¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,
~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~
†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†
=†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†=
&=†~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨,† 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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