†«-.......                                          .......-«†
«-........                                          ........-«
-.........                                          .........-
..........                                          ..........
-.........                                          .........-
«-........ ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... ........-«
†«-....... .-†            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 «-† ..........
-......... -Ǡ  MANIFESTED  OVERNIGHT,  ONLY TO Ǡ- .........-
«-........ «-†  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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-.........                                          .........-