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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. ,*. .,-***#£##
##*-...... ...,,,****************************,,,... ......-*##
#£**-,,... ...,,-**£#
###£#**-,. ...,,,****************************,,,... .,-**#£###
£#**--,... .,* 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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