¨¨¨,=†^&§@                                          @§&^†=,¨¨¨
¨¨,=†^&§@@                                          @@§&^†=,¨¨
¨,=†^&§@@#                                          #@@§&^†=,¨
¨¨,=†^&§@@                                          @@§&^†=,¨¨
¨¨¨,=†^&§@                                          @§&^†=,¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨,=†^&§ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ §&^†=,¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨,=†^& ¨,†            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.....            ,=¨ #@@§&^†=,¨
¨¨,=†^&§@@ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ @@§&^†=,¨¨
¨¨¨,=†^&§@                                          @§&^†=,¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨,=†^&§                                          §&^†=,¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨,=†^&                                          &^†=,¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨,=†^                                          ^†=,¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,=†                                          †=,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨