,,,~†*$§@#                                          #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@##                                          ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@#                                          #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@                                          @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§                                          §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,,†            THE  SPIRE            ~†, #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ~†,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~, ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †~, ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †,~ BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL  ,†~ @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,†~ ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES.  IT WAS ,~† §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,~† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~,†       LIKED  A   MUSHROOM.       ~†, #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ~†,      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †~, ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †~,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †,~  IT  PREDATED US  BY MANY YEARS, ,†~ @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,†~ AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL ,~† §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,~†  BUILDERS.  THEY  HAD  USED  ITS ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~,† HOLLOW  BODY FOR  MANY  STRANGE  ~†, #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ~†, PURPOSES - A  WOMBLIKE PLACE  OF †~, ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †~, GESTATION,  A STORAGE OF  STRAGE †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †,~ FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF ,†~ @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,†~   ARCANE    DEITY.               ,~† §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~,†  WE  WERE   GRATEFUL   FOR  ITS  ~†, #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ~†,  PRESENCE,  AND HONORED  IT  THE †~, ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †~,  ONLY  WAY  WE   KNEW  HOW:  BY  †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,,~        BREAKING       IN.        ,~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@                                          @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@#                                          #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,~† THIS  PLACE  WE CALLED OUR CITY: ,†~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,†~  WAVY  AND  FRACTURED, WITH EACH †,~ @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ †,~ COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †~, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †~,  ROADS  BECOMING ROOFS BECOMING  ~†, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~†, DRAINS. AND SOME  PLACES,  LIKE  ~,† #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ~,†  THE SPIRE,  NOBODY HAD ACCESSED ,~† ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,~† FOR  MANY YEARS. ONCE ITS WALLS  ,†~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,†~  ARE  JUST  TOO HIGH,  AND  THE  †,~ @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ †,~ INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †~, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †~,  A PLACE  AMONG OTHERS IS EASILY ~†, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~†,           OVERLOOKED.            ,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ,~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,†~ SO,  BASICALLY, THAT SUMMER THE  †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †,~ FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ †~, CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR ~†, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ~†, A SECLUDED PLACE TO DO DRUGS AND ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~,† PLAY MUSIC  ON  OUR HANDHELDS.   ,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ,~†  INSTEAD  WE  FOUND  VAST LUNGS  ,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,†~   DRAINED   OF  THEIR  CATALYST  †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †,~ SLUDGE, AND A  BIRDS-EYE VIEW TO †~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ †~, MAKE  SENSE OF OUR ROAMINGS FOR  ~†, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ~†,        YEARS  TO   COME.         ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~,†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ,~†  A  CENTRAL SPINE,  A  STAIRCASE ,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,†~  AROUND  IT, THE SEVEN TOROIDAL  †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ †,~ LUNGS STACKED  OUTSIDE, AND THE  †~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ †~, CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS ~†, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ~†, FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~,†   FOR  RADIATING  CONSCIOUSNESS  ,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## ,~†           INVITATIONS.           ,†, ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@                                          @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,,† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~†, TOPPLED AND  EATEN BY MACHINES.  †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## †~, AFTER A  WHILE, SOMETHING NEW IS ,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †,~  CONJURED  IN ITS PLACE.  IT'S A ,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,†~ TINY MAW  AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,~†  US,  AND WE  LET  IT  BE.  OUR  ~†, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ~,† JOURNEYS STILL END AT  ITS FEET. †~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~†,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## †~, BUT  THEN WE ARE  BETRAYED.  THE ,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †,~  NEW TOWER EATS US. OTHERS  ARE  ,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,†~ SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,~†  MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT,  ONLY  TO ~†, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ~,†  DISAPPEAR  IN THE EVENING FOG.  †~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~†,  FOR A  WHILE ITS SOME  KIND OF  †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## †~, TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED ,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# †,~ OUTSIDE, AND  WE GET BEATEN UP A ,~† #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,†~  FEW  TIMES,  AND  STOP  GOING.  ~,† @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§ ,~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†, §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ~,†  IIRC  IT'S CURRENTLY  OWNED BY  †~, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@# ~†, SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †,~ #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@## †~,  IT TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT ,†~ ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@# ,,~             CARS.....            ,~, #@§$*†~,,,
,,,,~†*$§@ ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, @§$*†~,,,,
,,,,,~†*$§                                          §$*†~,,,,,
,,,,~†*$§@                                          @§$*†~,,,,
,,,~†*$§@#                                          #@§$*†~,,,
,,~†*$§@##                                          ##@§$*†~,,
,,,~†*$§@#                                          #@§$*†~,,,