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†~:,,,,,,, ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, ,,,,,,,:~†
^†~:,,,,,, ,:† 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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