..«†$¤¤&&&                                          &&&¤¤$†«..
...««†$¤##                                          ##¤$†««...
..«†$¤&###                                          ###&¤$†«..
......«†$&                                          &$†«......
......«†$&                                          &$†«......
...««††¤¤# ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... #¤¤††««...
.....««$&# ..†            THE  SPIRE            «†. #&$««.....
.«†$¤&#### «†.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«. ####&¤$†«.
..«†$¤&### †«. ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †.« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †.« BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING  WELL .†« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$$$$&& .†« ABOVE  OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS .«† &&$$$$†«..
.......†¤# .«† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED «.† #¤†.......
..«†$¤&### «.†       LIKED  A  MUSHROOM.        «†. ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤#### «†.      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †«. ####¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †«.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†.« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&&## †.« IT PREDATED US  BY  MANY YEARS,  .†« ##&&¤$†«..
..«†$¤¤&&# .†« AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL .«† #&&¤¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### .«†  BUILDERS.  THEY HAD  USED  ITS  «.† ###&¤$†«..
.....««$¤# «.†  HOLLOW BODY  FOR  MANY  STRANGE «†. #¤$««.....
....«$¤¤&# «†.  PURPOSES - A WOMBLIKE  PLACE OF †«. #&¤¤$«....
..«†$¤&### †«. GESTATION, A STORAGE  OF STRAGE  †.« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †.« FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF .†« ###&¤$†«..
......«$¤& .†«   ARCANE    DEITY.               .«† &¤$«......
..«†$¤&### .«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««.† ###&¤$†«..
.......«$& «.†  WE  WERE  GRATEFUL  FOR   ITS   «†. &$«.......
.......†¤# «†. PRESENCE,  AND  HONORED  IT THE  †«. #¤†.......
.....«$$$& †«.  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.        «.† &¤$$†.....
......«†$& «.†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««.«† &$†«......
..«†$¤&### .«† A  CENTRAL  SPINE,  A STAIRCASE  .†« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&&## .†« AROUND IT, THE  SEVEN  TOROIDAL  †.« ##&&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †.« LUNGS STACKED  OUTSIDE, AND THE  †«. ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †«. CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS «†. ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### «†. FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES «.† ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### «.†  FOR   RADIATING  CONSCIOUSNESS  .«† ###&¤$†«..
.....«†$¤& .«†           INVITATIONS.           .†. &¤$†«.....
..«†$¤&### ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ###&¤$†«..
......«$&#                                          #&$«......
...««†††¤& ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... &¤†††««...
......†$¤& ..† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †«. &¤$†......
..«†$¤&### «†. TOPPLED AND  EATEN BY MACHINES.  †.« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †«.  AFTER A WHILE, SOMETHING NEW IS .†« ###&¤$†«..
.....«††$& †.« CONJURED  IN  ITS PLACE. IT'S  A .«† &$††«.....
..««†$¤¤&# .†« TINY MAW  AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN «.† #&¤¤$†««..
......†¤## .«†  US,  AND  WE  LET IT  BE.  OUR  «†. ##¤†......
..«†$¤&### «.† JOURNEYS STILL  END AT ITS FEET. †«. ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### «†.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†.« ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### †«.  BUT  THEN WE ARE  BETRAYED. THE .†« ###&¤$†«..
.....«$¤&# †.«  NEW  TOWER EATS US.  OTHERS ARE .«† #&¤$«.....
....«†$¤¤& .†« SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE «.† &¤¤$†«....
..«†$¤&### .«†  MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT,  ONLY  TO «†. ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤¤¤## «.†  DISAPPEAR IN THE  EVENING  FOG. †«. ##¤¤¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### «†. FOR  A WHILE ITS  SOME KIND  OF  †.« ###&¤$†«..
.....«††¤# †«. TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED .†« #¤††«.....
..«†$¤&### †.« OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP  A .«† ###&¤$†«..
......«$&& .†«  FEW  TIMES,  AND  STOP  GOING.  «.† &&$«......
....«$$¤## .«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†. ##¤$$«....
..«†$¤&### «.†  IIRC  IT'S  CURRENTLY  OWNED BY †«. ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&### «†. SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †.« ###&¤$†«..
.....««$¤# †«. IT TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT  .†« #¤$««.....
..«««†††¤# ..«             CARS.....            .«. #¤†††«««..
...«†$$$&# ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... #&$$$†«...
..«†$$¤¤##                                          ##¤¤$$†«..
..«†$¤####                                          ####¤$†«..
..«†$¤&###                                          ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&###                                          ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤&###                                          ###&¤$†«..