,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
~,,,,,,,,, ,~† 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..... ~-, ,~-†=%####
###%=†-~,, ,,,~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~,,, ,,~-†=%###
##%=†-~,,, ,,,~-†=%##
#%=†-~,,,, ,,,,~-†=%#
%=†-~,,,,, ,,,,,~-†=%
=†-~,,,,,, ,,,,,,~-†=
†-~,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,~-†