-......... .........-
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
-......... .........-
~-........ ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... ........-~
†~-....... .-† 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..... -~. .......-~†
%†~-...... ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... ......-~†%
§%†~-..... .....-~†%§
@§%†~-.... ....-~†%§@
#@§%†~-... ...-~†%§@#
##@§%†~-.. ..-~†%§@##
###@§%†~-. .-~†%§@###