.-~†$$$%#¶                                          ¶#%$$$†~-.
...~†††%##                                          ##%†††~...
.-~†$%#¶##                                          ##¶#%$†~-.
......-†%¶                                          ¶%†-......
..--~~$$##                                          ##$$~~--..
.-~†$%#¶## ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... ##¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶¶¶ .-†            THE  SPIRE            ~†. ¶¶¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶## ~†-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~- ##¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶## †~- ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †-~ ##¶#%$†~-.
....-†$### †-~  BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL -†~ ###$†-....
..-~~~$$## -†~ ABOVE  OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS -~† ##$$~~~-..
.-~†$%#¶## -~† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED ~-† ##¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%%%¶¶ ~-†      LIKED   A  MUSHROOM.        ~†- ¶¶%%%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶## ~†-      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †~- ##¶#%$†~-.
......~$#¶ †~-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†-~ ¶#$~......
.-~†$%#¶## †-~  IT PREDATED  US BY  MANY YEARS, -†~ ##¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶## -†~ AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL -~† ##¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶## -~†  BUILDERS.  THEY  HAD  USED  ITS ~-† ##¶#%$†~-.
.-~†$%#¶## ~-† HOLLOW BODY  FOR  MANY  STRANGE  ~†- ##¶#%$†~-.
......-†%# ~†- 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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