@@§¤†..... .....†¤§@@
#@@§¤%†-.. ..-†%¤§@@#
@@§§¤%†-.. ..-†%¤§§@@
@§%%%†-... ...-†%%%§@
@¤†....... .......†¤@
@@§%%-.... ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ....-%%§@@
@§¤¤%%†-.. ..† 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..... .-. ..-†%¤§@@#
#@@§¤%†-.. ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ..-†%¤§@@#
@¤¤††..... .....††¤¤@
@@¤¤¤%†-.. ..-†%¤¤¤@@
##@@§¤%†-. .-†%¤§@@##
§%-....... .......-%§
§§%†-..... .....-†%§§