&=~....... .......~=&
#¤¤:~~.... ....~~:¤¤#
#&==:~~... ...~~:==
###&¤=:~,. .,~:=¤##
####&¤=~,. .,~=¤###
#¤:,...... ...,,,::::::::::::::::::::::::::::,,,... ......,:¤#
&=:~...... .,: 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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#¤:~~..... .....~~:¤#