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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. :-. .:-**£####
##*---.... ...:::****************************:::... ....---*##
####£**-:. .:-**£####
#£**:..... .....:**£#
#*-:...... ...:::****************************:::... ......:-*#
#£**::.... .-* 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. :*. .:-**£####
##££*--... ...:::****************************:::... ...--*££##
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####£**-:. ...:::****************************:::... .:-**£####
####£**-:. .:* 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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