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##£&%=†=~¨ ¨~=†=%&£##
#£&%=†=~¨¨ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ¨¨~=†=%&£#
##£&%=†=~¨ ¨~† 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. ~†¨ ¨¨~=†=%&£#
##£&%=†=~¨ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ¨~=†=%&£##
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##£&%=†=~¨ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ¨~=†=%&£##
#£&%=†=~¨¨ ¨~† 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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