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