#@£@%^†=~,                                          ,~=†^%@£@#
@@@^†††=~,                                          ,~=†††^@@@
##£@%^†=~,                                          ,~=†^%@£##
@£@%^^†=~,                                          ,~=†^^%@£@
@%%%^^†=~,                                          ,~=†^^%%%@
#@£@%^†=~, ,,,~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~,,, ,~=†^%@£@#
##@£%^†=~, ,~†            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.....            ~=, ,~=†^%@£@#
@%^^†==,,, ,,,~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~,,, ,,,==†^^%@
@££@%^†=~,                                          ,~=†^%@££@
@@@^^=~,,,                                          ,,,~=^^@@@
##£@%^†=~,                                          ,~=†^%@£##
@^†~,,,,,,                                          ,,,,,,~†^@
#@£@%^†=~,                                          ,~=†^%@£@#