##¶@£*†»,. .,»†*£@¶##
#¶@£*†»,.. ..,»†*£@¶#
¶@£*†»,... ...,»†*£@¶
@£*†»,.... ....,»†*£@
£*†»,..... .....,»†*£
*†»,...... ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ......,»†*
†»,....... .,† 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..... ,». ...,»†*£@¶
@£*†»,.... ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ....,»†*£@
£*†»,..... .....,»†*£
*†»,...... ......,»†*
†»,....... .......,»†
»,........ ........,»
†»,....... .......,»†