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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. ~*. .¤..¤.¤¤..
...¤¤¤.... ...~~~****************************~~~... ..¤...¤¤¤.
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¤....¤¤¤.. ...~~~****************************~~~... ....¤...¤¤
¤¤...¤.¤¤. .~* 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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