#*††-^....                                          ....^-††*#
@*†--.....                                          .....--†*@
#@*†--....                                          ....--†*@#
###@*^†-^.                                          .^-†^*@###
###@*^†-^.                                          .^-†^*@###
##*^----^. ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... .^----^*##
@**^^^†-^. .^†            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.....            ^-. .^-†^***@#
###@*^†-^. ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... .^-†^*@###
####@*†-^.                                          .^-†*@####
####*^†-^.                                          .^-†^*####
#@***^†-^.                                          .^-†^***@#
###@*^†-^.                                          .^-†^*@###
###@*^†-^.                                          .^-†^*@###