^~,.......                                          .......,~^
*^~,......                                          ......,~^*
%*^~,.....                                          .....,~^*%
@%*^~,....                                          ....,~^*%@
#@%*^~,...                                          ...,~^*%@#
##@%*^~,.. ...,,,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^,,,... ..,~^*%@##
###@%*^~,. .,^            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.....             ,~. .........,
.......... ...,,,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^,,,... ..........
,.........                                          .........,
~,........                                          ........,~
^~,.......                                          .......,~^
*^~,......                                          ......,~^*
%*^~,.....                                          .....,~^*%