£†^^---...                                          ...---^^†£
##@£&†^--.                                          .--^†&£@##
#@@£&†^--.                                          .--^†&£@@#
£&^-......                                          ......-^&£
###@£†^--.                                          .--^†£@###
@£†^^^---. ...---^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^---... .---^^^†£@
@@&†-..... .-^            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.....             --. .--^†&£@@#
##@£&†^--. ...---^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^---... .--^†&£@##
##@£&†^--.                                          .--^†&£@##
##@£&†^--.                                          .--^†&£@##
##@£&†^--.                                          .--^†&£@##
££&†-.....                                          .....-†&££
@@@£&†^--.                                          .--^†&£@@@