...-~/$&§# #§&$/~-...
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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. -~. ##§&$/~-..
.-~/$&§### ...---////////////////////////////---... ###§&$/~-.
..-~/$&§## ##§&$/~-..
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....-~/$&§ ...---////////////////////////////---... §&$/~-....
.....-~/$& .~/ 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. -/. §&$/~-....
.....-~/$& ...---////////////////////////////---... &$/~-.....
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.....-~/$& ...---////////////////////////////---... &$/~-.....
....-~/$&§ .-/ 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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