##@§&%†-,. .,-†%&§@##
#@@§&%†-,. .,-†%&§@@#
@&&%%%†-,. .,-†%%%&&@
@&%-...... ......-%&@
#@@§&%†-,. .,-†%&§@@#
@&&&&%†-,. ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... .,-†%&&&&@
§%†,...... .,† 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..... ,-. ......,-%§
#@@§&%†-,. ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... .,-†%&§@@#
@@@§&%†-,. .,-†%&§@@@
§§%†-,,,,. .,,,,-†%§§
§§%†-,.... ....,-†%§§
§%%†,..... .....,†%%§
§&%†-,,... ...,,-†%&§