...,»†^###                                          ###^†»,...
..,»†^####                                          ####^†»,..
.,»†^#####                                          #####^†»,.
..,»†^####                                          ####^†»,..
...,»†^###                                          ###^†»,...
....,»†^## ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ##^†»,....
.....,»†^# .,†            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.....            ,». #^†»,.....
......,»†^ ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ^†»,......
.....,»†^#                                          #^†»,.....
....,»†^##                                          ##^†»,....
...,»†^###                                          ###^†»,...
..,»†^####                                          ####^†»,..
.,»†^#####                                          #####^†»,.