§^†~^,,,,, ,,,,,^~†^§
^†~^,,,,,, ,,,,,,^~†^
†~^,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,^~†
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,,,,,,,,,, ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,^† 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..... ^~, ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, ,,,,,,,,,,
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