,,,^«†^¤£#                                          #£¤^†«^,,,
,,,,^«†^¤£                                          £¤^†«^,,,,
,,,^«†^¤£#                                          #£¤^†«^,,,
,,^«†^¤£##                                          ##£¤^†«^,,
,^«†^¤£###                                          ###£¤^†«^,
,,^«†^¤£## ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, ##£¤^†«^,,
,,,^«†^¤£# ,^†            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.....             ^«, #£¤^†«^,,,
,,^«†^¤£## ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, ##£¤^†«^,,
,^«†^¤£###                                          ###£¤^†«^,
,,^«†^¤£##                                          ##£¤^†«^,,
,,,^«†^¤£#                                          #£¤^†«^,,,
,,,,^«†^¤£                                          £¤^†«^,,,,
,,,^«†^¤£#                                          #£¤^†«^,,,