¨¨¨¨¨^=†%% %%†=^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^=†% %†=^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^=† †=^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^= =^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨^† 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..... ^=¨ #&%%†=^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^=†%%& ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ &%%†=^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^=†%% %%†=^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^=†% %†=^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^=† †=^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^= =^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨