¨¨¨~~†$$£@                                          @£$$†~~¨¨¨
¨~»†*$£¶@#                                          #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨¨¨¨»***£¶                                          ¶£***»¨¨¨¨
¨~»†*$£¶##                                          ##¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$$$$£                                          £$$$$*†»~¨
¨¨¨~»»»*£¶ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ¶£*»»»~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨»†$¶ ¨~†            the  spire            »†¨ ¶$†»¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨~»†*$£¶@# »†~»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†»~ #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$£¶@# †»~ once upon a time, there was a    †~» #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$£¶@# †~» benevolent spire,  towering well ~†» #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$£¶@# ~†»  above our tallest trees. it was ~»† #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$£¶## ~»† clad in white scales, and shaped »~† ##¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$£¶¶@ »~†       liked   a  mushroom.       »†~ @¶¶£$*†»~¨
¨~»†*$£¶@# »†~      we  loved  it  dearly.      †»~ #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨¨¨¨~~†*£@ †»~»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†~» @£*†~~¨¨¨¨
¨~»†*$£¶@# †~» it  predated us by  many  years, ~†» #@¶£$*†»~¨
¨¨¨¨»*$$££ ~†» 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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¨~»†*$£¶@#                                          #@¶£$*†»~¨
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¨~»†*$£¶@#                                          #@¶£$*†»~¨