†~:....... ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... .......:~†
~:........ ........:~
:......... .........:
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........