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@@¶£%=:-~, ,~: the spire -:, ,~-:=%£¶@@
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##@¶%=:-~, :-~ 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. -~: ,~-=%£¶@##
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#@¶£%=:-~, ~-: 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..... ~-, ,,~-::==%¶
#@¶£%=:-~, ,,,~~~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~~~,,, ,~-:=%£¶@#
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