$*^~^..... .....^~^*$
*^~^...... ......^~^*
^~^....... .......^~^
~^........ ........^~
^......... .........^
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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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