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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.        .~. ..........
.......... ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ..........
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.......... ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ..........
.......... .~† 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.....            .~. †~........
.......~†* ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... *†~.......
......~†*@                                          @*†~......
.....~†*@§                                          §@*†~.....
....~†*@§@                                          @§@*†~....
...~†*@§@#                                          #@§@*†~...
..~†*@§@##                                          ##@§@*†~..