@&@†-~.... ....~-†@&@
&@†-~..... .....~-†@&
@†-~...... ......~-†@
†-~....... .......~-†
@†-~...... ......~-†@
&@†-~..... ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... .....~-†@&
@&@†-~.... .~† 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..... ~-. ......~-†@
†-~....... ...~~~††††††††††††††††††††††††††††~~~... .......~-†
@†-~...... ......~-†@
&@†-~..... .....~-†@&
@&@†-~.... ....~-†@&@
#@&@†-~... ...~-†@&@#
##@&@†-~.. ..~-†@&@##