...,=†%&&#                                          #&&%†=,...
..,=†%&&##                                          ##&&%†=,..
.,=†%&&###                                          ###&&%†=,.
..,=†%&&##                                          ##&&%†=,..
...,=†%&&#                                          #&&%†=,...
....,=†%&& ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... &&%†=,....
.....,=†%& .,†            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.....             ,=. &%†=,.....
......,=†% ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... %†=,......
.....,=†%&                                          &%†=,.....
....,=†%&&                                          &&%†=,....
...,=†%&&#                                          #&&%†=,...
..,=†%&&##                                          ##&&%†=,..
.,=†%&&###                                          ###&&%†=,.