¨¨¨¨¨,~†%% %%†~,¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†% %†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~† †~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~ ~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨, ,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨,† 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..... ,~¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨, ,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨