@@$%%†=¨¨¨ ¨¨¨=†%%$@@
##@@$%†=^¨ ¨^=†%$@@##
@@@%%†=^¨¨ ¨¨^=†%%@@@
@@%††^^^^¨ ¨^^^^††%@@
@@$%†==¨¨¨ ¨¨¨==†%$@@
@@@$†===^¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨^===†$@@@
@@@$$%†=^¨ ¨^† THE SPIRE =†¨ ¨^=†%$$@@@
#@@@$%†=^¨ =†^==================================†=^ ¨^=†%$@@@#
##@@$%†=^¨ †=^ ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A †^= ¨^=†%$@@##
#@@@$%†=^¨ †^= BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL ^†= ¨^=†%$@@@#
@%††††^^¨¨ ^†= 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..... ^=¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨^†%@
##@@$%†=^¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨^=†%$@@##
@@$†^¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨^†$@@
@$††=¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨=††$@
@@@$$%†=^¨ ¨^=†%$$@@@
@%†^¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨^†%@
#@@@$%†=^¨ ¨^=†%$@@@#