###¤§$†~^¨ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ¨^† THE SPIRE ~†¨ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^ ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A †^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ †^~ BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL ^†~ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^†~ ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS ^~† ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ^~† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED ~^† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~^† LIKED A MUSHROOM. ~†^ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^ WE LOVED IT DEARLY. †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ †^~ IT PREDATED US BY MANY YEARS, ^†~ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^†~ AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL ^~† ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ^~† BUILDERS. THEY HAD USED ITS ~^† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~^† HOLLOW BODY FOR MANY STRANGE ~†^ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^ PURPOSES - A WOMBLIKE PLACE OF †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^ GESTATION, A STORAGE OF STRAGE †^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ †^~ FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF ^†~ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^†~ ARCANE DEITY. ^~† ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ^~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~^† WE WERE GRATEFUL FOR ITS ~†^ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^ PRESENCE, AND HONORED IT THE †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^ ONLY WAY WE KNEW HOW: BY †^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ¨^~ BREAKING IN. ^~¨ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨~† THIS PLACE WE CALLED OUR CITY: ^†~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ^†~ WAVY AND FRACTURED, WITH EACH †^~ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †^~ COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †~^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ †~^ ROADS BECOMING ROOFS BECOMING ~†^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~†^ DRAINS. AND SOME PLACES, LIKE ~^† ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~^† THE SPIRE, NOBODY HAD ACCESSED ^~† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^~† FOR MANY YEARS. ONCE ITS WALLS ^†~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ^†~ ARE JUST TOO HIGH, AND THE †^~ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †^~ INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †~^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ †~^ A PLACE AMONG OTHERS IS EASILY ~†^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~†^ OVERLOOKED. ^~† ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ^~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^†~ SO, BASICALLY, THAT SUMMER THE †^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ †^~ FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND ~^† ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^ CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR ~†^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^ A SECLUDED PLACE TO DO DRUGS AND ~^† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~^† PLAY MUSIC ON OUR HANDHELDS. ^~† ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ^~† INSTEAD WE FOUND VAST LUNGS ^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^†~ DRAINED OF THEIR CATALYST †^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ †^~ SLUDGE, AND A BIRDS-EYE VIEW TO †~^ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^ MAKE SENSE OF OUR ROAMINGS FOR ~†^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^ YEARS TO COME. ~^† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~^†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~† ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ^~† A CENTRAL SPINE, A STAIRCASE ^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^†~ AROUND IT, THE SEVEN TOROIDAL †^~ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ †^~ LUNGS STACKED OUTSIDE, AND THE †~^ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †~^ CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS ~†^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~†^ FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES ~^† ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~^† FOR RADIATING CONSCIOUSNESS ^~† ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨~† INVITATIONS. ^†¨ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨^† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~†^ TOPPLED AND EATEN BY MACHINES. †^~ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ †~^ AFTER A WHILE, SOMETHING NEW IS ^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †^~ CONJURED IN ITS PLACE. IT'S A ^~† ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ^†~ TINY MAW AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN ~^† ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^~† US, AND WE LET IT BE. OUR ~†^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~^† JOURNEYS STILL END AT ITS FEET. †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~†^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†^~ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ †~^ BUT THEN WE ARE BETRAYED. THE ^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †^~ NEW TOWER EATS US. OTHERS ARE ^~† ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ^†~ SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE ~^† ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^~† MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT, ONLY TO ~†^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~^† DISAPPEAR IN THE EVENING FOG. †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~†^ FOR A WHILE ITS SOME KIND OF †^~ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ †~^ TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED ^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ †^~ OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP A ^~† ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ^†~ FEW TIMES, AND STOP GOING. ~^† ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ^~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†^ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ~^† IIRC IT'S CURRENTLY OWNED BY †~^ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
###¤§$†~^¨ ~†^ SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †^~ ¨^~†$§¤###
##¤§$†~^¨¨ †~^ IT TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT ^†~ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨^~ CARS..... ^~¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
¤§$†~^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^~†$§¤
#¤§$†~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~†$§¤#
##¤§$†~^¨¨ ¨¨^~†$§¤##
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