###¤&*†~,. .,~†*&¤###
##¤&*†~,.. ..,~†*&¤##
#¤&*†~,... ...,~†*&¤#
¤&*†~,.... ....,~†*&¤
&*†~,..... .....,~†*&
¤&*†~,.... ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ....,~†*&¤
#¤&*†~,... .,† 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..... ,~. ...,~†*&¤#
##¤&*†~,.. ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ..,~†*&¤##
###¤&*†~,. .,~†*&¤###
##¤&*†~,.. ..,~†*&¤##
#¤&*†~,... ...,~†*&¤#
¤&*†~,.... ....,~†*&¤
&*†~,..... .....,~†*&