#&&&*^†~^¨ ¨^~†^*&&&#
###&*^†~^¨ ¨^~†^*&###
####&*†~^¨ ¨^~†*&####
&&^~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨~^&&
#***†~~^¨¨ ¨¨^~~†***#
&^^†^^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^^†^^&
####*^†~^¨ ¨^† 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..... ^~¨ ¨¨¨¨~~~~^&
&^†††^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^†††^&
&*†~~^^^¨¨ ¨¨^^^~~†*&
####&*^†~^ ^~†^*&####
####*^†~^¨ ¨^~†^*####
&*†~~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~~†*&
###&*^†~^¨ ¨^~†^*&###