,,,,^~†$@& &@$†~^,,,,
,,,^~†$@&# #&@$†~^,,,
,,^~†$@&## ##&@$†~^,,
,^~†$@&### ###&@$†~^,
,,^~†$@&## ##&@$†~^,,
,,,^~†$@&# ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, #&@$†~^,,,
,,,,^~†$@& ,^† the spire ~†, &@$†~^,,,,
,,,,,^~†$@ ~†^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~^ @$†~^,,,,,
,,,,,,^~†$ †~^ 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..... ^~, $†~^,,,,,,
,,,,,,,^~† ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, †~^,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,^~ ~^,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,^ ^,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,