#.#...##..                                          ..#..#....
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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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