.....,,~%£                                          £%~,,.....
......,†%£                                          £%†,......
.,~†¤££@##                                          ##@££¤†~,.
.,~†%¤££@#                                          #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££££                                          ££££¤%†~,.
....,~%¤¤£ ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... £¤¤%~,....
.,~†%¤££@# .,†            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.....            ,~. #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££@# ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££@#                                          #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££@#                                          #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££@#                                          #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££@#                                          #@££¤%†~,.
.,~†%¤££@#                                          #@££¤%†~,.