#@@&%*†~:¨ ¨:~†*%&@@#
@@&%*†~:¨¨ ¨¨:~†*%&@@
@&%*†~:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:~†*%&@
&%*†~:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:~†*%&
%*†~:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:~†*%
&%*†~:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:~†*%&
@&%*†~:¨¨¨ ¨:† 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..... :~¨ ¨¨¨:~†*%&@
@@&%*†~:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:~†*%&@@
#@@&%*†~:¨ ¨:~†*%&@@#
@@&%*†~:¨¨ ¨¨:~†*%&@@
@&%*†~:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:~†*%&@
&%*†~:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:~†*%&
%*†~:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:~†*%