##¤¤&§†«,¨ ¨,«†§&¤¤##
###¤&§†«,¨ ¨,«†§&¤###
###¤&§†«,¨ ¨,«†§&¤###
##¤¤&§†«,¨ ¨,«†§&¤¤##
###¤&§†«,¨ ¨,«†§&¤###
¤§«,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,«§¤
###¤&§†«,¨ ¨,† 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..... ,«¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨«§¤¤
###¤&§†«,¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨,«†§&¤###
¤§§«¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨«§§¤
###¤&§†«,¨ ¨,«†§&¤###
¤¤§«,,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,,«§¤¤
#¤&&§†,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,†§&&¤#
#&§††«,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,«††§&#