¨¨¨¨¨¨,†%¤ ¤%†,¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ##@¤%%†«,¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ##@¤%%†«,¨
¨¨¨¨¨,†%%¤ ¤%%†,¨¨¨¨¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ##@¤%%†«,¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ##@¤%%†«,¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ¨,† 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..... ,«¨ #@¤¤%%†«,¨
¨,«%%¤@### ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ###@¤%%«,¨
¨¨¨¨¨,,†%@ @%†,,¨¨¨¨¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ##@¤%%†«,¨
¨¨¨¨,«%%¤¤ ¤¤%%«,¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨«†%¤@@ @@¤%†«¨¨¨¨
¨,«†%%¤@## ##@¤%%†«,¨