#&&$†-~... ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... .~† the spire -†. ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... -†~----------------------------------†-~ ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †-~ once upon a time, there was a †~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. †~- benevolent spire, towering well ~†- ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ~†- above our tallest trees. it was ~-† .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. ~-† clad in white scales, and shaped -~† ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -~† liked a mushroom. -†~ ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... -†~ we loved it dearly. †-~ ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †-~----------------------------------†~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. †~- it predated us by many years, ~†- ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ~†- and we did not know its original ~-† .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. ~-† builders. they had used its -~† ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -~† hollow body for many strange -†~ ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... -†~ purposes - a womblike place of †-~ ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †-~ gestation, a storage of strage †~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. †~- fluids, a temple to some kind of ~†- ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ~†- arcane deity. ~-† .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. ~-†-----------------------------------~† ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -~† we were grateful for its -†~ ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... -†~ presence, and honored it the †-~ ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †-~ only way we knew how: by †~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. .~- breaking in. ~-. ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... .-† this place we called our city: ~†- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ~†- wavy and fractured, with each †~- ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. †~- courtyard on a different height, †-~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. †-~ roads becoming roofs becoming -†~ ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -†~ drains. and some places, like -~† ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... -~† the spire, nobody had accessed ~-† ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ~-† for many years. once its walls ~†- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ~†- are just too high, and the †~- ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. †~- internal routes to labyrinthine, †-~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. †-~ a place among others is easily -†~ ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -†~ overlooked. ~-† ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... ~-†----------------------------------~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ~†- so, basically, that summer the †~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. †~- four of us snuck and climbed and -~† ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. †-~ crawled for weeks, searching for -†~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. -†~ a secluded place to do drugs and -~† ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -~† play music on our handhelds. ~-† ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... ~-† instead we found vast lungs ~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ~†- drained of their catalyst †~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. †~- sludge, and a birds-eye view to †-~ ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. †-~ make sense of our roamings for -†~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. -†~ years to come. -~† ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -~†----------------------------------~-† ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... ~-† a central spine, a staircase ~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ~†- around it, the seven toroidal †~- ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. †~- lungs stacked outside, and the †-~ ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. †-~ control room on top. the sockets -†~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. -†~ for its eyes. the smaller spires -~† ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -~† for radiating consciousness ~-† ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... .-† invitations. ~†. ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. .~† in twenty fourteen, the tower is †-~ ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -†~ toppled and eaten by machines. †~- ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... †-~ after a while, something new is ~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †~- conjured in its place. it's a ~-† ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ~†- tiny maw at first, shorter than -~† ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ~-† us, and we let it be. our -†~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. -~† journeys still end at its feet. †-~ ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -†~----------------------------------†~- ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... †-~ but then we are betrayed. the ~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †~- new tower eats us. others are ~-† ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ~†- sucked inside. new buildings are -~† ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ~-† manifested overnight, only to -†~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. -~† disappear in the evening fog. †-~ ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -†~ for a while its some kind of †~- ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... †-~ timeshare scam. goons are placed ~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... †~- outside, and we get beaten up a ~-† ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ~†- few times, and stop going. -~† ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. ~-†-----------------------------------†~ .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. -~† iirc it's currently owned by †-~ ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... -†~ some energy drink baron who uses †~- ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... †-~ it to hold all his fourty eight ~†- ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... .~- cars..... ~-. ...~-†$&&#
##&&$†-~.. ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ..~-†$&&##
###&&$†-~. .~-†$&&###
##&&$†-~.. ..~-†$&&##
#&&$†-~... ...~-†$&&#
&&$†-~.... ....~-†$&&
#&&$†-~... ...~-†$&&#