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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 †.« &$$$«.....
..«†$¤¤& ..« BREAKING IN. .«. #&&¤¤$†«..
.....«$$&& ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... &&$$«.....
..«†$¤## ###&¤$†«..
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..«†$¤## ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ###&¤$†«..
..«†$¤## .«† THIS PLACE WE CALLED OUR CITY: .†« ###&¤$†«..
.....††$&& .†« WAVY AND FRACTURED, WITH EACH †.« &&$††.....
....«$$¤ †.« 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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