§§§$†-,,,, ,,,,-†$§§§
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#@#§$%†~-, ,-~†%$§#@#
#@#§$%†~-, ,-~†%$§#@#
#@#§$%†~-, ,-~†%$§#@#
@@#§$%†~-, ,,,---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---,,, ,-~†%$§#@@
#§$†~~~~-, ,-† THE SPIRE ~†, ,-~~~~†$§#
@§§§$%†~-, ~†-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~- ,-~†%$§§§@
@##§$%†~-, †~- ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A †-~ ,-~†%$§##@
#@#§$%†~-, †-~ BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL -†~ ,-~†%$§#@#
#@#§$%†~-, -†~ ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS -~† ,-~†%$§#@#
§$†~~~~~-, -~† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED ~-† ,-~~~~~†$§
#@#§$%†~-, ~-† LIKED A MUSHROOM. ~†- ,-~†%$§#@#
##@#$%†~-, ~†- WE LOVED IT DEARLY. †~- ,-~†%$#@##
§$$$%~~~-, †~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†-~ ,-~~~%$$$§
###§$%†~-, †-~ IT PREDATED US BY MANY YEARS, -†~ ,-~†%$§###
§%%~-,,,,, -†~ 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 -†~ ,-~†%%%%§#
#@#§$%†~-, †-~ OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP A -~† ,-~†%$§#@#
##@§$%†~-, -†~ FEW TIMES, AND STOP GOING. ~-† ,-~†%$§@##
#@#§$%†~-, -~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†- ,-~†%$§#@#
#§$$%%†~-, ~-† IIRC IT'S CURRENTLY OWNED BY †~- ,-~†%%$$§#
#@#§$%†~-, ~†- SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †-~ ,-~†%$§#@#
#@#§$%†~-, †~- IT TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT -†~ ,-~†%$§#@#
##@#§$†~-, ,-~ CARS..... -~, ,-~†$§#@##
#§§§$%†~-, ,,,---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---,,, ,-~†%$§§§#
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