@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨                                          ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ ¨:†            THE  SPIRE            «†¨ ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ «†:««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«: ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«: ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †:« BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL  :†« ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :†« ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES.  IT WAS :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ :«† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED «:† ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «:†       LIKED   A   MUSHROOM.      «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ «†:      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †«: ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«:««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ †:«  IT PREDATED  US BY MANY  YEARS, :†« ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :†« AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ :«†  BUILDERS.  THEY  HAD USED  ITS  «:† ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «:†  HOLLOW  BODY FOR  MANY STRANGE  «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ «†: PURPOSES - A WOMBLIKE PLACE  OF  †«: ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«: GESTATION,  A STORAGE OF STRAGE  †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †:« FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF :†« ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :†«   ARCANE    DEITY.               :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ :«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««:† ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «:†  WE  WERE  GRATEFUL   FOR  ITS   «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ «†: PRESENCE,  AND  HONORED  IT  THE †«: ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«:  ONLY  WAY  WE  KNEW   HOW:  BY  †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ ¨:«        BREAKING        IN.       :«¨ ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ ¨«† THIS PLACE WE  CALLED OUR  CITY: :†« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ :†« WAVY  AND  FRACTURED, WITH  EACH †:« ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †:« COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †«: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ †«:  ROADS BECOMING  ROOFS  BECOMING «†: ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «†: DRAINS. AND  SOME PLACES,  LIKE  «:† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ «:†  THE SPIRE, NOBODY  HAD ACCESSED :«† ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :«† FOR MANY YEARS. ONCE  ITS  WALLS :†« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ :†«  ARE JUST  TOO  HIGH,  AND  THE  †:« ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †:« INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †«: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †«: A PLACE  AMONG OTHERS  IS EASILY «†: ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «†:           OVERLOOKED.            :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ :«†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««:†« ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :†« SO,  BASICALLY,  THAT SUMMER THE †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †:« FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND «:† ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«: CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ «†: A SECLUDED PLACE TO DO DRUGS AND «:† ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «:† PLAY  MUSIC ON  OUR HANDHELDS.   :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ :«†  INSTEAD  WE FOUND  VAST  LUNGS  :†« ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :†«  DRAINED  OF   THEIR   CATALYST  †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ †:« SLUDGE, AND A BIRDS-EYE VIEW TO  †«: ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«: MAKE  SENSE OF OUR ROAMINGS  FOR «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ «†:        YEARS   TO   COME.        «:† ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «:†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««:«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ :«† A CENTRAL  SPINE,  A  STAIRCASE  :†« ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :†« AROUND  IT,  THE  SEVEN TOROIDAL †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †:« LUNGS STACKED  OUTSIDE, AND  THE †«: ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †«: CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ «†: FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES «:† ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «:†  FOR  RADIATING   CONSCIOUSNESS  :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ ¨«†           INVITATIONS.           :†¨ ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨                                          ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ ¨:† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †«: ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «†:  TOPPLED AND EATEN  BY MACHINES. †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ †«: AFTER A  WHILE, SOMETHING NEW IS :†« ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †:«  CONJURED IN  ITS PLACE.  IT'S A :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ :†« TINY MAW  AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN «:† ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :«†  US,  AND  WE  LET  IT  BE. OUR  «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ «:†  JOURNEYS STILL END AT ITS FEET. †«: ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «†:««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †«:  BUT THEN WE  ARE BETRAYED.  THE :†« ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †:« NEW TOWER  EATS US.  OTHERS ARE  :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ :†« SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE «:† ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :«†  MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT,  ONLY  TO «†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ «:† DISAPPEAR  IN THE  EVENING FOG.  †«: ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «†:  FOR A WHILE ITS SOME  KIND  OF  †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ †«: TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED :†« ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ †:« OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP A  :«† ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ :†«  FEW  TIMES,  AND  STOP  GOING.  «:† ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ :«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†: ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ «:† IIRC  IT'S  CURRENTLY  OWNED  BY †«: ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ «†: SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †:« ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨ †«: IT  TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT :†« ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨ ¨:«             CARS.....            :«¨ ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
¶¤&$†«:¨¨¨                                          ¨¨¨:«†$&¤¶
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@
#@¶¤&$†«:¨                                          ¨:«†$&¤¶@#
@¶¤&$†«:¨¨                                          ¨¨:«†$&¤¶@