...^~†%@§@ @§@%†~^...
..^~†%@§@# #@§@%†~^..
.^~†%@§@## ##@§@%†~^.
..^~†%@§@# #@§@%†~^..
...^~†%@§@ @§@%†~^...
....^~†%@§ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... §@%†~^....
.....^~†%@ .^† 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..... ^~. ..........
.......... ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.........^ ^.........
........^~ ~^........
.......^~† †~^.......