,,,,~†%£@#                                          #@£%†~,,,,
,,,,,~†%£@                                          @£%†~,,,,,
,,,,,,~†%£                                          £%†~,,,,,,
,,,,,~†%£@                                          @£%†~,,,,,
,,,,~†%£@#                                          #@£%†~,,,,
,,,~†%£@#@ ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, @#@£%†~,,,
,,~†%£@#@# ,,†            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.....            ,~, #@#@£%†~,,
,,,~†%£@#@ ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, @#@£%†~,,,
,,,,~†%£@#                                          #@£%†~,,,,
,,,,,~†%£@                                          @£%†~,,,,,
,,,,,,~†%£                                          £%†~,,,,,,
,,,,,~†%£@                                          @£%†~,,,,,
,,,,~†%£@#                                          #@£%†~,,,,