...~=††£@@                                          @@£††=~...
.~==†††*@#                                          #@*†††==~.
.~=†*£@¶##                                          ##¶@£*†=~.
.~=†*£@¶##                                          ##¶@£*†=~.
.~=†*£@¶##                                          ##¶@£*†=~.
.~=†*£@### ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ###@£*†=~.
.....==†*@ .~†            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.....            ~=. ¶£††~.....
.~=†*£@¶## ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... ##¶@£*†=~.
..~===†££¶                                          ¶££†===~..
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.....~††£¶                                          ¶£††~.....
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