¨¨~«†$$£## ##£$$†«~¨¨
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¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ¨~† the spire «†¨ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# «†~««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«~ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †«~ once upon a time, there was a †~« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### †~« benevolent spire, towering well ~†« ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ~†« above our tallest trees. it was ~«† ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ~«† clad in white scales, and shaped «~† #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ «~† liked a mushroom. «†~ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ «†~ we loved it dearly. †«~ $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ †«~««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†~« £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# †~« it predated us by many years, ~†« #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ~†« and we did not know its original ~«† ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### ~«† builders. they had used its «~† ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## «~† hollow body for many strange «†~ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# «†~ purposes - a womblike place of †«~ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ †«~ gestation, a storage of strage †~« £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ †~« fluids, a temple to some kind of ~†« $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ~†« arcane deity. ~«† £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ~«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««~† #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## «~† we were grateful for its «†~ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### «†~ presence, and honored it the †«~ ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †«~ only way we knew how: by †~« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ¨~« breaking in. ~«¨ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
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¨¨¨~«†$$£# ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ¨«† this place we called our city: ~†« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### ~†« wavy and fractured, with each †~« ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †~« courtyard on a different height, †«~ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# †«~ roads becoming roofs becoming «†~ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ «†~ drains. and some places, like «~† £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ «~† the spire, nobody had accessed ~«† $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ~«† for many years. once its walls ~†« £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ~†« are just too high, and the †~« #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †~« internal routes to labyrinthine, †«~ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### †«~ a place among others is easily «†~ ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## «†~ overlooked. ~«† ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ~«†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««~†« #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ~†« so, basically, that summer the †~« £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ †~« four of us snuck and climbed and «~† $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ †«~ crawled for weeks, searching for «†~ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# «†~ a secluded place to do drugs and «~† #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## «~† play music on our handhelds. ~«† ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### ~«† instead we found vast lungs ~†« ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ~†« drained of their catalyst †~« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# †~« sludge, and a birds-eye view to †«~ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ †«~ make sense of our roamings for «†~ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ «†~ years to come. «~† $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ «~†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««~«† £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ~«† a central spine, a staircase ~†« #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ~†« around it, the seven toroidal †~« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### †~« lungs stacked outside, and the †«~ ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †«~ control room on top. the sockets «†~ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# «†~ for its eyes. the smaller spires «~† #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ «~† for radiating consciousness ~«† £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ ¨«† invitations. ~†¨ $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### ¨~† in twenty fourteen, the tower is †«~ ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## «†~ toppled and eaten by machines. †~« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# †«~ after a while, something new is ~†« #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ †~« conjured in its place. it's a ~«† £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ ~†« tiny maw at first, shorter than «~† $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ~«† us, and we let it be. our «†~ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# «~† journeys still end at its feet. †«~ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## «†~««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†~« ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### †«~ but then we are betrayed. the ~†« ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †~« new tower eats us. others are ~«† ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ~†« sucked inside. new buildings are «~† #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ~«† manifested overnight, only to «†~ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ «~† disappear in the evening fog. †«~ $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ «†~ for a while its some kind of †~« £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# †«~ timeshare scam. goons are placed ~†« #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨~«†$$£## †~« outside, and we get beaten up a ~«† ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨~«†$$£### ~†« few times, and stop going. «~† ###£$$†«~¨
¨¨~«†$$£## ~«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†~ ##£$$†«~¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# «~† iirc it's currently owned by †«~ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ «†~ some energy drink baron who uses †~« £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~«†$$ †«~ it to hold all his fourty eight ~†« $$†«~¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨~«†$$£ ¨~« cars..... ~«¨ £$$†«~¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨~«†$$£# ¨¨¨~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~¨¨¨ #£$$†«~¨¨¨
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